| (Copyright) by Dwight Fleming (Oroville, California) |
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| “What goes up must come down.” So goes the old saying. If Elijah went up in a Chariot of Fire, then where did he come down? Have you ever thought about it? Where did Elijah land at the end of his famous chariot ride? Many believe that he landed in heaven and is there today. Yet Jesus stated that no one has ascended to heaven except Himself (See John 3:13). This would include Elijah. The Chariot of Fire did take Elijah to heaven, but it had to be the first heaven where birds fly and not the third heaven where God’s throne resides. If the third heaven was not the destination of the Chariot of Fire, then where did it take Elijah to? What became of Elijah? We all know the story of Elijah which can be found in I Kings 17 to 21 and 2 Kings 1 to 2. Elijah came on the scene during the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, who started to worship Baal and even married a foreign princess, Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. “Then he [Ahab] set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus, Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him” (I Kings 16:32-33). By this time, Israel had split into the northern kingdom, known as Israel, and the southern kingdom, known as Judah, after the death of Solomon. Jeroboam became king of Israel who set up two golden calves. One was located at Dan and the other at Bethel. By doing this, he wanted to prevent his subjects from going to Jerusalem in the southern kingdom for worship since he feared that it would undermine loyalty to him. This was his attempt to ensure his position of power. God was not pleased with this false worship but did tolerate it. Then Ahab with Jezebel took Israel further away from the true God with their introduction of Baal worship. Elijah was God’s countermeasure. Baal was the god of nature or weather. Baal was credited with bringing the seasonal rain for the growing of crops. Elijah exposed this false god for what he really was. A fake that only existed in the minds of any worshippers. A new form of Baal worship has arisen during our time. It is now called “climate change.” And the prophets of Baal are now called “scientists” or “environmentalists.” We all know how Elijah called for a three-year drought which ended when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest to prove who the true God was. You can read the story in I Kings 17 and 18. This is why Elijah became known as the “flaming prophet.” The Eternal God answered Elijah’s prayer with fire from heaven which devoured the sacrifice and proved to any bystanders who was the true God. Has any prophet since Elijah demonstrated the power of God in such a grand way which mocked the false prophets of his day? Yet Elijah is not yet done. His best challenge is still ahead. How so? Consider this prophecy: “’Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be like stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left of them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees, and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet to you before that great and dreadful day comes [as described above]’” (Malachi 4:1-5). How will God fulfill this prophecy? If Elijah lived centuries ago, then how will he be able to fulfill this end-time prophecy? Many believe that Elijah is still alive in heaven and God will send him back to earth to fulfill this end-time mission. As we have seen, Elijah is not currently residing in the third heaven. Okay, if Elijah died many years ago, then will God raise him from the dead to complete this final mission? That is possible but are there other possible means for God to send Elijah to do an end-time work? How often have you looked at family pictures and noticed the resemblance of family members? The similarities can be in personality as well as physical appearance. It is God’s way of “cloning” someone through the generations. We call it a family tree. Recall that Malachi said that a day is coming when evildoers will not be left root or branch. And what will be the end-time mission of Elijah? “He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction” (Malachi 4:6). How will Elijah know how to do this if he never had a family himself? Well, maybe that is the story that is missing from the Bible. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out” (Proverbs 25:2). Time to put on your detective hat and pull out the magnifying glass, Sherlock. A bent twig or a small thread may be the only clues we find. Yet, they can lead us to possible answers if we are able to “read between the lines.” If the answers were as plain as the noses on our faces, then the matter would not be concealed. Is there any evidence that Elijah landed on planet earth after his chariot ride? Well, unless heaven has mail service, a letter could not get from heaven to earth. God uses angels to send messages not letter carriers. Notice: “Then a letter came to Jehoram [king of Judah] from Elijah the prophet, which stated: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says, “You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah, but you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and have caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab prostituted itself” (2 Chronicles 21:12-13). This letter appears to have come after Elijah’s chariot ride. His chariot ride occurred during the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, who ruled after Asa. Elijah’s letter was sent to Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat. Thus, we have a problem with the belief that Elijah was taken to the third heaven. You can find various articles online which deal with this seemingly chronological problem. There is no problem if you accept the obvious and ignore false assumptions about Elijah being in heaven. Realize that Elijah became a “wanted man” at the beginning of his calling by halting the rain in Israel and causing a severe drought. God told Elijah to hide. After the brook dried up, God told him to go to a city in Sidon. Sidon was located in the area of Lebanon. This was outside of Israel. Remember that Ahab had looked for Elijah in many nations during the drought (See I Kings 18:7-11). Rather than hiding in some luxury resort or a well-known palace, Elijah was sent to reside with a lowly widow. Yet she honored Elijah by giving him her last meal. This showed her recognition that Elijah was a prophet of the true God. No one would think to look for a mighty prophet at some “no-name” widow’s house. For her loyalty, she and her son had just enough flour and oil for each day’s sustenance which allowed them to survive the drought and famine. Elijah stayed in the upper room. A crisis developed when the widow’s son fell ill and apparently died. Yet Elijah prayed over the boy, and he recovered. This was a heart-moving event and not just a “matter-of-fact” incident. Do you suppose any kind of feelings may have developed between Elijah and the widow during the time of his stay there? This is where Hollywood makes its millions, folks. Get your popcorn and your soda and imagine what may have happened to Elijah’s heart and the widow’s heart. Elijah SAVED her son’s life!!! How more dramatic can you get? Elijah was her hero!!! However, Elijah had a job to do, so any personal matters had to wait. As we all know, Elijah returned to Israel in the third year to challenge the prophets of Baal to a contest. God answered by fire and the rest is history. Elijah in time took on a protege, Elisha, who would carry on Elijah’s work. Why was it necessary for Elijah to leave? Did God have another “task” for Elijah elsewhere? Notice Elisha’s statement when Elijah was taken up by a Chariot of Fire into the whirlwind: “As Elisha watched, he cried out, ‘My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ And he saw Elijah no more” (2 Kings 2:12). Did Elisha think of Elijah as a father figure or was this a prophetic announcement of Elijah’s future role? Was it time for Elijah to start a family tree? Meanwhile, the widow left behind in a small village in Sidon waited patiently not for the prophet but for the man who had captured her heart. She wondered if she would ever see him again or if widowhood would be her lasting fate. Sitting on the front steps of her humble home, she noticed a small speck in the sky. It grew larger and appeared to be some kind of whirlwind. The wind began to blow her hair across her face. She brushed it back as the whirlwind dissipated and a Chariot of Fire raced toward her. A frightening sight yet she felt no fear but remained calm as her heart began to leap! “Could it be? Has God answered my prayer?” From the Chariot of Fire, a man stepped out to reveal himself. “Yes! It is him!” His mantle had been passed onto another so that he could now take a wife and start his own family. As God had hid him at the beginning, so God hid him at the end. This would ensure that he would not be hounded, nor his family be subject to persecution allowing them to exist in peace and anonymity. This may only sound like fantasy. But consider the possibility as to how God does work. Is not the Old Testament a story about a man and his family? From one generation to the next the story carries on. If we lose our history, we lose our identity. Will this future Elijah help us to remember who we are? It seems that each generation of this modern era is drifting further away from God. Elijah may not appear to us in a Chariot of Fire but in “a still small voice.” The Chariot of Fire was to impress his beloved. Does God know how to sweep a lady off her feet or what? |
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