Elijah—a Hard Thing to Ask

Then there is that wonderful servant of God, Elijah. It is very interesting to note when we first meet him and when we leave him. He comes before us first directly from the presence of the Lord. He comes out of a hidden place to speak; no one ever heard of him before, according to the record given in Scripture. He comes before us in this way: "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.
From James 5:17 we learn that he had been in communion with God about it. It was his love to the Lord's people, and his love to the Lord that led him to say in substance: Lord, if nothing else will bring the people to their senses, to a sense of their sin, withhold the rain. It was a hard thing to ask, yet it was love that led to it. He got the answer.
Elijah goes on, and after a while we find him leaving this world, and oh, what a departure! He is carried to heaven in a chariot of fire. Next we see him, not going to heaven, but in the glory itself, and there with the Lord and with Moses. (Matt. 17:3.)
What preceded his going to heaven that way? He was overcome with evil. Was a man that went to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was seen on the mount of glory, and in the glory with the Lord and Moses, really overcome of evil? What do we find him doing? Making intercession against Israel. (Rom. 11:2.) "Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life." Then he asked to die. He was overcome of evil in that way. (See Rom. 11:2,3.)
We are told not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:21.) The love with which we are loved, and the love with which we are to love, is the love of Christ-it never can be overcome of evil. Do we not feel the danger of being overcome with evil, being cast down, when we see evil coming in like a flood?