|
Running In The Rain, A Study Of Elijah
By James L. Thornton
This Study Will Cover Elijah As He Prays For Rain On Top Of Mount Carmel. We Will Observe His Posture Before God, And His Unending Intercession Until The Rains Came. Then, Elijah Running Before The Chariot Of Ahab In The Driving Rain. We Will Follow Him Into The Wilderness Where He Prays To Die, And Take Note Of The Measures God Uses To Bring Him Out Of His Despair.
.
********************************************************************
Study Number Four Of Elijah
The Links Below Will Lead To The Things We Will Consider In This Section Of Study Number Three Of Elijah.
A. God Removes The Curse
1 Kings 18:41a. And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; (KJV)
This Clearly Indicates That The King Had Gone Down With The Crowd To The Kishon.
Curiosity Had Perhaps Impelled Him To Witness The Slaughter Of The Prophets Which He Was Powerless To Prevent, And No Doubt He Had Been Profoundly Awed By The Portent Events He Had Just Witnessed.
Then Elijah Turned To Ahab (This Is The First Time He Had Spoken To Him Since He First Met Him After His Return To Israel (Ver. 18, 19) And Said "Get Thee Up, Eat And Drink; …"
It Is Probable That The Excitement Of The Whole Ordeal Was So Intense That The King Had Not Tasted Food All Day Long.
Elijah Now Bids Him Eat If He Can, After What He Has Witnessed.
It Is Probable That The Attendants Of The King Had Spread A Tent For Him Upon The Plateau, And Had Brought Food For The Day Along With Them.
The Next Phrase Gives The Reason Why He Should Eat And Drink.
1 Kings 18:41b. …; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. (KJV)
I Feel That The Prophet Could Already Hear The Sound Of The Deluge Of Rain, But If So, It Was Only In The Spirit.
Elijah Speaks Of Sign And Intimation Understood Only By Himself.
The Sound Comes Before The Rain. It Is Heard In The Branches Of Trees, And In The Waves Of Seas And Lakes. There Is A Certain Feeling And Refreshing Smell In The Air.
Revivals Have Their Premonitions.
So Is A Coming Revival Discerned In The Church By Emotion When The Word Goes Forth. There Is Greater Interest In Religious Services Both Public And Private. Prayers Are More Fervent And There Is Increased Evangelistic Activity.
This Is First Heard By The Spiritual.
Elijah Was The First To Hear The Sound Of The Coming Rain Even Though There Was Not A Cloud In The Sky.
It Begins In The High Heavens Before It Reaches The Earth. Those Who Are In Much Prayer Have Sensitive Ears To Hear "Afar Off." (Mark 8:18)
B. Elijah Prays For Rain
1 Kings 18:42a. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the Top Of Carmel. .., (KJV)
It Is Significant To Note The Vast Difference In The Personal Needs, Wants, Or Desires, Of These Two Men.
Ahab, As We Have Already Noted (Ver. 1a), That, Due To The Excitement, Astonishment, And Bewilderment Of The Events Of The Day, Probably Had Not Tasted Food Since The Early Morning Hours.
Now It Was Late In The Afternoon, And At The Suggestion Of Food By Elijah, His Physical Appetite Overcame The Awe Of The Things He Had Witnessed.
So He Gladly Obeyed The Suggestion Of Elijah And Made His Way Back To The Tent To Eat And Drink Of The Provisions His Servants Had Prepared.
Elijah, On The Other Hand, Had Possible Not Eaten Or Drank The Entire Day, And Even Now, Did Not Get An Invitation To Join Ahab In His Feast.
But, His Day Was Not Over, And He Would Not Eat Until His Work Was Done, Which Would Be Far Into The Night. He Would Pray Effectually And Fervently (This Is Real Work) Till The Rain Came And Then Outrun Ahab’s Chariot Back To Jezreel.
Elijah, During The Three And One Half Years Of Drought, And Even Before This, Had Learned To Control His Physical Appetites, And Would Be One Of The Few Mentioned In Scripture Who Would Fast Forty Days.
He Learned To Live On God’s Provision.
For A Year He Had Eaten What The Ravens Brought Him, And Drank From The Cherith. Then For Two And A Half Years He Had Lived On Barley Cakes In The Home Of A Widow Woman.
He Had Known Privation, But Did Not Feel Deprived, He Had Known What Hunger Pain Feels Like, But Had Not Complained. His Physical Strength And Stamina (Ver.46), Which Was Enormous, Was Supplied By Angel’s Food. (1 Kings 19:5-8)
So The Vast Difference In These Two Men Was That Ahab’s Appetite Was Physical, Carnal, Sensual, And Devilish, While Elijah Thrived On, And Craved Spiritual Food And Blessings.
We See What Ahab’s Major Concern In The Midst Of The Drought Was For In Verse 5 Of Chapter 18. It Was Not For His Subjects, The People Of Israel In Their Sufferings, But For "The Horses And Mules." Ahab, No Doubt, Had Fared Sumptuously Every Day During The Drought, While His Subjects Withered In Agony.
1 Kings 18:42b. ... And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, (KJV)
Elijah Climbed High On Carmel And "Cast Himself Down Upon The Earth." He Prostrated Himself Full Length With His Face To The Earth, As Many Easterners Still Do In Prayer.
The Man Who Stands Nearest To God Is The Lowliest Of All God’s Worshippers.
From This Position He Arose To Kneel, "And Put His Face Between His Knees." His Face Was Hid
The Posture Witnessed To The Intensity Of His Supplication.
Three And One Half Years Before This He Had Prayed Intently, Earnestly, Effectually, And Fervently (James 5:16-18), That God Would Withhold The Rain. The Same Kind Of Fervency Would Be Required To Open The Heavens Once Again.
1 Kings 18:43a. And said to his servant, … (KJV)
This Is The First Mention Of A Servant.
There Is An Old Tradition That This Was None Other Than The Son Of The Widow Of Zarephath, And Another Old Tradition Says That He Was Later The Prophet Jonah, But This Last Tradition Is Probably Not Correct.
He Was Probably The One Who Wrote, Or Told, About The Events Of The Day Because The Descriptions Could Only Have Been Given By An Eye Witness.
1 Kings 18:43b. …, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, ... (KJV)
C. Three Different Scenes On Carmel Now Meet Our View.
1. First There Is Ahab, On The Lowest Ridge, Amid The Lingering Glow Of An Eastern Sunset, Preparing To Leave For Jezreel. The Thousands Of Israel Are Returning To Their Homes.
2.Next There Is Elijah On The Middle Ridge In Earnest Supplication.
3. Last, On The Highest Ridge, Straining His Eyes Out Over The Sea, There Is The Prophets Attendant.
It Is With The Prophet Himself We Need To Chiefly Concentrate Our Thoughts On.
We Want To Especially Take Notice Of How He Conducts Himself In The Presence Of God.
He Had Met Ahab In The Valley Of Jezreel With Fierceness And Fire.
He Had Met The Deluded And Sinful Nation With Manly And Honest Rebuke.
He Had Confronted The Priests Of Baal And Asherah With Ironical Scorn.
But Now When He Meets God, He "Casts Himself Down Upon The Earth, His Face Between His Knees."
We Are Arrested By The Prophets Humility—The Oak Is Now A Bulrush, The Lion Has Become A Lamb.
We Are Arrested By His Simpleminded Obedience To Duty; For Although Conscious That The Blessing (Rain) Is Coming (18:1; & 41) , He Yet Makes It The Subject Of Prayer.
This Is A Lesson To Every Believer, That God’s Promises Can Never Do Away With God’s Commands.
And That He Who Has Given The Pledge To "Withhold No Good Thing (Psalms 84:11)" Has Also Made The Contingency, "I Will Yet For This Be Inquired Of By The House Of Israel To Do It For Them (Ezekiel 36:37)," This, The Lord Said After A Long List Of Promised Blessings.
In This Scene We Are Awed By Elijah’s Devotion To Duty, And Loyalty To The One, "Who Before Whom He Stood." (17:1) He Had Achieved A Great Victory, And How Did He Act?
He Had Only To Awaken The Feelings And The Thousands Of Israel Would Have Placed Him In The Royal Chariot And Borne Him In Triumph As Their New Sovereign To The Gates Of Jezreel, As They Were Want To Do To Jesus Some 800 Years Later. (John 6:15)
But No, Elijah, Like Jesus, Had Other Designs Than To Weaken The Government, Or Encourage Rebellion; He Sought Not The Destruction Of The State, But Its Purification.
So, Holding True To The Course Which Was Set Before Him, He Retires To That Solitary Cleft, And, In The Attitude Of Entire Abstraction With God, Pleads For Rain.
The Desire That The Blessing Might Come At Once, And Cause The Seed Of Faith To Spring Up In The Peoples Hearts, Made Earnest Prayer More Necessary To Elijah Than The Refreshment Of Food, Which His Body Craved.
It Is In The Epistle Of James That We Are Told That Elijah’s Prayer Brought The Drought And The Rainfall. (James 5:17-18)
He Did Not Argue That God Would Send The Storm Whether He Prayed Or Not, But Believed That The Reception Of Blessing Was Inseparably Connected With The Offering Of Prayer.
Similarly The Holy Spirit Was Promised To The Disciples (Luke 24:49), But They Met To Pray Till He Came (Acts 1:14).
God Wants, Yea, It Is God’s Will To Bless, To Heal, To Save, To Fill With His Spirit, To Give Good Things, But The Channel Must Be Opened To Receive These Things From God.
That Channel Can Only Be Opened By Prayer.
Jesus Says, "Ask, And It Shall Be Given To You;" (Matt. 7:7-11; John 14:13; James 4:2-3)
In( Luke 18:14) A Simple Prayer Of A Half Dozen Words Sufficed For Justification, And In Other Cases It Took Hours, And In Daniel’s Case (Dan. 10:2-13) It Took Three Full Weeks To Receive An Answer. (Dan. 9:3-4 & 20) In The Latter Case The Angel Reveals The Reason For The Delay; It Was Because Satan Hindered.
Satan Would Block The Channel Through Which God Would Send His Blessings, And Much Prayer, Persistent Prayer, Fervent Prayer, Is The Only Effectual Way To Open This Channel.
1Kings 18:43b.…. And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. (KJV)
While Elijah Interceded He Sent His Servant Up To The Peak Of Carmel With Instructions To Look For Signs Of The Coming Blessing; Look Out Over The Sea, Which Is The Most Likely Directions From Which Rain Would Come.
After Prayer, Let Us Look, With Expectation, In The Most Likely Direction, Or Place, That The Answer May Appear.
1 Kings 18:43c. .... And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. ... (KJV)
There Are Times When God Overruns Our Prayers, As In The Case Of Abraham’s Servant, "And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth.." (Genesis 24:45)
But How Many Time Have We Prayed And Looked And "There Is Nothing?"
How Often, Like The Psalmist, We Say, "Hath God Forgotten To Be Gracious?" (Psalms 77:9)
Some May Become Discouraged When "There Is Nothing", Or, "There Is No Change," "It’s Just Like It Was."
But Not Elijah, He Knew To, "Wait On The Lord, Wait Patiently For Him." (Psalms 37:7)
1 Kings 18:43c. ... And he said, Go again seven times. (KJV)
D. The Answer To Prayer Maybe Long Delayed.
But Delaying Is Not Denying.
When We See The Faithfulness And Patience Shown By The Servant In Executing This Order Without A Mummer It Implies A Devotedness Of No Common Kind.
This Also Implies That He Was A Youth Because Of The Extreme Exertion Required For This Many Climbs Up And Down The Peak.
And On The Other Hand The Drought Had Lasted For Three And One Half Years And That Day The Servant Had Seen The Fires Of God Descend At Elijah’s Prayer. It Is Inconceivable, Under Such Circumstances, That Any Man Could Mummer.
Elijah Was Not Discouraged Even By The Sixth Repetition Of The Despairing Phrase, "There Is Nothing."
Yet On That Very Day His One Earnest Cry Had Instantaneously Brought Down Fire From Heaven.
And Even After So Many, "There Is Nothings," Elijah Continued His Earnest Supplication To God With Prayers Like Daniel. (Daniel 9:3-6, 9, 11, 17, 20, 21)
I Feel, As Daniel, And Moses (Exodus 32:30, 31; 34:9) Did, Elijah Made Confessions And Supplication, For Pardon And Forgiveness, Both For Himself And For Israel, And Not So Much For Rain.
The Rain, When It Comes, Would Be The Sign That God Had Heard His Supplication For Pardon And Forgiveness.
Someone Has Said That There Are Not Many People Who Really And Truly Pray Half A Dozen Times In Their Lives.
We Offer Up Formal And Lukewarm Petitions, And Marvel That We Receive No Answer.
Prayer Must Be Earnest.In Luke 22:44, Jesus Leaves Us An Example Of Earnest Prayer.
Luke 22:44. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (KJV)
It Is Not That God Is Hard To Persuade; It Is That He Will Have Us Mean What We Say.
E. "Go Again,.."
1 Kings 18:44a. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. ... (KJV)
Six Times The Faithful Servant Had Made His Way To The Top Of Carmel Only To Come Back With The Same Reply, "There Is Nothing."
The Familiar Path Had Begun To Show Signs Of Wear, But The Climb And Decent Was No Easier
The Hour Would Have Grown Late, And The Sun Would Have Begun To Get Low Out Over The Sea, As He Made His Way Once Again To The Top Of Carmel For Another Look.
This Seventh Time There Was A Slight Change In The Horizon.
Just Below The Setting Sun There Was A Small Dark Shape, Laying On The Water, Away Off In The Distance, And Making His Way Back To The Prostrate Elijah, He Told Him What He Had Seen.
F. A LITTLE CLOUD
1 Kings 18:44b. …, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. ... (KJV)
It Was The First One To Be Seen In Three Years And A Half.
Sometimes The Answer To Prayer May Begin In What Seems Trifling—The Fever Broke, Someone You Long Prayed For Agrees To Come To Church, Ect.
As Slight And Insignificant As It May Seem, Gratefully Welcome It, And Still Hope, And Wait, And Pray, Till He "Come And Rain Righteousness Up On Us." (Hosea 10:12)
Elijah Upon Hearing The Servant’s Description Of The Little Cloud Rising Out Of The Sea, Immediately Gives Him Another Order.
A Cloud The Size Of A Man’s Hand, Hardly Discernable On The Horizon, Was Enough To Transfer Elijah’s Prayer To Praise. Little In Itself, It Was The Beginning Of A Glorious Blessing.
1 Kings 18:44c. ... And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. (KJV)
Elijah Sent His Servant Ahead To Ahab, Saying, "Harness The Horses And Get Thee Down, That The Rain Stop Thee Not."
We See The Enormous Faith Of Elijah Exercised In This Command.
Never Was The Prospect Of A Journey Being Hindered By Rain More Gladly Received By Mortal Man.
The Kishon, Which Collects The Whole Drainage Of The Large Valley Of Jezreel, Or Esdraelon, Soon Becomes An Impassable Swamp, Which Has Bogged Down War Chariots, When Storms Arose. (Judges 5:21)
This Valley, Which Is Some Twenty To Twenty Five Square Miles, Has Been The Battlefield Of Many Great Armies.
It Was Here That Gideon Fought Against The Midianites (Judges 6:33), Deborah And Barak Fought Sisera And His Chariots Of Iron (Judges 4:2-3,7). Several Kings Fought And Died Here, Solomon Built A Fort Here. (1 Kings 9:15) (2 Kings 9:27; 23:29-30).
This Valley, Called "The Sowing Place Of God," Is Held By Many, To Be The Place Where The Last Great Battle Spoken (Rev. 16:16; 19:19)
G. A RAGING STORM
1 Kings 18:45a. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. (KJV
The Hebrew Indicates, "Very Speedily."
From A Cloud The Size Of A Man’s Hand To A Raging StormIn Minutes.
The Cry Of The Boy From His Mountain Watch Had Hardly Been Uttered When The Storm, Over Carmel, Burst Suddenly Upon The Plain, The Rain Descending With Violence, Hissing On The Ground, As If Not Able To Come Down Fast Enough, And Accompanied With Gusts Of Wind, Thunder And Lightning.
1 Kings 18:45. ... And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. (KJV)
At The Voice Of The Messenger From Elijah, Ahab Gave Orders That His Chariot Be Made Ready, And Amid The Gathering Storm Clouds, Started On His Way To Jezreel.
The Storm Would Have Overtaken Him In A Short Time, And The Driving Rain Would Have Been A Welcome, And Refreshing Sight.
But, Behold, Something Else, Or Should I Say, Someone Else, Appeared Out Of The Storm, Illuminated By Flashes Of Lightning, There Was The Man From Gilead, With His Mantel Tucked Into His Tightly Wound Girdle, Running Before Him.
H. RUNNING IN THE RAIN
1 Kings 18:46. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. (KJV
This Story Has Thrilled Me Since I First Heard It As A Small Boy. What A Sight It Must Have Been.
Ahab, With The Finest Steeds In Israel Hitched To His Chariot, Their Nostrils Flaring, And Straining Every Muscle In Their Bodies, During The Twenty Or So Miles Back To Jezreel, Yet Could Not Keep Pace With Elijah Running Before Them In The Driving Rain.
The First Few Words Of The Verse Tell The Story. "The Hand Of The Lord Was On Elijah."
An Impulse From High Impelled Him To "Gird Up His Loins" And Go Before The King; A Strength, Not His Own, Sustained Him Whilst He Ran.
The Distance Across The Plain To Jezreel Is Roughly Seventeen Miles; The Royal Chariot Would Be Driven Furiously.
Even With Whatever Fleetness And Endurance The Prophet Had Acquired In The Wilds Of Gilead, It Seems Hardly Likely That, After The Fatigues, Lack Of Nourishment, And Excitement Of The Day, He Would Have Been Able, Without The Hand Of The Lord Upon Him, To Keep Ahead Of The Chariot Horses.
His Great Strength And Endurance Came From Wrestling With God, Who Is A Very Worthy Opponent. He Gathered Round His Waist, And Tucked Into His Girdle, His Mantel Which Would Otherwise Have Impeded His Movements. (I Kings 19:13, 19; 2 Kings 2:13, 14),
Probably This, Apart From His Girdle, Was His Sole Garment.
All Israel Would Have Been Caught Up In The Exhilaration Of The Moment. There Would Have Been Dancing And Singing As The People Made Their Way Home In The Storm.
Elijah’s Objective In This Was Twofold.
First, To Honor The King, Whom He Had That Day Humbled In The Presence Of His Subjects.
The Great Prophet, By Assuming The Lowly Office Of A Footman, Or Forerunner (I Kings 1:5), Would Give Due Reverence To The Lord’s Anointed, Like Samuel Did On A Similar Occasion. (I Samuel 15:30, 31)
Secondly, He May Have Hoped By His Presence Near The King To Strengthen Any Good Resolves Which He Might Have Made, And To Further The Work Of Reformation Which The Nation Had Started On That Day.
May It Be Noted That This One Act, Of Becoming A Footman For Ahab, Is The Only Act, Or Word, Of Respect Elijah Ever Showed Towards Ahab.
Every Other Act, Every Other Word To Ahab By Elijah Was An Act, Or A Word, Of Rebuke Or Condemnation.
In This Scene We Are Awed By Elijah’s Devotion To Duty, And Loyalty To The One "Before Whom He Stood." (I Kings 17:1)
He Had Achieved A Great Victory, And How Did He Act?
He Had Only To Awaken The Feelings, And The Thousands Of Israel Would Have Placed Him At Once In The Royal Chariot, And Borne Him In Triumph As Their New Sovereign To The Gates Of Jezreel, As They Were Wont To Do To Jesus Some Eight Hundred Years Later. (John 6:15)
But No, Elijah, Like Jesus, Had Other Designs Than To Weaken The Government, Or Encourage Rebellion; He Sought Not The Destruction Of The State, But Its Purification.
So We Had Hardly Been Surprised On The Present Occasion Had The Relative Positions Been Reversed—Had Ahab Run And Elijah Ridden—And Are Almost Disposed At First To Exclaim, With Solomon, "I Have Seen Servants Upon Horses, And Princes Walking As Servants Upon The Earth." (Ecclesiastes 10:7)
Yet There Was Much More Meaning In The Prophets Act. Ahab Was Weak And Wicked; But Ahab Was King. Elijah Was God’s Servant; But Office Did Not Relieve Him From Loyalty To The Throne.
David Demonstrated This Very Thing Some Years Before When He Had It In His Power To Destroy King Saul, And Seemingly Every Right To Do So. (I Samuel 24:2-22; 26:7-25)
Elijah Is Severe In Matters Of Religion: But He Is Also Constitutional In Matters Of State.
But As We Have Stated Previously, Elijah’s Work In Israel Was Neither To Create A Republic, Nor Usurp The Monarch’s Scepter.
"Love The Brotherhood," Says Peter; "Fear God, Honor The King."(I Peter 2:17)
How Strong It Furnished In Behalf Of That Faith Which Called Upon Potentates To Listen To Prophets, As Ahab At Carmel, And Yet Called Upon Prophets To Pay Homage To Potentates, As Elijah Amid The Wild Rushing Tempest In The Valley Of Jezreel.
At The Entrance Of Jezreel The Gate Swung Open For Ahab, Who Continued On, And After A Long And Exhausting Day Retires To His Exquisitely Furnished Palace For Rest And Relaxation.
The People Make Their Way To Their Homes With Family And Friends And Neighbors Rejoicing Because The Extended Drought Was Broken.
Elijah, Running In The Rain, Turned Aside At The Entrance Of Jezreel, And Possibly He And His Servant Bedded Down Somewhere Along The Wall.
No One Came Forth To Bid Him Come To Their Home To Spend The Night And Eat A Good Meal With Their Family And Friends.
This Same Kind Of Scene Would Be Played Out In The Life Of Our Lord Some Eight Hundred Years Later, When After A Long Day Of Ministering In Jerusalem, "And Every Man Went Unto His Own House (With Family And Friends). Jesus Went Unto The Mount Of Olives" (To Pray And Commune With His Father In The Night Hours). (John 7:53; 8:1)
The Arab Aversion, Which Elijah Is Supposed To Have Shared, To Entering Cities, Has Often Been Used To Allude To The Fact That He Was Not An Israelite.
I. FROM TRIUMPH TO DESPAIR 2 Kings 19
It Is Well Said By The Epistle Of James That "Elijah Was A Man Subject To Like Passions As We Are." (James 5:18)
We Shall See Ourselves In This Passage. It Is Humanity At Work.
Human Character Is More Complex Than Many Imagine. Its Elements Are So Diverse, And Sometimes So Contradictory, That Only God Can Fairly Judge It
.The Biographies Of Scripture And The Subtleties Of Our Own Hearts Combine To Enforce The Lesson, "Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged."
If We Were Judging, Or Naming Rank, We Would Have Placed In The Foremost Rank The Disciple Who First Acknowledged The Divinity Of Our Lord S(Matt. 16:16), And We Would Have Cast Him Out Of The Church Who Denied His Lord With Oaths And Curses (Matt. 26:74).
Yet Both He That Acknowledged And He That Swore Denial Are The Outpourings Of The Same Character.
Never Was Contradictions More Complete Than In Elijah.
One Day He Leads A Whole Nation In Penitence, And With Courage Unwavering Leads It In The Slaughter Of Baal’s Prophets, Yet The Next Day He Flees To Save His Life, As One Who Has Given Up All Hope Of Jehovah’s Cause.
None But The Pitiful And Patient Father-God Would Have Judged Him Aright; Nor Was Elijah The Last To Say, "Thy Gentleness Hath Made Me Great." (2 Samuel 22:36)
In This Lesson We Are Reminded That It Is Difficult To Judge Ourselves As Well As Others. (Matt. 7:1-5)
On Carmel, Elijah Might Have Thought Himself Invincible, And In Horeb An Unmitigated Coward, But He Was Neither.
Scriptures Detail A Wide Variety Of Moods In The Same Individual. We Shall Discuss And Explain That Varieties Of Mood Do Not Afford A Fair Judge To Character.
We Are Not Infidels Because We Pass Through A Phase Of Doubt, We Are Not Reprobates Because We Are Deeply Conscious Of Sin, Nor Are We Christians Because We Enjoy A Religious Service.
A Sad And Frequent Experience Of Every Individuals Religious Life, That Of Despondency, Is Set Before Us Here, And We Will Seek To Discover Its Causes, And God’s Remedy For It.
We Will Discuss Other Bible Characters That Demonstrate Mood Swings—Job, David, Jonah, Peter, And Paul.
Here Is A Partial List Of The Causes Of Mood Swings In Elijah, And The Others We Have Named, As Well As Ourselves. See If You Can Find Yourself In These Stories.
1. Reaction After Excitement.
2. Exhaustion Of Physical And Nervous Energy.
3. Absence Of Sympathy.
4. Influence Of Doubt.
5. Loneliness.
6. Invincibility Of Antagonists.
7. Enforced Inactivity.
We Also Want To Take Note Of The Special Attention Which God Gave To Those Who Succumbed Under The Weight Of These, And Other, Circumstances.
1 Kings 19:1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. (KJV)
The Sun Would Long Have Been Set, And The Road To Jezreel Muddy, From The "Abundance Of Rain" Which Was Falling, And The Only Light Was From The Lightning Flashes, When Elijah Broke Away From In Front Of Ahab’s Chariot And Turned Down Along The Wall Of The City.
Ahab, Excited About The Events Of The Day, Especially The Pouring Rain, Continued To The Place To Unfold To His Cohort, The Queen, The Things That Happened That Day.
Jezebel Was Well Aware Of The Gathering On Carmel, And Possibly, From The Upper Chamber Of The Place, Some Seventeen Mile Away, Could See The Large Throng , And Especially The Smoke Rising From The Altar Of Elijah.
As Ahab Unfolded The Story, The First Mention Of Elijah’s Name Deepens The Crimson On That Painted Face. (2 Kings 9:30)
"And Ahab Told Jezebel All That Elijah Had Done,…" (Ver. 1a) Was There No Word, Then, Of What God Had Done? Did He Think That Elijah, By His Own Power, Or Holiness, Had Brought Fire Down From Heaven?
Let Us Note Two Capital Faults In The Way Ahab Told His Story.
1. He Did Not Recount What Jehovah Had Done.
2. He Did Not Properly Distinguish The "Prophets" As Idolatrous And False.
Perhaps Ahab Was Afraid In The Presence Of Jezebel To Connect The Awful Portent With The Name Of The Lord God Jehovah. That Would Be Same As Confessing Before Her That "The Lord He Is God." (18:24)
J. Elijah Flees For His Life
1 Kings 19:2a. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, ... (KJV
The Prophet, Wrapped In His Mantel, Was Seemingly About To Spend The Night In The Open Air, Possibly At The Gate, Or Down Somewhere Along The Wall.
The Queen Was So Enraged At The News That Her Prophets Were Dead, Slain With The Sword, At The Instigation Of Elijah, That She Could Not Sleep That Night Till She Made Sure That Elijah Did Not Sleep. She Did This By Summoning A Messenger In The Midnight Hours With A Portent Message For Him.
Many Times Satan Does Not Have The Power, Or Liberty, To Carry Out His Threats (Job 1:12), But Will Use Those Threats To Rob Us Of A Good Nights Sleep.
Someone (Hall) Has Written, "She Swears And Stamps At That Whereat She Should Have Trembled. There Is No Hate Like A Woman’s, No Wickedness Like Hers. They Never Do Things By Halves."
"Men Differ At Most As Heaven And Earth,
But Women, Best And Worst, As Heaven And Hell."
1 Kings 19:2b. .., saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. (KJV)
She Was Summing Up All The Divinities Of Phoenicia, Or Of Paganism Generally, Because Jezebel Would Not Swear By The One God Of Elijah Or Israel.
This Is Like Much Of The Profane Swearing That We Hear, Full Of Sound And Fury, Signifying Nothing.
It Cost Little To Invoke Factitious Deities, The Gods She Swore By Could Do Her No Harm, They Had Not Been Able To Save Their Own Prophets. (1 Kings 18:40; Judges 4:31)
1 Kings 19:2c. .., if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. (KJV)
This Statement Shows The Blind Unreasoning Hate, The Exasperation, And The Reckless And Desperate Character Of The Queen.
It Must Be Remembered That This Message Was Dispatched, Not After She Had Time For Thought And Reasoning, But On The Spur Of The Moment, As Soon As She Had Heard Of The Massacre Of The Prophets Of Baal.
That Night She Could Do Nothing, Nor Perhaps Could She See Her Way Clearly To Compass His Death On The Morrow.
But She Will Have Him Know That He Is Not Going To Escape Her, And That, Whatever Effect He Had On Her Husband, She Is Unconquered And Unrelenting.
She Did Not Stop To Think That He May Take Alarm And Flee, But She Must Gratify Her Fierce Rage Immediately By Threatening Him With Death The Next Day.
But We Must Remember That The Enemies Of God’s Church And Prophets Are Always Chained (Rev. 20:1-2), And Sometimes Are Senseless Too.
There Would Be No Living For Godly Men If The Hands Of Tyrants Were Allowed To Be As Bloody As Their Hearts.
Her Threat Preserved Him Whom She Meant To Kill.
1 Kings 19:3a. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life. .. (KJV)
The Messenger From Jezebel Delivered Her Threat And How She Had Sworn By All The Gods Of The Underworld That She Would Slay Him Like He Had Slain All The Prophets Of Baal Within Twenty Four Hours.
Elijah, Upon Hearing This Threat, Disappears In The Night, In The Pouring Rain, Along With His Servant, Without Consulting God.
The Scriptures Clearly Indicate That He Feared For His Life. So The Old Arab Instinct Induced Him, In A Moment Of Weakness, To Flee From Danger, And From Duty As Well.
"He Arose, And Went (Fled) For His Life."
His Flight Seems To Have Been Instant And Hurried.
History Tells Of Many Great Souls, Hardly Less Brave Than Elijah’s, Which Have Succumbed To Sudden Panic.
It Is Evident That For The Moment Elijah Lost Faith In God, Otherwise He Would Certainly Have Waited For The "Word Of The Lord", Which Had Invariably Guided His Movements Before. (1 Kings 17:2, 8; 18:1)
There Is No Doubt That Other Emotions Besides That Of Fear Were Struggling In His Breast, And Prominent Among These Was The Feeling Of Profound Disappointment And Humiliation.
He Had Hoped That The Day On Carmel Would Turn The Heart Of The Entire Nation Back Again To God (18:37), And The Great Shout Of The People (18:39), And The Subsequent Execution Of The Prophets Who Had Deceived And Depraved Them, Might Well Justify His Highest Expectations.
Elijah Was Passing Through That Trying Time Experienced By All Of God’s Children When They Discover That There Are No Permanent Victories.
He Was Disgusted At The Fickleness Of The Public Which Had Cheered Him On Carmel And Then Turned To Follow His Foe, Queen Jezebel.
It Seemed To Him That Even The Lord Had Let Him Down By Leading Him Into Crisis And Then Deserting Him.
Depressed And Frightened, He Fled Into The Wilderness.
Let Us Follow Elijah’s Footsteps As He Flees From His Post At Jezreel, At The Threat From Jezebel.
We Will Stop At Each Station Along The Way And Sit With Him There.
I Will Assure That We Can Identify With Him There.
There Are Many Of Us Which Have Taken This Journey In Our Spiritual Walk, And There Are Some, Even Now, Sitting At Each Of These Stations, Feeling Exactly Like Elijah Felt 2,800 Years Ago.
1 Kings 19:3b. .., and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. (KJV)
Beer-Sheba Was About 95 Miles From Jezreel, And Elijah Cannot Have Reached It Till The Close Of The Second Or Third Day.
But We Must Remember That His Pace Would Be Regulated By The Powers Of His Servant, Who Was Probably Only A Lad (LXX), So That It Is Hardly Likely He Could Travel Day And Night Without Stopping To Rest.
It Strikes Us As A Sad Note That Of That Vast Assembly, Which Was So Moved On Carmel, Only This Zidonian Boy Of Zarephath, Remained Faithful To Him.
It Is Probably Because He Wished To Be Alone With God That He Left His Servant In Beer-Sheba, And Also It Would Be A Safe Place For The Lad.
When We Remember That This Servant Never Rejoined Elijah, But In About Two Months Elisha Took His Place; We Can Scarcely Help Wondering Whether He Was Afraid To Accompany Elijah, Or Were The Circumstances Too Harsh And He Returned Back To Zarephath? (Acts 15:37-38)
Beer-Sheba Was At The Extreme Southern End Of The Cultivated Land, And Beyond Was Desert And Wilderness Land. (Gen.21:14)
One Could Wonder, Could Not Elijah Have Found Solace At Beer-Sheba, In The Memories Of Past Events Which Took Place Here?
It Was Here That Angels Dug A Well To Give Water To A Dying Son Of Abraham. (Gen. 21:15-19)
Here Abraham Had Often Communed With God (Gen. 21:33), And Isaac Had Built An Altar (Gen. 26:23-25),--In Fact The Whole Scene Is Full Of Lingering Devotion, Where, At "The Well Of The Oath" (Gen. 21:30-31), The Habitation Of The Patriarchs, Many Holy Hours Had Been Spent Among The Tents And Flocks.
There Are Times We Long To Return To Our "Bethel" As Jacob Did After 37 Years (Gen. 28:10-19; 35:1-7), And Like He Did, Rededicate Our Hearts And Lives To God At The Old Altar.
We Long For The Place Where, As A Small Child, God First Spoke To Our Hearts, To Kneel At The Make-Shift Altar Where We First Knelt And Called Upon God, To Visit The Place Where We Were Baptized And God Washed Our Sins Away, And To Stand, Or Sit, Or Lay, Once Again Where God Filled Us With His Spirit.
Or To Recall The Old Camp-Meeting Days Where Old-Time Preachers Stirred Our Hearts With The "Word From God.
"But The Flight Of The Prophet Was Not Over, And Memories Alone Would Not Help Him In His Troubled State Of Mind.
K. Elijah In The Wilderness
1 Kings 19:4a. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: ... (KJV)
This Is The Same Path Which Was Trodden By Many Other Characters In The Scriptures.
Hagar Left Abraham’s Tent And Wandered In This Desolate Place. (Gen. 21:14)
Moses Fled From Pharaoh’s Hand And Dwelt In This Same Wilderness For Forty Years Until God Appeared To Him In A Burning Bush. (Exodus 3:1)
The Children Of Israel Wandered "Through All That Great And Terrible Wilderness." (Deut. 1:19)
John The Baptist’s Preparation For Ministry Was In The Wilderness Of Judaea," Which Is The Same Into Which Elijah Now Plunged. (Luke 1:80; Matt. 3:1)
Jesus Himself Was "Driven By The Spirit Into The Wilderness, There To Be Tempted By Satan And Wild Beasts For 40 Days. (Mark 1:12-13)
But Thank God That Each Of These Incidents Have Been Preserved For Our Benefit (1 Cor. 10:6) To Let Us Know That When We Enter That Wilderness, Whether We Flee There For Fear Of Something, As Hagar, Moses, And Elijah, Or Just Wander Into It After Losing Our Way, Or Driven There By The Spirit, As John And Jesus Was, That God Follows Our Every Footstep.
L. Our Own Wilderness Experience
Four Things I Would Like To Emphasize From The Story Set Before Us Here In (1 Kings 19.)
First Every Child Of God Will Go Through These Wilderness Experiences, There Are No Exceptions.
There Is No Exalted Measure In Christ Which Will Exempt One From Wilderness Experiences, No Measure Of The Holy Ghost Which We Can Possess Which Will Insure One From The Wilderness. (1 Cor. 12:1-10)
Age Does Exempt One, Nor Will Years Of Service. Abraham Was 120 Years Old When He Experienced One Of His Hardest Trials (Gen. 22), And 137 When His Beloved Wife, Sarah, Died, And This Is The Only Recorded Time That Abraham Wept. (Gen. 23)
The Second Thing, When We Enter That Wilderness There Is A Terrible Wrestling Within Our Mental And Emotional Being.
Wild Thoughts And Imaginations Come, Described As "Wild Beasts" In Scripture (Deut. 8:15; Mark 1:13)
Worst Of All Satan Is There, Filling Our Minds With All Kind Of Evil Thoughts. (Matt.4:1-13)
The Third Thing Is The Loneliness We Experience When We Go Into The Wilderness Where No Human Can Accompany Us.
Friends, Family, Church Family, May All Be Around Us, But We Feel So Alone In Our Wilderness Mood.
Hagar Was Alone, Jacob Wrestled Alone, Moses Was Alone When God Appeared, Elijah Left His Servant In Beer-Sheba And Went Alone Into The Wilderness Alone, John The Baptist And Jesus Was Alone In The Solitude Of The Wilderness.
No Human Hand Was There To Help, No Human Voice Was Heard To Comfort And Console Them.
We Sink Into A Shell, Or Go Into A Cave Mood (We Will Discuss This Later), A Feeling Of Pity For Ourselves, A Feeling Of Hopelessness, A Little Anger, Depression, And Ect.
The Fourth Thing, And The Most Important Thing, God Is There, His Angel Is There, His Power Of Preservation Is There In The Wilderness.
It Was In This Wilderness That The Angel Found Hagar And Provided Water And Substance For Her And Her Child.
In The Wilderness Of Arabia Jacob Wrestled With God In The Most Trying And Frightful Time Of His Life. (Gen. 32:11-30)
In The Wilderness, Into Which Elijah Fled, Moses Met God, Manifesting Himself In A Burning Bush. (Exodus 3:1-6)
Angels Also Ministered To Elijah During This Wilderness Experience, And God Himself Came In A Most Reassuring Way. (1 Kings 19:5-8; 9-18)
We Are Told That Angels Ministered To Our Lord During His Wilderness Trial (Mark 1:13)
These Are Written To Assure Each Of Us That We Do Not Go Unnoticed Into The Wilderness.
Even Though, Many Times, No Human Voice Is There, No Human Hand Can Reach Us, Because We Are So Far Into The Wilderness, But God Is There, His Ministering Spirits Follow Our Every Footstep.
Hebrews 13:5b. …: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (KJV)
1 Kings 19:4a. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, (KJV)
It Was Not For The Sake Of Security Alone That The Prophet Plunged Into The "Great And Terrible Wilderness." (Deut. 1:19)
It Is Probable That From The First, "Horeb, The Mount Of God," Was In His Thoughts.
He May Well Have Seen That He Was Destined To Be A Second Moses; That He Was Raised Up To Assert And Enforce The Covenant Of Which Moses Was the Mediator.
How Natural That, Like Moses, He Should Flee Into the Land Of Midian, To The Place Where God Had Spoken With Moses Face To Face.
The Jewish Church, By Its Cycle Of Lessons, Suggest A Comparison Between The Law Giver, Moses, And The Law Restorer, Elijah.
The Wilderness Offers Little Shelter.
M. Elijah Under A Juniper Tree
1 Kings 19:4b. .., and came and sat down under a juniper tree: ... (KJV)
Let Us Look At The Shelter Elijah Found In The Wilderness.
Broken-Hearted And Alone, He Wanders Over The Rocky Waste-Land, He Has Cut Himself Off From All Human Sympathy, And He Has None To Expect From God.
He Is Worn From Travel, He Is Hungry For Food, There Are No Ravens To Bring Him A Welcome Meal, And No Widow Woman To Bake Him A Small Cake.
He Takes Shelter From The Burning Sun Under A Small Bush, Which Grows Abundantly In This Area, Called, In Our Bible, A Juniper Tree, Now Known As The "Broom" Tree.
The Most Longed-For And Most Welcome Bush Of The Desert, Abundant In Beds Of Streams And Valleys, Selected As Spots Where Men Sit Down And Sleep In Order To Be Protected From The Sun.
It Does Not, However, Offer Complete Protection Because It Is Small, We Would Call It A Scrub Bush.
And Like Elijah We Also Seek A Shelter In Our Wilderness Withdrawal, And Find Little.
We Turn To Any Little Thing That We Think Will Relieve Us From The Awful Depression That Bears Upon Us.
Then Elijah Sinks To The Lowest Depths Of Human Depression, Bordering On Despair, And Throwing Himself Down Under A Juniper Tree, And He Prayed.
N. The Depths Of Despair
1 Kings 19:4b. …. :and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, ... (KJV)
Once Again We See A Parallel Of Moses’ Life When The Burden Of The Children Of Israel Got Too Great For Him.
Numbers 11:14.I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. (KJV)
A Spiritual Crisis Like This Comes Into The Life Of Most Men And Women Of God, And Can Be Explained By Two Reasons.
1. First, There Is A Spiritual Necessity For It.
The Man, Or Woman, Of God Who Has Gained The First, Or Second, Or Tenth, Great Victory Is Apt To Think That It Is Decisive And Final, And That They May Now Cease To Fight.
And Behold The Evil That Was Vanquished Yesterday Lifts Up Its Head Again, And The Conflict Has To Be Begun Again.
"It Is Enough…" We Cry.
"I’ve Fought A Good Fight …"
"I’ve Finished My Course …"
But No Victory Over An Old Enemy, An Old Craving, An Old Habit, Is Ever Decisive. It Will Rise Again Somewhere, Someway. It Keeps Us On Our Knees, And It Makes Us Stronger Each Time We Win.
2. Second, This Painful Crisis Is Permitted By God, Who Will Not Have His Servants Uplifted In Their Own Eyes, Even By The Most Splendid Triumphs Of The Cause Which It Is Their Honor To Maintain.
This Is The Explanation Of The Mysterious Thorn In The Flesh With Which The Apostle Paul Was Buffeted. (2 Cor. 12:7-9)
It Is Also The Cause Of The Momentary Despondency Of John The Baptist, Which Prompted That Utterance Of A Faltering Faith, "Art Thou He That Should Come?" (Matt.11:3)
And This Is The Reason We Also Sometimes Come To A Doubtful Disposition. He Who Is Pleased Thus To Exercise The Soul Of His Children Is Himself Their Only Efficient Comforter.
We Must Learn That, "Our Sufficiency Is Of God." (2 Cor. 3:5)
We Will See How God Raised His Downcast Servant By Means Of A Glorious Vision.
Let Us Listen To Elijah Talking To God, While In This Low Mental Condition.
1 Kings 19:4c. …; now, O LORD, take away my life; … (KJV)
A Strange Contradiction! Here Is A Man Who Was Destined Not To Taste Of Death, Flees From Death At The Hand Of Jezebel On The One Hand, And Seeks It On The Other.
4d. …for I am not better than my fathers. (KJV
These Words Clearly Reveal The Great Hopes Elijah Had Formed As To The Result Of His Mission, And The Terrible Disappointment His Banishment Had Brought Upon Him.
Time Was When He Had Thought Himself A Most Special Messenger Of Heaven, Raised Up To Effect The Regeneration Of His Country.
He Now Thinks His Work Is Fruitless, And He Has Nothing To Live For Longer.
Some Have Concluded From This That Elijah Was Already Of A Great Age, But This Is Extremely Doubtful Judging By His Great Physical Strength And Ability. (1 Kings 18:46)
Now Let Us Analyze What We Have Read.
O. The Weakness Of Humanity
The Psalmist Asks The Question,
Psalm 8:4. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5. For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: (KJV)
Shakespeare Says In Hamlet,
"What A Piece Of Work Is Man!
How Noble In Reason!
How Infinite In Faculties!
In Form, And Moving, How Express And Admirable!
In Action How Like An Angel!
In Apprehension How Like A God!"
In Elijah We See Man At His Best!
He Was One Of The Three Greatest Men In Human History. Two Of Them Stood With Jesus On The Mount Of Transfiguration. The Other, The Apostle To The Gentiles, Was Yet To Be Chosen.
Elijah Is Distinguished Even From His Brother Prophets, By The Work He Was Called To Do, By The Powers With Which He Was Entrusted, By The Grace Given To Him, By The Care Taken Of Him, And By The Triumphant End Granted Him.
But How Weak And Unworthy Does The Elect Messenger Of God Now Appear, Under The Juniper Tree.
How Completely He, Like Us, Is At The Hand Of Circumstances, How Full Of Contradictions His, Like Peter’s (Matt. 26:35), Conduct.
At One Moment He Flees For His Life; At The Next He Requests For Himself That He May Die.
Someone Asks, "Doeth He Wish To Be Rid Of His Life Because He Feared To Lose It?"
Yesterday, Strong In The Faith, Fearing Neither Man Nor Devil; Today, Trembling Before A Woman, Wretched And Despairing.
And This Is Elijah, The Restorer Of The Law, The Express Ambassador Of Heaven.
It Is Well Said That He Was "A Man Subject To Like Passions As We Are." (James 5:18)
Here Is Humanity At Its Best, And How Poor And Weak It Is!
"..; Now, O Lord Take Away My Life;…"
We Are Not Fittest For Heaven When We Are Most Tired Of Earth; We Must "Enter Into His Gates With Thanksgiving And Into His Courts With Praise, (Psalms 100:4))" Not With Complaints And Accusations.
Elijah Said, "It Is Enough," But God Said No; There Was Other Work To Be Done, And He Was Not To Die The Death Of A Hunted Felon. God Careth For The Body; Precious In His Sight Is Not Only The Death, But Also The Felt Need Of His People.
The Same Great Jehovah, Whose Manifestations On Carmel Had Been So Awful In Its Grandeur, Condescended To His Servant In The Hour Of His Utmost Need, And With Unspeakable Tenderness, Like A Mother, Tended His Weary Child.
P. God Binds Up The Broken Hearted
1 Kings 19:5a. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, ... (KJV)
We Can Never Thoroughly Understand The Feelings Of A Person Unless We Take Into Account The Sources And Occasions Of Them And Try to Put Ourselves In His Place.
In This Phrase (V.5a) We Can Understand Some Of The Manifest Causes Of His Despondency. We Will Discuss Four Of Them.
1. First Thing Was Physical Exhaustion.
Elijah’s Prayer For Death Was Evidently Under The Influence Of Physical Exhaustion And Discomfort.
Not Only Was He Way-Worn With His Journey And Exposure To The Sun, But Faint Also For Want Of Food And Drink.
The Answer Came To His Prayer, Therefore, In The Blessing Of Refreshing Sleep. In This Way God Begins Elijah’s Restoration.
His Human Body And Spirit Had Experienced A Great Strain Upon Them, And Now Suffered A Corresponding Relapse.
The Relation That Exists Between The State Of The Body And The State Of The Spirit Is Very Mysterious, But Very Real.
The Elation Or Depression Of Our Religious Feelings Depends Far More On Mere Physical Condition Than We Often Imagine.
A Diseased, Or Infirm, Body Will Often Cause A Dark Cloud To Come Over The Spirits Firmament.
Much That Is Morbid In The Religious Thoughts And Emotions Of Good People Needs To Be Dealt With By The Physician Of The Body Rather Than Of The Soul.
Even The Gigantic Strength Of Elijah Underwent A Terrible Strain On Carmel—Anxiety, Enthusiasm, Burning Zeal, Exultation, All Combined To Agitate Him, And These Were Preceded By Many Days And Nights Of Passionate, Agonizing Prayer.
God’s Provision For The Prophet—The Sleep That Came Over Him As A Tired Child, The Food, Prepared By Angelic Hands, Prove That This Was Recognized.
Rest, Good Food, Fresh Air, And Change Of Scene Would Do More Than Religious Exercises To Restore Tone To Some Who Are Despondent.
2. The Second Cause Leading To His Despondency, Loneliness
Elijah Was Without The Companionship And Sympathy Of Those Who Would Share His Labors And Perils.
This Was One Of His Complaints He Made In His Answer To God’s Inquiry Of Why He Was In The Wilderness.
1 Kings 19:10b...; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (KJV)
It Is A Single Handed Conflict In Which He Is Involved, He Thought.
There Are None To Stand By Him, None Whom He Can Trust—How Many Of Us Can Identify With Elijah In This?
Such Isolation Is The Severest Possible Test Of Fidelity.
Think Of Paul: "At My First Answer No Man Stood With Me, But All Men Forsook Me." (2 Tim. 4:16)
And Of Christ: "I Have Trodden The Winepress Alone, And Of The People There Was None With Me." (Isaiah 63:3)
Supernatural Help Will Often Come For Special Emergencies And Will Make The Soul Sublimely Independent Of External Aid.
But It Is Hard To Carry On A Long, Patient Conflict With Difficulties Alone.
"Alone In A Crowd" Is A True Description Of Many A Disciple Of Christ Who Is Thinking His Own Thoughts And Fighting His Own Battles.
This Shows The Wisdom God Has Made In Church Fellowship.
3. The Third Thing Which Was Bearing On Him, Lack Of Success.
Elijah Felt That His Ministry Was All In Vain. How Many Of Us Have Had The Same Feeling?
His Solemn Testimony Given On Carmel Has Passed Away Without Effecting Any Real Change In The Conditions Of Things.
The Fire That Consumed His Sacrifice Has Gone Out, And Jezebel Has Most Likely Thrown Down His Altar.
Righteous Vengeance Has Been Inflicted On The Idolatrous Prophets, And The Kishon Has Swept Away Their Blood.
The Drought Has Done Its Work, And The Rain Has Returned Upon The Land.
And Now All Seems To Be As Hostile And Treacherous And Full Of Cruel Hate As Ever.
As To The People, There Is No Reason To Believe That They Will Remain Faithful To Their Vows.
Surely, Elijah Feels, He Is Living His Sad Life In Vain.
The Dreariest Of All Things To A Man Of High Purpose—That His Labor Is Utterly Fruitless.
It Sweep Like A Withering Wind Through His Soul, And He Wishes He Were Dead.
1 Kings 19:4b...: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. (KJV)
We Also See This Despondency Played Out In The Writings Of The Apostle Paul To The Philippian Church While Shut Away In A Roman Prison.
Philippians 1:21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (KJV)
4. The Fourth Cause Of Despondency, A Lack Of Responsibility.
When The Hands Of Those Who Ought To Be Busy About Some Work For God Are Idle, Their Hearts Are Left A Prey To All Sorts Of Mental Influences.
Religious Activity Is One Of The Main Secrets Of Religious Health, And When Circumstances Sever One From His Responsibilities There Is A Mental Let-Down Which Follows.
When The Time Comes, That, Through Age Or Infirmities, A Pastor And His Wife Must Relinquish The Pastorate Of A Church That They Have Worked And Labored In Most Of Their Lives, There Is A Tremendous Emotional Let-Down.
No More Calls From Someone Needing Them To Pray Or Visit With Them.
"Burn-Out" Happens In Every Profession And It Is Just As Likely To Happen To A Minister Of The Gospel As To Any One In Any Other Profession.
Many A Minister Has Forsaken His Call And Been Subjected To The Inward Disquietude Which Will Always Be The Penalty Of A Man’s Having Weakly Or Willfully Deserted The Path Of Duty.
When The Hands Of Those Who Ought To Be Busy About Some Work For God Are Idle, Their Hearts Are Left A Prey To All Sorts Of Evil Influences.
And When Good Men Place Themselves In A False Position, They Must Expect The Shadow Of Some Morbid Condition Of Feeling To Fall Upon Their Spirits.
What Is Our Grand Business In This World But To Battle Against The Weakness Of Our Nature, And The Forces Of Adverse Circumstances?
And When Difficulties Of Our Position Gather Thickest About Us, Then Is The Time To Cast Ourselves Most Fearlessly On The Divine Power That Will Enable Us To Overcome Them, And Listen To The Voice That Says, "Be Thou Faithful Unto Death, And I Will Give Thee The Crown Of Life." (Rev. 2:10)
Those Were Some Of The Manifest Causes Of Elijah’s Depression Which Prompted His Prayer For God To Take Away His Life, Complete Physical Exhaustion, Loneliness, Lack Of Success In His Ministry, And Fleeing From His Responsibilities.
Q. He Restoreth My Soul
God’s Way Of Dealing With Elijah.
1 Kings 19:5. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, ("While Death Is Called For, The Cousin Of Death Comes Unbidden," Hall) behold then, an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. (KJV)
Thanks Be To God For The Blessed Forgetfulness Of Slumber—Riches To The Poor, And Health To All.
We Wear These Bodies Out, And Nightly Comes The Nurse To Apply The Balm, To Close The Eyelids, And Unconsciously, As The Dark Hours Pass, To Restore The Waste And Loss.
"Sleep, Sleep, Which Is Indeed But Sweet Release; How Hundreds Would Give Half Their Fortune To Enjoy Thee In Upper Chambers, Where Foot-Steps Must Be Soft, And Utterances But In Whispers; And How, To The Desolate In Heart, Thou Comest A Balm From Heaven, Where The Sorrow Is Forgotten, And Mysterious Spirit Wings Its Way To Dream-Land Of Melody And Joy." (Howat)
It Was Even So With Elijah—Nay, It Was More.
The Prophet Had Forgotten God, But God Had Not Forgotten The Prophet.
He Who Sent An Angel To Hagar In The Wilderness Of Shur, Sends An Angel To Elijah In The Wilderness Of Iduma; And He Who, In Hagar’s Extremity, Provided The Well, Provides Now, In Elijah’s Extremity, The Cake Baked On The Coals, And The Cruse Of Water At The Prophet’s Head.
Humble Fare Yet Far More Than He Deserved And As Much As A Man Of The Desert Requires.
God Had Provided For Elijah Before, Beside The Cherith, When, Morning And Evening, The Ravens Brought Food, For, Perhaps, Twelve To Eighteen Months. (1 Kings 17:6)
On That Occasion Elijah Was In The Will Of God And Obeying God’s Command. (1 Kings 17:2-6)
Yet On This Occasion Elijah Was Clearly Out Of The Will Of God And Had Not Received Instructions From God To Be There. (1 Kings 19:9&13)
V. 5b. "…, Behold Then, An Angel Touched Him,…"
Observed How God Uses The Ministry Of Angels. The Bible’s References To Angels Are Almost Too Numerous To Mention, We Will List A Few Taken From The New Testament. (Matthew 4:11, Luke 1:11; 1:26-38; 22:43; Acts 5:19; 12:8; 27:23)
Hebrews 1:14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (KJV)
This Was No Ordinary Angel But, "An Angel Of The Lord (v.7)," A Term Used By The Bible To Describe A Theophany, Or A Manifestation Of God Himself, Which Appeared On Several Occasions.
No Wilderness Is Too Solitary For The Attendance Of These Blessed Spirits. Remember In All Hours Of Despondency That He, Who Knew The Agony Of Gethsemane, And Calvary, Pities Us And Feels For Us.
Hebrews 4:15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (KJV)
1 Kings 19:6. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. ... (KJV)
While He Slept His Breakfast Was Made Ready For Him By Those Spiritual Hands.
The Thin Flat Bread Of The East Is Baked In A Rude Oven Constructed In The Sand, Or Soil.
It Is Lined With Stones To Hold The Heat; Twigs And Roots And Leaves Are Placed Upon It And Kindled, And When The Sand, Or Stones, Are Hot, The Embers Are Raked To One Side, And The Dough Is Poured On The Stones And Covered With The Embers.
This Is The Way Our Lord Cooked Breakfast For His Disciples Immediately After The Resurrection. (John 21:9)
1 Kings 19:6. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. (KJV)
This Shows The Total Exhaustion Of Elijah’s Physical Frame.
1 Kings 19:7. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. (KJV)
Elijah Probably Had Eaten Very Little The First Time, Due To Weariness And Depression And Promptly Laid Down And Fell Asleep Again.
A While Later The Angel Came Again And Awoke Him To Eat Once More, Saying That The Road Ahead Was Long And Hard, And Without This Special Nourishment He Would Faint By The Way.
We Must Remember That We Also Must Have The Natural Food To Sustain Our Bodies Along With The Spiritual Food From Heaven Or We Also Will Faint In The Time Of Trial.
It Is God’s Will That We Care For Our Bodies With The Proper Nourishment That We May Be Strong Physically To Perform The Tasks He Has For Us To Do.
Many Times The Inner Man Is Weak Because The Outer Man Has Been Neglected Or Abused. When We Find Our Spirits In A Morbid State Let Us Look To Our Health.
The Spiritual Food Is Provided To Us Through Bible Reading And Prayer, And Through The Communion And Fellowship With The Saints Of God In The Church Service, Along With The Ministry Of God’s Word. (Matthew 4:4)
During These Times Angels Come And Minister To The Needs Of The Saints
God Is A Wise Physician—Food First, Rebuke After.
Twice The Broken-Hearted Prophet Slept,
Twice The Angelic Messenger Came Down,
Twice Elijah Is Fed With His Miraculous Meal.
Notice The Gentle Touch By The Angel Each Time He Came. In This We See The Father’s Love.
Sometimes God Rebukes With Kindness.
He Dealt With Elijah As He Always Deals With Us--Not Merely Beyond What We Deserve, But Beyond Our Imagination.
When The Prophet Fled To Cherith, In The Path Of Duty, He Is Fed By Ravens; When He Flees To Idumea, Out Of The Path Of Duty, He Is Fed By A Ministering Angel.
Let Us Look At The Way God Dealt With The Wandering Prophet.
"Arise And Eat:" It Was Precisely What Elijah Needed.
In His Present Condition (Weary, Disappointed, Depressed, To The Point Of Wishing To Die) It Would Have Been Useless To Reason With Him.
Let The Body Be Brought Back To Strength, Then God Would Take His Erring Servant To Task, Faithfully And For His Profit.
We Need To Learn This Lesson Well: Kindness And Gentleness Will Subdue Where Severity And Harshness Will Only Harden And Lock Up The Soul.
The Apostle Paul Said It Best,
Galatians 6:1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (KJV)
We Will Pick Up The Story Of Elijah In The Next Study #4 On This Web Site, As He Makes His Way To Mount Horeb, The Mount Of God, Where God Will Speak To Him Again.
We Hope You Are Enjoying The Study Of Elijah And Will Read The Other Studies On This Web Site.
We Invite You To Visit Our Other Web Sites By Clicking On The Links Below, And Leave Us A Note In The Guest Book Or By E-Mail.
Visit Our Web Site #1
Visit Our Web Site #2
Visit Our Web Site #4
Visit Our Web Site #5
Visit Our Web Site #6
E-Mail Address, Godsgrazingfield@att.net
Back To The Top
James L. Thornton
.
"Study Number Four Of Elijah"
ELIJAH THE TISHBITE
By James L. Thornton
In The Previous Studies, Number 1, 2, 3, We Have Followed Elijah From His First Appearing In The Great Halls Of Samaria Where He Declared That There Would Be No Rain Until He Gave The Word. From There To The Brook Cherith For A Year, Then To Zarephath Where He Stayed With A Widow Woman And Her Son For Two And A Half Years.
In The Meanwhile The Ensuing Drought Had Taken Its Toll On The Nation Of Israel. God Sent Him Back To Israel To Confront Ahab, And The Prophets Of Baal And Asherah, On Mount Carmel. The Rains Came Again In Answer To His Prayer, And Elijah Outrunning The Chariot Of Ahab Back To Jezreel.
We Left Elijah In Our Last Study #3 In The Wilderness Where He Had Fled From The Threats Of Jezebel. We Take Up This Study Where We Left Off With Elijah Refreshed By The Gentle Mercy Of God's Angel.
A. Elijah At Mount Horeb
1 Kings 19:8-18
1 Kings 19:8. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. (KJV)
The Dispirited Prophet Has Been Aroused And Fed. But Not Yet Has He Arrived At A Full Sense Of His Position As A Fugitive From God. He Rises From Beneath His Sheltering Shrub. The Feeling Of Loneliness And Alarm Is Still Present In His Bosom.
He Seems Resolved To Retire from His Post Of Duty Altogether. He Cannot Think Of Retracing His Steps Through The Wilderness Of Idumea And The Kingdom Of Judah.
One Solitary Man, He Cannot Confront The Entire Political Strength Of Israel; And So, Across The Sinai Desert, A Journey Of Two Hundred Fifty Miles, And Through Six Long Weeks Of Exile, The Broken-Hearted Prophet Travels On.
He Could Have Accomplished The Journey In A Shorter Period.
At The Rate Of Fifteen Miles A Day, A Comparative Trifle To A Man Of The Mountains.
He Could Have Reached His Destination In Twenty Days With Ease.
But Burdened By The Ever Present And Predominating Thought That He Is The One Representative Of God Left In The Land (1 Kings 19:10 & 14), He Wanders Up And Down, With Nothing For Support But The Food He Had Received From The Angel, Until, On The Fortieth Evening, He Came To Horeb The Mount Of God.
1 Kings 19:9a. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there;..
The Phrase "And Lodged There," Means Strictly, "To Spend The Night."
No Scene Could Be More Suitable For The Glorious Visitation Which Follows.
Elijah Was Now On "Holy Ground," The "Mount Of God," Where God Met With Moses And Wrote The Ten Commandments Upon The Two Tables Of Stone With His Finger. (Exodus 34:1)
Many Commentators Identify This Cave With The "Clift Of Rock" Where Moses Was Concealed With God’s Hand While The Lord "Passed By" (Exodus 33:22), And Certainly There Are Hebrew Words Used Which Favor This View.
God Had Strengthened Elijah For This Very Journey, Because God Would Meet With Him And Teach Him Lessons Of Patience And Trust.
B. God Speaks To Elijah Again
1 Kings 19:9b. …; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? (KJV)
The Prophet Has Been Followed To Horeb; He Has Forsaken His Calling, But God Is Too Merciful To Forsake Him. He Was Discovered Under The Juniper Tree; He Is Discovered In The Cave. God’s Presence Forever Follows Us.
Psalm 139:9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (KJV)
Even Though Elijah Was Clearly Out Of The Will Of God, Fleeing His Responsibilities, But Surely It Does Not Follow That God Denies All Grace And Sustenance To His Elect Servants Even If They Do, In A Moment Of Despair, Forget Or Distrust Him.
God Never Deals With Us As We Deserve, Or As We Deal With One Another.
"If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? (Psalms 130:3)" "If They Break My Statues . . . Then Will I Visit Their Transgression With The Rod . . . Nevertheless, My Loving-Kindness Will I Not Utterly Take From Him," &c. (Psalms 89:31-33)
"The Word Of The Lord Came To Him, And He Said Unto Him, What Doest Thou Here, Elijah?" (Ver. 9)
If The Word Did Not Come To Us When We Stray, How Then Could We Be Reclaimed? God Must Take The First Step. (John 6:44; Luke 19:10)
It Is More Than Doubtful Whether There Was Any Audible Voice At This Time (See Verse. 15). God Spoke Through His Conscience. And This Is Still The Instrument Used By The Holy Ghost.
Have We Not All Heard This Question In Our Secret Souls? Perhaps When We Stood In The Way Of Sinners, Or Sat In The Seat Of The Scornful. God Has A Way Of Searching Our Souls.
Someone Has Said That Our Conscience Is The Greatest Preacher We Will Ever Hear, And That Is What God Used At This Moment To Speak To Elijah.
It Was Addressed To Him Personally. "What Doest Thou Here, Elijah?"
1 Kings 19:10. And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (KJV)
Elijah Did Not Give A Direct Answer To The Question, But Began To Unburden His Soul To The Lord.
If We Read The Apostle Paul’s Account Of This Moment In The Life Of Elijah He Informs Us That These Things Transpired During A Period Of Intense Prayer, A Time Of Meditation, Of Intercession, And Pleading To God.
Romans 11:2b. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
3. Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. (KJV)
Elijah’s Answer To The Question Which The Lord Prompted Through His Conscience Was A Defense Of His Actions Of Fleeing From His Duty. Later The Same Question Would Come In An Audible Voice. (Verse 13)
His Answer Certainly Betrays, Not Only Irritation And Despair, But A Carnal Zeal Which Would Gladly Have Called Down The Vengeance Of The Almighty Upon All Idolaters.
It Was Almost As If He Had The Feeling That God Had Looked On So Quietly For Such A Length Of Time, And Had Allowed Things To Come To Such An Extremity.
The Idea Which This Verse (Verse 10), Taken In Connection With The Prophet’s Flight (Verse 3), And His Prayer For Death (Verse 4), Leaves On Our Mind Is That In His Zeal For God, He Resented, Not Only The Growing Corruption Of The Age, But, Above All, The Frustration Of His Efforts To Stay It.
What Burdened And Vexed His Righteous Soul Was That In The Very Hour Of Victory, When The People Had Confessed That Jehovah Alone Was God, He, The Solitary Witness For The Truth, Should Be Driven From His Post To Escape As Best He Could, And To Leave The Covenant People To The Evil Influence Of Jezebel And Her Army Of False Prophets.
It Is The Cry Which We Hear Over And Over Again In The Old Testament, And See It Played Out In The Persecution Of The Early Church, The Complaint Of The Silence And Seeming Indifference Of God, To The Persecution Of The Righteous, And The Seeming Impunity Of Evil Doers.
We Also Are Tempted To Think As David (Psalms 73:2-20), When We See The Prosperity Of The Wicked, But We Must Remember That When The Iniquity Of The World Is Full (Gen.15:16), God Will Call The Whole World To Stand In Judgment. (Acts 17:31).
Ecclesiastes 8:11. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
13. But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. (KJV)
But We Also Must Take Into Consideration The Deep Despondency With Which Elijah Spoke, And Remember The Correction Which His Words Received (Verse 18).
But Surely It Does Not Follow That God Denies All Grace And Sustenance To His Elect Servants Even If They Do, In A Moment Of Despair, Forget Or Distrust Him.
C. Elijah Yearns For Sympathy.
As We Listen To The Wail Of The Prophet, He Has Gotten His Pent Up Sorrow Out At Last.
He Has Delivered His Soul From Its Distressing Burden, And Even In Its Heaviness He Finds Relief. Do Not We All Begin To Feel Relief When We Take Our Burdens To The Lord In Prayer?
We Blame Not The Prophet That He Yearns For Sympathy---It Is The Yearning Of Every Earnest Soul.
Remember, Amid The Darkness, Spiritual Far More Than Material, Of The Cross Itself, Do We Not Hear The Cry, "My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me.?" (Mark 15:34)
Then Once Again The Voice Spoke In Elijah’s Inner-Most Being.
1 Kings 19:11a. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. (KJV)
This Is The Moment Which Jesus Spoke Of, 900 Years Later, Which Comes To Every Seeking Despondent Soul In The Story Of The Prodigal Son.
Luke 15:17a. And when he came to himself, He Said …
18a. I will arise and go to my father, …
20a. And he arose, and came to his father. ... (KJV)
Job Also Spake Of A Time When, "The sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, …" (Job 1:6 & 2:1)
In This Lies The Answer To Every Burdened Soul, "Stand…. Before The Lord." (Verse 11) It Is Only In The Presence Of Our Maker That We Learn Our Nothingness.
Job 42:5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
6. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (KJV)
Perhaps Paul Said It Best, "…. beholding…. the glory of the Lord, (We) are changed into the same image from glory to glory, ..."
It Seems, According To (Verse 13) ,That Elijah Did Not Arise At Once So God Caused A Great Display Of Powerful Forces To Come Upon The Mountain.
Of These Glorious Manifestations Only Passing Glimpses Could Be Caught Under The Old Testament. (Exodus 33:18-23)
I Feel That If Elijah Had Been Obedient To That Inner Voice Commanding Him To Arise That God Would Have Appeared To Him As He Did To Moses, Standing At This Same Hallowed Place At The "Clefts Of The Rock." (Ex. 33:22-23)
But He Did Not Arise Immediately, So, "The Lord Passed By, ..." And There Followed Him A Hurricane.
D. A Violent Wind
1 Kings 19:11c. "…, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD;…" (KJV)
The Wind Pulled Rocks Off The Cliffs, And The Rocks Were Hurled About Like They Were Thrown From A Sling. The Clouds Above Were Driven About Like Armies In Battle, Winds Raging, Driving The Dust And Sand, Like An Ocean In Its Fury.
There Is Power Here, But It Is The Power Of The Tornado, Awful And Appalling.
There Is Majesty Here, But It Is The Majesty Of The Storm, Alarming And Distressing
There Is No Feeling Of Peace, Or Nearness, Or Calm, Of Holy Joy.
1 Kings 19:11d. "…; But the Lord was not in the wind:" (KJV)
E. An Earthquake
1 Kings 19:11e. "…: and after the wind an earthquake; …" (KJV)
Yet The Prophet Did Not Come Out Of The Cave, So, The Lord Again Passes By, And In His Footsteps There Was "An Earthquake; …"
The Prophet Reels And Rocks About As The Earth Sinks Beneath Him, The Whole Mountain Quivers And Convulses, The Highest Peaks Of Horeb Move And Sway About, And The Roar Of The Shaking Mountains Are So Loud As To Bring Fear To The Heart Of Any Man.
Psalm 104:32. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke. (KJV)
Habakkuk 3:6. "..; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting." (KJV)
There Was Power Here Again, Majesty Here Again, But Only That Of Terror, Not Tranquility, Uproar Of The Fiercest And Wildest Of Nature, But No Sweet Communication From A Covenant God.
I Kings 19:11f. "…; The Lord was not in the earthquake." (KJV)
And Yet Elijah Did Not Appear At The Entrance Of The Cave, So The Lord Passed By Again.
F. A Firestorm
1 Kings 19:12a. "And after the earthquake a fire…" (KJV)
From Every Part Of Heaven, Around Every Summit And Along Every Ridge Of Horeb, Plays The Flash And Flame, Followed By The Incessant Crash Of Thunder. It Was One Incessant, Universal Blaze. It Made The Darkness Of The Night Brighter Than The Noonday Sun. It Stuns Even Him Who Is The Prophet Of Fire.
My Wife And I Once Spent Such A Night In Our Camper At A Middle Tennessee Campground When A Late Spring Storm Came In The Night And Stalled Between The Hills.
For Several Hours The Storm Raged, The Wind Bowed The Trees, The Torrential Rain Fell, But Far Worse Was The Incessant Lightening Which Snapped And Popped So Very Close, Lighting Up The Campground As Bright As Day.
Needless To Say It Was A Night Of Prayer And Intercession To The God Of The Universe, And When Morning Came A Time Of Thanksgiving.
So Very Awful And Terrible Are The Forces Of Nature.
Ride With The Disciples In Their Little Ship On The Sea Of Galilee And Hear Their Cries Of Distress As The Storm Rages Around Them. (Luke 8:23)
Or With Luke And The Apostle Paul On The Mediterranean When For Fourteen Days And Nights A "Tempestuous Wind Called Euroclydon" Battered The Ship Insomuch As Everything Was Lost, Including The Ship, Save The People On The Ship (Acts 28)
But Only God Knew How Precious A Cargo Was On Board That Ship.
Two Men Who Survived That Voyage Was To Later Write More Than One-Half The New Testament.
After That Voyage, The Apostle Paul Wrote At Least Eight Letters, Known As The Prison Epistles, And Luke Wrote His Gospel And The Book Of Acts After That Voyage—Books And Letters Which Would Help Change The World.
G. A Still Small Voice
1 Kings 19:12b. "…; But The Lord Was Not In The Fire; And After The Fire A Still Small Voice."
What A Night Of Terror, I Know Of No Other Man Who Experienced So Many Violent Acts Of Nature In One Single Night, Any One Of These Would Have Been Enough To Terrorize Any Man.
All The Upheavals Of Nature Were A Reflection Of The Conflict Within The Heart Of Elijah. How Many Of Us Have Had, Or Are Having, Such Conflicts?
The Uproar In Nature Was Succeeded By A Solemn Calm; And As Elijah Waited For The Next Marvelous Display Of Divine Power, "A Still Small Voice" Broke The Silence.
The "Still Small Voice," Which Only A Listening Man Can Hear, Was More Divine And More Mighty That All Elijah Had Witnessed Before.
In John 12:28-29 We Have An Incident Where God Spoke And John Recognized Who Spoke, But Some Of The Crowd Heard Only A Noise Like Thunder, Others Thought An Angel Had Spoken.
So, We Must Be In A Receptive Mood To Hear From God.
Eliphaz The Temanite Explains This Presence When He Breaks In On Job’s Despondency.
Job 4:12. Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14. Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16. It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, (KJV)
Of What Particular Kind Of Sound "The Still Small Voice" Consisted, Whether Articulate Or Otherwise, We Do Not Know; But One Thing Is Evident, It Spoke Louder To Elijah Than All The Previous Storm And Terror.
1 Kings 19:13a. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. (KJV)
No Sooner Does Elijah Hear The Whisper That Indicates A Special Presence, Than He Wraps His Face In His Mantle, And, Like Moses, He "Trembled, And Durst Not Behold (Dared Not To Look)." (Acts 7:32)
Let Us Note The Difference In The Bearing And Demeanor Of Elijah When He Came To Stand In The Presence Of Jehovah, As When He Came Before Ahab And The Prophets Of Baal.
How Stern He Was With Ahab, How Overbearing And Commanding He Was With The Prophets Of Baal
But When He Stood In The Presence Of "The Lord God Of Israel" (1 Kings 17:1), He Was The Humble Servant The Perfect Picture Of Reverence, Even To The Point Of Covering His Eyes.
I Read Isaiah 6:2 That The Highest Of God’s Angels Cover Their Faces In His Presence. Elijah Wrapped His Face In His Mantle And Came Forth In The Most Reverent Attitude To Stand Before Jehovah.
1 Kings 19:13b. ... And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? (KJV)
Note That The Expression Is Different From (Verse 9.)
There We Read Of The "Word Of The Lord," Which I Believe Was Through His Conscience (Page 122), Here A Voice, But This Is Not To Be Identified With The "Still Small Voice" Of (Verse 12)
There Were Ministrations Then; There Is A "Voice" Now, And The Voice Is The Voice Of God.
A Few Times, To A Few People, God Has Spoken.
Not Often Has It Been Heard On Earth; But Always When Heard It Has Spoken In Words Not Soon To Be Forgotten.
Thus To Adam, "Where Art Thou?", To Eve, "What Is This That Thou Hast Done?", To Cain, "Where Is Able Thou Brother?" Yet The Day Will Come When Everyone Will Hear His Voice. (John 5:28-29)
And So To The Desponding Prophet, The First Direct Utterance Of God Since He Left Jezreel, For It Was An Angel That Spoke As He Lay Under The Juniper Tree, "What Dust Thou Here, Elijah?"
Notice The Strong Individuality Of The Question, "What Doest Thou Here, Elijah?"
Not The Prophet Only, But All Of Us, Individually, Must Give Account To God. (John 5:28-29)
It Was The Same Question Which God Had Already Prompted Through His Conscience. (Verse 9)
Elijah Answered With The Same Words, But Everything Was Not The Same, The Man And The Manner Alike Were Changed.
1 Kings 19:14. And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (KJV)
Elijah Has Heard The "Still Small Voice," And It Has Quieted His Tone.
It Is Not Always The Words We Say, But The Manner And Spirit In Which We Say Them, That Gives Them Their Force And Significance.
He Is Now Conscience Of A Misgiving As To The Wisdom Of His Actions. Do We Ever Question Our Own Actions When God’s Spirit Begins To Move On Us?
Elijah Feels He Has Acted Hastily And Faithlessly, And Has Wanted God’s Work To Be Done In His Own Way.
H. God Commissions Elijah Again
He Will Now Go Back, If It Be God’s Will; He Will Be Content To Wait On God, And Follow His Leading.
The Commission Which God Immediately Gives To Him Is Proof That God Recognizes A Change In Him. It Implies That He Is Now Fitted For His High Calling.
The World Can, At Any Season, Spare Its Ahab's And Jezebels, But Never, And Especially At A Crisis, Can It Spare Its Elijah's.
1 Kings 19:15. And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16. And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
17. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. (KJV)
He Receives Three Commands. Anoint (Appoint, Set Apart) Two Kings And A Prophet, Quite A Commission.
We Find That These Three Persons Were Set Apart Sooner Or Later, And In Various Ways, To Fulfill The High Purpose Of God, That Ought To Suffice Us.
The Lord Is Saying, "Thou Hast No Business Here. Thou Hast Work To Do Elsewhere. Thou Art Not Left Alone, Nor Has God Ceased To Watch Over And Care For His People. His Ministers Of Wrath Are Already Nominated; It Is For Thee To Call Them To Their Work, Go Return…"
I. God’s Hidden Ones
1 Kings 19:18. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (KJV)
Thus God Reproved Him For The Faithlessness That Lay At The Root Of His Despondency.
If He Could Have Only Looked Behind The Veil Which Hid The Secret Life Of Israel, He Would Have Seen How Little Reason There Was For His Complaints And Despondency.
Seven Thousand Living Witnesses Might Have Come Forth From Their Hiding Places To Show That His Work Was Not In Vain.
We Little Know What God Is Doing Beneath The Surface, At The Secret Heart Of Society, When Everything Looks Like It Is "Sold Unto Sin."
Preachers, Ministers, Teachers, Leaders, Beware Of Condemning All Of Society With One Phrase.
Moses, In One Phrase Blackened The Whole Of Israel, "Hear Now, Ye Rebels:" (Numbers 20:10) And Because Of It His Time As Leader Of God’s People Was Over.
Almost Immediately God Appointed Joshua As His Successor (Numbers 27:12-23).
It Was True That, Some Of Israel, Or Part Of Israel, Was Rebel, But Not All Of Israel Was Rebellious, But Moses Blackened All Israel With One Stroke Of The Brush, And God Relieved Him Of His Duty.
And Here In Our Study Of Elijah When He Complained To God, Saying, "And I, Even I Only Am Left (Verse 13); Immediately God Told Him To Anoint Elisha To Be Prophet In His Place (Verse 16).
Spiritual Israel, God’s Hidden One’s, Are Far More Numerous Than Any One Knows. (Rev. 7:9-17) And Why Is This?
Sometimes It’s Because Of The Obscurity Of Their Station.
The Seven Thousand Were In Caves And Dens (Hebrews 11:36-39), And So Very Sad Mistakes Are Made As To The People Of God, Because Many Of Them Occupy Such Humble Positions.
Every Christian Is Not The Center Of Attention Of A Thousand Eyes; All Have Not The Publicity Of Rank And Wealth; Cottages Are Far More Numerous Than Palaces, Huts Than Lordly Estates.
And So, In Our Numbering Of The Righteous, We Overlook Many A Name, Like Obadiah Of Ahab’s Court, Of Whom We Have Already Spoken Of Or The Saints In Caesar’s Household.
For Every Large Church There Are Untold Numbers Of Small Churches, And Many A Handful With No Church.
Some Worship In Cottage Prayer Meetings, Others Alone In Rest Homes, Or Shut Up Alone At Home, Still Holding Their Integrity.
Many Other Things Could Be Said In Connection With The Seven Thousand In Their Hiding Places, One Is That, We Never Need To Be Alarmed For The Cause Of God.
He Shall Never Lack For His Seed To Serve Him. There Shall Always Be The "Seven Thousand Who Have Not Bowed The Knee To Baal." These Are God’s Hidden One’s.
The Armies Of God Are Known By Their Increase, Not By Their Diminishment.
Read The Verse Again, (Verse 18,) And Remember Who Is Speaking, "I Have Left Me..," And With These As The Words Of Her Living Head, What Has The Church To Fear? Whether Ahab, Or Jezebel, Or Nero, "Nor Any Other Thing Shall Separate Us From The Love Of God, Which Is In Christ Jesus Our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)
Let Sin And Infidelity Do Its Worst, There Shall Always Be The Holy Leaven Left. God’s Hidden Ones.
There Is Not Merely Seven Thousand, But Seventy Times
The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Has Not Lost Its Potency—"It Is The Power Of God Unto Salvation." (Romans 1:16)
Jesus Said, "If I Be Lifted Up I Will Draw All Men Unto Me." (John 12:32)
Where Are The Twenty-Thousand Idols Of Athens? Or The Goddess Diana Of Ephesus? All These Are But Relics Of By Gone Days, But The God Whom Paul Preached Is Worshipped In Almost Every Nation Under Heaven.
The Institutions Of Idolatry, Of Slavery, Of Bigotry, Of Polygamy, Of Grossness, Has Been Driven Back Before The Onslaught Of Christianity, Until Some Of These Only Exist In Small Pockets, Or In Some Cases In Hidden Places.
Let Pride Of Human Reason Scoff And Jeer And Attempt To Prove Christianity Old And Effete, Depleted Of Vitality, Force, Or Effectiveness, And Exhausted, But Still There Shall Be Those Who Clasp Their Bibles To Their Hearts More Fondly Than Before, And With Greater Earnestness Than Ever Teach Christ To The Generations To Come.
One Final Word How Much Silent Work For God Is Going On In The World? Let Us Beware Of Judging By Appearance, Or Of Speaking Hastily Of Failure.
Turn Again To That Cross Without The Gates Of Jerusalem.
That Life Seemed A Failure, When They Nailed Him To The Tree; But When That One Word, "It Is Finished," Came From His Lips, Did It Not Pronounce The Failure A Great Success?
No Elijah, No! ,You Are Not Alone, You Are Not The Only One Left, Pastor, Teacher, Evangelist, Missionary, Your Labor Is Not A Failure, No Truly Earnest Life Can Ever Be Such.
Even Though Some Of The Things Which God Told Elijah Would Not Take Place In Lifetime, This Comfort He Would Have, That, Even In His Lifetime, And While Engaged In His Ministry, A Yoke-Fellow True In Sympathy, Ministry, And Likeness Of Spirit, Should Attend Him To Make The Burden Seem Easier To Bear.
J. The Call Of Elisha
1 Kings 19:19a. So he (Elijah) departed thence, and found Elisha The Son Of Shaphat... (KJV)
Elijah Came Out Of The Cave Of Despondency After His Meeting With Jehovah—The Old Flame Of His Commission Having Been Revived And Once Again He Was The "Tishbite," "The Converter," Standing Before Jehovah.
His Mission Was Well Nigh Completed, But He Would Have Another Seven Years To Finish The Task Which Was Assigned To Him, Of Which The Most Important And Lasting Of This Was The Calling And Training Of His Successor, Elisha.
Immediately He Arose And Made His Way Back Through The Wilderness Of Paran, And As He Proceeds On His Way, Nature Itself Seemed To Reflect The Revelation Of Stillness And Peace Which Had Descended At Horeb. The Weeks Of Abundant Rains, Which Began While Elijah Was On Carmel (18:45), Had Softened The Long-Parched Fields, And The Country Was Taking On The Life Of Early Spring.
Northward He Traveled Along The Jordan Valley, Till Past The Borders Of Judah, And Crossing The Jordan River Not Far From His Old Retreat Of Cherith, And Near The Small Village Of Abel-Meholah.
Everywhere The Work Of The Husbandman Was Resumed; Herds And Flocks Were Grazing In The Meadows; Busy Hands Were Preparing The Soil For The Seeds.
It Was A Happy Scene In The Fields Of Abel-Meholah, "The Meadow Of The Dance," Of Which The Very Name Seems To Suggest The Joyous Time Of Harvest And The Merry Dances Of The Reapers (Ruth 3:3-7).
Elijah Crossed One Of The Fields, Owned By Shaphet, He, No Doubt, Was One Of Those "Seven Thousand Who Had Not Bowed His Knee To Baal (19:18)."
Shaphet Was A Man Of Means, For He Had Twelve Ploughs Engaged In Plowing The Field. He Also Had A Godly Son, Named Elisha, And As Elijah Approaches, He Is Guiding The Last Of The Twelve Consecutive Ploughs.
(Verse 16) Tells Us That Elisha Was From Abel-Me-Ho-Lah Which Is In The Same General Area Of Tishbe, The Home Of Elijah, So It Is Possible That Elijah May Have Been Aquainted With Elisha.
1 Kings 19:19. …who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth:
K. Elisha’s Background
A. He Was More Than Likely One Of The 7,000 Who Had Not Bowed To Baal. (1 Kings 19:18)
B. His Name Means, "The God Of Salvation," Or, "My God Salvation."
C. His Father, Shaphat, Was Evidently A Wealthy Man Who Owned A Large, Rich, Fertile, Valley Or Meadow, Named Abel Meholah, Meaning, "Meadow Of The Dance."
D. Though The Master Of The Ground, And Oxen, And Servants, Yet He Himself Laid His Hand To The Plough. "Who Was Ploughing…" (1 Kings 19:19) God Never Calls An Idle Man.
E. Elisha Is Found, Not In His Study, But In The Field: Not With A Book In His Hand, But A Plough.f "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" (Luke 16:11)
F. "The Man Who Will Not Plough By Reason Of The Cold (Proverbs 20:4)" If He "Put His Hand To The Plough," Will Presently "Look Back (Luke 9:62)," And "Go Not To The Work (Acts 15:38)."
G. The Apostles Were Called From Their Ships, Their Nets, The Receipt Of Customs, And None From The Market Place Or Street Corners.
L. Elisha’s Call To Service.
1 Kings 19:19c."and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
21. And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him." (KJV)
A. Elijah Found Elisha By God’s Direction (1 Kings 19:15), "Go, Return On Thy Way To The Wilderness Of Damascus:" No Man Finds God But Is Found By God. (Matthew 4:18-22) (Luke 19:10)
B. It Was A Powerful Call; A Very Compelling Urge To Follow Elijah Came Over Him.
C. It Was A Silent Call. Elijah Cast His Mantel Upon Elisha, There Was No Word Of Greeting, No Command To Follow Came From Elijah.
The Rough Hairy Mantle Had Come To Be Recognized As The Garb Of A Prophet. The Prophet’s Cloak Was A Sign Of The Prophet’s Vocation.
To Cast The Cloak To, Or Upon, Elisha Was Therefore An Appropriate And Significant Way Of Designating Him To The Prophetic Office. When Elijah Went To Heaven Elisha Had The Mantle Entirely For Himself.
D. This Was Elisha’ First Test, And He Felt Something Drawing Him, Pulling Him, Urging Him, Compelling Him To Follow Elijah.
1 Kings 19:20.… And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, … (KJV)
E. There Is Such A Call; And When It Comes, It Comes Straight From God. Jesus Said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, …" (John 15:16) (KJV)
F. When This Call Comes A Person Must Hear It, And Feel Its Constraint, Before He Can Ever Give Himself With Any Wholehearted Devotion To This Stewardship
G. This Is The Way God Calls Whom He Will, "and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion (Jeremiah 3:14)
H. Many And Varied Are The Ways Which God Calls Workers Into His Service.
Amos 7:14. Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15. And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. (KJV)
Isaiah 6:8. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
We Have The Record Of The Calling Of Abraham (Genesis 12:1), Of Moses (Exodus 3:1-10), Of Paul (Acts 9:1-6), Of Peter, Andrew, James And John (Matthew 4:18-22), Of Matthew (Matthew 9:9).
M. Elisha’s Response To The Call.
And The Cost Of That Call.
1 Kings 19:20. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
21. And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. (KJV)
A. Elijah Would Not Force Him, Nor Take Him Against His Will, But Let Him Sit Down And Count The Cost, And Make It His Own Act.
B. Elisha Made A Farewell Feast, Quitted All The Comforts Of His Father’s House, But Exposed Himself To The Hatred And Malignity Of Jezebel.
C. It Was A Discouraging Time For Prophets To Set Out In. Isn’t It Always?
D. All Of Those, We Mentioned, Cast Their Lot With A Cause Which Would Cost Them Something. Social Standing, Wealth, Families, And In Some Cases Their Life.
E. Elisha Was Casting His Lot With A Social Outcast, Giving Up Wealth To Become A Servant.
F. Elisha Ministered To Elijah, Became His Servant For Several Years (7-10 yrs.). (2 Kings 3:11)
It Is A Great Advantage To Young Ministers To Spend Time Under The Direction Of Those That Are Aged And Experienced, Whose Years Teach Wisdom, And If Possible Be A Minister To Them.
Those That Would Be Fit To Teach Must Have Time To Learn.
3. Elisha Took Up The Mantle.
A. Elijah Took Elisha Under His Wings And Became Like A Father To Him, And For The Next Seven To Ten Years Elisha Became A Servant, Or Close Attendant, To Elijah. (2 Kings 3:11)
B. During This Period Of Time The Bible Never Mentions Elisha, Then In Second Kings Chapter Two We Find Him With Elijah In Gilgal (2 Kings 2:1)
C. Elijah Had No Fixed Residence, But Moved From Place To Place As The Spirit Of God Directed.
Elijah, Along With Elisha, Most Likely Spent The Next Four Or Five Years, After The Call Of Elisha, In One, Or More, Of The Schools Of The Prophets, Or Hid Away In Some Mountain Retreat.
The Lord Promises That Elisha Shall Complete His Mission. Thus Did Jehovah Most Tenderly Silence His Fears And Reassure His Heart. Blessed Indeed Is It To See How The Lord Had Restored Elijah’s Soul To The Most Intimate Communion With Himself: Recovering Him From His Gloom And Reinstating Him In His Service.
"Then He Arose, And Went After Elijah And Ministered Unto Him (v.21) What A Lovely Finishing Touch To The Picture! Certainly Elisha Did Not Look Upon Elijah As One Who Had Been Set Aside By The Lord!
What A Comfort For The Tishbite Now To Have For His Companion One So Dutiful And Of An Affectionate Disposition; And What A Privilege For This Young Man To Be Under So Eminent A Tutor!
N. A Period Of Silence
1 Kings 20:1-43
In This Chapter We Have A Period Of Between Two And Five Years In Which We Have No Written Record Of The Life And Work Of Elijah.
But We Must Conclude That During This Time Elijah Was Not Hid Away In Some Cave Or By A Brook In A Heathen Country, But Was Fulfilling His Call From Jehovah.
This Chapter (20) Also Reveals Why He Enjoyed A Period Free From Harassment And Threats Of Persecution By Jezebel.
Chapter 18 Closes With "The Hand Of The Lord Upon Elijah" And Him Running In The Rain Before The Chariot Of Ahab, Which Was One Of The Highest Points Of His Life.
Chapter 19 Opens With Him Running For His Life Because Of The Threats Made Upon His Life By Jezebel, Which Was One Of The Lowest Points Of His Life.
Not Much Had Changed In The Palace Of Ahab When Some Six Months Later He Returned To Israel With His Newly Anointed Servant, Elisha.
Why Then Did Jezebel Not Carry Out Her Threats Upon His Life? Had She Reformed And Decided Not To Bother Elijah?
Had She Just Simply Forgotten About Him And Her Threats?
I Think We Can Find The Answers To These Questions In Chapter 20.
It Will Also Help Us To Understand That There Are No Wasted Words In The Bible But That Everything That Is Told Is For A Purpose.
O. Wars With Syria
1 Kings 20:1. And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his hosttogether: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. (KJV)
So Confident Was Benhadad Of Victory That He Sent Messages To Ahab Saying,
1 Kings 20:3. Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. (KJV)
So Overwhelmed With The Vastness Of The Armies And The Lack Of Confidence Of The Support Of Jehovah, Or Baal, And Possibly To Save His Own Skin, Ahab Readily Agreed To The Terms Which Benhadad Demanded Without A Battle, Which He Thought Was Useless To Attempt.
Nor Can We Wonder At The Fears And Concern That Gripped Ahab.
Can Any Land Be Overrun By A Horde Of Barbarians Such As The Syrians And Their Confederates, The Hittites Chieftains, Without Widespread And Great Suffering?
Fire, Rapine, Famine, These Three Calamities Would Certainly Follow Them. Before Them The Garden Of Eden, Behind Them A Desolate Wilderness.
A Like Invasion Is Described In The Book Of Joel.
Joel 2:3.- A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
6. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. (KJV)
The Invasion, Then, Though Repelled, Would Entail Great Suffering.
It Would Not Compensate The Jewish Farmer For The Loss Of His Crops And Oil And Wine, Still Less The Jewish Father For The Dishonor Of His Wife And Daughters.
Each Of These Invasions In Chapter 20 Was Nothing Less Than That Of A National Calamity, And We May Ask What It Was That Had Provoked This Chastisement. We Will Discuss Two Things.
P. The Sins Of The People At Large.
The Sin Of Israel At This Point In Their History Was Idolatry.
It Is True That Much Of This Was Introduced And Fostered By Jezebel, But It Is Impossible To Acquit The People Of Blame.
They Loved The Ritual Of The Worship Of The Foreign Gods, And Willfully Participated In It.
Justice Demanded That They Should Share In The Punishment.
Q. The Sins Of Its Rulers.
Ahab And Jezebel Were Primarily Responsible For This Last Great Apostasy. It Was Jezebel Really Who "Reared Up An Altar For Baal," Though Ahab Was A Willing Instrument In Her Hands. (1 Kings 16:32-33)
We Find, Consequently, That The King And Queen Were The First To Suffer, And Suffered Most.
It Is Easy To Picture The Abject Wretchedness And Despair To Which Ahab Was Reduced By The Insolent Messages Of The Syrian King. (1 Kings 20:2-3; 5-6)
These Were Indeed Days Of Trouble And Rebuke And Blasphemy For Ahab While At The Mercy Of One Who Showed No Mercy.
Nor Did Jezebel Escape Her Share Of Torture.
She Had To Face The Prospect Of Being Handed Over, With The Other Ladies Of The Harem (20:3-4), To The Will Of The Brutal, Sensual, Drunken Despot Who Was At The Gate Of The City.
Had Her Hair Turned White, Like That Of Another Queen, In One Night, We Could Not Have Wondered At It.
Strong-Willed, Desperate Woman That She Was (2 Kings 9:30-31), Must Have Known To Well How Cruel Are The Mercies Of The Wicked Not To Have Trembled At Their Demands.
This Lets Us Know That The King And Queen Did Indeed Reap Some Fruit Of Their Doings In This Life.
Having Read Of All The Abominations And Aggravated Sins Of Ahab And His Abominable Wife Jezebel (1 Kings 16:30-33; 18:4), We Could Well Suppose That The Lord Would Allow Success To This Undertaking Of Ben-ha-dad And Punish And Humiliate Ahab And His Queen. But This Expectation Is Not Fulfilled.
Strange As That Appears, Our Surprise Is Greatly Increased When, At The Urging Of The Elders, Ahab Decided To Resist Ben-ha-dad And The Host That Were With Him. (20:7-9)
In Verse 11 We Have Ahab Rising To The Highest Point Of His Recorded Life.
1 Kings 20:11. And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. (KJV)
Then The Most Amazing Thing Of All Happens When A Prophet Of The Lord Came To Ahab Saying,
1 Kings 20:13. And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. (KJV)
In The 21st Verse We See The Fulfillment Of That Prediction.
1 Kings 20:21. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
Thus We See Victory Was Not With Ben-ha-da(Verse 22) to Our Total Surprise The Lord Sent The Prophet Back To Warn Ahab Once More To Expect Ben-ha-dad To Return The Following Year.
1 Kings 20:22. And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. (KJV)
This Prediction Was Also Fulfilled And The Lord Once Again Delivered The Syrians Into The Hands Of The Men Of Israel With A Very Great Slaughter.
1 Kings 20:29. And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. (KJV)
We Ask The Question Once Again, "Why Did Not The Lord Allow Ben-ha-dad To Punish Ahab For His Sins?"
Now Let Us Seek To Answer This Question.
God’s Time To Destroy Ahab And All Who Had Followed Him Into Idolatry Had Not Yet Come. It Was Still A Few Years Before The Divine Vengeance Was To Be Accomplished.
The Next Question, If The Hour Of Retribution Had Not Yet Arrived,
Why Was Ben-Ha-Dad Permitted To Menace The Land Of Samaria?
The Answer To This Question Will Cast Light Upon The Many Problems Which Plagued Ahab And The Land Of Samaria During The Years Covered In (1 Kings 20.)
The "Day Of The Lord" Is Deferred Because "God Is Long- Suffering" To His Elect, "Not Willing That Any Should Perish, But That All Should Come To Repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
Not Until Noah And His Family Were Safely In The Ark Did The Windows Of Heaven Open And Pour Down Their Devastating Flood. (Gen. 7) Not Until Lot Was Delivered From Sodom Did Fire And Brimstone Fall Upon It: "I Cannot Do Any Thing (Said The Angel) Till Thou Be Come Thither." (Genesis 19:22)
And So It Was Here In Our Study,
Not Until Elijah And His Helper Had Completed His Work,
Not Until All The "Seven Thousand" Whom Jehovah Reserved For Himself Had Been Called And Chosen,
Would The Work Of Judgment Be Set In Motion.
And Another Thing, Could This Have Been The "Space (Of Time) To Repent," Spoken Of In Revelations (2:2-21) Which God Allowed Ahab And Jezebel? Their End Could Have Been Much Different.
Following Upon The Account Of Elishas' Call To The Ministry (1 Kings 19:19-21), The Scriptures Give Us No Description Of The Activities In Which They Engaged, Yet We May Be Sure That They Redeemed The Time.
Probably In The Distant Parts Of The Land They Sought To Instruct The People In The Worship Of Jehovah, Opposing The Prevailing System Of Idolatry And General Corruption, Laboring Diligently, Though Quietly, To Effect A Solid Reformation.
Probably, Following The Example Of Samuel (1 Samuel 10:11; 19:20); They Established Schools Here And There For Training And Fitting Young Men Unto The Prophetic Office.
Instructing Them In The Knowledge Of God’s Law And Preparing Them To Become Expounders Of It Unto The People, And Also To Lead In Psalmody—An Important Service Indeed.
We Come To This Conclusion By The Large Number Of "The Sons Of The Prophets" That Were At Bethel And At Jericho And At The Jordan When Elijah Was Taken Into Heaven. (2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7,15; 6:1)
Thus It Was That Elijah And Elisha Were Able To Proceed For A Few Years Unmolested In Their Work, For Defending Himself And His Kingdom From Powerful Enemies, Ahab Was Too Fully Occupied To Interfere With Them.
R. Armies And Kings Are But Pawns In God’s Hands
How Wondrous Are God’s Ways: Kings And Their Armies Are But Pawns To Be Moved Here And There As He Pleases.
In What Has Be | 
