He Will Turn the Hearts

As they [Elijah and Elisha] were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. (2 Kings 2:11-12, NIV 1984).

My Musings – The confrontation on Mt. Carmel was the pinnacle for Elijah. Soon, it would be time to pass the torch to another. God had instructed him to “anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.” (1 Kings 19:16, NIV 1984).

Elijah became only to second person that did not die. “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” (Genesis 5;24, NIV 1984). But unlike Enoch, God still had plans for Elijah. “I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6, NIV 1984).

But, before God took Elijah away in the chariot of fire in the whirlwind, Elijah’s enemy would meet his fate. Ahab went to war with the King of Aram, to retake Ramoth Gilead. During the climactic battle “someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot. [He] died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood. (1 Kings 22:34, NIV 1984).

“There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.” (1 Kings 21:25, NIV 1984). What a way to be remembered by posterity. Because of this, including being responsible for the murder of an innocent man, God had proclaimed, “in the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s [the man that Ahab had murdered] blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!” (1 Kings 21:19, NIV 1984). And so, it was. Just as God decreed.

Also, just as God decreed, He would send Elijah. After Jesus’ transfiguration with Moses and Elijah, His disciples asked, “‘why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus replied, ‘To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him [John the Baptist] everything they wished, just as it is written about him.'” (Mark 9:11-13, NIV 1984). The suffering of Christ on the cross was indeed a “great and dreadful day.” And since that day He has been turning people’s hearts.

My Advice – Yet another great and dreadful day remains. The “day of the Lord” when Christ comes again, before which Elijah is expected to come again as well. “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days.” (Revelation 11:3, NIV 1984). Because of the transfiguration, many believe these two will be Moses and Elijah. Certainly, because of the Malachi 4:5-6, NIV 1984, one will be Elijah, and a “great multitude” of hearts will be turned. Make sure yours is one of those hearts, before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.” For come it will, because things do happen just as God says they will.