1 Kings chapter 18. Last time
we saw the contest at Carmel when Elijah challenged the false
prophets of Baal, and certainly we saw the victory of God Most
High. So I want to pick up reading
in chapter 18 at verse 41. We'll read the entirety of chapter
19, but we're only going to go to verse 8 in chapter 19. So
hopefully that's not too confusing, but beginning in 1 Kings 18 at
verse 41, then Elijah said to Ahab, go up, eat and drink, for
there is the sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat
and drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel. Then he
bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees,
and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. So
he went up and looked, and said, There is nothing. And seven times
he said, Go again. Then it came to pass the seventh
time that he said, There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising
out of the sea. So he said, Go up, say to Ahab,
Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.
Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with
clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away
and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord came
upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab
to the entrance of Jezreel. And Ahab told Jezebel all that
Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets
with the sword. And Jezebel sent a messenger
to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also,
if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow
about this time. And when he saw that, he arose
and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to
Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey
into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die,
and said, It is enough. Now, Lord, take my life, for
I am no better than my father's. Then as he lay and slept under
a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
Arise and eat. Then he looked, and there by
his head was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water. So
he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord
came back the second time and touched him and said, Arise and
eat, because the journey is too great for you. So he arose and
ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty
days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
And there he went into a cave and spent the night in that place.
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him,
What are you doing here, Elijah? So he said, I have been very
zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have
forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed
your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek
to take my life. Then he said, Go out and stand
on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by,
and a great and a strong wind tore into the mountains and broke
the rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in
the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake.
But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire.
But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small
voice. So it was when Elijah heard it
that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood
in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him
and said, what are you doing here, Elijah? And he said, I
have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the
children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your
altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left,
and they seek to take my life. Then the Lord said to him, go,
return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive,
anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu, the
son of Nimshi, as king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shaphat,
of Abel, Mahala, you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It
shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will
kill. And whoever escapes the sword
of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved 7,000 in
Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every
mouth that is not kissed in. So he departed from there and
found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke
of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah
passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen
and ran after Elijah and said, Please let me kiss my father
and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him,
go back again, for what have I done to you? So Elisha turned
back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them
and boiled their flesh using the oxen's equipment and gave
it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah
and became his servant. Amen. Well, as we've been studying
the Elijah narratives, as I said last time, we saw that contest
at Carmel, and Elijah prays specifically, and then we see in verse 38,
the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the
water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces, and they said, the Lord, He is God,
the Lord, He is God. Well, we see that that sort of
repentance was short-lived, at least it was in terms of Jezebel
and Ahab, and we have reason to believe that the people of
Israel in the northern kingdom followed suit, and that Baalism
was not eradicated from the land. I think that helps us to understand
something of Elijah's depression, which we'll look at in a bit.
But first of all, we must look at the end of the drought in
chapter 18, verses 41 to 46. Then secondly, we'll note the
flight from Jezebel in chapter 19, verses 1 to 8. But in the
first place, note the end of the drought. Elijah prays to
the Lord God to end the drought. Verse 41, he instructs Ahab to
go up and eat and drink. Now this is a legitimate statement
because they had spent the day on Carmel and they weren't eating
and drinking. But most likely this was to commemorate
or celebrate the reality that the drought was going to end.
God is going to send rain. Now notice his prayer specifically
in verse 42. The order to Ahab in verse 41
assumes an end to the drought. How do we know, or why would
Elijah think that this indeed would be the time when the drought
would end? He's certainly going to pray
according to verse 42, but if you look back in chapter 8, there
is a general statement concerning the end of such judgments. In chapter 8, specifically at
verses 35 and 36, the Lord's Or Solomon's prayer of dedication. In verse 35, when the heavens
are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against
you, when they pray toward this place and confess your name and
turn from their sin because you afflict them, then hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, that you
may teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send
rain on your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance. And then there's a specific statement
in chapter 18 at verse 1. In chapter 18 we read, it came
to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to
Elijah in the third year saying, go present yourself to Ahab and
I will send rain on the earth. So Elijah has confidence in the
word of God. Now in verse 42, the word prayer
is absent, but certainly that is how we are to understand Ahab's
actions. in verse 42. It is obvious that
he prays. James' comment in James chapter
5 indicates this is prayer as well. And with reference to this
position or this posture, it demonstrates his humility. And
I think this is something important for us to appreciate. As we survey
Elijah in chapters 17 and 18, we made the observation that
he is sort of a larger-than-life character. I mean, he's a very
powerful man in redemptive history. Now certainly, that's going to
take a bit of a turn at the beginning of chapter 19. I mean, he's a
powerful man, but he is a man nevertheless. And in James, James
specifically says that he is a man who has a nature like ours. It's literally a man with like
passions or similar passions. And that's the reason why or
how we can relate to Elijah. He's not a perfect man. He's
not the ultimate in manhood. but rather he is a man dependent
upon the grace of God. And this humility evidences this
as well. John Gill speaks concerning his
posture. He says, it's expressive of his
humility and of his earnestness and vehement desire and continued
importunity that rain might fall. For this was a posture of prayer
he put himself into and continued in, and it is certain that it
was through this prayer that rain came. James 5.18. Now, God
is going to send rain, but he hears and answers the prayers
of Elijah. Thomas Minton expresses it this
way, when God means to bestow blessings, he stirs up the hearts
of the people to pray for them. I think that's a good way that
we ought to view this particular section. But as I said, he is
this larger-than-life figure that goes toe-to-toe with 450
prophets of Baal. but he's a man dependent upon
prayer. You see that in chapter 17, back when he's with the widow
at Zarephath. When her son dies, Elijah goes
to the Lord. He cries out to the Lord and
says, O Lord my God, have you also brought tragedy on the widow
with whom I lodge by killing her son? And then, of course,
in chapter 18 at verse 36, when he calls upon God to consume
the sacrifice, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be
known this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant,
and that I have done all these things at your word. So he's
a humble man, he's a godly man, he's a man who depends upon the
Lord, and that is expressed through his prayer, and that is precisely
what we see here in terms of the end of the drought. Now notice
the instruction to the servant in verses 43 and 44. This also
indicates something interesting concerning prayer. It says, He
said to the servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. So he went
up and looked and said, There is nothing. And seven times he
said, Go again. Seven times! Now in the previous
chapter, or previous section, the prayer concerning God's fire
to consume the sacrifice took about a verse and a half. There
wasn't seven times in treaty. There wasn't that importunity. There wasn't that sort of prolonged
season. God immediately sent fire and
consumed the sacrifice. Here, however, it's protracted. Here, however, it's a period
of time. We don't know how long of a time.
Long enough for the servant to go seven times and survey the
scene to see if, in fact, the rain was going to come. And this
should indicate to us that God does not operate in a box. God does not operate the same
way every time. The Lord God is sovereign. Sometimes He answers prayers
right away. Other times He answers prayer
after a period of time. We cannot ever conclude, well,
he didn't answer me immediately, so I'm not going to pray anymore.
We often convey what we wish or hope or think upon God, and
we put a straitjacket upon Him, and we expect Him to perform
in a very particular way. Well, in the space of a few verses,
God shows us He doesn't always act in a predictable manner.
Elijah doesn't say, well, you know, you answered my prayer
that first time in verses 36 and 37. Why do we have to check
seven times? The point, brethren, is that
God is sovereign. God hears and He answers prayer,
but it may not be according to our particular timetable. We
need to enter in and we need to hold fast and we need to be
a prayerful people. Well, ultimately the servant
goes out and he sees, verse 44, there is a cloud as small as
a man's hand rising out of the sea. So he said, go up, say to
Ahab, prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops
you. So here is the prayer of the
prophet, verses 41 to 44. Now notice the grace of God in
verses 45 and 46. The God contest at Carmel demonstrated
that the Lord, Yahweh, was indeed the true and living God. The
end of the drought demonstrates that this same Yahweh is a merciful
and giving God. You see, the God contest at Carmel
didn't answer the problem in terms of the rain. They still
had drought conditions. They still had not seen dew nor
rain those three and a half years. So as far as everybody was concerned,
it was a beautiful display of the power of Yahweh, but now
we see and experience the mercy and the grace of Yahweh in His
giving of the gift of rain. This is a blessing from on high. And as House mentions, it is
a complete contrast with Baal. House says, when the rains come,
the Lord's victory is complete. God sustains and protects his
prophets, while Baal lets his die. Isn't that what happened
to the 450? Baal let them die. Now, we know Baal doesn't really
exist. We know that, but the point is to mock and to scorn
this whole concept of idolatry. He goes on to say, Yahweh feeds
the orphans and widows and raises the dead, while Baal lets the
needy suffer and requires Anath to raise him from death. Remember,
we saw that with reference to that widow at Zarephath, that
Gentile, that heathen that occupied had her house in Zarephath, which
was right in the midst of Baal country, God raised up her son
from the dead. Remember that we explained that
when Baal was failing to function according to his job, his job
was to send rain. If he didn't send rain, the apologist
would step in and say, well, Baal has succumbed to Maat, the
god of death, the god of the underworld. And after a period
of time, Baal's sister, a goddess named Anath, would come and fetch
him out of the underworld and restore him to service so that
he could provide rain. That's what he refers to here.
He says, Yahweh can send fire or rain from heaven, but Baal
cannot respond to his most valiant worshipers. Remember those poor
slobs spent the whole day entreating Baal, cutting themselves with
lances and knives, bleeding all over themselves? They were in
a frenzy and in madness, calling upon Baal, but there was no voice,
no one answered, no one paid attention, the text tells us.
He goes on to say, a God like Baal is no God at all. A God like Yahweh must be God
of all. Rain is not just rain here, but
evidence of the Lord's absolute sovereignty over nature and human
affairs. And that's how we need to understand. and depreciated after this three
and a half year period, which was a direct assault against
Baal in the first place, and now finishes the job by God supplying
the rain in answer to Elijah's prayer. Now note the mercy toward
Ahab, verse 46. The mercy toward Ahab. Now, as
far as anybody knows at this particular point, the God contest
at Carmel worked. As far as anybody knows, Ahab
and Israel got the message. Yahweh is the Lord. We ought
to bow and serve Him. So I would interpret verse 46
as a bit of a merciful gesture from the hand of our God. It
says, Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, And he girded
up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."
Now, I don't know that that's simply meant to teach us that
Ahab was a fast runner. Certainly he's a fast runner
because the hand of Yahweh is upon him. But the point, I don't
think, is to just show us that God's man, under God's influence,
can best a chariot when it comes to a foot race. Now, I think
the point of the particular text is this. If, indeed, Ahab has
learned his lesson at Carmel, Ahab needs to follow Elijah. Ahab, the king of Israel, needs
to be submissive to the divine word. Ahab needs to follow the
word of the Lord. He doesn't need to try and set
himself over the word of the Lord. And so, in this instance,
As Elijah runs, he girds up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to
the entrance of Jezreel. It's an active parable, a symbolic
thing, that now, Ahab, you are to toe the line following the
prophetic word instead of trying to exterminate the prophets of
the Lord God Most High. And now that brings us to the
flight from Jezebel, verses 1 to 8. Now, I'm going to tell you
flat out tonight, I'm going to try and defend Elijah. Because
I think at times people look at this particular chapter, and
while Elijah does not show himself as the sort of man we see him
as in Carmel, I think he's gotten a bum rap in terms of much by
way of interpretation. I'll share some of that with
you tonight. I have no dog in the fight if
there's a bad thing. In Scripture, typically, we point
it out. We didn't try to gloss over David's adultery and his
murder. We sought to show that that was
indeed sin and violation against God. But some of the commentators,
with reference to the questions posed by God, specifically in
verses 9, and 13, seem to indicate that Elijah is completely out
of place. He had no business whatsoever ever being in Horeb. Well, I think that is a misreading
of the text. I'm going to give you some of
that tonight, and then we'll focus on the revelation of God
to Elijah at Horeb next Wednesday night. But note first the threat
of Jezebel in verses 1 and 2. It says, and Ahab told Jezebel
all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets
with the sword. Now, all the prophets there means
the 450 prophets of Baal. Certainly the prophets of Asherah
had stayed with Jezebel. So the all there doesn't mean
every single one. It means that he executed the
prophets of Baal. but the contest at Carmel and
the consequent execution of these prophets. Now, as much as Elijah
despised Baal, Jezebel loved Baal. I mean Jezebel was indeed
a Baal cheerleader. She just esteemed, prized, and
praised. Remember back in chapter 16,
Ahab takes Jezebel as wife. And in response to that, he set
up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in
Samaria. So Ahab marries Jezebel, Ahab
goes and worships Baal with Jezebel, and then Ahab brings the altar
and the temple into Samaria so that Jezebel doesn't have to
make the long trek to Baal land. So you see the corruption involved
in Jezebel specifically, Ahab as well. I mean, he's just a
gutless wonder, and I think we continue to see that as the narrative
unfolds. But note the response of Jezebel
in verse 2. It says, Jezebel sent a messenger
to Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also,
if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow
about this time. Now up to this point, Elijah's
only dealt with Ahab. He hasn't dealt with Jezebel.
He hasn't come face to face with this wretched specimen of a human
being. And we see that in chapter 17,
verse 1. He comes to proclaim to Ahab,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years except at my word.
We see his interactions with Ahab in chapter 18 as well. specifically
when Ahab has the gall to call Elijah the troubler of Israel. And Elijah says, no, it ain't
me that's troubling Israel, Ahab. It's you, because you're an idolater
and you're plunging the nation into spiritual ruin. Now, the previous context, or
what we have seen up to this point, indicates that Jezebel
was in fact a true power in the northern kingdom. We'll see that
in Naboth's vineyard as well. Ahab wants what Naboth has and
then doesn't want to take it. Jezebel basically says, you get
right over there and you take that. I mean, Jezebel's a wretch
and we see that up to this point. Notice in chapter 8, specifically
at verses 4 and 13, she was the one who massacred the prophets
of Yahweh. It wasn't Ahab, it was Jezebel. And then note specifically the
identification of the table, the royal table in 1819. Now,
therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel,
the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah,
who eat at Jezebel's table. So Elijah is now coming face
to face with, as I said, the true power behind the throne
here in Israel. The response that she manifests
here is an evidence of total depravity. I mean, the fact is
there has been this grand display of the living and true God, and
yet everybody, you know, that matters, Ahab and Jezebel, is
rejecting this. Well, Jezebel, and then Ahab's
going to follow suit. Davis makes this, I think, quaint
observation. So you've got the scene, right?
Elijah's running. Ahab follows up. And then they
see sort of the light on in Jezebel's room. And Elijah's hanging out
in the courtyard. And Ahab goes in and essentially
tells her everything that's happening. And so Davis puts it this way,
Ahab mildly protests, but Jezebel, honey, when Elijah prayed to
Yahweh, fire came down and slurped up everything right there in
front of our eyeballs. The queen glares through mascara-laden
lashes at Ahab, and with that familiar derisive turn of Revlon-tended
lips, retorts, so? I think he nails it. That's verse 2, so? I don't care
one bit what Elijah has done. I don't care one bit what false
prophets... No, they wouldn't have said false
prophets. I don't care one bit what prophets fell to the sword
of Elijah. We're going to kill that man.
Davis goes on. This response surprises us if
we have swallowed the education fallacy that pervades our culture
and governments, i.e., get people the right information and it
will change them. So I don't think we ever fully
appreciate the depravity of man. I mean, just go back to the contest
at Carmel. The fact that Yahweh had to answer
that way. The fact that God had to actually
send fire down to consume a sacrifice before 450 false prophets and
a nation who had chosen Baal over God. The Lord shouldn't
have to do that to get our attention. We as parents shouldn't have
to pull the van over and scream at one of our children. Not that
I've ever done that, but we shouldn't ever have to. They should tow
the line. They should listen when we speak. And the same is the case in Israel. The fact is, is that God shows
mercy in sending fire to consume the bullet. But the fact is that
God does that shows us how wayward and wretched and depraved this
people are that he has to do such a thing to grab their attention. And then, lo and behold, you've
got Jezebel who says, so I am going to execute this man no
later than 24 hours from now. Elijah then makes, or we then
see this response in verse 3, the flight of Elijah. Verse 3,
and when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went
to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
Now there's a translation issue here. If you've got the ESV or
the NIV, based on the Septuagint and a few Hebrew manuscripts,
it says, and he was afraid. The beginning of verse 3 says,
and he was afraid." Now, if we survey the evidence and we ask
the question, which reading would have been more likely, I suggest
that verse 3 in the New King James or King James tradition
is more likely. And when he saw that, he arose
and ran for his life. Not when he was afraid. Now, if somebody was going to
change it, they would probably change it from, and when he saw
that, to, and he was afraid. Because the idea being, she's
full of venom and poison, he's afraid, so therefore he runs
to flee in protection of his life. But I just think this is
the better reading. When he saw that he arose and
ran for his life and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah,
and left his servant there. Now, very specifically, this
was about 100 miles south of Jezreel. When he saw that, specifically
her royal response to the very situation that they were involved
in, this indicated to Elijah that Israel didn't learn its
lesson. Not that he was afraid of her
necessarily. It's that he saw that the prevailing
conditions in Israel had not changed. Things were status quo. The very fire from the presence
of God Most High consuming the sacrifice still didn't convince
the royal court who ultimately would lead and call the shots
for the rest of Israel, it didn't convince them that Yahweh was
in fact God. So Elijah sees that, he arose
and he ran for his life. Now again, yeah, he was probably
concerned for his life to be sure. But when we get to verse
4, he's not concerned for his life. How do we explain that? I think it's very simple. He
doesn't want to die at the hands of Jezebel because that means
she's the victor. And that just obliterates the
whole Elijah venture into Israel at this particular time. He has
no problem asking Yahweh to take his life. It's not that he's
coveting and craving a 95-year birthday. It's that he doesn't
want to die at the hands of the Baalists, because then that will
show that they have supremacy over him. I suggest that how
we ought to interpret, specifically, verses 4 and following, is the
brokenness of the prophet. Not over his own state, not over
his own what appears to be ineffectiveness, but over the condition of Israel.
The further journey, notice, he drops his servant off in verse
3, and then in verse 4 he goes a day's journey into the wilderness. He's not afraid of Jezebel at
this particular point. If I drive a hundred miles from
here to get away from you because I fear that you're going to get
me, not drive, that even makes it... I mean, we can drive a
hundred miles, but if I go a hundred miles and then I then depart
and go a day's journey, at some point I'm not really fearing
you anymore. The distance here isn't because
he's afraid of Jezebel. The idea is that he's getting
away. He is running for his life, but
he doesn't want to die at the hands of this wretch. The prophet
was broken over the conditions in Israel, not over his failure,
nor was he having a crisis of faith. To read the commentators,
Davis is right. It's as if Elijah was psychotic. that he was this mixed up, messed
up specimen of a human being that is now walking by sight
instead of faith. Let me just give you a few samples.
Wallace, a particular commentator, said, Elijah cracked up. As we
read on, we see the man at whose courage all Israel had marveled
fleeing before the threat of a mere woman. Now, I don't know
that anybody would concede that she was a mere woman. He was
a woman, but she wasn't a mere woman. Those bedazzled eyes were
hiding wicked countenance that was filled with malice and rage.
But he goes on to say, we see the man who had spoken as if
he had but to raise his hand, and God would send legions of
angels to aid him in the battle, now floundering about for some
prop by which to hold himself up. we see the man who had been
the most spectacular political success suddenly sink into a
mood of despondency and gloom. Again, I think he's despondent.
I think he's depressed. I think he's sad. But it's not
because of him. Listen to what wise man says. He's not too wise in this particular
quote. He exhibited symptoms of manic
depression, wishing for death, together with loss of appetite. Where do they get that from the
text? He wakes up and there's bread and water there. What does
he do? He eats it. He doesn't have a
loss of appetite, an inability to manage, and with excessive
self-pity. Now, I'm going to bring it a
bit closer to the reformed home. A.W. Pink, and I love A.W. Pink. Please don't go and blog
and say Butler ripped on Pink. This is just amazing. Up to this
point, Elijah had been sustained by faith's vision of the living
God. But now he lost sight of the
Lord and saw only a furious woman. I think the rest of the chapter
manifests that this is patently false. That's not what's happening. He says, this merely underscores
the disastrous consequences of walking by sight. I mean, if
we ask the question, why did he run and hide in the first
place in verse 3? Well, Yahweh had shown him that
such was acceptable in certain situations. Remember chapter
17, verse 1, he brings the heat to bear upon Ahab, tells him
there's going to be no dew nor rain. And God says, go hide by
the brook Kerith. And in chapter 18, verse 10,
we learn that Ahab had been surveying, scurrying the whole nation, trying
to find him. So the Lord had set the example
that in some situations, it's okay to go and hide. Pink goes
on to say that Elijah went for his life, but not for God, nor
for the good of his people, but because he thought only of self.
Brethren, that's unfortunate to pin that on this brother based
on this section. Again, verse 3, he runs for his
life. Verse 4, take my life. How do we explain that other
than he doesn't want to die at the hands of the Baalists. He
has no problem if Yahweh takes him. In fact, he asked for Yahweh
to take him. So it's not his life that is
paramount in his concern. He says, not for God, not for
the good of his people, but because he thought only of self. That
is just unfortunate. Now notice, specifically in verse
4. He himself went a day's journey
into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree.
And he prayed that he might die, and said, It is enough. Now,
Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my father's."
Now, we see a whole myriad of ways God answers prayer in this
section. 18, 36, and 37, Elijah prays,
God answers. Later on, he prays for the rain
seven times. No answer. Thankfully, he answers
no to this prayer request of Elijah in verse 4. Elijah says, he prays that he
might die and said, it is enough. Now, Lord, take my life for I
am no better than my father's. Now, the probable reasons for
his, well, let me just read a quote by a good guy named Alan. All
these other guys are good too. You know, all guys get it wrong
from time to time. Alan says, "...he wanted to die,
for he was broken. He did not wish to die at Jezebel's
hand, for that would be judged her victory, hence his flight.
But south of the proverbial southernmost city of the southern kingdom,
in the wilderness of Judah, where none would give Jezebel credit
for his death, there he begged Yahweh to take his life." So
he is indeed a broken man. He's a discouraged man. He's
a depressed man. If we ask the question why, I
think the probable reasons suggest themselves. The recognition that
the contest at Carmel didn't work. I'm sure that Elijah had
that sort of concept that you and I have. We do things because
we think there's going to be a specific result. And if we
do that thing under the blessing of God and there's no specific
result, what happens? We can get discouraged. He sees
the power of God manifested in the fire consuming the bullet.
He sees the nation of Israel, at least for a time, bowing down
and confessing, Yahweh is God, Yahweh is God. And yet, it didn't
work. I would imagine this brought
some discouragement. the recognition that the end
of the drought didn't work. Surely once they start to drink
water, and once they start to get crops again, and once they
start to prosper from the good of the land, then they'll give
praise and glory to God. You see, He has every reason
to be discouraged. I suggest that we ought never
to come to chapter 19 and try and psychoanalyze Elijah and
forget the reality that Elijah there is probably doing a whole
lot better than you or I would. I mean, I get the smallest discouragement
and I'm ready, you know, to flee to Beersheba. Elijah is not the pathetic man
painted by many of these commentators. Now, the contextual indicators
that his wasn't a self-centered pity party. We're going to jump
further into the chapter, but we're going to expound it next
week. But I just want to give you some argument as to what's
happening in this particular situation. So I said, when Elijah's
in Horeb, God asks specifically in verse 9 and verse 13, what
are you doing here, Elijah? See, most commentators read it
critically, like, what are you doing here, Elijah? You're at
Horeb, and you're supposed to be on the field of battle. Get
back at it. In the first place, he's at Horeb
by the Lord's prompting. Notice specifically in verse
7. Verse 7, it says, "...the angel
of the Lord came back the second time and touched him and said,
Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you." This can't
mean the journey back to Jezreel. He's already done that. He knows
how to make it from Jezreel to this particular location. But
he's talking about the journey to Horeb. Verse 8, So he arose
and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights, as far as Horeb, the mountain
of God. So the journey to Horeb was at
the prompting of the Lord. Davis makes this observation.
He goes to Horeb with divine authorization. He says the map
suggests we are dealing with plan rather than panic. panic would have been, I don't
know what I'm going to do, I'm going to just end up in Horeb.
He's not out finding himself. He's not hitchhiking across Palestine
looking for, you know, dishwashing jobs until he can get himself
right with, you know, the powers that be. There is a plan here. He is prompted by the Lord God
Most High to go to Horeb. Secondly, the questions posed
by Yahweh in verses 9 and 13. What are you doing here, Elijah?
Verse 9. Verse 13. What are you doing
here, Elijah? This is not God's upbraiding
the prophet for being where he's not supposed to be. It's God
giving the prophet opportunity to express his burden concerning
the situation. Horeb is Sinai. Horeb is the
covenant mountain. Elijah's functioning as prophets
function to bring a covenant lawsuit against the people of
Israel. What better place to do this
than at Horeb? And God sanctions this. God responds
favorably to him. It's not the case that he's just
wandering around and finds himself in Horeb. Here he's very similar
and very parallel to Moses in many ways. In fact, the cave
that he stands in, many scholars believe, is the Cleft of the
Rock, good song choice tonight, where God hid Moses when he passed
by in his glory. There is a theological purpose
for Elijah to be where he's supposed to be. And so for persons to
interpret verses 9 and 13 and say, well, God's reproving him
because he's here at Horeb and he should be out fighting Jezebel
and Ahab. No, you're missing the point
of the narrative. God is giving him, expressing
to him the opportunity to lay out his burden before Yahweh.
And that is precisely what he does. Davis, again, makes this
observation. Is he despondent? I think so. Over what? Over Yahweh's interests,
His covenant, His altars, His prophets. Notice the responses
in verses 10 and 14. Think back just for a moment
to A.W. Pink. Not for God, not for the
good of his people, but because he thought only of self. Look
at verse 10. I have been very zealous for
the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have
forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, killed your
prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek
to take away my life. If it's self-centered for Elijah
to say, I alone am left, then it was self-centered in chapter
18 at Carmel for Elijah to say, I'm the only prophet here. There
were other prophets. Obadiah had hid them. The point
of the passage is he's the only prophet standing in public opposing
the false prophets. Obadiah hid the 100. You see,
he's the only prophet in terms of a challenge sanctioned by
God against the royal court. He's not self-centered, self-pitying,
narcissistic Elijah, just having a pity party. Same thing in verse
14. and they seek to take my life."
Now, why twice? Why 9 and 13 question and 10
and 14 answer? Well, Davis suggests the first
is informal. When he actually arrives at Horeb
and he's in the place where God tells him, it's formal, it's
official, and it's on that basis that God then responds to him
favorably. It is not the case that he is
what he is described. The function of the prophet in
Horeb, Sinai, the mountain of God, was to function as a prosecutor
in a covenant lawsuit against Israel. Now note, the Lord responds
favorably to Elijah. If this was a pity party, if
it was all about Elijah, if it was all about his narcissistic
feelings of woe, then why would God answer him favorably? Why
would the Lord treat him the way the Lord treats him? The
Lord is good, the Lord is kind, the Lord is merciful. Notice,
he specifically renders the verdict with reference to the lawsuit
involved. There will be judgment upon the
wicked, verse 17, and there will be mercy toward the remnant,
in verse 18. One commentator says the theophany,
that means the manifestation of God. God coming to Elijah
in this still small voice. This theophany is thus not meant
to chide the prophet, but quite the contrary. It is a full endorsement
of his zeal in behalf of Yahweh's sole kingship. You see, he's
not chiding him, he's not reproving him, he's not upbraiding him.
He answers the very specific thing that Elijah presents beforehand. I am here, God, because the rest
of the nation is treating you as if you do not exist. And so
the Lord says, go, return, and this is what you're going to
do to employ my judgment. Hazael, external threat to the
internal blessing of Israel. Jehu, the internal threat to
the internal stability of Israel. And boy, did he really become
an internal threat. And then Elisha. You see, that's
the still, small voice. God can thunder with the earthquakes. God can come with the wind. God
can send fire down upon a bullock and consume an offering at Carmel. But oftentimes, He comes in the
still, small voice. He comes through historic means,
like Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. So the purpose of the theophany
is not to reprove Elijah, but rather to bless him, to hear
what he has to say, and then to render the verdict accordingly.
So I suggest, brethren, that what we have in terms of this
whole, Elijah is just this basket case, is just not accurate. So let's just finish up looking
at verses 5 to 8. So we have him in verse 4. He
himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, came and
sat down under a broom tree, and he prayed that he might die,
and said, it is enough. Now, Lord, take my life, for
I am no better than my father's. Again, we look at that and say,
how dare him? Really? You guys never ever feel
this way? Maybe you don't actually ask
God to take your life, but is there a broom tree in your life?
Now I'm going to psychoanalyze you. Do you have a broom tree
that you ever sit under and you just weep and struggle and travail? God, deliver me from the mess
that I've created. Deliver me from the mess that
others have imposed on me. That's the heartbeat of the prophet.
And look at what he's just witnessed. In fact, this account serves,
I think it's in Spurgeon's minister's fainting fits. He cautions ministers
of the gospel that one of the times they're most susceptible
to a fainting fit is after great success. What greater success
could you have had than Carmel? If, of course, you were Elijah.
You can't say that for the 450 prophets of Baal that met their
end with Elijah's sword. But that was a high, brethren.
And so now he comes back and Jezebel the wretch wants to kill
him. Of course that's a buzzkill.
Of course that's going to bring you down a few notches. And of
course, in your depression and your discouragement, you might
just say, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my father's.
I just think that's typical biblical Christianity. I don't think there's
any manic depression or, you know, he's out of touch with
himself or he's too much. That's all just psychobabble,
and I think we see it in the way that God deals with it. Verse
5, then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel
touched him and said to him, rise and eat. God doesn't yell
at him. He doesn't reprove him. He doesn't
rebuke him. He doesn't say, how dare you
ask me to take your life? No, Elijah, you need some rest
and you need some food. This is our God, brethren. This
is a good God. This is the opposite of Baal.
Those poor wretches were cutting themselves and bleeding on themselves
or dancing naked before Baal, calling on him, calling on him
and nothing. And then Elijah gets under the
broom tree and says, Lord, I'm ready to be done. And God gives
him food and rest. Verse 6, he looked and there
by his head was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water.
Isn't this Yahweh's way with Elijah? through ravens, through
the widow, and now through this angelic means. God continues
to feed His prophet. God continues to sustain His
prophet. Verse 7, And the angel of the
Lord came back the second time and touched him and said, Arise
and eat, because the journey is too great for you. So he arose
and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights, as far as Horeb, the mountain
of God." So the supernatural power of God in sustaining him. He eats a meal in verse 7, and
he doesn't eat again for these forty days and forty nights.
That's the mercy, kindness, power, and goodness of God. Certainly,
if he wanted to answer Elijah's prayer, that verse 7, food, would
have wore off in the, what, four days? How long can you live without
food? Four, seven days? Gotta have water, or three days,
I think that's the way, isn't it? Am I nuts? Three days, no
water, you die. I guess with food, you can go
a bit longer without, but 40 days without, you're gone. So
God could've answered verse four prayer and just said, okay, enjoy
your last meal, Elijah. I hope you like bread, cake baked
on coals in a jar of water, because that's it for you. So you see
the Lord deals with them graciously, the Lord deals with them kindly,
and then what transpires in verses 9 to 18 is God's revelation to
the prophet in terms of what he's going to do to Israel. And
then the call of Elisha fills the void specifically, and it
all just flows together. We don't need to see a nutcase
in chapter 19. We just need to appreciate that
after a great contest at Carmel, He's down, he's discouraged,
he's a bit of a negative nelly, but the Lord God nevertheless
deals with him graciously. Well, just a couple lessons and
then we close. In the first place, we have seen and considered a
bit the prayer of the prophet. It is indeed the lifeblood of
his ministry. You know, apart from James 5,
or let's say there wasn't a James 5, or I hadn't reminded you of
James 5, where James points to Elijah as a pattern or as an
example of prayer. I mean, when you think of Elijah,
do you think prayer? Maybe not. When I think of Elijah,
I think finger in the face of Ahab, you know, mocking those
prophets of Baal. I got 1827 in my head when he
mocks those prophets of Baal. That's the larger-than-life picture
of Elijah I carry with me. But he was a man of prayer. It
was his lifeblood. As well, it was grounded in his
confidence in God. Verse 41, he knew that the rain
was going to come. Based on that reality, he prayed.
Isn't that all Jesus teaches us in Matthew chapter 6? Your
Father knows what you have need of before you ask, therefore
in this manner pray. You see, God's sovereignty and
God's promise, whether general or specific, does not remove
the place of prayer, but rather it grounds prayer. It is the
foundation of the basis for prayer. So, knowing these things ought
not to keep us from prayer, but ought to send us to prayer. It is marked by humility, and
we ought to appreciate this with reference to both Elijah and
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can be a truly humble man
and get in the face of false prophets. You see, I think if
Elijah or Jesus lived today, and Jesus does live, and so does
Elijah, but I mean, if they were physically present on the earth
today, they would not be esteemed for their manner and methodology. Elijah actually mocked people
in 1827. Jesus actually called the religious
leaders hypocrites and brood of vipers. These were humble
men. You see, this idea of humility
doesn't mean doormat. Humility doesn't mean, you know,
go lie down under the table and let everybody walk all over you.
Humility can be coupled with great courage and strength for
the living and true God. We see that with both Elijah
and the Lord Jesus. As well, it is an expression
of his faith. And it is answered differently
than his prayer on Carmel. Davis, again, I'll quote here,
he says, he answered Elijah immediately in one case and apparently after
extended pleading in another. In another case, he will refuse
Elijah's request altogether, 19.4. We must simply live with
the mystery and allow it to teach us caution. I think especially
of those saints who are so keen to write God's script for him
and seem to assume that he provides a one-size-fits-all conversion
experience. He doesn't. You talk to 10 people
on how they came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of the
elements will certainly be present. I'm a sinner. Jesus is a Savior.
But beyond that, the differences, the circumstances, the places,
the times, the period, all that's going to differ. Why? Because
God's not dull. God is not a one-size-fits-all
God. He goes on to say, or that He
has a uniform way of answering prayer, if only one has enough
faith, or that He follows one pattern in giving guidance in
circumstantial matters. But God is not so dull. Sometimes
prayer is relatively effortless, sometimes extremely agonizing,
and who really knows why? The answer is we don't, right?
We don't. God is sovereign. We cannot put
him into a box. He is not Baal. You don't just
manipulate him and control him and cause him to perform in a
particular way. He is God and there is no other. As well, we see the discouragement
associated with ministry. In this particular instance,
it is the prophetic ministry. The contest at Carmel did not
produce lasting repentance. The rain from heaven did not
produce lasting repentance. The sinfulness of men is greater
than any prophet ever realized." You see, I don't know that Elijah
bargained for that. This whole concept of, I'm going
to go up here, I'm going to challenge these 450 prophets of Baal, God
is going to bring fire down to consume my bullock, and everybody's
going to get saved. If I was him, I would be thinking
that, but it doesn't always work that way. There is discouragement
associated with that sort of ministry. So the tendency toward
discouragement, It's not just ministry. Obviously we get discouraged
throughout our Christian life, but here specifically is the
prophetic ministry. We ought not to neglect that. We ought not to castigate the
guy and say, wow, he asked for God to take his life, so cast
him out of the prophetic ministry. God doesn't do that. God feeds
him. God allows him to have some rest.
God gives him a bit of a sabbatical from the contests and from the
wretched Jezebel. God rests him and enables him
to get revitalized and restored. And then finally, we see in all
of this the goodness of God, His provision of rain for Israel.
I mean, Davis makes this observation, I actually emailed him today,
because especially his comments here in chapter 19 helped me
personally very much so, and I really appreciated that. But
he makes this observation that we so often take things for granted.
Rain, I mean, we really do, don't we? But he uses the analogy of
a screen, a screen on the window. He said that the screens were
developed in 1880. I think that was the date. What
happened before 1880? Every bug that was out there
was in here. It's so easy to take such things
for granted. God sent rain. Baal didn't. Baal couldn't even keep his foolish
prophets alive. It's the Lord God Most High that
delivers the goods. And that's what we need to see
in this passage. He provides rain. He engages
in mercy toward Ahab. And this won't be the last time.
In the Naboth incident, it's incredible. Ahab gives a glimmer
of repentance. It's not real, it's not legit. And God says to Elijah, did you
see that? In a good way. So he shows this
mercy in 1846 by sending Elijah ahead of him to teach, to call
him, to invite him to a right relationship with Yahweh. Follow
the prophetic word, follow the mouth of God, follow the voice
of Yahweh. That is merciful. And then his
kind dealings with Elijah, both here and God willing, as we'll
see, in the rest of the chapter next week. The Lord is indeed
good, and He does good. Well, let us pray. Our Father,
we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for the exciting
narratives that we have here in Kings, and God, I pray that
we would receive the lessons that you would have for us. We
thank you for your goodness and your mercy manifested, and we
thank you, God, for the kindness that you showed to Elijah, the
kindness you showed to Israel, the kindness you showed to us
each and every day. Help us to count our blessings
and to take nothing for granted. but give us grace to have a theological
mindset and to interpret things properly. Go with us now, we
pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
