TEXT: I Kings 18:41-46

SUBJECT: The Life of Elijah #6: Rain

Today brings us to the sixth sermon in our study of Elijah. Our goal is to identify and to reflect on what Jesus Christ was doing in the prophet's life. His name, of course, appears nowhere in the text, but He is there--in every chapter, in every verse, in every word, in letter. Of the Old Testament Scriptures, He said, "they are they which testify of Me".

The verses before us describe the aftermath of our Lord's great victory at Mount Carmel. He answered by fire; He won the public endorsement: "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God". The prophets of Baal are slain; Elijah is vindicated. But there is no time for basking in the glory of victory; the prophet's work is not done. He has another message to deliver: "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain". The kings rides off for his party; the prophet returns to the solitude of Mount Carmel. He prostrates himself to pray for rain. The first request is unanswered. A second follows, with similar results. A third, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth prayer are also met with silence. Has the prophetic Word failed? It hasn't. Elijah's seventh prayer is answered: a small cloud has risen in the west. The sky darkens, the clouds burst. The drought is over. The prophet, seized by the Spirit of Christ, outruns the royal chariot to Jezreel, and is there to greet the king at his arrival.

What was Jesus Christ doing in these dramatic events? Four thoughts occur to me.

The Lord was proving His sovereignty over nature. If you read pagan theology, you'll find the gods are either subject to nature or identical to it. The Baals were no exception. Like modern scientists, they could tinker with the natural world; they couldn't control it. Jesus Christ, however, is not subject to nature in the least; He is its Lord. He has now proved it twice. First, He shut up the heavens; not a drop of rain fell for more than three years. Now, at His Word, the rains return. The dullest of Hebrews could not but tremble at the Majesty of Christ,

"Ruler of all nature".

They were not the last to do so. The Apostles were no less struck. When they saw Him hush the storm with a word, they "marveled, saying, `Who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him?'" Had they understood Proverbs 30:4, they would have known: "Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind into His fists? Who has bound the waters into a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name and what is His son's Name, if you know?"

Or had they listened to their Master, they would have known: "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working".

If we but saw His hand behind every event--the coronation of a king, the death of a sparrow--we would worship Him with a deeper sense of awe and wonder. How spiritually minded we would be! Everything would bring Him to mind. From the soaring eagle to the slithering worm,

"All Thy works shall praise Thy Name

In earth and sky and sea".

We'd join the chorus. If He is sovereign, shouldn't we trust Him for our material needs? He owns everything; He won't let one of His people do without what he truly needs. One further thought: If He is sovereign over all nature, then nothing can separate us from His love. Not an earthquake; not a cancer cell. Our Dearest Friend is Lord of Heaven and Earth.

How embarrassing the rain must have been to the disciples of Baal! Their god was powerless under the drought. But The Lord, "sends His Word, causing the winds to blow and the waters flow".

The Lord was testing the prophet's faith. At the Lord's Word, Elijah heard the sound of rain. But the sky was clear. Not even Mount Carmel's peak would reveal a cloud. But the Word is true; Elijah must wait for it. Nothing is harder than waiting; but wait, he must. Wait he did. In faith. Seven times he sent his servant to look for the coming storm. It wasn't anxiety that issues the command, but expectation. The wait was good for him. It was humbling; Christ would follow His schedule, not Elijah's. It was sanctifying; Elijah spent the time wholly engaged in prayer. It was temporary; the hours must have seemed like an eternity to Elijah; but at last they ended; they ended just as the Lord said they would: "With the sound of the abundance of rain". The wait was trying for Elijah; but it rain was well worth it. Jesus Christ made His servant wait for Him; the servant might not have liked it at the time, but in the end even the wait was a blessing.

The Lord Jesus did the same to Mary and Martha. They sent Him an urgent letter: "Lord, the one you love is sick". What did He do, rush to meet their need? No. He sat still for two full days. Then He made His way to Bethany. He made them wait; He made them wait till their dear brother was dead and rotting in the grave! How calloused He seemed to be! Or was He? The wait was not the result of any shortage of love. John makes it clear: "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus". The wait was good for them. It allowed them to see--in a special way--"the glory of God".

The Lord Jesus makes us wait too. But the waiting is good for us. It humbles us; it makes us feel our dependence on Him; it inspires prayer; it leads to self-examination; it provides a glimpse into eternity; but most of all, it brings us closer to Christ our "exceeding joy". From our presents perspective, the waiting seems interminable. But from the perspective of glory, we'll see how quickly and decisively and wisely He acted on our behalf. But for now, waiting enhances our faith. Like Abraham, let us "not stagger at the promise through unbelief, but [become] strong in faith, giving glory to God".

The Lord was showing the value of prayer. The promise was made: "Go show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth". The promise was sure. But the promise would be fulfilled--not as Elijah stood by idly--but as he prayed for it. The Lord Jesus would connect the end to its means. The end is rain; the means for getting it is prayer.

Christ impressed the same lesson on His disciples: "Your Father knows the things you need before you ask for them". His knowledge of our needs, however, and His goodness to meet them, shouldn't keep us from praying, but should animate us to "pray without ceasing". We can "make our requests known to God" because He already knows about them. We can beg and plead for Him to answer our prayers because we know He will.

The Lord who appoints every end also appoints every means. Therefore, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you".

The lesson was not lost on Elijah. Have we gotten it?

The Lord was displaying His mercy to a people (and a king) who did not deserve it. The character of the nation wasn't changed a bit by the events at Mount Carmel. And Ahab, of course, only grew worse. But the drought was ended; its curse was removed. Not because the people merited any favor, but because Christ is so good and so easily reconciled to His people. The goodness ought to have "led [them] to repentance". It seems it did not.

The same goodness is extended to us. Jesus Christ still "receives sinners". He receives them on easy terms; they don't pay for their sins; He did. He excludes no one from the offered mercy. We're invited to "Come without money and without price and to let our souls delight [themselves] in fatness". The only question that remains, therefore, is this: How will you respond to "the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering"? With God's blessing, you'll do better than the men of Elijah's day. As well you should, for "A Greater than Elijah is here". It is the Lord Himself--the Eternal Word--who is offering you mercy in the Gospel. Take it. For Christ's sake. Amen.