Tuesday, November 3, 2026
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).
If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?
Elijah the Prophet lived during great apostasy, Israel departing from the LORD. In 1 Kings 16:29-34, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel declared Baal worship to be the official state religion. This was an egregious violation of the Law of Moses! “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, 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” (1 Kings 17:1). The duration of this drought and famine was three years and six months (Luke 4:25; James 5:17; cf. 1 Kings 18:1,2).
When James 5:16-18 indicates how Elijah “prayed earnestly that it might not rain” (and how “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”), it recalls that the Prophet had simply asked God to do what God had already promised to do in response to such idolatry! “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you” (Deuteronomy 11:13-17).
As the LORD’S preacher, Elijah knew the contract national Israel had made with JEHOVAH God at Mount Sinai. Disobedience meant wrath and judgment, so Elijah prayed to God what God had written centuries prior in the Law….
