Elijah means “my God Jehovah.” During the time when King Ahab and the people were worshipping Baal, Elijah was a strong witness of God and a man of prayer as well (James 5:17). He prayed for heaven not to send the rain, for the widow’s son to be made alive, for fire to fall from heaven to consume the burnt offering, for heaven to send the rain (1 Kings 17—18), and for fire to come down from heaven to consume the captains with their soldiers sent by King Ahaziah (2 Kings 1). All these prayers were answered by God.
Nevertheless, Elijah also had his failure. On Mount Carmel, he proved that Jehovah was God and Baal was a false god; he also destroyed the prophets of Baal. Yet, because of Jezebel’s threatening words, he fled to the land of Judah and sat down under a juniper tree, requesting for himself that he might die. God was going to use him greatly, yet he went into hiding because he feared for his life. In Romans 11:2-4 Paul says that Elijah pleaded with God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.” But God answered, “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Thus, Elijah’s weakness also manifested the grace of God’s selection. He was still an overcoming prophet who was eventually taken up by God (2 Kings 2:11).
Elisha means “Jehovah is the Savior.” Elisha was the continuation of Elijah to be a prophet in the kingdom of Israel. In Luke 4:27 the Lord Jesus testified that Elisha healed a Gentile with his gift of healing. He even healed the bad water and made it living water (2 Kings 2:19-22).
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah and Ahab the king of Israel were planning to battle with the king of Syria, that they might take Ramoth-gilead out of his hand (1 Kings 22:1-4). When they inquired of God about this matter, all the prophets spoke lies with one mouth. The prophet Micaiah alone prophesied for God and was thus put into the prison. King Ahab, however, died in the battle as prophesied by Micaiah (1 Kings 22:19-22, 29-35).
Isaiah means “Jehovah saves.” Isaiah the son of Amoz (Isa. 1:1) was a contemporary of Amos and Hosea, the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, and of Micah, the prophet in the kingdom of Judah. His prophetic ministry lasted the longest; he prophesied under the reigns of four kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1). His wife was a prophetess (8:3), and he had at least two sons: Shear-jashub (meaning, “a remnant shall return”) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (meaning “quickly the spoil, hasting the prey”) (7:3; 8:3). He was a historian (2 Chron. 26:22; 32:32). According to a credible tradition among the Jews and some rabbinic writings of the second century, he suffered martyrdom during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:16; 24:4; cf. Acts 7:52) by being sawn asunder. Hebrews 2:13b shows that he (Isaiah) and the children whom God gave to him (Isa. 8:18) typify Christ and the believers whom God gave to Him.
The book of Isaiah speaks concerning salvation in such great detail that some have even called it the Gospel of Isaiah. In it are found prophecies concerning Christ: (a) His birth— God becoming a man (7:14; 9:6); (b) His genealogy—a descendant of Jesse (11:1); (c) His name—Emmanuel, Wonderful, Counselor, (a child being called) the mighty God, (a son being called) the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace, Jehovah’s Servant (7:14; 9:6; 42:19); (d) His living—as a root out of a dry ground, having no form nor comeliness, His image being marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men, being despised and rejected of men, being a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (52:14; 53:2-3); (e) His being anointed—being filled with the Spirit of God (61:1; 11:2); (f) His work—preaching good tidings and proclaiming God’s jubilee (61:1-3); (g) His dealings with man—not crying nor lifting up His voice, not breaking a bruised reed, and not quenching the smoking flax (42:1-4); (h) His death—having borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, being wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (53:4a-10); (i) His burial—making His grave with the rich (53:9a); (j) His resurrection—swallowing up death, prolonging His days, justifying many (25:8a; 53:10b-11); (k) His coming back—rending the heavens and coming down, judging the people (64:1; 63:1-6); (l) His reign—in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6) reigning in righteousness, all peoples enjoying peace, and all creation living in harmony (9:7; 11:3-16; 32:1; 33:17-24); (m) His kingdom—being exalted above all the nations and all peoples flowing to it (2:2-4; 35:1-10; Micah 4:1-3), bringing in the new heaven and new earth (65:17; 66:22). Isaiah also prophesied that Christ, who became a man, was a sure foundation stone and a precious cornerstone laid by God for His building and trusted in by His believers (28:16), and that He would “be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (32:2).