1 Kings 17:7-24, Elijah: Psychic or Prophet of God?

In the previous post we answered 3 questions about New Age religion that should be asked about any religious entity: what is your authority?  What is your message?  On what do you base the truth of that message?  In the case of Elijah, the answer to these questions was important in his time.  Israel was not sold on the true God, the God who had chosen them from all the nations of the earth.  They were surrounded by an empty religion that claimed to have substance.  And now, in today’s passage, he had been sent by God to a widow lady in Sidon.

·       What was Elijah’s AUTHORITY?  The answer is simple and must remain simple: Elijah claimed to speak for God.  “The word of the LORD came to him” (v8).  “For thus says the LORD God of Israel” (v14).  “The word of the LORD which HE (God) spoke by Elijah” (v16).  “The word of the LORD in your mouth is truth” (v24).  That last quote is from the widow lady who came to understand that Elijah’s authority was truly that he spoke for the LORD!

·       What was Elijah’s MESSAGE?  The message of the prophet was to call people to repentance.  Elijah did that through the drought that called attention to the idolatry.  But in the story involving the widow and her son, we actually see the full message of the gospel.  God sent Elijah to this woman as an act of grace.  In Luke 4:25-26 Jesus spoke of this woman, and that God had chosen this “Gentile” widow.  And what was there about her?  She was a woman of faith.  She received Elijah by faith, willing to trust him and give him a morsel of bread before she fed herself and her son.  God blessed her for that. 

·       But she still had doubts, apparently.  So, what was Elijah’s VERIFICATION that convinced her?  It was the miraculous reviving of her son.  Was this the work of some “psychic” or was it the work of God through His prophet?  The answer is the latter.  Why?  Because Elijah prayed (v21).  God heard and answered (v22).  This is Biblical verification.  It was true in the days of Moses (Ex. 4:1-9), in the earthly ministry of Jesus (Ac. 2:22) and in the apostolic age (Heb. 2:2-4).  Verification was by signs and wonders by the power of God.

So let us consider our situation.  Whether New Age or any of the other religious options that continue to be made available to searching humans, we come in the authority of Christ, with the message of the gospel.  What verification do we need?  Do we need signs and wonders?  Absolutely not!  We are not presenting a new message as were the Biblical prophets and apostles (2 Pet. 3:1-2).  What we need is a message that is consistent with the Bible.  God has spoken in a final, authoritative way: through His Son (Heb. 1:1-3).  Our AUTHORITY, MESSAGE and VERIFICATION all have to do with the Bible, the word of God!