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Days of Elijah
I have had quite a few people ask me for an explanation of the roots and meaning of the words and themes contained in "Days of Elijah" since I wrote the song back in 1994.
The song is generally and principally a song of "hope." The themes it explores are to do with the fact that, although raised a Methodist, I attended a lot of Brethren or Gospel Hall meetings as a small boy and somehow the theology of Old Testament stories and characters being, either as themselves or by their actions, "types" or "examples" of Christ and the Church got stuck in my head. That is, even though they were historical factual people, living in the old covenant days, their actions and characters can be used to teach and represent the character of God under the new covenant, and they continually and repeatedly point to Christ. People call this "typology" or "typical" analysis of the Scriptures.
Firstly the song came from watching a television show called "Review of the Year" at the end of 1994. This was the year of the Rwandan civil war tragedy, which claimed one million peoples' lives, and also when the first ceasefires in Northern Ireland were declared. On this T.V. review were a lot of daft stories, happy stories, serious stories, and then absolutely devastating stories like the Rwandan situation. As I watched the review unfold, I found myself despairing about the state of the world and, in prayer, began asking God if He was really in control and what sort of days were we living in.
Elijah Days
I felt in my spirit that He replied to my prayer by saying that indeed He was very much in control and that the days we were living in were special times when He would require Christians to be filled with integrity and to stand up for Him just like Elijah did, particularly with the prophets of Baal. "These are ‘Elijah' days." Elijah's story is in the book of Kings and you can read how he felt isolated and alone in the culture in which he lived. But God told him to stand up and speak for Him.
We also needed to be a holy and just people, and hence the reference to the "days of your servant Moses," meaning that righteousness and right living was important in all our attitudes and works. Now we are under grace and not under law, but the righteousness that comes by faith can be no less than the moral law that Moses brought direct from God. It has not been superseded. In fact Jesus told us that our "righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees," who were the most ardent followers of God's laws as presented by Moses. Jesus was after righteous, servant hearts, of course, that desired to live holy lives for Him.
These Days
"Days of great trial, of famine, darkness and sword" is a reflection of the apparent times in which we live when still thousands of people die every day from starvation, malnutrition and war. In the midst of it all we are called to make a declaration of what and whom we believe in.
The second verse refers to the restoration of unity of the body, what Jesus prayed for - "that they may be one even as I and the Father are one..." by reference to Ezekiel's prophetic vision of the valley of the dry bones becoming flesh and being knit together. There are lots of interpretations of this picture, but one of a united church rising up in unity and purpose, is a powerful call on us in these days.
The restoration of praise and worship to the Church is represented by "the days of your servant David." Some folks use the term "Restoration Theology" to describe this restoring of attributes to the Church. But in the song it's mainly a picture of worship.
Of course David didn't get to build the structural temple (that's why the word in the song line is "rebuild"), that was left to Solomon his son, but David was used by God to introduce a revised form of worship, praise and thanksgiving into, firstly, his little tent which he pitched around the Ark of the covenant (the presence of God) and then the temple that Solomon his son built.
This worship, unlike the Mosaic Tabernacle, involved many people being able to come into God's presence and worship Him openly. (In Moses' time only one man, the high priest, could enter the Holy of Holies, once a year. David's tent was a picture of how Christ would enable us to come right into God's presence, through his sacrifice, and worship openly there).
Restored Praise and Worship If you search carefully through the Book of Amos (chapter 9) you will find reference to this "Restoration of David's Tabernacle." In Acts this prophecy was used to explain, at the council of Jerusalem, why the "gentiles" should be allowed to become Christians and worship their savior without all the legal requirements of the Jewish law. It is also accepted among restoration theologians that this refers to restored Praise and Worship. The physical temple was "Solomon's", David's "temple" was a little tent but you and I are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It sounds complex, doesn't it? But if you just understand that the line in the song refers to praise and worship before the presence of God just like David enjoyed, then that's all there needs to be to it.
Finally the "days of the Harvest" point towards what is the purpose of the Christian to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. By the way "The fields are as white in the world" is from the King James Version and means they are ripe for harvest.
These are the themes of the verses-declaration, righteousness, unity and worship. I chose to express these thoughts by reference to the characters that represented these virtues in the Old Testament. It is in essence a song of hope for the Church and the world in times of great trial.
I hope the explanation is clear. The song is, perhaps, a little complex-but I can assure you that this was not deliberate. I have written lots of simple, straightforward hymns and songs covering lots of themes. This song seems to have been used particularly by God in the ministry of praise and worship, and the themes and pictures it uses seem to have been grasped by God's people all over the world.
Blessings, Robin
This is an excerpt from Worship Leader magazine. To read more articles like this - click here to subscribe.
