Title: Days of Elijah
Music and Lyrics: Robin Mark
"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." Days of Elijah is a song of hope, written to display to Christians all over the world that it is time for us to stand up and become who God is asking us to become. Robin Mark felt a special calling to do this on new years eve in 1994. As usual, many television stations were doing a year in review to remind everyone of the events that transpired over the 12 months that had passed. One of the largest events that occurred in 1994 was the Rwandan Civil War, a cruel and grotesque event. The review seemed to strike a nerve with Mark, finally pushing him to write the song that night and record it two years later in 1996.
In a reply written by Mark himself, he writes detailed descriptions as to what each part of the two verses actually means. In the first verse he references the "Days of Elijah," which is a great time of alienation. During Elijah's time in Northern Israel, he was called to stand up for his God, Yahweh, and to challenge the existence of another idol Baal, the deity in charge of thunder and rain. In the next line, Mark describes "the days of your servant Moses," describing that we are called to live righteously like Moses did. "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 It has not been superseded.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 Gods laws as presented by Moses." Mark goes on to say that we are called to be righteous in the eyes of God, because Jesus will seek out those who are righteous at heart. The second half of the verse goes on to talk about the great trials of famine, darkness, and sword. Mark describes the second half of the verse to be a reminder to all that even though these days are full of trials and tribulations, we must be patient and love God even more, because the end is coming for the world, as well as for the days of famine and darkness.
In the second verse, Mark references the prophetic vision that Ezekiel has of the valley of dry bones rising up and becoming flesh. "here 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." Mark is describing a call to all people around the world to rise up as one and turn to God. As the song moves on, Mark writes "These are the days of your servant David, Rebuilding the temple of praise," which is making a reference to David creating a new form of worship. David was responsible for changing the ways of worship from the way worship was done in the times of Moses (One man was allowed entrance to the Tabernacle only once a year while everyone else watched), to the way we do things now. David changed this by creating a tent to surround the Ark of the Covenant and allowing everyone to dance and worship in front of the Lord. The last part of the verse speaks to the coming harvest at the end of days. Mark describes us as His workers in a vineyard, saying that it is our duty to spread the word of God and when it comes time that the grapes are ripe, God will come to Reap what he Sows. "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." Mark finally goes on to talk about the chorus, saying that it is talking about the return of Christ in the year of the Jubilee. "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."
The Text:
(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!'
(C) 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.
(2) 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.
These are the days of the harvest,
The fields are as white in Your world,
And we are the labourers in Your vineyard,
Declaring the word of the Lord!
There's no God like Jehovah.
There's no God like Jehovah!
My Take on the Hymn:
This hymn is interesting because it serves as a reminder to us of the way we should be living. The text has encouraged me to open up my bible and find the stories of all the characters that are mentioned. Christ uses parables to teach all of his followers the word of God, and by using characters Robin Mark has done the same. Mark has taken something that can be incredibly complicated, and made it simple by giving us examples of people that lived just like we have. These characters, Elijah, Moses, Ezekiel, and David, all are humans that felt a calling from God and answered the call by worshiping Christ and being faithful to their word, regardless of the consequences that might come of their actions. This hymn calls us out to live more faithfully and to follow Christ with everything that we have, because if we trust in God and have Faith, we all will live a life worthy of God.
Bibliography:
Mark, Robin. "The Story Behind Days of Elijah." Robin Mark. Robinmark.com, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. < http://robinmark.com/the-story-behind-days-of-elijah/>.
In the second verse, Mark references the prophetic vision that Ezekiel has of the valley of dry bones rising up and becoming flesh. "here 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." Mark is describing a call to all people around the world to rise up as one and turn to God. As the song moves on, Mark writes "These are the days of your servant David, Rebuilding the temple of praise," which is making a reference to David creating a new form of worship. David was responsible for changing the ways of worship from the way worship was done in the times of Moses (One man was allowed entrance to the Tabernacle only once a year while everyone else watched), to the way we do things now. David changed this by creating a tent to surround the Ark of the Covenant and allowing everyone to dance and worship in front of the Lord. The last part of the verse speaks to the coming harvest at the end of days. Mark describes us as His workers in a vineyard, saying that it is our duty to spread the word of God and when it comes time that the grapes are ripe, God will come to Reap what he Sows. "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." Mark finally goes on to talk about the chorus, saying that it is talking about the return of Christ in the year of the Jubilee. "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."
The Text:
(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!'
(C) 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.
(2) 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.
These are the days of the harvest,
The fields are as white in Your world,
And we are the labourers in Your vineyard,
Declaring the word of the Lord!
There's no God like Jehovah.
There's no God like Jehovah!
My Take on the Hymn:
This hymn is interesting because it serves as a reminder to us of the way we should be living. The text has encouraged me to open up my bible and find the stories of all the characters that are mentioned. Christ uses parables to teach all of his followers the word of God, and by using characters Robin Mark has done the same. Mark has taken something that can be incredibly complicated, and made it simple by giving us examples of people that lived just like we have. These characters, Elijah, Moses, Ezekiel, and David, all are humans that felt a calling from God and answered the call by worshiping Christ and being faithful to their word, regardless of the consequences that might come of their actions. This hymn calls us out to live more faithfully and to follow Christ with everything that we have, because if we trust in God and have Faith, we all will live a life worthy of God.
Mark, Robin. "The Story Behind Days of Elijah." Robin Mark. Robinmark.com, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. < http://robinmark.com/the-story-behind-days-of-elijah/>.
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