“Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist…His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.’” ( Matthew 14:8, 11) 7. She wanted John silenced because she didn’t like what he said, even though she knew he was right. Herodias’ contempt for John went so far that she connived to get Herod to pronounce the death sentence on him. “So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.’” ( 1 Kings 19:2) Rather than see that this was a victory of the Lord Almighty, she defended Baal. They Both Had Their Lives Sought by Wicked Queens.Įlijah’s defeat of the prophets of Baal enraged Jezebel so much she wanted him dead. “Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’” ( Matthew 14:3-4)Ħ. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals.” ( 1 Kings 18:18) “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. Elijah confronted Ahab and John went against the actions of Herod Antipas. They Both Preached Against the Behavior of Evil KingsĮlijah and John’s courageous attitudes gave them an authoritative voice to speak against the sin of even a king. “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” ( Matthew 3:7) 5. John recognized the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who had corrupted the original intent of the Lord’s commands. You will certainly die!’” ( 2 Kings 1:16) “He told the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. Previous kings had not followed the Lord and with Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel, a Phoenician princess, Baal came with her. Elijah spoke against the idol worship the Jews had fallen into. They Both Were Separated from the False Religions of Their DayĮlijah and John recognized the hypocrisy of the nation’s leaders. “And his food was locusts and wild honey.” ( Matthew 3:4b)Ĥ. John partook of the available resources where he dwelled. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.’” ( 1 Kings 17:2-3) “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.

Supernatural provision was given to Elijah by ravens. The desert grocery store wasn’t nearby, nor was there a fast-food restaurant for a goat burger or fig salad. God provided for both of them in unusual ways. They Were Both Fed from the Wildlife of the Desert “Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist’” ( Matthew 3:4) 3. “The King asked them, ‘What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?’ They replied, ‘He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.’ The king said, ‘That was Elijah the Tishbite.’” ( 2 Kings 1:7-8) The dauntless messengers didn’t comply with the strictures of conformity. Most people wore robes of some type of cloth, not many wore animal hair. Their Appearance Was the SameĮlijah and John could be identified, even from a distance, by their wardrobe. “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” ( Matthew 3:1-2) 2. John came in the same power as Elijah and compares to him in these seven ways. So, the Almighty sent His man to do that work. The kingdom of heaven was at hand, but hard hearts would not be able to receive without the spiritual groundwork laid. John’s preaching started to soften them to hear what God wanted to say. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”īefore the Father could reveal His Son to Israel and then the world, He had to prepare the nation’s heart to receive salvation. The Lord prophesied in Malachi 4:6 NIV, “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. Prophets proclaimed messages to them and when they didn’t listen, the nation was taken into captivity and faced droughts and famines as judgment for their behavior.Īfter the last prophet, there was a dry spell of 400 years without a message from heaven. All through Israel’s history, the population fluctuated between repentance and sin.

Elijah bible study