by Tad Lindley
A major discovery has been made in regards to what has come to be known locally as the “hairy man”. The significance of this discovery is tremendous. It is literally the earliest hairy man sighting in recorded human history. I must confess that prior to my recent experience with the hairy man, I had been skeptical of his existence. Now however, I have uncovered irrefutable evidence that the hairy man is real.
Here is exactly what happened. I sat down Sunday morning for my daily Bible reading. For some reason, I found myself on the first page of II Kings. It was about 7:25 AM. The curtains were drawn and the house was quiet. As I lowered my eyes to the page, suddenly “hairy man” jumped out at me! There it was right before my eyes in the very word of God, “What sort of man was it,” he [King Ahaziah] asked them, “who came towards you and said these things to you?”
“A hairy man,” they replied, “with a leather belt around his waist.” (II Kings 1:7-8)
Suddenly all my disbelief went out the window. Who was I that I could deny the truth of the word of God right there before my eyes? The hairy man is real. He’s in the Bible.
Identity of the hairy man revealed
It turned out that King Ahaziah had already seen the hairy man himself and even knew his identity. The hairy man was none other than Elijah the Tishbite, a prophet mightily used by God about 2,800 years ago in what is now Israel.
Don’t mess with the hairy man
The hairy man was so powerful in prayer, that his prayer caused it to stop raining for three and a half years (I Kings 17). Rain only returned after he had a personal prayer meeting (I Kings 18:41-46). Three times he called down fire from heaven. Once to consume a bull that had been placed before God as a sacrifice (I Kings 18:37-38). Then twice the king sent 50 soldiers and a captain to arrest him. Each time when the captain called out to him the hairy man answered and said unto them, “If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty.” (II Kings 1:10,12)
The hairy man’s body count
Not only did the hairy man take out 100 soldiers and 2 captains, but he had a body count almost as big as Samson’s. In the days of King Ahab, the leader of Israel denied God altogether. He began to worship the false gods, Baal and Asherah. The priesthood of those false religions totaled at least 850. In one afternoon, in a showdown at Mt. Carmel in Israel, the hairy man, Elijah, took them all out (I Kings 18).
Even hairy men have feelings
It would be tempting to think that this hairy man being one of the most powerful prophets of God ever to have lived would have been a much better man than you or I. And yet the Bible is quite clear on the fact that even hairy men have feelings too. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. (James 5:17 NIV) In fact, the hairy man got so depressed once that it appears he was even suicidal. If you don’t believe me, read the prayer of a desperate man for yourself: It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life… (I Kings 19:4) This was one time that God did not answer Elijah’s prayer. And thank God for it, because of that Elijah was to complete his life and be taken up to heaven on chariots of fire (II Kings 2:1-12).
Hairy man shows up 900 years later!
If you took the time to read II Kings 2, you see that Elijah did not die a normal death, but God took him up into heaven. That’s not the end of the hairy man though. Almost 900 years later Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a high mountain. On that mountain, they witnessed Jesus talking to Moses and another man. What did the other man look like? He was a hairy man, none other than Elijah the Tishbite!
Next time somebody asks you if you believe in the hairy man, tell them, “The hairy man is real, and his name is Elijah.”
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.
