Baby Elijah and Joseph Kor Kor
When my wife and I were planning for a 2nd child, we decided to choose another Bible name for the unborn child. If it was a girl – we already had both her English and Chinese names chosen years ago (by my wife). If the baby was a boy, one criteria we had was that it should be unique and a strong character in the Bible. In terms of being unique, we wanted to have a name not already chosen by someone in church or from our family. We also wanted the name to resonate as a good example for our child to emulate.
Many good names were already taken but the beauty of the Bible was that there were still many great and strong characters to choose from. The name “Elijah” was shortlisted when we found out that we were blessed with another boy. How did we decide on the name “Elijah?” Firstly, no one in our congregation is named Elijah, so we would not be calling the wrong Elijah. Secondly, we could not think of any friends named Elijah that gave us a bad impression when we were younger. Lastly, Elijah in the Bible was a great prophet of God, shining as a beacon to the Israelites who lost their way during a tumultuous time, led by a series of kings who forsook God, such as King Ahab and his son, King Ahaziah. Although Elijah was a great prophet, he also had low points in life.
The thing about the Bible is that apart from Jesus, no one else has been portrayed to be perfect. We see both the good and the bad side of many biblical characters, giving us relief that the challenges faced by us today were also faced by them. Their flaws help us to relate better to them, and gives us assurance that we ourselves can overcome and gain God’s forgiveness and favour if we have faith in Him and His Word.
Elijah’s main story in the Bible can be found in 1 Kings 17-19, 21 where Elijah showed the power of God by defeating the priests of Baal and also in 2 Kings 1 -2 where Elijah called down fire to destroy 2 groups of 50 men from King Ahaziah, and then his subsequent whirlwind ascension to heaven in a fiery chariot and horses.
Reading Elijah’s story, we can say that his journey was a rather bloody one, where he had to kill many people to remind the Israelites about the existence of God. Instead of focusing on the dark history, I would like baby Elijah to focus on two things to guide his journey towards God:
1) Humans are fragile, yet can be strong when given the proper encouragement
What always confused me is that in 1 Kings 19:3, when Elijah heard that Queen Jezebel wanted to kill him for killing the prophets of Baal, he ran away into the wilderness and asked God to take his life.
After performing two great miracles, and re-invigorating the Israelites, why did he run away from the threat of Jezebel? Where was Elijah’s faith?
Be that as it may, with God’s encouragement, Elijah managed to recover from this ordeal to deliver God’s warning to King Ahab and mentor Elisha to take over his mantle and shepherd God’s children after he ascended into heaven.
The Bible shows that Elijah was not a perfect person, but through God’s encouragement and acts of kindness, he overcame his low spirit and continued doing God’s work. Unlike the majority of Israel during that turbulent time, Elijah’s obedience to God allowed him to be moulded to become a great prophet.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13)
2) In times of loneliness, God is our source of hope
In the period of 1 and 2 Kings, the kings of Israel, who were supposed to be the ambassadors of God, adopted idol worship and led the Israelites astray. In 1 Kings 18:22, 19:10, 14, Elijah thought that he was the only faithful servant left. This must have felt extremely lonely and demoralising.
However, God gave hope to Elijah by telling him about the 7000 Israelites that were still faithful like him, allowing him to power on with God’s instructions to anoint Hazael, Jehu and Elisha to various important ministries within His people. This goes to show that regardless of whatever dire situations we are in, God always gives us hope that a better tomorrow awaits.
As our son Elijah grows up in the faith, just like his biblical namesake, I would want him to be a good example to others through his faith, as well as to be a source of encouragement and beacon of hope through noble thoughts and actions (Hence his name in Chinese 关怀君 which means embracing nobleness).
"Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord" (Psalm 31:24)
Stay tuned for Part 3.
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