Out of the Woods

ME:

I’m Josh Clink

I am the lead pastor over at Afton Baptist Church

I grew up over in Greene not attending church

and got saved through the youth ministry at Berean when I was in high school

After college, I got married then began seminary down in North Carolina

I didn’t go to seminary to be a pastor, my degree is in biblical counseling

And one of my assignments that I really enjoyed, was having to take the account of a person in Scripture and give a diagnosis

Now the theme of this Christmas pastor rotation is God with us,

which comes from the Christmas passage in , which reads;

Matthew 1:23 ESV

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

So each week we are focusing on God being with us,

either in the storm, or in the valley, or as I am presenting to you this morning, in the wilderness

So I want to introduce our study on God being with us in the wilderness, with a counseling case study

I’ve done this at my church a couple of times and when I do, I encourage them to participate by trying to figure out who I am describing before I reveal who it is

and if you guess correctly you win 1000 non-redeemable points that are good for, well nothing

but you will have the satisfaction of knowing you guessed right

I will refer to our wilderness counseling case study as E

Now I would diagnose E with experiencing a major depressive episode

which is different from being diagnosed depressed

He experiences an episode of depression, but it is not a continual, ongoing, repetitive pattern of depression

When E’s account begins, his land is in the midst of a famine

E experiences personal malnourishment before a single mom is able to provide for him

However, in the midst of her provision for E, her son passes away from illness

And she pours her grief out on E, questioning why he even came to her

Eventually, the boy is miraculously brought back to life, but that grief and the reaction of the mother was still experienced by E

E has a very distinct profession, which led to him experiencing great loneliness because he use to have many others who shared that profession, but that is no longer the case

Just before his depressive episode, E’s duty required him to kill hundreds of enemies

which is a common influencer of depression often expressed by military members who recall killing others in the line of duty

After this, E’s life was threatened, which led to great fear

So he fled, travelling about 130 miles on foot, taking a physical toll on his body

After he fled, while in the wilderness, the onset of his depressive episode was indicated by his desire to die

He had all the physical symptoms;

fatigue, hypersomnia (repeatedly falling asleep), and loss of appetite

E had to almost be forced to eat, and would fall back asleep even after eating

In the midst of his depressive episode, he pursued isolation, sleeping alone in a cave

E reveals that he had been placing his value and satisfaction in his works

And when he experienced this wilderness season, his misplaced value and worth contributed to his depressive episode

He repeatedly would express his feelings of loneliness and fear

And what E learned is that God was with him in the wilderness

That his deepest need became a gift because it drove him to depend on God

And eventually God brought him out of the woods

So at this point, I want to stop and ask, has anyone figured out who E is?

Right, it is the prophet Elijah

first introduced in , but we are going to look at how God was with him during his depressive episode, when he was in the wilderness

in

So if you have your Bible with you this morning, I’d like to ask you to turn to

We are going to be looking primarily at verses 1-12 this morning

And once you get there, I’d like to ask you to join me in prayer

WE:

Just to kind of set the context a bit

I have already given some of the background, during Elijah’s case study

But to explain more fully, Elijah is a prophet of Yahweh, that’s our God

Around the mid-800s BC

during a time period where God’s nation, Israel, is divided into two nations

The southern nation, Judah, was led by Jehoshaphat, good king, man of prayer, you can read about him in

where it says that the Lord was with him because He walked in the ways of King David and did not seek out Baals, which are other gods

The northern nation of Israel, was led by King Ahab, nooot as good of a king

He was the 7th king over the northern kingdom

and says;

1 Kings 16:30 ESV

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.

He erected altars for Baal and Asherah, another false god

He willingly committed idolatry, theft, murder, and would usurp power

Near the end of his life, it is stated that he sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord under the influence of his wife, Jezebel

Archaeologists have found a Phoenician scroll, that pre-dates the events we are looking at this morning, and is not a part of the Bible that mentions queen Jezebel

Now this Jezebel is an important figure in our account this morning

Jezebel was a pagan woman who influenced idolatrous worship

Elijah, who we will continue to look at in further detail, wins the “who’s God is bigger?” contest against the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah which leads to their slaughter

and Jezebel is enraged at their slaughter

and we will see how she responds in this morning

The biblical account of Jezebel portrays a woman of great wickedness who persuades her husband, the king, to oppose God and participate in evil deeds

including killing God prophets

Her name is stamped in history as the representative of all that is crafty, malicious, vengeful, and cruel.

She is really the first great instigator of persecution against the saints of God

She isn’t afraid of God or man, instead is passionately attached to her idolatrous worship, willing to do whatever is necessary to maintain that idolatry.

So Elijah is a prophet who proclaims the word of the Lord in Israel during Ahab’s reign under the influence of this malicious woman, Jezebel

Elijah was boldly in opposition to Baal worship

describe as a man of God in

His name means “My God is Yahweh”

Eli means “my God”

and Jah is also translated as “Yah” which is short for “Yahweh”

When we first see him in , he halts the rain as a consequence to Ahab’s idolatrous leading

but then returns it through prayer at the end of chapter 18

as references him;

James 5:17–18 ESV

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

James 5:7 ESV

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

James 5:8 ESV

You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

And that is how ends

With Elijah on the mountaintop

He just won the “Who’s God is bigger?” contest

slaughtered all the false prophets

then faithfully prayed for rain to end the multi-year drought

I’m a big football fan, so naturally I can’t stand the New England Patriots and Tom Brady

I’m a big football fan, so naturally I can’t stand the New England Patriots and Tom Brady

Who now has the most super bowl rings of any player in NFL history with six super bowl rings

But after winning his sixth superbowl this past year

He posted a picture on instagram with his six rings

and His tagline underneath said;

“Want to know which super bowl ring is my favorite? The next one.”

And I realize this is meant to be a motivational statement

But instead, to me, it communicates that despite his unparalleled success

and the fact that he has been atop the NFL mountain more than anyone else

He doesn’t stay there, and he still hasn’t found contentment

And I believe that when he does finally retire, he will experience being in the wilderness

Because all of us, like Elijah, have had mountaintop experiences

and God is with us on the mountaintop, we enjoy Him then

But when we have a season in the wilderness is when we really experience God

A season in the wilderness is a season where we experience trials or hardship

Perhaps it is a season of uncertainty

as when God’s people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years

Maybe you are in the wilderness at work

You feel like you are spinning your wheels there

your not sure if you should look for another job or if you should seek to persevere where God has you

maybe you could go back to school, but that would probably require you to incur debt, is that the wisest thing at this time of life?

Or maybe you feel like you are in a wilderness in your living situation

should you be in an apartment, it’s less responsibility on you, but your also not building any equity

But it would be a big financial step to purchase a home and then all responsibility falls on you

or if you already have a home, is it a money pit? When do you know its time to cut your losses?

Perhaps you are in a relationship wilderness

maybe you have been dating someone for a long time but your not sure if the relationship is actually going anywhere

do you try to move the relationship forward?

Or is it time to walk away from that relationship, but then you have to start over, do you really want to do that?

Or maybe the relationship wilderness is with your spouse, your not going to walk away, you made a commitment

but you feel like your relationship is paralyzed, stagnant

what do you do to breathe life back into your marriage again?

That is one of the key distinctives about being in the wilderness

it is paralyzing, you feel stuck with uncertainty

And it is also common for this season of wilderness to take place after a mountaintop moment

After Jesus was baptized at the end of

the Spirit descended upon him from heaven like a dove

then immediately at the start of chapter 4, he goes into the wilderness 40 days before being tempted by Satan

And what we see in the wilderness

Your deepest need becomes a gift when it drives you to depend on God

This is what we see Elijah learn in

Again, after his mountaintop moment in chapter 18,

He goes through a depressive episode as he experiences a season in the wilderness in chapter 19

GOD:

Follow along with me in ;

1 Kings 19:1–4 ESV

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came 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 asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

1 Kings 19:1–5 ESV

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came 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 asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”

1 Kings 19:1–8 ESV

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came 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 asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Our chapter starts with the King, Ahab, telling his wife, Jezebel, all that Elijah had done

Which again, was killing off 850 false prophets from her pagan religion

Now Jezebel, back in , demonstrated that she has no qualms about killing of the Lord’s prophets

So she makes an oath in vs. 2

that she will kill Elijah, just like he killed her prophets, by this time tomorrow

and if not, then may her false gods take her life

Now fortunately for her, the gods she worshipped were false

because an oath taken in Yahweh’s name was a sacred and unbreakable obligation

and her oath would have resulted in her losing her life the next day

But she sent a messenger to tell Elijah about this oath

and Elijah was understandably terrified

He did in fact slaughter hundreds of the prophets she believed in, though they were false

she has in fact killed God’s prophets like Elijah in the past

and now she is making an oath that shows she wants to kill him so badly that she is willing to offer up her own life as collateral

So, as a man of God, a prophet of the Lord, Yahweh, with all his wisdom and courage

Elijah arose....and ran for his life!

again, an over 100 mile run

and vs. 4, says, he went into the wilderness

laid down under a tree

and prayed that God would kill him

He has had enough

He reached his breaking point

and all of us have that breaking point

we can shoulder a lot, until one thing pushes us over the edge

I have heard parents say to their children, “I have had it up to here with you!”

then the child looking right at the parent, does one more act of rebellion

and Thats it! you’ve reached your breaking point

Perhaps at work you have a boss who is passive aggressive or narcissistic

and they just demand and demand and demand from you day after day

until finally one day, they leave you with a load of work so they can take the rest of the day off

and Thats it! you’ve reached your breaking point

Or maybe you have struggled financially for years

and you have finally started to make progress then

the car breaks down, your hot water heater needs to be replace, you get sick and get slammed with medical bills

and you throw your hands up exasperated and think, what’s the use

you’ve reached your breaking point

or if you take care of the home, day after day you exhaust yourself trying to maintain some semblance of a clean house

then you get dinner prepared and made so that when the family is home you can all have dinner together

and dinner ends and everyone takes off leaving all the dishes filthy without an inkling of gratitude

and you just want to crumble and give up

you’ve reached your breaking point

Or it could be a tragedy you experience in life

For me, Christmas season often reminds me of one of the most significant breaking points in my life

my mom was immune deficient and had lung issues for majority of her life

as an adult she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis which resulted in pulmonary fibrosis

which is essentially severely damaged lungs

Due to all of this, we became very familiar as a family with hospital visits

Eventually the damage became so severe, and in 2012, it resulted in congestive heart failure

which placed my mom in the ICU at Temple University Hospital in Philly

Where she had been having to go to to meet with the pulmonology specialist

While on life support, neurology questioned the presence of brain activity and prepared us as a family to say our goodbyes

The next day, she began to regain consciousness

and after being on life support for nine days, she was a match to receive a double lung and heart transplant

Which was a successful surgery

That was an extremely straining time emotionally

and mom had months of intense rehab and therapies

before finally being released back home

never regaining full use of her left arm due to nerve damage caused during the time she was unconscious

over the next 20 months, she would regularly visit temple for check-ups here and there

or little concerns here and there

Mom had to take immune system boosters due to her immune deficiency

but then she also had to take anti-rejection medication so that her body didn’t attack the heart and lungs as if they were foreign objects

so it was always this up and down, back and forth balancing act

Then in December of 2013, mom was down in Philly for one of her regular check-ups

I graduated college, packed my entire dorm in the car, then drove straight down to be with mom in philly

my wife and I were engaged at the time, she came down to visit and we decorated moms hospital room for Christmas because we were told we were likely going to be there for Christmas

Christmas day, my dad and sister came down and we celebrated Christmas together as a family with my mom in her decorated hospital room

One of the gifts my dad got was one of those custom Christmas ornaments it had six reindeer

with all four of our names on it, plus my fiance and my sisters boyfriend, who had also been talking marriage with my sister at that point

we hung it on the mini tree we had brought to her room

Then they all went back home, they had to work, and just mom and I stayed

after a couple days, mom was suppose to be moved to the therapy floor which was always the last stop before she got discharged

so I excitedly cleaned the Christmas decorations up and packed everything up to go, and we waited

while we were waiting, I got my computer out and mom and I began looking for a mother-son song to dance to for my wedding in about 5 months

Late that night, we were still in that room waiting

finally a doctor came in expressing some concerns and said they would need to give her some pain medicine that may also knock her out

and she wasn’t going to be going up to the rehab floor for another couple days probably

and I should probably head back to the hotel for the night

That report was so deflating

I was carrying out all the Christmas decorations in a box through the hospital that night

and the cardboard tab I was holding gave out and the box tipped sideways and fell to the ground

As I bent to the ground the pick up the decorations that fell out

I saw the family reindeer ornament fell, hit the ground, and shattered

And that was my breaking point

I hit the ground, and much like what Elijah expresses here in

I was crying, thinking, it is enough

Mom was always a fighter, she gave it everything she got, pushing forward into the new year and eventually passing away by sepsis early morning January 2nd of 2014

As a family, we had handled a lot up to that point

and seeing that broken ornament just pushed me over the edge

Likewise, Elijah, stood in the face of King Ahab

prophesying a drought as consequence of sin

He had been pursued by King Ahab for three years

He had been fed by ravens while in hiding

He had raised the widow’s son from the dead

He called fire down from Yahweh and destroyed 850 false prophets

before praying to God for the rain

and God answered

After all of that, you would expect a revival of godliness to occur

After, everything my family had been through, I expected mom and I were going to go up to the rehab floor and get to go home

After, everything my family had been through, I expected mom and I were going to go up to the rehab floor and get to go home

But instead, wilderness

and we ask, God where are you?

Or like Elijah, we just ask God to end it

to take our life

I can’t handle being in the wilderness

or at the very least, I don’t want to!

Elijah is exhausted, empty, done!

An experience that comes from a feeling of deep sadness!

and perhaps you can relate to that feeling

Or maybe, your wilderness experience is more like Jonah, who says a very similar thing in ;

Jonah 4:3 ESV

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah’s desire to have his life end comes more from a place of exasperated anger

He was used by God to offer forgiveness to a wicked group of people that he can’t stand

and the people responded to God’s mercy by repenting

When Jonah loses the shade that God provided him while watching God demonstrate mercy to the people he hated

Underneath the blistering heat of the unfiltered sun, Jonah uttered his words of his breaking point

So whether your breaking point comes from bitterness, anger, or sadness

The end result is the same

YOU:

Emptiness

YOU:

So, how does God respond?

Does He preach a sermon?

Here in , does He rebuke Elijah?

Or does He question Elijah about his lack of faith?

No, He provides Elijah with physical nourishment

to replenish him spiritually

follow along with me in ;

1 Kings 19:5–10 ESV

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

God responds by sending an angel, not once, but twice

to provide food for Elijah

But we see some interesting details about Elijah here in this passage

first, in vs. 8, Mount Horeb is mentioned, this is not the first time Mount Horeb is mentioned in the OT

says;

Exodus 3:1 ESV

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

And what happens to Moses in atop Mount Horeb?

He encounters God speaking to him through the burning bush

A similar experience we are about to see Elijah have

Then, also in vs 8, Elijah is on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights

says;

Exodus 24:18 ESV

Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

We are seeing literary tools used to show that Elijah is being cast in the same mold as Moses

Not seen in this passage, but this theme continues in where we see Elijah parts the water, just like Moses did at the Red Sea

and Just as Moses mentored his successor, Joshua

Elijah mentors his successor, Elisha

The reason for Elijah being cast in the same mold as Moses is believed to have intentionally lift the prophet’s significance in the eyes of God’s people

because they held Moses in such high accord

This continues into the NT, because we see both Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration of Jesus

So, while Elijah is in the wilderness, vs. 9 shows us that he stays in a cave

And God asks him, what are you doing here Elijah?

And that is the question to you when you are in the wilderness

Why are you here?

Did God bring you into the wilderness as a part of His good and perfect and pleasing will?

to produce righteousness in you

Or perhaps, like the Israelites who had to wander in the wilderness because of their idolatry, you are experiencing a season of wilderness because of your own sin and it is calling you to repentance

Or maybe even, like Elijah, who fled into wilderness because his life is threatened

you are in the wilderness because of someone else’s sin

Whatever the reason you are in the wilderness, it leaves you in need

and that is the blessing of the wilderness

your deepest need becomes a gift when it drives you to depend on God

WE:

Let’s finish our passage this morning to see how God meets our deepest need

in ;

1 Kings 19:11–12 ESV

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks 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 the sound of a low whisper.

Again, like Moses and his burning bush and mountain top experiences, Elijah experiences what is known as a theophany

which is simply the appearance of God to a person to deliver a message

So first, God tells Elijah to go out of the cave and stand on the mountain

It may not seem like much, but this is a man at the beginning of his wilderness experience struggled to stay awake

had to practically be hand fed by the angel

and wanted his life to end

So when you are in your wilderness

down, at your breaking point we talked about earlier

God is calling you to get up

get out of the cave

and watch God reveal himself

notice, God doesn’t reveal Himself in the earthquake

Nor does He reveal Himself in the whirlwind

and neither does he reveal Himself in the fire

So, I apologize to any funk fans from the 70s

but God didn’t reveal Himself through Earth, Wind, and Fire

How does God reveal Himself?

In a low whisper

or as the New King James translates it, A still, small voice

But this phrase is quite a translation challenge

The word we translate as whisper, is more often translated as calm or stillness, or silence

for example when referring to the status of a body of water

The word translated as low

is also found in to refer to fine or soft dust particles

But the word for voice is also present in this phrase

So the most direct translation would be

the voice of a soft silence

Huh?

How can you hear the voice of silence?

Well, keep in mind an earthquake, a whirlwind, and a fire make a lot of noise!

And immediately after these noises of the world

is nothing, silence

I picture it this way

You ever see those war movies

where bombs are going off, bullets flying, people yelling

but all of those noises are muted, and the main character is hyper focused on his mission, drowning out all the other noises

See, the point I am trying to make

Is that our world is noisy

We need to be able to mute the noise of the world to focus on the voice of soft silence.

When we are stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed

when we reach that breaking point

God is with us

He is speaking in the soft silence

He is there in the whisper

the still, small voice

And why is that?

Why does He speak in such a quiet way?

Because He is so close!

He can’t whisper if He is far from us

The enemy is going to try and drown him out with the noise of the world

But God is calling us closer

God is with us in the wilderness

He promises to never leave you, never forsake you

says;

Psalm 34:18 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Elijah’s account ends in , which says;

2 Kings 2:11 ESV

And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

We see that after God was with Elijah in the wilderness

God brought him out of the woods

And in , Elijah is referenced as an example that God does not reject His people

and took him up to heaven

The language in is similar to the prophetic language in Revelation to describe heaven, which awaits us who have faith in Christ

And in , Elijah is referenced as an example that God does not reject His people

Instead He offers grace upon grace

So that when we look back on our life, we have evidence that God is with us

and when we look forward, we trust that God is with us

and that, like Elijah, He is with us in the wilderness

and He promises to one day, bring us out of the woods

and because of His grace, we have confidence that

in the wilderness, God is with us, where our deepest need becomes a gift because it drives us to depend on God, Who will bring us out of the woods.

But He will lead us out of the woods

Will you join me in prayer.