Sermon Tone Analysis

*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].

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*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].

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*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 /ha//rab/, ‘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

 

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*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.