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A moment
for reflection Days of Elijah
by Alex Brown I was pointed at this song recently by a friend who had found a You Tube video of a group of US Marines singing “Days of Elijah” in their camp chapel.It's at the bottom of the page. It's perhaps not great singing but the enthusiasm can't be faulted. My friend said he found it strange that these tough fighting men should so embrace a religious song. I didn’t, as I remembered stories from my father1 about hard fighting, hard drinking, hard swearing “squaddies” calling out to God to save them when under fire. The statement "There are no atheists in foxholes" 2 is probably as true today as it was in 1942. Anyway, the video was enjoyable, even fun, but I had a nagging feeling that I had missed the point. I read the words again and again and it struck me that the first verse could be about our times. 1.These are the days of Elijah Declaring the word of the Lord: And these are the days of Your servant Moses Righteousness being restored And though these are days of great trial Of famine and darkness and sword Still, we are the voice in the desert crying 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord!' Are these our ‘Elijah’ days? Elijah felt isolated and alone, like many of us at this time, until God used him to stand up and speak for Him. Are these our "Days of great trial, of famine, darkness and sword", the “Time of Tribulation”, and are we being called to make a declaration of what we believe in??? |
2.And these are the days of Ezekiel
The dry bones becoming as flesh; And these are the days of Your servant David Rebuilding a temple of praise And these are the days of the harvest Oh, the fields are as white in Your world And we are the labourers in Your vineyard Declaring the word of the Lord! This second verse brings hope, hope that our belief in Lord Jesus will prevail and will be rewarded if we hold fast to that which is good. Finally the "days of the harvest" reminds us of the Great Commission : that Christians should go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Chorus : Behold He comes riding on the clouds Shining like the sun at the trumpet call; Lift your voice, it's the year of jubilee And out of Zion's hill salvation comes! According to Robin Mark, the author, the chorus “is the ultimate declaration of hope - Christ's return. It is paraphrased from the books of Revelation and Daniel and the vision that was seen of the coming King and refers to the return of Christ and the year of Jubilee.” And : There is no God like Jehovah! ( Repeated x15 ) Repetition in music and poetry is used as stress, so in this song the repetition of “There is no God like Jehovah,” reminds us of the all surpassing supremacy of God. My personal feeling about the song “Days of Elijah”? We are being encouraged as Christians to celebrate. The song shows us that prophecies about Christ and God’s people have been fulfilled across hundreds of years. Christ is coming again … this time “riding on the clouds, at the trumpet’s sound.” |
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MtdyRDy4fU
Do you want to know more?
[i] For more on the history of this song, see “The Story Behind Days of Elijah” at :
http://robinmark.com/the-story-behind-days-of-elijah/
and the full lyrics at :
https://genius.com/Robin-mark-days-of-elijah-lyrics
[ii] Elijah – A great ninth century prophet. ( 1 Kings 17 & 18 )
[iii] Moses – Circa 1500 BC, the great Old Testament leader. ( Exodus )
[iv] Famines and Darkness and Sword – In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus predicted that before his return there would be days of great trials. ( Matthew 24:3-13 ).
[v] Year of Jubilee / Jubilee – Beginning on the Day of Atonement every fiftieth year it proclaimed a nationwide release from debt and bondage. The New Testament teaches that Jubilee anticipated what Jesus will bring when he rides in on the clouds at the trumpet’s call ( Luke 4:16–21 , 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ).
[vi] Zion’s Hill – The hill on which Jerusalem, the city of David, was built.
[vii] Ezekiel - a priest and prophet during Israel’s Babylonian exile beginning in 597 BC and predicted the reunification of Israel and the hope of the resurrection. ( Ezekiel 37:1-14 )
[viii] David – Circa 1000 BC, the second king of Israel king. God promised that one from the line of David would reign forever (2 Sam 7:12-13 ). One thousand years after David, Jesus was born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem (Luke 2:5 ).
Footnotes :
1 Craftsman Andrew Brown, REME, 51st HD ( 1942-1945 ).
2 This has been claimed to be a special case of the statement "There are no atheists.” Perhaps someone more theologically minded than I could expand on this?
here to edit.
Do you want to know more?
[i] For more on the history of this song, see “The Story Behind Days of Elijah” at :
http://robinmark.com/the-story-behind-days-of-elijah/
and the full lyrics at :
https://genius.com/Robin-mark-days-of-elijah-lyrics
[ii] Elijah – A great ninth century prophet. ( 1 Kings 17 & 18 )
[iii] Moses – Circa 1500 BC, the great Old Testament leader. ( Exodus )
[iv] Famines and Darkness and Sword – In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus predicted that before his return there would be days of great trials. ( Matthew 24:3-13 ).
[v] Year of Jubilee / Jubilee – Beginning on the Day of Atonement every fiftieth year it proclaimed a nationwide release from debt and bondage. The New Testament teaches that Jubilee anticipated what Jesus will bring when he rides in on the clouds at the trumpet’s call ( Luke 4:16–21 , 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ).
[vi] Zion’s Hill – The hill on which Jerusalem, the city of David, was built.
[vii] Ezekiel - a priest and prophet during Israel’s Babylonian exile beginning in 597 BC and predicted the reunification of Israel and the hope of the resurrection. ( Ezekiel 37:1-14 )
[viii] David – Circa 1000 BC, the second king of Israel king. God promised that one from the line of David would reign forever (2 Sam 7:12-13 ). One thousand years after David, Jesus was born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem (Luke 2:5 ).
Footnotes :
1 Craftsman Andrew Brown, REME, 51st HD ( 1942-1945 ).
2 This has been claimed to be a special case of the statement "There are no atheists.” Perhaps someone more theologically minded than I could expand on this?
here to edit.
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