Was Elijah Supernatural? Dr. Arnold Murray, DRE Newsletter # 191 - September 1994 People are subject to passion.

Whether it be anger or love, we are all affected by passion. In this lecture we are going to discover whether Elijah (Elias in Greek) was supernatural or human? Was he given supernatural powers, or was he just an ordinary man with human passions that God decided to utilize? Let's find out. JAMES 5:16-17 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. & Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it riined not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. Elias did not possess the supernatural power to stop the rain for over three years. He prayed, and God stopped the rain. Elias was just an ordinary man that God chose to utilize. God will utilize many ordinary people to carry out His plan in the very near future. JAMES 5:18-20 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. m Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; m Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Elias was an ordinary man. What set Elias apart from most is that he always obeyed God and followed His plan. In our eagerness to be good Christians, many of us sometimes get carried away with our own agenda and forget about God's plan. Have you ever planted a seed and then tried to force the seed to germinate, develop and bare fruit? You see my point. / KINGS 17:1-4 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, "As the LORD God if Israel liveth, before Whom I Stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." 2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 3 "Gef thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. * And it shall be that thou sha/t drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there." God instructed Elijah to tell Ahab something he surely did not want to hear and then hide himself. Would Elijah follow God's instructions? / KINGS 17:5-6 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. If God instructs you to do something, don't worry about provisions. For example, if God calls upon you to witness, do it. You know He has promised in His Word not one hair on your head is to be harmed. / KINGS 17:7-9 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. s And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, - "Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee." Elijah is certainly not supernatural at this point. He is simply doing what God told him to do without question. God has told the elect what to do and expect in the end times just as He told Elijah what to do. Have you taken time to read and understand your instructions from the Lord? / KINGS 17:10-12 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said. "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." n And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, "Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand." And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil In a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die." God blessed the little meal and oil the widow had, and it lasted the entire three and one-half years with no rain. There is a widow woman today. Her name is Mother Israel. Most of the members that make up her body don't even know who they are. Many of them think they are a queen waiting on a king. Unfortunately, they will likely be a queen married to the false king when the real King returns. The widow woman of this generation is also hungry and in need of God's blessings. As written in Amos Chapter 8, the famine in this generation is not for food. It is a spiritual famine. You have the Bread of Life, God's Word. Are you doing your part to feed the hungry widow? I believe many of you are. Why do you think so many of you are driven to study for hours on end? No, you are not supernatural. Elijah wasn't either. God sustained Elijah. He will sustain you, if you are following His instructions. Let's turn to Chapter 18. / KINGS 18:1-3 And it came to pass after many days, that th's word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth," ~ And Elijah went to shew

himself into Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. - And Ahab cailed Obadlah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: Read on and you will learn that Gbadiah met Elijah while he was searching for grass for Ahabs livestock. Elijah instructed Obadiah to go to Ahab and tell him where he could find Elijah. Obadiah was fearful for his life. Obadiah reluctantly followed Elijah's instruction and, as a result, Ahab went to meet Elijah. Let's pick it up in verse 17. / KINGS 18:17-18 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said into him, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" m And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel: but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. Elijah has some fun with the Baal prophets and worshippers in the next several verses. He told the four hundred and fifty Baal prophets to fetch two bullocks. Elijah proposed a little contest. He would take one bullock for sacrifice and the Baal prophets the other. The contest was for the Baal prophets to call on their gods and Elijah to call on the Lord to see which would provide the fire for the offering. Obviously, the Baal prophets were not successful. Elijah instructed the people three times to pour four barrels of water on his wood and sacrifice, then he called upon the Lord. The fire of the Lore1 fell and consumed the sacrifice. The people fell on their faces and said, "The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God." Let's go to verse 41. / KINGS 18:41-43 And Elijah said unto Ahab, "Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain." & So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, ^ And said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up, and, looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times." Elijah knows the season and he is praying, but there's not a cloud in the sky, yet. Do you study God's Word enough to know the season we are in? My point, Elijah wasn't supernatural and neither are you. He knew the rains would come; however, the time was not "cut and dried" down to the very second. The events of these end times aren't either. / KINGS 18:44-46 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." And he said, "Go up, say unto Ahab, 'Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.' " & And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. & And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Elijah obeyed and trusted our very able Father. Let's turn to Christ's teaching. In Luke 4:18-19 Christ quotes Isaiah Chapter 61 which is the gap theory and concludes with, "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." The day we are now looking forward to, His return. Let's pick it up in verse 24. LUKE 4:24-27 And He said, "Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. & But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; & But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel, in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed,saving Naaman the Syrian." Remember, Elias is the Greek name for Elijah. Eliseus is the Greek name for the prophet Elisha. Why did Christ bring the cleansing of Naaman into this? There was a purpose. The captivity came along and a little maid of Israel was taken to the king. The king had a servant whose name was Naaman. The king really liked Naaman, but there was one little problem. Naaman had leprosy. The little maid told her mistress if Naaman would seek out Elisha, Elisha could heal him. The king sent his servant Naaman to find Elisha. // KINGS 5:9-10 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean." Now, get this picture. Naaman has traveled with his entourage supplied by the king many hard miles. Naaman is a real "muckity-duck". On arrival, Elisha doesn't even show him the courtesy of coming out of his house. Elisha sent a messenger to tell Naaman to go jump in the river seven times. // KINGS 5:11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Naaman thought Elisha should have done something "very religious". Perhaps hit him with a coat or blow on him a time or two. God works in simple ways. Don't try to make a big deal out of your spirituality. // KINGS 5:12-13 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may ! not wash in them, and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. ^ And his servants came near, and

spake into him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, 'Wash, and be clean?' " His servants were saying we've tried everything else and come this far. Won't you at least try what Elisha said to do? // KINGS 5:14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Remember, Christ pointed this event out to us when He was speaking of the acceptable year of the Lord in Luke 4. Jesus taught us not to make a big fanfare out of His return. Just do it His Way according to His Plan. It is written in Mark 13 that God's Elect are going to be delivered up to councils. The Elect are instructed not to premeditate what they will say, but to leave the talking to the Holy Spirit. Are these instructions simple? Are you able to follow them? Elijah wasn't supernatural. You are not supernatural. Do things God's Way. In His Service, Arnold Murray