Ⅰ
Elijah was a minister of the age with the vision for his age (cf. Mal. 4:5-6; Luke 1:13-17, 76-80; Matt. 17:1-13; Rev. 11:3-12); in every age the Lord has special things that He wants to accomplish; He has His own recoveries and His own works to do; the particular recovery and work that He does in one age is the ministry of that age; Elijah’s ministry was for him to be an anti-testimony, telling the children of Israel that idolatry is a sin that offends God; when all Israel worshipped idols, Elijah told them that the idols they worshipped were false gods, and only Jehovah was the true God:
A
Elijah’s name means “My God is Jehovah”; this speaks of his mission and message; he was the most prominent and the most representative of the prophets before the captivity, and he was an overcomer.
B
At the time of Elijah all Israel was worshipping Baal, and only Elijah said that Jehovah is God; he was a prophet raised up by God at one of the darkest hours of Israel’s sad history, when their desolation and darkness were most severe; the entire kingdom of Israel was following a pattern of idolatry—1 Kings 18:19.
C
Their worshipping Baal was actually their worshipping Satan; 2 Kings 1:2 says that the god of the Ekronites was Baal-zebub; in the New Testament Beelzebub means “the lord of flies,” referring to Satan as the ruler of the demons; this name was changed contemptuously by the Jews to Beelzebul, which means “the lord of the dunghill”—Matt. 10:25; 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15:
１
As the lord of the dunghill, Satan specializes in leading flies to feed on dung; since he is also the lord of flies, all sinners are like flies that follow Satan to “feed on dung”; all the fallen descendants of Adam are captives of Satan, who leads them about to commit sins and makes them “a slave of sin”—John 8:34.
２
We need to follow the apostle Paul’s pattern, who said that all the things that were once gains to him in the past, he counted as “refuse” (dregs, rubbish, filth, dog food, dung) that he might gain Christ—Phil. 3:5-8.
D
Ahab provoked Jehovah to anger more than all the kings before him; consequently, God raised up Elijah to declare that the children of Israel had been troubled because of idolatry and that only Jehovah is God—1 Kings 16:33; 18:4, 17-18, 37:
１
As New Testament believers, we need to take heed to the apostle John’s word—“Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21); idols refer to anything that replaces or is a substitute for Christ as the true, genuine, and real God (John 20:28-29); we need to see that the man Jesus is the very God (1:1-2; 5:18; 10:33; Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; 1 John 5:20).
２
Jehovah said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts”; an idol in our heart is anything within us that we love more than the Lord and that replaces the Lord in our life—Ezek. 14:3.
３
In the word antichrist, the Greek prefix anti has two main meanings—first, it means “against”; second, it means “in place of,” or “instead of ”; to be an antichrist is, on the one hand, to be against Christ, and on the other hand, it is to have something instead of Christ, something that replaces Christ—1 John 2:18-19.
４
We need to ask the Lord to save us from having a living that is in the principle of antichrist, the principle of replacing Christ, who is both the anointed One and the anointing; to have a living in the principle of antichrist is to have a living in the principle of being “anti-anointing,” which is to be “anti” the moving, working, and saturating of the Triune God within us—vv. 20, 27.
５
Satan’s aim is to receive worship from men by hiding behind numerous idols and religions (Matt. 4:8-9); idols have evil spirits and demons hiding behind them because Satan is behind them; the Father has to seek for worshippers because Satan is trying to rob God of worship (John 4:23-24; cf. 1 John 2:20, 27).
E
Elijah represents the principle of not caring for one’s own life in order to maintain God’s testimony; he was strong and courageous to stand before the king, the people, and the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal; when the church is desolate and the majority of the believers are lukewarm, God raises up overcomers to be an anti-testimony, who do not care for their own life and care only for God’s will (such as “Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells”)—Rev. 2:13-14; 12:11.
Morning Nourishment
1 Kings 18:18 ...He said, I have not troubled Israel, but you... have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah and have gone after the Baals.Phil. 3:7-8 ...What things were gains to me,...I have counted as loss on account of Christ...I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord...and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.
In every age the Lord has special things that He wants to accomplish. He has His own recoveries and His own works to do. The particular recovery and work that He does in one age is the ministry of that age.
It is God’s mercy that a person can see and come into contact with the ministry of that age. Yet it is altogether a different thing for a man to take up the courage to forsake the past ministry...Yet whether or not one can set aside his past ministry is entirely up to God’s mercy. (CWWN, vol. 57, “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry,” pp. 260-261)
Today’s Reading
Elijah’s ministry was an anti-testimony. When all Israel was worshipping idols, Elijah told them that the idols they worshipped were false gods, and only Jehovah was the true God (1 Kings 18:18, 21, 36; 2 Kings 1:16)... Elijah, as an anti-testimony, told them that idolatry is a sin that offends God. (CWWL, 1954, vol. 4, p. 549)Elijah...was the most prominent and the most representative of the prophets before the captivity, and he was an overcomer. When the people worshipped idols, he stood fast and did not worship them; thus, he was an anti-testimony. At that time, under the leading of the king of Israel, the people forsook God and went far away from Him; thus, God raised up Elijah to stand before the king and the people as an anti-testimony. At that time the people worshipped Baal, but Elijah told them to worship Jehovah instead. When the people said that all was peaceful and well, he told them that there would be no rain for three and a half years (1 Kings 17:1). He was a living testimony before the king and the people, and his conduct was contrary to that of the people.
There were many prophets of Baal during the time of Ahab, and they called themselves prophets of God. Although there were seven thousand hidden ones who did not worship Baal at that time, only Elijah openly bore an anti-testimony and did not fear death. Elijah alone stood before the king, the people, and the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal without any fear (18:17-40). Elijah represents the principle of not caring for one’s own life in order to maintain God’s testimony. When Elijah stood up to testify, the whole earth was against him; he alone testified for God. In this matter Elijah was special. Throughout the ages, among God’s people, some have been this kind of overcomer.
These matters in the Old Testament typify matters of the church in the New Testament. When the church is desolate and the majority of the believers forsake God’s testimony, God raises up overcomers to be an anti-testimony. Today the church needs overcomers according to this principle, that is, ones who do not care for their own life. Every overcomer and witness for God has the feeling that he alone is standing... Although God had hidden seven thousand who did not worship Baal, Elijah’s feeling was that he alone was standing (19:10)...To be an overcomer, one cannot fear the consequences, hold on to the past, or care for the attitudes of others; he must care only for God’s will. Elijah did not care for his life but stood as an anti-testimony, maintained God’s testimony, and told the people that they should follow Jehovah instead of Baal ...The principle of the overcomers that he represented in this period is that of rising up to be an anti-testimony when God’s people forsake His testimony. (CWWL, 1954, vol. 1, pp. 429-430)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “The Vision of the Age,” chs. 1-3; CWWN, vol. 11, “What Are We?” pp. 843-859; CWWN, vol. 57, ch. 25