Elijah Calls It Quits
Isaac Jogues was a passionate Jesuit missionary to the Native Americans in the area around the Great Lakes of Quebec. When he arrived first, he ministered to the Hurons. But, shortly after his arrival, a sickness broke out. Jogues himself became ill, yet he, along with his fellow missionaries, cared for the sick and dying. The tribal leaders, however, debated amongst themselves as to the cause of this epidemic. Eventually, they decided that the missionaries were responsible. They concluded that the missionaries were to be put to death. Jogues had two options: he could either continue in his calling and care for the sick, or he could run and take his chances in the wilderness. This story leads us into our text today.
Our text today is 1 Kings 19:1-9, so after you find this passage in your Bibles, I will read it from the NIV.
1 Kings 19:1-9 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them." 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
Prayer
Today’s message is one that applies to all of us. It is wrapped up in this story of Elijah. Though Elijah is recognized as one of the greatest prophets of the Lord, this story pictures him at his lowest point. Elijah fails to trust in the Lord. He quits. What has happened to Elijah? Why has he run scared? This will take some explaining…
Throughout this message, I will first give background information necessary for the text, then I will develop two points that combine into the main idea you should remember, then I will give two applications.
Now I will share the background you need to know. At this time Ahab was king over Israel. Ahab was known to have been one of the worst kings of Israel. Turn with me, if you will, to 1 Kings 16:30:
1 Kings 16:30-33 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.
So, Ahab, the king of Israel, disobeyed the law of God. He erected places of worship for false gods. Perhaps influential in Ahab’s demise was his marriage to Jezebel, a foreign woman who was an idolater. According to 1 Kings 18:18, Jezebel supported 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Perhaps even more important to understand for our passage today is another point. According to 1 Kings 18:13, Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord. She was capable of and sought to kill anyone who attempted to get in her way. She desired to worship her own gods, and Ahab went along with her desires.
In our passage today, the first verse gives us a clue as to the more immediate background information. Ahab has told Jezebel everything that Elijah did at Mount Carmel. At Mount Carmel, Elijah prompted a showdown between himself and the prophets of Baal and Asherah that Jezebel supported. The false gods fail to answer the prophets of Baal, but the Lord answers Elijah’s call and consumes the offering upon the altar with fire from heave. An offering saturated in water. After this awesome experience, Elijah orders that the prophets of Baal and Asherah are to be put to death. And, because the people have seen who the true God is, they comply. Jezebel hears of this and is enraged.
This now begins the first point I want to develop concerning our passage. Jezebel threatens Elijah. This is no ordinary threat. This is a promise. She promises retaliation for the killing her beloved false prophets. This threat is akin to someone staring at you from a distance and slicing their neck with a finger to show that they seek your death. It is a strong threat, and one that is made with an oath to her gods that if she does not follow through, her life will be required of her.
Elijah hears this message and he runs scared. You may ask, “Elijah why do you run in fear? Hasn’t the Lord shown his power?” But, as I stated before, Jezebel has proven that she can kill, the Lord didn’t stop her then, how does Elijah know the Lord will stop her now? There is probable cause for Elijah to run scared, and he does. He runs for his life from Jezreel in the northern nation of Israel to Beersheba, one of the southernmost cities in the southern nation of Judah. All in all, Elijah flees over 100 miles from Jezreel to Beersheba. This is not a pleasant journey, he must pass through hills and valleys under the hot sun, it is a difficult journey. It is a journey made in fear, not one made after preparation and planning. Elijah runs as far away as he can from Jezebel.
Elijah reaches Beersheba and leaves his servant in the city. But he walks out into the wilderness, alone. Please realize this—this is not a spiritual retreat. He doesn’t bring his tent and his bible out into the woods to enjoy quality time with the Lord. This is something different, something darker. The wilderness here is a sparse land. The land of Israel and the region surrounding Beersheba is not like the land most of us are familiar with. What we may call wilderness here, does not even come close to resembling the wilderness of Israel. While we think of mountains, forests, streams, and lakes, an Israelite would think of an open, hilly, dry land, where the sun is your enemy. This is a place that takes life; it does not give it easily. It is here that Elijah isolates himself apart from everyone.
Elijah is exhausted. He has fled over a 100 miles, he’s scared, and he walks alone out into the wilderness. He sees a broom tree and collapses beside it. The only shade he could find is that offered by a mere shrub with few, small leaves—a tree is a generous term here. Then, Elijah cries out to the Lord, “It is too much, now, O Lord.” The weight of all that has happened to him has overcome Elijah. The threat, and most likely, pursuit of Jezebel has gotten the best of him. Elijah will run no more, he has spent his strength. And he asks to die. He says, “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Elijah at this point sees his actions as similar to the actions of his forefathers. His forefathers were unfaithful to the Lord: they made the golden calf, they failed originally to enter the promised land, and they succombed to the worship of other gods, Essentially, they abandon their trust in the Lord. Elijah puts himself in this category. He lost his trust in God. His life was threatened and he ran, he did not trust in the Lord’s protection. And now he realizes this, and asks the Lord to take his life. Then, he lays down and falls asleep in the scant shade of the broom tree.
Elijah, a prophet of the Lord, calls it quits. His life was threatened and he runs, failing to trust in the Lord. He realizes this and asks that the Lord takes his life. Here is the main point devloped from the first half of story. As workers in the kingdom of God, we may feel like quitting. The reasons for this feeling are many. Perhaps they come from within the church. Maybe we’re harshly criticized on a sermon, maybe we’re called a failure, or maybe we’re not seeing any results in our calling. Or, maybe the threats are from outside, through media portrayal, persecution, or even, as in the case of Elijah, a death threat. Whatever the case, as workers in the kingdom of God, there are times when the pressures of life and ministry feel too much and we are tempted to just quit.
The story, thankfully, does not end here. How will God respond to Elijah? Now I will develop the second point of the passage. The NIV reads in the middle of verse 5, “All at once an angel touched him.” After Elijah quits, God sends an angel to feed him. The Hebrew particle gives a shift to the story right here. If you were imagining the story as it was being read, you would see Elijah sleeping one moment and—“poof”—you would see an angel appear. The Lord sends an angel who wakes Elijah up and tells him to eat. Elijah, wiping his eyes, looks around and sees bread and water near the place his head was laying. Elijah, mentally and physically exhausted, eats and goes back to sleep. God provides for Elijah’s physical needs after he calls it quits.
The angel reappears a second time, wakes Elijah up and tells him to eat again, but this time the angel utters something more. He says “Rise, eat, for the journey is too much for you.” The Lord empathizes with Elijah. Elijah has just cried out “It is too much” and the Lord agrees. God does not condemn Elijah for not trusting in him. He does not leave his worker to die in the wilderness. He gives him food, something that Elijah probably didn’t have a lot of as he fled from Jezebel. And he gives him empathy, he agrees that all of this is too much for Elijah to handle on his own.
God strengthens Elijah with food. He empowers Elijah to continue after he quits. After eating irregularly for who knows how long, the Lord gives Elijah a hearty meal. He also gives him an encouraging word. This experience gives Elijah the ability to continue on. Where will Elijah go now? He has fled from Jezebel to Beersheba, and journeyed into the wilderness, where, exhausted, he called it quits. But, the Lord sent an angel to Elijah and fed him and encouraged him. Elijah is strengthened and he decides to go to Horeb, the mountain of God. This is the same mountain where Moses received the 10 commandments. He finds “the” cave that Moses likely used and spends the night. He goes in the hope that he migth see God as Moses saw him, and to speak with him as Moses did. It is here that Elijah sees God and is given further instructions about his calling.
This second half of the story develops the second point I want to make concerning this passage. God does not quit on Elijah, a worker in the kingdom of God. God sends an angel to minister to him. Elijah is fed and encouraged, and given strength to continue. Elijah decides then to go to the mountain of God in hopes of meeting with him. He finds shelter in a cave and spends the night. God could have left Elijah to die, Elijah called it quits. But, God did not quit on Elijah. Now we can see how this story gives us a big idea. This is the thought you should remember: As workers in the kingdom of God, though we may feel like quitting, trust God will not quit on us. During those rough times in our faith or our ministry, we may begin to neglect our calling and consider quitting, but it is exactly at that time that we should remember that God does not quit on us.
Now, it is time for you to hear two applications from this passage. First, remember the power God has shown in your life so that you don’t quit in your calling. Elijah forgot to do this. When he was threatened, he failed to remember all that the Lord had done through him before that point: Elijah predicted a drought would happen and it did, he was fed by ravens while hiding, he witnessed the never-ending supply of food for the widow at Zarephath, he saw the widow’s son revived after he stopped breathing, he fearlessly arranged a meeting with Ahab and saw the power of God at Mount Carmel. He did all of this while in hiding, protected by the Lord. Yet, he did not recall God’s power when he was threatened. Instead, he ran in fear, eventually calling it quits in the wilderness of Beersheba. Similarly in our lives, we need to recall the power God has shown us. Perhaps we have witnessed his power in previous ministries or sermons, perhaps we have seen him work through us to minister to others, perhaps we have even witnessed a miracle of some sort. But mostly, we must remember the power that God has shown in our own salvation. He has given us knowledge of his only Son Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice on the cross so that we may have access to a relationship with God. He has worked in us powerfully so that we no longer follow blindly after the world and its desires, but struggle to follow the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has placed his Holy Spirit in us to empower us to live a life of obedience. It is this salvation and sanctification that we take for granted at times, but need to recall so that we continue in whatever God has called us to do and be.
The second application is this: when you feel overwhelmed by the pressures of life and ministry, confess to God that “it is too much for you.” Do not think that you can handle it all on your own. Elijah ran away from what he feared in his own strength. He did not face it with a trust in God’s strength, who could protect and vindicate him. Elijah realized everything was too much for him, but he asked to be removed from the world and his calling. We should not go as far as Elijah did here. Jesus, when he was faced with the most stressful situation of his life on earth stated, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” God knows what we can handle, and we need to trust that he will strengthen us to continue in what he has called us to do.
You may have wondered initially in this message, “What happened to Isaac Jogues?” What choice did he make? Did he stay or did he run?…Jogues stayed and continue in his calling to be a missionary among the Hurons. He was later captured and tortured by the Iroquios. After being recognized as a European by some Dutch traders, he was smuggled away and sent back to France. Jogues wasn’t done, though. He returned to his missions work in North America, where he was eventually martyred. Jogues never lost sight of his calling throughout the difficulties he faced. He knew during those difficult times where he felt like quitting, that God would not quit on him.