Why Was Elijah so Unpopular?

We see Elijah as a trailblazing prophet and faithful servant of the Lord. He decried idol worship, performed miracles, was taken up into heaven on a chariot of fire, and would have special significance in the coming of the Messiah.

But that’s not how King Ahab saw things. To him, Elijah was the “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17). For Ahab violated God’s law—and Elijah called him on it. When Ahab and Jezebel his wife worshiped Baal, a pagan idol of rain and fertility, Elijah prophesied drought and famine. And the more they transgressed God’s commands, the more Elijah rebuked them.

In today’s message from his video teaching series Dust to Glory, R.C. Sproul reminds us why prophets were often so unpopular. A primary role of the prophet was to pronounce God’s judgment. And to a wayward, sinful people, the voice of the prophet was hardly welcome.

Ahab and Jezebel ruthlessly hunted Elijah, but they failed to silence him. And Elijah’s message—his prophetic call to repentance—is one that still needs to be heard today.

Watch today’s message, or for a limited time, request your copy of the full teaching series Dust to Glory for a donation of any amount. You can also dig deeper into the Scriptures with the Reformation Study Bible.