Elijah: Faith and FireSýnishorn

Elijah Calling

Read Jeremiah 1:5. 

In biblical days, names were quite often synonymous with a person’s calling and character. They weren’t simply nomenclature. They signified one’s reputation. The syllables of Hebrew names, like a puzzle meticulously fitted together, built layer upon layer of insight into who this person really was or was meant to be. So when Elijah first arrived in town, anyone in the vicinity would have known where his allegiance stood, simply by hearing his name.

• El, meaning, “God” 

• I, meaning, “my” 

• Jah, meaning, “Yahweh”

People who knew Elijah knew where he stood, even before they really knew him.

Elijah’s first words to Ahab in 1 Kings 17:1 were sort of a pledge of allegiance, which corresponded with the meaning of his name. Turn to this verse and notice the layers: 

• The LORD 

• The LORD is ______ 

• The LORD is God of ____________ 

• The LORD God of Israel __________ 

• The LORD God of Israel lives, and I have pledged my sole allegiance to Him.

What in the world gave this uncouth, uncivilized, underdressed man from the dusty backwoods of a small town the idea that he could stand in front of a king?

How did this guy get in here? 

The answer to this question is, we don’t know. Frustrating, huh? Scholars are unsure how Elijah ever ended up being granted an audience with King Ahab and why his life was spared when he did, especially considering the unwelcome message he came to deliver. Nothing other than the sovereignty of Almighty God could be responsible for arranging this unimaginable appointment. 

But we do know this: they understood what this meeting was about, even before the prophet opened his mouth. Elijah’s name had become synonymous with his character. His God was Yahweh. Apparently, his whole life had been shaped by the meaning of his name. 

So as 1 Kings 17 opens, Elijah was physically standing before a king. But his real standing—his true allegiance—was before Yahweh.

Knowing your name—knowing who you are—gives you the courage to stand on the bedrock of eternal truth, to stand there in the name of the One who “called you for a righteous purpose” (Isa. 42:6, CSB). 

So when Elijah set out from Gilead, tromping out of the hills toward the city, toward the throne room of Ahab, with God’s Word in his mouth and God’s strength pulsating in his heart, he may not have known much. But he did know what his name meant. And there he would take his stand.

For more of this study, including video teaching by author Priscilla Shirer, visit LifeWay.com/Elijah.