God used the prophet Elijah powerfully to oppose the wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel, performing extraordinary miracles through him. In one instance, God gave Elijah several miraculous displays of His power on a mountain, where He simply passed by, and a mighty windstorm dismantled part of the mountain and broke the rocks. Then an earthquake struck, amplifying Elijah's feeling of the mountain coming apart around and beneath him. Following this, fire came from God Himself, reminiscent of the fire from heaven that had consumed the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. Another time, when men came to arrest Elijah, he called fire from heaven, and two groups of fifty-one men were burned up. A third group of fifty-one would have been consumed if God had not intervened to stop him. Despite these mighty acts, God revealed to Elijah through a still, small voice that He favored a different approach, one not centered on excessive displays of power or showy miracles when a voice would suffice.

Elijah the Tishbite, one of Israel's greatest prophets, is renowned for the extraordinary miracles that marked his ministry. His fame stems from standing against the wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, calling for a nationwide drought, and delivering a crushing defeat to the worship of Baal. In the dramatic confrontation on Mount Carmel, Elijah challenged the Israelites to choose between following God or Baal, presenting himself as the sole prophet of the Lord against four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, despite knowing others had been hidden from Jezebel's purge. After his triumph at Carmel and the end of the drought at his request, Elijah fled in fear for his life upon hearing Jezebel's threat to kill him. His courage faltered, and after just one day of fleeing, he asked God to take his life, revealing a focus on self rather than trust in God's victories. Though God did not respond directly to this request, He sent an angel to strengthen Elijah for a forty-day journey. Taking refuge in a cave, Elijah reiterated to God that he alone was left, consumed by concern for his own life, believing that if he perished, God's work would end with him.

Martin Collins asserts that miracles and signs from God, while certainly generating awe and fear, seldom lead to righteousness, but more likely to continued rebellion. Jesus points out that only an adulterous generation seeks after miracles and signs. No greater period of miracles took place in history than at the time of the Exodus, including the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. Yet, the stiff-necked Israelites rebelled against God on ten separate occasions. The longest period of growth and stability in Israel occurred under David's and Solomon's reigns, a period attended by no miracles. Elijah and Elisha performed godly miracles during a massive apostasy. John the Baptist, proclaimed by Jesus as the greatest of men, performed no miracles whatsoever. The miracles and signs Jesus performed were received with awe, but also with much ridicule and scoffing from the religious leaders. Axiomatically, the spiritually weak need miracles; the more spiritually mature one becomes, the fewer signs and wonders he needs to sustain faith. God blessed the Corinthian congregation with spiritual gifts (of discerning prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing, etc.), but the vanity which these gifts produced led to party-spirit and jealousy. In the future, the False Prophet and Beast will lead many astray by miracles and signs, deceiving most of the world. As God's called-out ones, walking humbly with God should displace any desperate need for signs and wonders.