About 20 years ago, the Lord spoke to me and said that he wanted me to use the “Days Of Elijah” in worship at Trinity United Methodist Church in Williamsport. At that time, I knew nothing about the hymn. I started to search for it and I located the music and we used it in worship. I wish I could say that it was well received, but it was a disaster. The congregation did not like it. The following week, I thought I would try it again.

The following Sunday, I gave a sermon about the “Days Of Elijah.” I reviewed the notes of the songwriter Robin Mark. Although I cannot go into an in-depth look at the hymn today, I want to say that even Mark did not realize all the things that are in the music.

The hymn begins, “These are the days of Elijah.” Elijah was considered the greatest prophet who ever lived. He, like Enoch, was taken into heaven without dying. Enoch walked the earth “365 years” and “was no more” (Genesis 5:24 NIV). For he “walked with God.” Elijah was taken into heaven in a whirlwind and was no more. Elijah’s successor, Elisha, witnessed it (2 Kings 2:1, 11). We are told that Elijah will appear again according to Malachi 4:5-6: “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 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.”

Since he was a prophet, he spoke in the name of the Lord. Another person who the Bible claims died before the Israelites entered the promised land was Moses. No one witnessed his death. No one knows where he is buried, and that includes Satan. In Jude 1:9, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’.” Moses constantly worked to restore righteousness that had been lost.

We, as with people throughout the ages, are going through trials and tribulations in life. The hymn tells us that it sometimes comes in the form of “famine and darkness and sword.” John the Baptist is no longer with us, so we now become the voice in the wilderness or the desert crying “prepare ye the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:4 KJV).

There will soon be a rapture when Jesus will appear. Robin Mark says, “Behold Jesus comes riding on the clouds/Shining like the sun at the trumpet call.” We are told it will be at the sound of the trumpet. This is not a time to be sad, but to celebrate. The hymn tells us we are to “Lift your voice, the year of jubilee.” The year of jubilee is every fifty years. People who sold themselves into slavery to pay debts were then set free. Land sold to others reverted to the original owner.

Mark tells us “And out of Zion’s hill, salvation comes,” and God’s people who have accepted him as Lord and Savior go to be with him forever, because he is covered in the blood of the Lamb of God who “takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 NIV).

The hymn continues: “And these are the days of Ezekiel.” Ezekiel was also a prophet. He is the one in the scripture who put the dry bones together. Like God who created the world by speaking, that is what Ezekiel did to the dry bones, and they came back to life. The dry bones are the bones of the Israelite people who will be revived. In a way, when they became a nation in 1948, that happened. Ezekiel prophesied to the bones, and they began to come together. The dry bones came together with flesh on them.

Mark goes on: “And these are the days of your servant David/Rebuilding a temple of praise.” Throughout David’s life, he made a commitment to God to build a house of worship. David organized everything and purchased what he needed, and he built it through Solomon. “And these are the days of the harvest.” Many of you will not want to hear this, but God has us on hold right now. It is harvest time. The lyrics state: “Oh, the fields are all white in Your world.” God’s world is the Kingdom of Heaven. The earth has been conquered, and King Jesus will return to claim his own. In the meantime, we are to be working in God’s field, not just harvesting food but souls. We have a lot of people who are looking for something to fill the emptiness inside of them. That hole that needs to be filled can only be filled by Jesus the Christ. It is our job to go into the fields and to help tend the crop until his return. So “we are the labourers in [His] vineyard/Declaring the word of the Lord!”

But when it comes to doing what God wants us to do, sometimes it does not get done because of the Seven Deadly Words of the Church: we never did it that way before, just like singing a hymn for the first time.

If we can get by that Satanic block in our Christian lives and in the church, we would be able to see what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do in the future.

Rev. Jim Behrens, Retired pastor from Susquehanna Conference United Methodist Church