The era of prophecy began with Elijah and ended with John the Baptist, who came in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17). The ministries of Elijah, John, and all the other prophets cannot be divorced from the times in which they lived. For example Baal worship during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel called for the spectacular, miracle-filled ministries of Elijah and Elisha. To understand the times of the prophets we need to review the history of the prophetic era. There were four major turning points: 1.