Elijah is known as the prophet of fire who performed many mighty miracles and who had power to control the elements. When the people of the northern kingdom had almost entirely forsaken the worship of the true God and become worshippers of the Phoenician god Baal, Elijah the Tishbite was most appropriately called to lead Israel back to their forsaken God for the name Elijah means 'Jehovah is my God'. "His recorded words are few but forceful, and his deeds are explicit evidences of his strength of will, force of character, and personal courage. He was an example of solid faith in the Lord." (Bible Dictionary, p 664)
Elijah's boldness of character would be difficult to replicate. He stands as an example of spiritual confidence of one who knows God on a personal level. He was called to preach repentance to one of the most evil kings of Israel, as the scriptures record: "And Ahab, the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." (1 Kings 16:30) Not only did he walk in the footsteps Jeroboam who turned Israel to idolatry but he did one better than that, he married Jezebel, the daughter of king of Zidonia, who worshipped Baal. He made a grove for the worship of Baal and 'did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him' (1 Kings 16:33) Baal was the Phoenician deity and pre-eminent god of the Canaanites and is mentioned in the Old Testament 58 times. He was worshipped as the god of storm who had power over water. In the words of one LDS scholar: "Canaanite vegetation, particularly in the north, was rich and the soil fertile. Consequently many Israelites were tempted to ask their Canaanite neighbours, 'How does your garden grow?' The Israelites were deceived into thinking the Canaanite storm god Baal regulated the water supply. Thus, the question of who controlled the water became critical issue, particularly in the northern kingdom. The allegiance of Israel vacillated among many idolatrous gods, but primarily between the two gods who claimed power over water: Baal, the Canaanite storm god, and the Lord Jehovah, who had delivered the Israelites" (Fred E. Woods, "The Water Imagery in John's Gospel", in The Lord of the Gospels: The 1990 Sperry Symposium on the New Testament, p 190). It is no wonder then that Elijah, as a fitting punishment to Israel who worshipped Baal believing he sent water to enrich their pastures and ensure their crops, sealed up the heavens for three and a half years. You would think that during three and a half years of drought, worshipping a god who was supposed to be a god of water and rain, Israel would come to their senses and realise they were on the wrong track but this did not happen.
From the time of his proclaimed drought on the kingdom of Israel, Elijah was a wanted man and spent much of his time in hiding. So severe had the drought become that Ahab searched for him far and wide, among all nations, blaming him for the misfortune that had befallen his kingdom (1 Kings 18:10). All the nations and kingdoms Ahab searched had to swear an oath that they were not hiding him and whoever reported seeing him would be executed if Elijah was not there by the time Ahab's search party arrived (1 Kings 18:12). Sealing the heavens began Elijah's life on the run dotted with miracles. From the ravens which fed him by the brook Cherith to the poor window of Zarephath in Zidon who fed him and never went without again and whose son Elijah raised from the dead, he was guided in all his wanderings by the God of Israel who preserved his life. When the time came for God to show forth his power once again by lifting the drought, Elijah was instructed to return to Israel where he engaged in the most outlandish contest with the false prophets of Baal who failed to show forth Baal's power in igniting the sacrifice they were offering. Elijah, however, drew the hosts of Israel to him so they could properly see, repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down with 12 stones signifying the 12 tribes of Israel and saturated the wood and the sacrificial animal with four barrels of water, three times. He then appealed to Jehovah to show that He is the true God of Israel (1 Kings 18:37). Of course the fire came down and consumed the whole altar with the surplus water that was in the surrounding trench (1 Kings 18:30-39). He then instructed the astonished Israelites to capture all 450 prophets of Baal, took them to the brook Kishon and slew them there (1 Kings 18:40).
With Jezebel at his heels seeking his life, Elijah fled again. What follows is I believe the most intimate and loving experience Elijah had with the Lord. Running away from those who sought his life, he received sustenance from an angel of the Lord. When he arrived to mount Horeb, so incredibly disheartened and dejected, believing he had failed in his ministry, God in his mercy spoke to him, but not by the wind which rent mountains and not by the earthquake which followed, but by a 'still small voice' (1 Kings 19:12). In other words, not by any ostentatious show of power but by something so personal as the whisper of His voice. He might as well have said: 'they can have their miracles Elijah, but you have me'. And here is where the God of us all knows how to lift us up. To prove to Elijah that he had done well and that his service as a prophet was accepted, the Lord assigns him another mission. He instructs him to go and anoint the king of Syria and the next prophet who will take over from him. What a merciful and loving God who accepts the work of his faithful children and who cares about the tender feelings of their hearts. I imagine Him saying to Elijah: "You did well Elijah, you are still the prophet and your service has been accepted". Because of his un-daunting faith in the God of Israel, Elijah was blessed with power over water like Moses and Joshua and divided river Jordan prior to his ascension into heaven, never to taste death (2 Kings 2:6-11).
"The story of Elijah's return can be found in D&C 110. Obviously there is no need to wait for him any longer. This became the subject of conversation between Elder LeGrand Richards and the Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek. Elder Richards had just dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mount of Olives. After the ceremony, the two conversed as they ate their lunch:
Elder Richards said: "Mayor, I want to tell you something".
"What's that?" asked the Mayor.
Looking Mayor Kollek directly in the eye, the apostle said:
"Ten years ago I was here in Jerusalem and one day I went into three synagogues and hanging up on the wall in one of them was a large armchair. I asked the rabbi what it was there for (I knew but I wanted him to tell me, which he did). He said that it was so that if Elijah comes 'we can lower the chair and let him sit in it'. Now Mayor, I want to tell you something and what I tell you is the truth. Elijah has already been. On the third day of April 1836 he appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple".
The Mayor said:
"I guess I better tell them to take that chair down."
(Beloved Apostle, p.301)
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