What does it mean that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours (James 5:17)?

Furthermore, in the New Testament we learn another truth concerning Elijah. James brings the prophet forward as an illustration of the mighty things that can be accomplished by the earnest prayer of one righteous man. Prayer in private was another great secret of his power in public. He could stand before the wicked king because he had knelt before the living God. And his was no mere formal prayer that avails nothing, but an earnest prayer that avails much. A prayer that had the glory of God in view as well as the blessing of the people, and therefore, "he prayed earnestly that it might not rain." A terrible prayer to have to put up to the living God about the people of God! And yet as Elijah surveyed the condition of the people, and could see no recognition of God throughout the breadth and length of the land, he realized it was better for them to suffer the years of drought, if this would turn them to God, than to enjoy prosperity in defiance of God and pass on to a worse judgment. Zeal for God and love for the people were behind this solemn prayer.

Moreover James reminds us that Elijah was "subject to like passions as we are." Like ourselves he was encompassed with human weaknesses and human infirmities. What a comforting lesson this fact may teach us! We too, like him, can be men of power, if we, in spite of the evil around us, walk in the consciousness that God is the living God, if we seek more constantly to move and speak and act in His presence as standing before Him, and if we are more often found before Him in earnest Spirit-led prayer.

Foreword The Scriptures abound with records of the lives of saints who have gone before us. These are "written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4), and God would have us ponder what His Spirit has written concerning them. We are apt, however, to move in a world of unreality as we read these records. It is meant by this that we are apt to think of the worthies of old time as persons cast in an altogether different mould to ourselves. We are expressly guarded against this in James 5:17. There we are told concerning one of the mightiest of the prophets that "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are." Therefore we dare not excuse ourselves if we discover upon examination that we are living upon a lower spiritual plane than the saints of Bible times. What was possible for them in the way of suffering and testimony is possible for us also. It is simply a question of faith in God. Some may wonder why neither Elijah nor Elisha have a place in Hebrews 11. The reason is that "Hebrews" is a wilderness epistle and it contemplates the saints as pilgrims ever on the move towards the rest of God. Thus the writer traces the working of faith in various individuals until Israel eat red the land. Then he ceases to particularize, for the Spirit's end had been attained. The Lord grant that these meditations upon Elisha the prophet may yield spiritual profit to many. W.W.F.

Foreword Having published many years ago a book on "Elisha the Prophet" the question has sometimes been asked, "Why have you passed by Elijah?" No special reason can be given; but here, at long last, is a book on Elisha's distinguished predecessor. May its message be helpful to us all. We are in danger of regarding the worthies of old time — especially those whose records are given us in Holy Scripture—in a false light. To the common-place people of the Twentieth Century those characters seem to have walked upon heights inaccessible to us. We look with awe at Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Paul (to name only a few), and perhaps we feel that we can never hope to walk as they walked, and serve as they served. The ancient worthies thus become almost unreal to us. Now the Holy Spirit has expressly guarded against this in the case of Elijah. In James 5:17 we are told that "he was a man subject to like passions as we are." This meant that this remarkable man of God, whose name will never perish, was not essentially different from any present-day Christian. He was bold, certainly; but he could also be moody, nervous, and self-centred. Unlike human biographers, the Holy Spirit tells us the whole truth about the characters of whom He writes. We must never forget that Old Testament believers were not favoured as we are. They knew God as the Almighty, and as Jehovah, but not as Father; for the Only-Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, had not yet come to earth to declare Him (John 1:18). Moreover, as they lived on the other side of the Cross, they knew nothing of the privileges, blessings, and intimate relationships which are unfolded in the Apostolical Epistles. Also, the Holy Spirit had not been given, as a divine favour of love; this could not be until the risen Christ took His seat on high on the ground of accomplished redemption (John 7:39). No doubt, there were from time to time special endowments with the Holy Spirit's power for particular service; but that is not the same thing as the Holy Spirit given to abide with the saints for ever (John 14:16). Thus we are more favoured, and have more at our command, than the prophet who is the theme of this book. What made Elijah the mighty man he was? Prayer, preceded by deep exercise concerning the condition of things around him. He walked in conscious dependence upon God. He was his strength and stay. This surely is open to believers in any age. Sometimes we excuse our non-success in service by saying, "it is a day of small things" (Zech 4:10). Another has suggested that we had far better say, "it is a day of small men!" But why should we be small men? Why should we not be filled with zeal for the glory of God, as Elijah was? Our work will, of course, differ from his in character. Every crisis has its own needs, and God knows where to find His suited instruments. But why should not the reader say, "Here am I send me." (Isa 6:8).

The New Testament tells us precisely what had taken place prior to the moment of Elijah's public appearance. "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months" (James 5:17). That man knew God, and had gone to him earnestly in prayer. He realised the awful state of Israel. He saw how the Lord had been dishonoured; His temple slighted, and His worship set aside; for later on he says, "The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword" (1 Kings 19:10). This is what the apostle Paul calls his intercession against Israel.

Nothing could be worse than the state of Israel in that day. A person who was not really in nearness to God, and in the sense of His power, which alone could meet so serious a state of affairs, would have given all up as hopeless. But what is so exceedingly charming to learn is this, that before this man appears in public, he has been alone with God. If we are going to have much blessing, there will have to be more prayer. The men who have been really used of God, the mighty men in the field, have been always mighty men in the closet. They have been men of prayer. I find that Elijah prayed "earnestly." He was a wonderful man, but he was "a man subject to like passions as we are." He was exactly like you and me. What does he do? He goes to God in prayer, feeling that the only way in which Israel's declension could be arrested was by the intervention of God's hand. Then in answer to his prayer, God in His sovereignty is pleased to shut up the heavens for three years and a half. You know what terrible effects a drought of that nature would produce.

To encourage us in prayer, the Apostle turns our thoughts to Elias to show that the “fervent supplication of the righteous man has much power” (N.Tn.). Elias was a man of like passions as ourselves. Like us he had his seasons of failure and despondency, and yet, in answer to his prayer, the rain was withheld for three years and six months. In his history we see the display of outward power under the authority of God, for Elijah said, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” (1 Kings 17:1). Here we are permitted to see the secret source of this public display of power. He prayed and God heard and answered his prayer.

The example of Elias (Elijah) is a striking one. His nature was no different than ours (indeed he proved himself subject to discouragement and complaining): yet in faith he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. This is certainly a most unusual prayer (prayer for rain is generally more understandable); but he discerned the evil state of his nation to be such as required drastic measures, and there is no doubt that it was God who directed him in his prayer, and then restrained the rain for three and a half years.

In connection with this Elijah is brought before us. Verse 17 is particularly interesting inasmuch as the Old Testament makes no mention of the fact that he prayed that it might not rain, though we are given very full details of how he prayed for rain at the end of the three and a half years in 1 Kings 18. He is introduced to us very abruptly in the opening verse of 1 Kings 17 as telling Ahab that it would not rain, so this verse in James gives us a peep into scenes before his public appearance — scenes of private and personal dealings with God. Though of like passions to ourselves he was righteous, and burning with the fervency of a passion for the glory of God. Hence he was heard, and he knew that he was heard with an assurance that enabled him to confidently tell Ahab what God was going to do. Would that we resembled him, if only in a small degree!

Prayer in James presents most interesting features. First, there is the encouragement to prayer which the Holy Spirit addresses to our hearts by reminding us that Elias who wrought so wondrously was a man of like passions to ourselves (ch.5:17,18); as if to say, "There is an example for you; see what is open to you!" Secondly, James, by the Holy Spirit, makes a positive revelation of facts in Elijah's history, which otherwise we should not have known. The Historical Books give us the outward acts of Elijah; James reveals the process which brought them about. Elijah's first introduction to us is in 1 Kings 17:1, where the great drama of his exploits is opened with the simple statement that he "said unto Ahab," "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." This is the first mention of Elijah. Nothing is said of him but that he was a Tishbite of Gilead. Who he was; how it happened that this person with no official authority - no locus standi - should thrust himself into the presence of the king, and make such a dread announcement, the history does not say. But there is a great underlying principle. It is that when the official representation of God is false, God's Spirit will raise up a witness from outside. It is ever so. "When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him" (Isa.59:19). And there is nothing in which God's sovereignty is more displayed than in the instruments He chooses. When the civil rule is apostate, and eight hundred false prophets are loud in the land, He will act by whom He will. Now James reveals the secret of Elijah's surprising action. That secret was communion with God. "Elias was a man of like passions to us, and he prayed with prayer that it should not rain; and it did not rain upon the earth three years and six months; and again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to spring forth" (James 5:17,18).

Prayer in James presents most interesting features. First, there is the encouragement to prayer which the Holy Spirit addresses to our hearts by reminding us that Elias who wrought so wondrously was a man of like passions to ourselves; as if to say, "There is an example for you; see what is open to you!" Secondly, James, by the Holy Spirit, makes a positive revelation of facts in Elijah's history, which otherwise we should not have known. The Historical Books give us the outward acts of Elijah; James reveals the process which brought them about. Elijah's first introduction to us is in 1 Kings 17:1, where the great drama of his exploits is opened with the simple statement that he "said unto Ahab," "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." This is the first mention of Elijah. Nothing is said of him but that he was a Tishbite of Gilead. Who he was; how it happened that this person with no official authority — no locus standi should thrust himself into the presence of the king, and make such a dread announcement, the history does not say. But there is a great underlying principle. It is that when the official representation of God is false, God's Spirit will raise up a witness from outside. It is ever so. "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isa. 59:19). And there is nothing in which God's sovereignty is more displayed than in the instruments He chooses. When the civil rule is apostate, and eight hundred false prophets are loud in the land, He will act by whom He will. Now James reveals the secret of Elijah's surprising action. That secret was communion with God. "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit" (James 5:17-18).

It is said in connection with Elijah that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." It does not say how much. It is as large as it can be. Elijah is given as an illustration. We are carefully told that he was a man of like passions with us. After the mighty conflict and victory at Carmel we see him under the juniper tree wishing he might die! What a collapse! Why is it brought before us in that way? Just to show us that our weakness cannot hinder His power.