Elijah Encouraged At Horeb
1 KINGS 19:9-13
Elijah is the hero on Carmel victorious over Baalism.
Elijah is the coward of unbelief at Horeb, self-occupied, utterly discouraged, wishing to die…
Could this be the final defeat of Baalism? “They took the prophets of Baal and slew them at the brook Kishon” [18:40].
God’s sign of judgement had been removed: “there was a great rain…” [18:45].
- CONTEXT & REVIEW
1. Ahab & Jezebel
Ahab is the wicked king of Israel: “did evil in the sight if the Lord above all…” [16:31].
§ Jezebel: “He took to wife Jezebel…went and served Baal and worshipped him” [16:31].
§ They led the nation into idolatry: “reared up an altar for Baal…made a wooden image” [16:32-33].
§ They tried to destroy Yahwehism: “Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord…” [18:4].
§ Baal was the ‘god of the rain’ and the ‘god of life’.
2. The Judgement of God
God’s judgement came upon Israel: “there shall not be due nor rain these years…” [17:1].
§ God’s threatened judgement: “Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up heaven that there be no rain…” [Deu.11:17].
3. Elijah the Prophet
God sent Elijah: “and Elijah the Tishbite…” [17:1].
a. Victory
Elijah was tested and blessed by the Lord so far:
§ There was the great ‘God-contest’ at Carmel: “if the Lord be God, follow him…” [18:21].
§ The victory of Carmel: “the fire of the Lord fell…” [18:38].
§ The defeat of Baalism: “they took the prophets of Baal…slew them” [18:40].
§ The temporary removal of punishment: “there was a great rain…” [18:45].
b. Defeatism
The contest and victory at Carmel has not had the impact that Elijah expected:
§ Jezebel issues a death threat: “Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah…if I make not thy life as the life of one of them…” [19:2].
§ Elijah flees for his life: “He arose and went for his life…” [19:3].
§ He flees from “Jezreel” [18:46] and came to “Beersheba” [19:3] and “sat down under a juniper tree…” [19:4].
§ Beersheba is approximately 100 miles south/south-west of Jezreel, through Jerusalem as a kind of mid-point.
Summary
Elijah ‘exhibited symptoms of manic depression, wishing for death, together with loss of appetite, an inability to manage and full of self-pity.
§ Elijah “saw” [19:2] that, despite the Carmel apologetic nothing was going to change in Israel.
§ Elijah was defeated and broken and wanted “to die” [19:4].
- THE LOCATION
1. The Scene
a. The Summons
Elijah was instructed by the angel of the Lord to go to Horeb: “arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee” [19:7].
§ Mount Horeb is on Kadesh-Barnea, which is approximately 200 miles south of Beersheba.
§ Elijah is already safe from Jezebel in Beersheba; there is no need for him to flee another 200 miles south to Horeb.
b. The Journey
Elijah travels south in the strength of God: “forty days and forty nights unto Horeb…” [19:8].
§ יָּ֖קָם - “arose” [19:8], qal imperfect, ‘to stand up’;
§ יֵּ֜לֶךְ - “went” [19:8], qal imperfect, ‘to travel, journey’;
§ בְּכֹ֣חַ - “in the strength” [19:8], ‘power’; ‘potential to exert force in performing an action’;
§ עַ֛ד - “unto” [19:8], ‘as far as’;
2. The Location
a. The Direction
Elijah travels southward: “unto Horeb the mount of God” [19:8].
§ חֹרֵֽב - “Horeb” [19:8], ‘drought, desolation’; ‘an alternative name for Mount Sinai, derived from harab, ‘to be dry’, and signifying a desolate region. It occurs seventeen times, including nine times in Deuteronomy’;
§ הַ֥ר הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים - “mount of God” [19:8], identified with Mount Sinai: “Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb” [Exo.3:1].
i. Horeb & God’s Covenant
Horeb is the scene of God’s covenant-making with Israel:
§ God made covenant with Israel at Sinai: “behold, the blood of the covenant…” [Exo.24:8].
§ Israel broke God’s covenant at Sinai: “when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount…” [Exo.32:1].
§ God renews covenant at Sinai: “He hewed two tables of stone like the first and went up to Mount Sinai…” [Exo.34:4]; “the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb” [Exo.33:6].
§ Beersheba [19:3] to Horeb was “forty days and forty nights” [19:8] journey.
b. The Location
The actual location at Horeb: “came unto a cave…” [19:9].
§ יָּבֹא־שָׁ֥ם - “came” [19:9], qal imperfect, ‘to enter, come in’;
§ הַמְּעָרָ֖ה - “cave” [19:9], ‘a land formation of a hole in the side of a hill, or under ground’;
§ יָּ֣לֶן - “lodged” [19:9], qal imperfect, ‘to spend the night there’;
§ There are parallels with Moses: “I will out thee in a cleft of the rock…” [Exo.33:22].
Application
The “angel of the Lord” [19:8] nudged Elijah towards the “mount of God” [19:9].
§ Elijah was to meet with God at ‘Moses’ Place…
K &D - As the angel did not tell him whither he was to go, and Elijah wandered to Horeb in consequence of this strengthening, it appears to have been his intention from the very beginning to go into the desert, and see whether the Lord would still further acknowledge him and his work
- THE LORD & ELIJAH
Elijah is called to meet with the Lord at the scene of his redemptive historical action of covenant making: “I will take you to me for a people…” [Exo.6:7].
1. The Question
a. The Lord
The message of the Lord: “the word of the Lord came to him…” [19:9].
§ הִנֵּ֤ה - “behold” [19:9], an interjection demanding ‘look!’;
§ דְבַר־יְהוָה - “word of the Lord” [19:9],
§ אֵלָ֔יו - “came to him” [19:9],
b. The Question
The Lord questions Elijah: “what are you doing here, Elijah?” [19:9].
§ מַה־לְּךָ - “what” [19:9], when used with reference to a person, a question about ‘character, quality’ not about ‘identification’;
§ - “doing” [19:9],
§ פֹ֖ה - “here” [19:9], ‘in this place’;
Application
The Lord’s question is a reproof…….
§ It is a searching, testing, challenging, exposing question: “Adam, Where are you?” [Gen.3:9].
§ Elijah is given an invitation to state his case; to unburden his own soul.
§ K & D – the question was not a reproof but was intended to lead him to give utterance to the thoughts and feelings of his heart.
2. Elijah’s Answer
a. Elijah’s Zeal
Elijah’s zeal: “I have been very jealous for the Lord…” [19:10].
§ קַנֹּ֨א קִנֵּ֜אתִי - “very jealous” [9:10], piel perfect, ‘verb expresses a very strong emotion whereby some quality or possession of the object is desired by the subject’.
§ ‘The central meaning of our word, however, relates to “jealousy” especially in the marriage/covenant relationship’.
§ In a positive sense – ‘to advocate zealously for the benefit of someone else’; in a negative sense – ‘to bear a grudge against, to resent’.
§ ‘The cause of the anq actions is the (possibly imagined) infringement of someone’s rights or injury to the subject’s honor’;
i. The Cause of Jealousy
Elijah was jealous because: “for the Lord God of hosts…” [19:10].
§ אֱלֹהֵ֣י צְבָאֹ֗ות - “for Lord of Hosts” [19:10],
§ Mount Carmel: “How long halt ye between two opinion? If the Lord be God…” [18:21].
ii. Yahweh’s Zeal
The divine ha;n“qi operates in God’s relationship with his people: “Thus says the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury” [Zec.8:2];
§ The divine ha;n“qi has a positive meaning for his people: “thus says the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name” [Eze.39:25]; “Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people…” [Joe.2:18].
§ The divine ha;n“qi can also be directed against the external threat to the covenant, and in that case it means a punishing fiery wrath against the enemy of Israel: “surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen…” [Eze.36:5-6].
b. Israel’s Rebellion
God requires exclusive worship of his people - “thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God…” [Exo.34:14] – but the reason for Elijah’s jealousy: “for the children of Israel have forsaken…” [19:10].
§ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל - “children of Israel” [9:10],
§ עָזְב֤וּ - “forsaken” [9:10], qal perfect, ‘to abandon’ [Gen.2:24];
§ בְרִֽיתְךָ֙ - “covenant” [9:10], suzerain and vassal - ‘binding personal relationship with boundaries and conditions’
§ הָרָ֔סוּ - “thrown down” [9:10], qal perfect, ‘to tear down a structure’; ‘to demolish’;
§ הָרְג֣וּ - “slain” [9:10], qal perfect, ‘to put to death intentionally’;
3. The Elements Present
There are two elements present in Elijah’s response:
§ There is despair at the existing condition of things: “I, even I only, am left…” [19:10].
§ There is also a carnal zeal which would call down the immediate vengeance of the Almighty upon all idolaters.
§ The complaint contained, on the one hand, the tacit reproof that God had looked on quietly for so long a time at the conduct of the ungodly, and had suffered things to come to such an extremity, that he, His prophet, was the only one left of all the true worshippers of God, and, on the other hand, the indirect appeal that He would interpose at last with His penal judgments.
a. Elijah’s Defeatism?
Elijah’s stands alone: “and I, even I only, an left…” [19:10].
§ אִוָּתֵ֤ר - “left” [19:10], niphal imperfect, ‘to be a remainder’; ‘to be left over’;
§ Carmel: “I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord…” [18:22].
§ אִוָּתֵ֤ר אֲנִי - “I only” [19:10],
§ לְבַדִּ֔י – ‘member’; ‘an amount or unit of a quantity as part of a share or whole’;
i. The Death Threat
Elijah’s life is under threat: “they seek my life…” [19:10].
§ יְבַקְשׁ֥וּ - “seek” [19:10], piel imperfect, ‘look for’; ‘search’;
§ לְקַחְתָּֽהּ - “take it” [19:10], ‘to grasp’ take hold of’; ‘to take possession of’;
4. The Instruction
Elijah needs to be instructed by the Lord: “Go forth, and stand upon the mount…” [19:11].
§ צֵ֣א - “go forth” [19:11], qal imperative, ‘go out’; ‘leave an area’;
§ עָמַדְתָּ - “stand” [19:11], qal perfect,
§ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָה - “before the Lord” [19:11],
Application
Elijah’s answer completely devalued what had happened at Mount Carmel.
§ He ignored God’s victory of Baalism as if it had achieved nothing. Elijah was led by the want of any visible fruit from his own labour to overlook the work of the Lord in the midst of his people.
§ By implication, he dismissed the people as utterly faithless. He disregarded the faithful Obadiah and the possibility that there might have been more like him.
§ Elijah’s response seems to imply that the work the Lord had begun centuries earlier at Sinai had now come to nothing. Whereas Moses had interceded for Israel [Exo.32:11-13], Elijah condemned the Israelites for breaking the covenant and bitterly complained over the fruitlessness of his own work.
§ Mount Carmel was the ‘mountain of Baal’ and Elijah needed to visit the “mount of the Lord” [19:9] in order to be reminded of what it meant to serve God.
- THE THEOPHANY & THE REVELATION
1. The Theophany
The theophany: “Behold, the Lord passed by…” [19:11].
§ הִנֵּ֧ה - “behold” [19:11],
§ יְהוָ֣ה - “Lord” [19:11],
§ עֹבֵ֗ר - “passed by” [19:11], qal participle, ‘cross over’; ‘travel through’;
§ The participle is ‘descriptive of the process of coming’.
§ Moses at Horeb: “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed…” [Exo.34:6].
2. The Natural Phenomenon
a. The Precursor
The natural phenomena were the precursors for the Lord’s presence: “before the Lord” [19:11].
§ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה - “before the Lord” [19:11], literally ‘to the face of the Lord’;
§ יְהוָ֑ה - “Lord” [19:11],
b. The Wind
i. The Phenomenon
First of all: “a great and strong wind…” [19:11].
§ גְּדֹולָ֡ה - “great” [19:11],
§ חָזָ֞ק - “strong” [19:11],
§ ר֣וּחַ - “wind” [19:11], ‘breathe, Spirit’; “the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters” [Gen.1:2];
§ “it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain” [18:45].
§ מְפָרֵק - “rent” [19:11], piel participle, ‘tear an object to pieces using physical impact’;
§ מְשַׁבֵּ֤ר - “broke in pieces” [19:11], piel participle, ‘to break or shatter implying destruction’;
ii. The Lord?
The Lord is ‘not yet’ present: “the Lord was not in the wind” [19:11].
§ יְהוָֽה - “Lord” [19:11],
§ לֹ֥א בָר֖וּחַ - “was not in” [19:11],
c. The Earthquake
i. The Phenomenon
Secondly: “after the wind an earthquake…” [19:11].
§ אַחַ֤ר - “after” [19:11],
§ רַ֔עַשׁ - “earthquake” [19:11], ‘movement of the earth’;
ii. The Lord?
The Lord is ‘not yet’ present: “the Lord was not in the earthquake” [19:11].
§ יְהוָֽה - “Lord” [19:11],
§ לֹ֥א בָרַ֖עַשׁ - “was not in” [19:11],
d. The Fire
i. The Phenomenon
Thirdly: “after the earthquake a fire…” [19:12].
§ אַחַ֤ר - “after” [19:12],
§ אֵ֔שׁ - “fire” [19:12], ‘that which burns combustible material’;
§ Elijah has seen the fire at work before: “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed…” [18:38].
ii. The Lord?
The Lord is ‘not yet’ present: “the Lord was not in the fire” [19:12].
§ יְהוָ֑ה - “Lord” [19:12],
§ לֹ֥א בָאֵ֖שׁ - “not in the fire” [19:12]’
e. Moses at Sinai
It was in the midst of such terrible phenomena that the Lord had once come down upon Sinai: “The mount was altogether in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire…the whole mount quaked greatly” [Exo.19:18].
§ This was to inspire the people who were assembled at the foot of the mountain with a salutary dread of His terrible majesty, of the fiery zeal of His wrath and love, which consumes whatever opposes it: it came to pass that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount…all the people trembled” [Exo.19:16];
§ The people feared the presence of God: “whosoever touches the mountain shall be put to death…” [Exo.19:12-13].
Application
Elijah had come to bask in the glow of the spectacular?
§ But the Lord is not to be found in the spectacular phenomena of nature.
§ Tempest, earthquake, and fire, which are even more terrible in the awful solitude of the Horeb mountains than in an inhabited land, are signs of the coming of the Lord to judgment: “the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills moved…” [Psa.18:7ff].
§ Although Elijah’s indictment of Israel was a call for God to judge his people with windstorm, earthquake, and fire, it was not God’s will to do so now.
§ Elijah must return to continue God’s mission to his people, and Elisha is to carry it on for another generation.
3. The Word of God
a. The Voice
But now the lord was not in these terrible phenomena; to signify to the prophet that He did not work in His earthly kingdom with the destroying zeal of wrath, or with the pitiless severity of judgment. It was in a soft, gentle rustling that He revealed Himself to him: “after the fire a still small voice…” [19:12].
§ אַחַ֣ר - “after” [19:12], ‘afterwards’; ‘behind’; ‘following immediately afterwards’;
§ דְּמָמָ֥ה - “still” [19:12], ‘motionless’; ‘silent’; ‘a hush’; ‘a whisper’; ‘sound of low volume as a signal of calm’; “He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still” [Psa.107:29].
§ דַקָּֽה - “small” [19:12], ‘thin, small, lean and soft’; ‘pertaining to be underweight’;
§ קֹ֖ול - “voice” [19:12], ‘any type of noise which breaks the sound waves and so enters the perception of hearing’;
§ Elijah heard ‘the sound of sheer silence’.
b. The Word
Given the links of the passage with Moses at Sinai, surely the “voice” was one of mercy and grace:
§ The Lord revealed himself as the merciful, gracious God: “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands…” [Exo.34:6-7].
§ Elijah must continue the work: “Go, return to thy way to the wilderness of Damascus…” [19:15], that is, back in the north, in the region of “Zarephath” [17:9] and “Sidon” [17:9] where the Lord had blessed him in the past.
i. Judgment
The work was to be one of judgment: “him that escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay…” [19:17].
§ God’s judgement: “anoint Hazael king over Syria; anoint Jehu king over Israel…” [19:15-16].
ii. Grace
The work was to be one of grace: “go and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat…” [19:16].
§ The remnant: “I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal…” [19:18].
Application
Elijah sensed God’s presence in a gracious, saving, and re-empowering way:
§ There was a lesson to be learned: God’s time of judgment is not yet!
§ Main thing is that we hear the voice of the gospel – simple, quiet, profound.
§ We can have great and powerful things happening around us; there was a blaze of light at Mount Carmel, but unless Yahweh grants internal light to see his external light the darkness of the Jezebels and of the Ahabs will remain.
4. Elijah’s Response
How do we know that Elijah heard the voice; how do we know what kind of voice he heard? We notice that Elijah is ready to serve: “when he heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle…” [19:13].
§ כִּשְׁמֹ֣עַ - “heard” [19:13], qal infinitive construct,
§ יָּ֤לֶט - “wrapped” [19:13], hiphil imperfect, ‘to cover’; ‘a wrapping or folding over motion with a focus on the result of covering an object’;
§ פָּנָיו֙ - “his face” [19:13],
§ בְּאַדַּרְתֹּ֔ו - “his mantle” [19:13], ‘cloak, outerwear, cloak’;
§ יֵּצֵ֕א - “went out” [19:13], qal imperfect,
§ יַּעֲמֹ֖ד - “stood” [19:13], qal imperfect,
§ פֶּ֣תַח - “entering” [19:13], ‘opening’; ‘doorway’;
Application
A call to continue the work: “Go, return on they way to the wilderness of Damascus…” [19:15].
§ Elijah is ready to retrace his footsteps, some 300 miles north in order to continue serving the Lord.
Puritans: ‘we need the needle of the law to pierce our hearts, so that the scarlet thread of the gospel attached to the law may heal our soul’.