Running From Jezebel

Go To Meeting

Marlin Fannin—2020

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Greetings to everyone! This message Running from Jezebel is the story of Elijah.

Elijah means the Lord is my God! He lived during the reigns Ahab and Ahaziah—Ahab's son—which was in the northern kingdom. Also, in part of the reign it mentions Jehovah, who was King of Judah. It says that Elijah:

• was of strange dress
• had fleetness of foot, fast
• lived in caves at times

And he appears in the role of God's instrument of judgment upon a wayward Israel because of the nation's widespread idolatry. Just like we see today in the United States and different countries around the world.

1-Kings 17:1: "And Elijah the Tishbite, of the sojourners of Gilead, said to Ahab, 'As the LORD God of Israel lives, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except according to my word.' And the Word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, before Jordan'" (vs 1-3).

We see that Elijah does that in vs 4-6. He was fed by the ravens and drank from the brook. When the brook dried up, God sends him to a widow lady. She was getting ready to eat the last bit of flour and oil that she had, then she and her son would die because of the famine and starve to death.

Elijah told her, 'Go ahead and fix me a cake out of what oil and flour you have.' So, she did. We see a great miracle here that God did, and that was a little bit of oil and flour—whatever meal she had there in the barrel or jar—it did not dry up; every morning there was still that little bit of oil and the same amount of meal in that jar.

What a miracle that God created there! He also preserved Elijah by that. Then her son dies and Elijah goes to him.

Verse 21: "And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the LORD, and said, 'O LORD my God, please let this child's life come to him again.'" And it did!

Verse 24: "And the woman said to Elijah, 'Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the Word of the Lord in your mouth is Truth.'"

She had seen the flour and oil appear every day and it still stayed the same. Yet, she didn't acknowledge that until she saw her son resurrected.

How often do we get like that where we don't believe or don't trust.

1-Kings 18:1: "And it came to pass after many days the Word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, 'Go, show yourself to Ahab. And I will send rain upon the earth.' Then Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And there was a great famine in Samaria. 3: And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the house. (And Obadiah feared the LORD greatly; for it came to pass when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said to Obadiah, 'Go into the land, to all the fountains of water, and to all the brooks. Perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, so that we do not lose all the animals.' And they divided the land between them to pass throughout it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself" (vs 1-6)

v 7—Obadiah runs into Elijah

Verse 8: "And he answered him, 'I am. Go, tell your lord, "Behold, Elijah is here."' And he said, 'What have I sinned that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me?'" (vs 8-9).

Then it says that they searched all over for Elijah and couldn't find him and Obadiah said that 'if I tell Ahab that I saw you, then when we come back and you're not here, he's going to kill me.'

Elijah said 'No, go ahead and tell him and I'll be here.' So he was.

Verse 17: "And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, 'Are you he that troubles Israel?'"

Isn't that the way it goes? We always want to blame somebody else. Israel has never repented; they wanted to blame it on the people, and down through the age wanted to blame it on the Christians. Here in the United States, they want to blame everything on the President.

People never get passed that wretched part of human nature and always want to blame somebody else!

Verse 18: " And he answered, 'I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and you have followed Baalim. Now, therefore, send and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table'" (vs 18-19).

Who are these false gods?

• Baal was the chief male deity of the Phoenicians and the Canaanite!
• Asherah/ Ashtaroth—which is pronounced several different ways—it says in Nelson's Bible Dictionary:

Ashtaroth—the plural form of Ashtoreth, a pagan goddess (1-Sam. 31:10) connects her with the Philistines and 1 Kings 11:5 connects her with the Sidonians. She was often considered the companion or partner of the male god Baal (Judges 2:13).

Apparently the worship of these goddesses was practiced by the Israelites from time to time. Solomon compromised his faith by worshipping at the altar of Ashtaroth (1-Kings 11:5, 33). Along with the Baalim (the plural of Baal), the Ashtaroth were thought by the Philistines to be responsible for fertility and the growth of crops and herds.

The Ashtaroth were worshipped by other peoples under such names as Astarte (Phoenicians), Inanna (Greeks), and Venus (Romans). All these were goddesses of sensual love and fertility.

We know that this all goes back to Nimrod and Semiramis. They were called by different names down through the ages, but all goes back to Nimrod and Semiramis worship.

Elijah kills the 450 prophets and also of Ashtoroth 400 that Jezebel goes on warpath after him.

1-Kings 19:1: "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and all whom he had killed, all the prophets with the sword. And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, 'So, let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.' And when he saw that, he rose and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba of Judah, and left his servant there" (vs 1-3).

It doesn't say who that servant was, but later on we will see one of his servants who is very familiar to us by name. Then Elijah runs for his life:

Verse 4: "Then he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness…"—and he was fed by the angels.

Verse 8: "And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God"—Sinai, at the site of the burning bush and also where the Ten Commandments were given to Israel! Tie in Exo. 3:1, Deut. 4:10, 15 & Deut. 5:2.

Elijah thinks that he's the only one left. I guess you would think that way if all the prophets held or knew of were killed.

Verse 10: "And he said, 'I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and have slain Your prophets with the sword. And I, I alone, am left. And they seek to take my life away.'"

Verse 11: "And He said, 'Go forth and stand upon the mountain before the LORD.' And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire was a still, small voice. Then it came to pass when Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out, and stood at the cave entrance. And behold, a voice came to him and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'" (vs 11-13).

Verse 14: "And he said, 'I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, have thrown down Your altars, and have slain Your prophets with the sword. And I, I alone, am left. And they seek to take my life away.' And the LORD said to him, 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you come, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place'" (vs 14-16).

Years ago I was reading this and was asking a minister about that and he said that they didn't know for sure, that maybe God had rejected Elijah because he got scared and ran from Jezebel. We've all had Jezebel's in our lives that we have run from—maybe even still at times.

God uses encouragement when we are afraid, when certain trials and situations come up in our lives that we're faced with.

Psalm 27:13: "I would have fainted unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."

Our hope has always got to be in God the Father and His promises. We do that by daily prayer and study; just the basics of God's Word and doing what God says.

I that you have and I have faced trials in our lives where we were afraid, but we went ahead and went through them as we will see that Elijah later on went back and also was a Prophet and warned them of some things that were going to take place both to Ahab and Jezebel and what happened to them.

Verse 14: "Wait for the LORD…" That's the key; sometimes the waiting seems like a long period of time.

I heard that when you're taking a test the teacher is always silent. So, sometimes God sits back as you're taking this test so He can see what your heart is and how you're going to respond. Are you going to go ahead and go through whatever we fear, or are you going to run.

"…be of good courage, and He shall make your heart strong; yea, wait, I say, wait on the LORD" (v14).

That's why we just have to wait until God works that situation out for us, now and in the future.

Palm 33:23: "O love the LORD, all you His saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud doer. Be strong…[just like God told Joshua] …and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD" (vs 23-24).

We are to be strong and take courage as we walk in God's way, follow Him, keep His commandments and His laws. We want to please Him.

Psalm 56:4: "In God I will praise His Word; in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?"

We know that man can kill the flesh, but he can't kill the spirit, the spirit in man or God's Holy Spirit! Satan or the demons can't either, and we can be thankful of that.

Verse 11: "In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

If we have that love for God and trust in Him, and whatever the situation is, whatever man does to us, and yes, they can take our lives, but they can't kill the spirit. God says that only He can do that! He has the power to destroy both man—the flesh—and spirit in Gehenna for those who will not follow God.

They shake their fist at Him, as it says in Revelation, rebelling and all the stuff that they're going through, the sores and things that have been put on them. They still won't repent, but they shake their fist at God. We have to believe and trust in God!

Psalm 57:1: "Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me; for my soul… [my body] …trusts in You; yea, in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge until these great troubles pass by."

For those who grew up in agrarian type society on a farm where they had animals and chickens. I remember that there would come up a big thunder storm and all of a sudden it would just come pouring down. I've seen hens that were not able to get some place under shelter and they would just hunker down and all those little chicks run under her wings. After the rain was over and a lot of times it's not very long, but it really rains hard.

Here she is just soaked, her feathers, head and everything, but she lifts up her wings and here comes those little chicks with the yellow downy on them and they're just as dry as they can be.

God says that's how it is with Him, that He wants to protect us; under "…the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge until these great troubles pass by." We are to believe and trust in God and fear Him!

Verse 2: "I will cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He rebukes him who would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His Truth" (vs 2-3).

God has shown mercy to us, as long as we follow Him, His Truth He's given us, His Word through our calling.

Psalm 111:10: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever."

All of the Psalms are praising God. Every day we should love Him and be thankful for our calling.

Matthew 10:28: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but do not have power to destroy the life; rather, fear Him Who has the power to destroy bothlife and body in Gehenna."

God can destroy us completely by taking away the spirit that He gives us upon repentance and baptism and our desire to follow Him. God can destroy all that and be as though it had never been. That's the power that we need to fear, and also the power that we need to love.

We obey God because we learn to love Him, and it is a learning process. We love God and keep His commandments, not just out of fear. We are to fear God, fear like a child does who does wrong, or even as a adults we still get punished; God corrects us which is good, because He wants us to grow and become more like Him.

John 12:25: "The one who loves his life shall lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life."

Our goal is eternal life! Not just this flesh and the things of the flesh, the desires of the flesh; but we look for eternal life in the very Family and Kingdom of God and being with Them forever and all the saints, ruling with Them for a thousand years and helping to train and teach people in God's way of life, instructing them and being an example.

Verse 26: "If anyone will serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant be also. And if anyone serves Me, him shall the Father honor. Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this very purpose I have come to this hour" (vs 26-27).

Christ was fearful, too. He was human and he had fearful thoughts, but what He says here is what we should say. And it says in other places it talks about the Father, 'not as My will but Your will be done' when 'He sweated drops of blood,' because of all the pressure that was upon Him knowing what He would have to go through and suffer.

He knew that He had created mankind—He and God the Father—He knew the pain that was within us and He knew what it was going to be like and dreaded that. But He said, 'not My will be done, but Your will be done.' The will was that He went ahead and became the sacrifice for all of mankind.

It says that from the foundation of the world He was the Passover Lamb!

1-Peter 1:15: "But according as He [Christ] Who has called you is Holy, you yourselves also be Holy in all your conduct; for it is written, 'You be Holy because I am Holy'" (vs 15-16).

So, our goal is to overcome this nature through the help of God and His Holy Spirit that we can become Holy and someday be born and be the very sons and children of God. Not longer be flesh, no longer have to fight this flesh and the wiles of this nature. But to be like God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Verse 17: "And if you call upon the Father, Who judges according to each man's work without respect of persons, pass the time of your life's journey in the fear of God."

We go through this life and we learn to love and fear God, and when some trial or test comes upon us that we may run from Jezebel at times, but the thing is we turn and go back and face Jezebel—whatever that trial is—and God will help us through it.

1-Peter 3:6 "Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; and you are her children, if you are doing what is right, and are not frightened by any intimidation."

Anything that intimidates us, wants to frighten us, that Satan intervenes and wants to scare us and turn us from God. Don't let any kind of intimidation bother us.

Verse 11: "Let him avoid evil, and let him continually practice good. Let him seek peace, and let him earnestly pursue it… [strive after] …because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their supplications. But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil" (vs 11-12).

So, at times when we think, 'God, where are You?' He's still there! Like taking a test, the teacher is silent until it's time to say, 'Turn in your papers.' God knows what we're going through, and He says that He will be there and He will never leave us!

Verse 14: "Now, on the other hand, if you do undergo suffering for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed…. [we follow through these trials and tests] …But you should not be afraid of their terror, and you should not let yourselves be intimidated."

1-John 4:18: "There is no fear in the love of God; rather, perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment. And the one who fears has not been made perfect in the love of God."

We are to fear God, not man! Man can kill us, but God has the power to destroy who we really are, and that is the spirit within man and God's Holy Spirit that He gives when He calls us to repent and we are baptized and have hands laid upon us. We overcome by loving God more.

I remember years ago that a company I worked for and one of the ladies who worked in the home office, a young girl at that time who had just gotten out of college.

She was adopted and I asked her if she ever wondered who her real father was. She looked at me and said, 'Why should I hurt my father (her adopted father ) because he was the only father she knew; the one who adopted her and her mother and raised her and sent her to college. I remembered that and thought:

• Are we more concerned about what other people think, or about fear than loving God?
• Do we want to hurt God and His feelings?
• Do you realize that every time we give into sin it hurts God?

Sin is against God! I always remembered that and what a good statement that was: Why should I hurt my father! The only father she ever knew.

The same way with God, to love and honor Him! So, we overcome fear by going through whatever we fear. We just go ahead and face it with God's help.

1-Kings 19:17: "And it will be whoever escapes the sword of Hazael… [who was to be anointed as king (v 5)] …Jehu will kill. And whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet, I have left seven thousand in Israel for Me, all who have not bowed the knees to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him" (vs 17-18)

Elijah thought that he was the only one. But God tells Elijah that he wasn't the only one, 'I've got 7,000 out there that I spared that have not bowed to the statue of Baal or kissed his feet. I'm sure that was encouraging, because he thought:

God, I'm running, they killed all Your prophets, and I'm the only one left, if you help them who killed all the prophets I wonder if You're going to spare me, too.

That's the way we think with our human nature at times! God says, 'No, I have 7,000 that I have preserved. I'm sure that was very encouraging to Elijah.

Later on we see where Elijah goes back, overcomes this fear of Jezebel, and does what God told him.

Verse 19: "And he left there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, and he was plowing; twelve pairs of oxen were before him, and he was with the twelfth. And Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle upon him. So, he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, "Please, let me kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow you.' And he said to him, 'Go back again, for what have I done to you?' Then he turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. And he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him" (vs 19-21).

1-Kings 21—this is after Elijah runs from Jezebel, because Ahab and his wife Jezebel had a plot to kill Naboth who had a vineyard that Ahab wanted. But Naboth said, 'No, I can't sell this to you because this goes down through the family, just like God told them when they went into the 'promised land.' That it would from generation to generation, and after so many years if they sell it then they have to also give it back.

He says, 'No, this is family property, inheritance. We know that Ahab was pouting on his bed, and Jezebel said, 'Are you the king or not the king?' She said that she would take are of it, so she hired a couple guys and they had Naboth killed.

God saw this. God's eyes are upon us and He's looking at us and what's going on this earth.

So, Elijah[transcriber's correction] then goes to Ahab and tells him that he's going to be killed, and also Jezebel and how they would die. It did happen just as God said later on.

So, Ahab humbled him and it shows God's mercy, because He really didn't want to do this. It was his wife that came up with the plot and plan. But God said that He would bring evil upon Ahab's house in his son's day, in the days of Ahaziah.

1-Kings 22—we see that Ahab is killed and Ahaziah reigned in his place.

2-Kings 1:1: "Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper room in Samaria, and was sick. And he sent messengers and said to them, 'Go, ask of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.' But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, 'Arise! Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you go to ask of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron?" And, therefore, thus says the LORD, "You shall not come from that bed on which you have gone up, but shall surely die."' And Elijah left" (vs 1-4).

Verse 6: And they said to him, 'A man came up to meet us and said to us, "Go, return again to the king who sent you, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Is it because there is noGod in Israel that you go to ask of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore, you shall not come down from that bed on which you have gone up, but shall surely die."'"'"

Verse 7: "And he said to them, 'What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and told you these words?' And they answered him, 'He was a hairy man and was bound with a girdle of leather around his loins.' And he said, 'He is Elijah the Tishbite'" (vs 7-8).

Verse 9: "So, he sent to him a commander of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him. Then, behold, he sat on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him, 'Man of God! The king has said, "Come down."'…. [probably right now] …And Elijah answered and said to the commander of fifty, 'If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the heavens and burn up you and your fifty.' And there came down fire from the heavens and burned up him and his fifty" (vs 9-10).

Verse 11: "So again, also he sent to him another commander of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, 'Man of God! So says the king, "Come down quickly."' And Elijah answered and said to him, 'If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens and burn up you and your fifty.' And the fire of God came down from the heavens and burned up him and his fifty. Finally he sent again a third commander of fifty and his fifty…." (vs 11-13).

I'm sure that by the time this 50 showed up, and he saw what was happening,

"…And the third commander of fifty came up and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, 'Man of God, I pray you, let my life and the life of these fifty, your servants…'" (v 13).

God says, 'Okay, go with him, go down and go see Ahaziah,' and Elijah did.

Verse 16: "And said to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Because you have sent messengers to ask of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to seek His Word?—therefore, you shall not come down off that bed on which you have gone up, but shall surely die."'

Verse 17: "And he died according to the Word of the Lord, which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat…"

So, we see two different Jehoram's here: one was the son of Ahaziah who became King of Israel, and also Jehoshaphat had a son Jehoram who was king of Judah. It was a little confusing when I was reading that, but then later on I was able, going through the Scriptures, figure that out.

2-Kings 2:1: "And it came to pass when the LORD was about to take Elijah up into heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, 'Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Bethel.' And Elisha said, 'As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.' So, they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to meet Elisha and said to him, 'Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from being your head today?' And he said, 'Yes, I know. Keep silent'" (vs 1-3).

Here we see that Elijah is called Elisha's master. Elisha didn't take that office right away; for a period of time he had to serve under Elijah to be trained. How long we don't know, it doesn't say, but Elisha trained under Elijah. I even thought because Elijah ran from Jezebel that God would anoint somebody else to take his place. But that's not the way that God works.

Verse 4: "And Elijah said to him, 'Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.' And he said, 'As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.' So, they went to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, 'Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from being your head today?' And he answered, 'Yes, I know. Keep silent.' And Elijah said to him, 'Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jordan.' And he said, 'As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.' And the two of them went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went on and stood afar off across from them. And both of them stood by the Jordan" (vs 4-7).

Verse 8: "And Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the waters. And they were divided to the one side and to the other side, so that both of them crossed over on dry ground. And it came to pass when they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken away from you.' And Elisha said, 'Please, let a double portion of your Spirit be upon me.' And he said, 'You have asked a hard thing, but if you see me taken from you, it shall be so to you; but if not, it shall not be.' Then it came to pass as they went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire came, and they separated between them both. And Elijah went up in a tempest into heaven" (vs 8-11).

Verse 13: "He also took up the mantle of Elijah, which had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the waters, and said, 'Where is the LORD God of Elijah, even He?' When he also hit the waters, then they parted to the one side and to the other side. And Elisha went over" (vs 13-14).

So, they searched the mountains for several days and couldn't find Elijah. But Elijah doesn't go out of the scene. A lot of people wonder what happened.

{Note our booklet: Are Enoch and Elijah in Heaven? by Fred R. Coulter(truthofGod.org)}

Elijah was removed, but where God took him at that time, he was still alive and physical. I know that most religions, including Protestants especially, think that they went straight to heaven, but Acts tells us that no one has gone to heaven[transcriber's correction] except Jesus Christ. It says that even David's sepulture is here with us today. The only One Who came down from heaven and went back to heaven was Christ. All the rest will happen during the resurrection.

2-Chronicles 21:1: "And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his place."

Verse 4: And when Jehoram had risen up to the kingdom of his father, he made himself strong and killed all his brothers with the sword and also many of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign. And he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like the house of Ahab, for he had the daughter of Ahab for a wife And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD" (vs 4-6).

It all runs in the family in influence. Her mother worshipped Baal and Ashtoreth and all that.

Verse 9: "And Jehoram went forth with his princes and all his chariots with him. And he rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him and the commanders of the chariots. And the Edomites have been in revolt against the hand of Judah to this day. At the same time Libnah revolted from under his hand because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers" (vs 9-10)

Instead of worshipping God, he followed the kings of Israel, because of his wife. She was actually the daughter the Ahab and Jezebel.

This is what I learned years ago, what happened to Elijah and where he went.

Verse 12: "And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet… [this came to Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat; not the king of Israel Jehoram] …saying, 'Thus says the LORD God of David your father, "Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the people of Jerusalem to go a whoring like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers of your father's house (who were better than you), behold, the LORD will strike your people with a great plague, and your sons, and your wives, and all your goods. And you shall have great sickness by disease in your bowels until your bowels fall out because of the sickness day-by-day"'" (vs 12-15).

This was about seven years after Elijah had been departed from Elisha when he was taken up in the fiery chariot. So, Elijah was still out there and God was still using him. Where he was it doesn't say or tell us, but he was still active seven years later writing to the king of Judah, this time not dealing with Israel.

Some think that Elijah was replaced by Elisha because Elijah ran from Jezebel. Satan wants us to believe that God's not fair, that there's nothing you can do to please God. That's what Satan wants to think, because he is an adversary of God, the enemy of God. He tried to kick God off His Throne, and Satan wants mankind to believe that God isn't fair. He wants you to believe that you do something wrong and He's going to just go and get somebody else. Well, we know that God is a loving God.

Exodus 34:4: "And he cut out two tablets of stone like the first ones. And Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. And the LORD came down in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth'" (vs 4-6).

Numbers 14:18: "The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty… [those who won't follow God and listen to Him] …visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation."

Psalm 86:15: "But You, O LORD, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and Truth."

God created us in His image and likeness to be His sons/daughters forever. He's very compassionate with us.

Psalm 103:9: "He will not always chasten, nor will He keep His anger forever…. [God forgives us when we repent] …He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities… [God has been very merciful to us] …for as the heavens are high above the earth, so is His mercy toward those who fear Him" (vs 9-11).

We need to love God, fear God, and love Him more and serve Him because we love Him!

Verse 12: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." That's a Scripture that I read after a baptism!

Verse 13: "As a father has compassion upon his children, so the LORD has compassion upon those who fear Him, for He knows our frame… [because He made us] …He remembers that we are dust" (vs 13-14). We're made from clay, the dust of the earth!

Verse 17: But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him, and His righteousness is unto children's children, to those who keep His covenant, and to those who remember His precepts to do them" (vs 17-18).

Luke 13:34: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who have been sent to you; how often would I have gathered your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…"

Just like a mother hen covering her little chickens, keeping them dry during the storm and taking the brunt of the beating. That's how God feels about us and Jerusalem, but they wouldn't listen and follow God. 'You wouldn't keep My commandments, and went after Baalzebub and after all the other gods, which we're still doing today in this nation.

They are still—one way or another—serving the same gods going back to Nimrod and Semiramis, all the pagan holidays, especially Easter—Ashtoreth—with sex and all the things they did. basically the god of groves where all the sexual licentiousness took place. Even some of the priests were doing those, which we see today in this nation and around the world, what all is going on in the name of 'religion.'

God loves us and wants us to love Him and when fear comes upon us to look to Him to help us through that situation and not go back and do whatever fear or whatever we're facing, just like Elijah did. 

After running from Jezebel, Elijah goes to Ahab regarding the killing of Naboth and taking Naboth's vineyard. So, he went back after running from Jezebel!

Ahaziah the son of Ahab sent three groups of 50 to bring Elijah to the king, and Ahaziah falls through the lattice and later dies. This was after Elijah ran from Jezebel!

2-Kings 2:1: "And it came to pass when the LORD was about to take Elijah up into heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal."

We saw that about seven years later he wrote a letter to the King of Judah.

When Jehosphat—king of Judah—had been asked by the King of Israel to help him:

2-Kings 3:11: "And Jehoshaphat said, 'Is there not here a prophet of the LORD that we may ask of the LORD by him?' And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, 'Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat who poured water on the hands of Elijah.'"

He became a servant to Elijah, how man years we don't know, but in time and training he came to replace Elijah.

Matthew 17:3[transcriber's correction]: "Then behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him.

Elijah had appeared to Peter, James and John in vision. So, Elijah was there with Moses in that vision, showing that God still—if you repent and are willing to go—helps you to get through it. God will take care of it. Even if it's to death, we know that there is the resurrection to eternal life! No more pain, suffering or sorrow.

That answered the question for me that I had years ago, that is it one strike and  you're out? That God would just get somebody else? No, as we read in the Psalm that He knows we're just flesh and dust! God is longsuffering toward us and He loves us!

Scriptural References:

• 1 Kings 17:1-3, 21, 24
• 1 Kings 18:1-6, 8-9, 17-19
• 1 Kings 19:1-4, 8, 10-16
• Psalm 27:13-14
• Psalm 31:23-24
• Psalm 56:4, 11
• Psalm 57:1-3
• Psalm 111:10
• Matthew 10:28
• John 12:25-27
• 1 Peter 1:15-17
• 1 Peter 3:6, 11-12, 14
• 1 John 4:18
• 1 Kings 19:17-21
• 2 Kings 1:1-4, 6-13, 16-17
• 2 Kings 2:1-11, 13-14
• 2 Chronicles 21:1, 4-6, 9-10, 12-15
• Exodus 34:4-6
• Numbers 14:18
• Psalm 86:15
• Psalm 103:9-14, 17-18
• Luke 13:24
• 2 Kings 2:1
• 2 Kings 3:11
• Matthew 17:3

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 1-Kings 17:4-6
• Exodus 3:1
• Deuteronomy 4:10, 15; 5:2
• 1 Kings 20; 21

Also referenced:

• Book: Nelson's Bible Dictionary:
• Booklet: Are Enoch and Elijah in Heaven? by Fred R. Coulter {truthofGod.org}

MF:bo
Transcribed: 6/14/21