The War-Weary Prophet

Introduction

· Please turn with me to 1 Kings 19.

· California offers one of the greatest variety of ecosystems anywhere on the planet. We have five different “biomes” (like ecosystems) including forest, mountain, desert, grassland (chaparral), and aquatic. It is possible you could go for a hike in the desert in the morning, go snow skiing in the mountains that afternoon, and go surfing in the ocean that evening.

· Our state features the highest point in the continental United States and the lowest point, and get this -- they are only 80 miles apart from each other. Mt. Whitney has an elevation of 14,505’ and Death Valley has an elevation of -282’. (There is even an extreme marathon called the Badwater Ultramarathon describes, known as "the world's toughest foot race". It is a 135-mile course starting at Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. elevation of 8360. About 90 highly athletic people compete each year, but about 1/3 never make it to the finish line. Source: Wikipedia).

· In a similar way, the Christian life has tremendous variety. There are high points of great joy and exhilaration where it feels like we are sailing along effortlessly. And there are low points marked by sadness and pain, where it takes every bit of effort just to get up and start another day.

· As we’ve been studying through 1 Kings, we’ve considered a number of “life lessons,” and our first one today is this: “The journey of faith involves many peaks and valleys”

· Having hopped on his chariot and raced back to his winter palace before the rain overtook him, he now reports to Queen Jezebel. (Read verse 1)

· Review: He reports how Elijah summoned the prophets of Baal to the top of Mt. Carmel. How he challenged them to a duel. Let us call down fire from heaven and see who has the true God. How the 450 prophets of Baal chanted and cried and cut themselves, but there was no response. Then how Elijah prayed and called down fire from heaven. I wonder if he reported the response of the people: “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God” (39). How Elijah slaughtered the prophets.

Peaks and Valleys

· In ch. 19, Ahab now reports all of these things to his wife, Queen Jezebel (v. 1). For a moment, you have to hope and wonder if maybe this demonstration of power would cause the king and queen to repent of their sin and to submit to the true God, issuing a decree that Yahweh is the one true God.

· Matthew Henry: “One would have expected, after such a public and sensible manifestation of the glory of God and such a clear decision of the controversy …that now they would all, as one man, return to the worship of the God of Israel and take Elijah for their guide and oracle, that he would [henceforth] be prime-minister of state, and his directions would be as laws both to king and kingdom”

· But instead, notice what happens. (read v. 2). A clear death threat from a woman who has the power to carry it out. (remember, she had already cut off all the prophets of the LORD, aside from the 100 that were hidden in caves by Obadiah - cf. 18:4). This is no idle threat. Her words drip in rage. A price is put on his head, and Elijah, who had already been as a fugitive, is now Israel’s most wanted.

· If 1 Kings 18 was the Mt. Whitney of Elijah’s life, 1 Kings 19 is his Death Valley experience. We make a rapid descent, from an extreme high point to an extreme low point, in very little time.

· In summer 2016, a sweet elderly couple living in rural Colorado received an unusual visit. Norman and Betty were visited by an FBI agent who said their names and address had surfaced on an ISIS hit list, along with about 6,000 others, mostly Christian and Jewish. The don’t know how they got on the list, but they assume it’s because they support a Pakistani pastor and work with Muslims in India. The agent said it was unlikely they would be touched. “Well, I thought we were pretty safe up here in the mountains,” Betty said, and they are not concerned anyway: “We are all on Satan’s hit list and we’ve been on his for a long time, so what’s new? We’re ready to go.” https://world.wng.org/2016/09/sowing_fear

· Now that is some faith! But Elijah did not exhibit the same level of faith that day. Instead, he fled.

· Fleeing danger is not necessarily a cowardly response. Prov. 22:3 “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” But we do not always have this option or luxury to leave. Sometimes, we must stand our ground, put on an extra layer of spiritual armor, and take refuge in God.

· Elijah flees, and goes far away, to Beersheba, some 100 miles away. Why? He “was afraid.” Or possibly “he saw” (MT).

Elijah’s Depression

· This leads to a kind of depression. Common signs of depression. Michael Lawson, in D is for Depression. Unlike sadness, true “depression” usually involves five characteristics: A sense of inner emptiness and barrenness, rather than general sadness, as a dominant emotion. Energy levels become noticeably depleted. The normal sense of humor is vastly diminished, being replaced by self-pity. Negative thoughts and feelings predominate, concerning self, others and the future. Renunciation takes over, involving the giving up of responsibility for self, any desire to get the best out of life and eventually, hope for the future. In serious cases …even the ability to discern reality is lost.

· Depression and COVID. According to one report, Nearly half of Americans report the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. A federal emergency hotline for people in emotional distress registered a more than 1,000 percent increase in April compared with the same time last year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/05/04/mental-health-coronavirus/

· One doctor in the Bay area - "We've never seen numbers like this in such a short period of time," Dr. Mike deBoisblanc said. "I mean, we've seen a year's worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks." https://www.foxnews.com/us/bay-area-doctors-seeing-more-suicides-coronavirus-stay-at-home-order

· This effects us as Christians too. One pastor I know [Mark Clifton] wrote on Thursday, June 4 – “I’ll admit it. I am weary this evening. I am weary of all of it. I’m battling to gain an eternal prospective - battling to remind myself of God’s sovereignty and our ultimate triumph over all of this. Over disease, over hatred, over suffering. One day Jesus will put an end to all that is wrong in this world. One day God will judge this world and ... “justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” Amos 5:24. That day is not today. Today I must seek to live rightly, compassionately and lovingly in a broken world. Yes - there is ultimately hope. But tonight I am very weary.” And I think Elijah felt something like this.

· Our emotions and faith, like the stock market, can be extremely “volatile” and unstable.

· The Apostle Paul teaches how to respond in these times of trial. 2 Corinthians 4:7–9 But we have this treasure [of the gospel] in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

· Review: The journey of faith involves both peaks and valleys

Christ’s Yoke Is Easy

· But there is a second life lesson. Though life’s burdens are heavy, Christ’s yoke is easy.

· Notice God’s gracious response in (Read vv. 5b-8.)

· The “angel of the LORD” – lit., the messenger of Yahweh. This character appears several times throughout the OT. Sometimes equal with Yahweh. Other times distinct from Yahweh. Has led many scholars to believe it is referring to the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, or who we could call the pre-incarnate Christ.

· Isaiah 40:11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Isaiah 40:29–31 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

· 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Conclusion

· Come to Jesus. Put your trust in him today.

· And having trusted him with what is most important, your eternal fate, learn to renew your trust in him each new day for whatever trials you face.

· How foolish it would be for us to believe God has the power to conquer sin and death and deliver us to heaven, but not that he can care for our everyday needs, our health, and our safety. Oh we of little faith!

· Matthew 11:28–30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

· Let’s pray.