1 KINGS 19
Read 1 Kings 19:1-21 After the spectacular triumph on Mount Carmel where Elijah called on the Lord to demonstrate that he is the true God and not the false god Baal that King Ahab and Queen Jezebel worshipped, Elijah found himself a wanted man. Even though the Lord honoured Elijah and proved beyond all doubt that it was he, the Lord, who had the power and authority over this world, the king and queen would not bow down to the Lord. King Ahab told Queen Jezebel what had happened and Jezebel ordered that Elijah be hunted down and killed (it is clear who wore the trousers in that household!)
Elijah feared for his life and took refuge in the wilderness, where once again God provided for him by supplying food and drink. But Elijah was in despair – all he had worked for and had accomplished seemed to have made no difference; he had had enough. But sustained by the food and drink he travelled through the wilderness for forty days and forty nights (isn’t it interesting how often forty days and forty nights in the wilderness crops up in the Bible – look at Jesus in Matthew 4:2) he arrived at Horeb. Horeb (or Sinai) was where Moses stayed for forty days and forty nights when the Lord gave the law to Israel (Ex 24:18).
But Elijah was inconsolable, complaining to the Lord that his people had been unfaithful, that they had rejected him and had persecuted the prophets loyal to God. He was the only prophet left and Ahab and Jezebel were after him as well. Elijah despaired. But God in his grace and mercy came to Elijah to encourage him to continue in his work. And to reassure Elijah of his continued support the Lord’s presence, the Lord’s glory passed by Elijah just as it did to Moses back in Exodus 33:12-23). Elijah received the comfort of the Lord and the support of the Lord, telling him that his ministry is comparable to that of the great Moses. And Elijah did experience the presence, the glory of the Lord – not in the spectacular and noisy powerful wind or the earthquake, but in the quiet of the gentle whisper (vv11-13).
We can sympathise with Elijah’s experiences. It seems that we are such a minority and that the powerful and influential people in this world are implacably opposed to Christianity. How can we possibly succeed in carrying out God’s work? But we too can experience the presence of the Lord to encourage us. And as Elijah discovered, when God speaks to us or shows us his presence, it is often not with a great spectacular show of thunder and fireworks – most often we will hear God’s voice in the stillness and quiet. The challenge for us is to keep an ear open for that quiet voice in the chaos and cacophony of the modern world.
The Lord still had work for Elijah to do. One of the prophets’ roles is to anoint kings (we remember Samuel doing that, anointing first Saul and then David) and Elijah is charged with that task. But also he has to call his successor, Elisha, into the Lord’s service as an apprentice prophet to train to carry out the Lord’s work (vv19-21).