Elijah hears from God
Notes
Transcript
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. 17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Introduction
Introduction
There are prayers which leave us weak. There are victories so complete as to touch the point of defeat.
An outsider’s view of Elijah’s life would reveal little to justify his current depressed condition.
He has been providentially cared for by God.
He has seen God’s power on display on Mt. Carmel.
He has heard the shouts of allegiance to Yahweh by the people.
He has single-handedly wiped out the prophets of Baal.
And yet, Elijah is unquestionably depressed and discouraged.
He has run from his responsibilities.
Elijah is a traveler.
Until now, he has always moved at God’s direction.
This trip was not sanctioned by God.
He has asked God to take his life.
He is in hiding on Mt. Sinai.
Like the quote said,
There are prayers which leave us weak. There are victories so complete as to touch the point of defeat.
Elijah is feeling that right now. Tonight we are going to find out why.
Our passage starts with God asking His prophet...
What are you doing here, Elijah?
What are you doing here, Elijah?
In response Elijah erupts in protests to God about his zeal.
I have been very jealous for you, Lord God of hosts.
The people have disregarded you.
They have forsaken your covenant.
They have thrown down your alters (like the one on top of Mt. Carmel).
They have slain your prophets, so that I am the only one left (Elijah knew this wasn’t true).
And now they seek my life to take it away (this was not new).
Elijah’s passion and zeal can be heard in his protest to God.
Elijah has a large personality.
We see it in his words on Mt. Carmel.
We see it in his words on Mt. Sinai.
Elijah seems to be doing what we are capable of doing, if we aren’t careful.
He reads his personality onto God.
He expects God to respond the way that Elijah would respond to a situation.
Since Elijah is loud and demonstrative, and unmistakeable, he expects God to be all of those things as well.
God takes Elijah’s complaint and responds by directing the prophet to go stand in the entrance of the cave.
As Elijah stands at the mouth of the cave, God passes by him.
Many commentaries wonder if the cave where Elijah is hiding might be same place where God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock.
As a result of God’s passing, several loud, demonstrative events take place.
First, there was a great wind.
So strong was the wind that it rent/tore the mountains.
It’s possible that this wind blew Elijah back into the cave.
We know that it broke the rocks into pieces.
But, God was not in the wind.
After the wind, there followed an earthquake.
Earthquakes are unnerving.
A big earthquake produces terrible noises.
Elijah would have been especially concerned due to the fact that he was in a cave.
He could be crushed or trapped and no one would ever know that he was even there.
But, God was not in the earthquake.
Finally, there was a fire.
The destructive nature of fire is well-known.
One doesn’t even have to be that close to a fire to feel it’s heat.
But, once again, God was not in the fire.
Elijah returns to the cave.
He is either blown back the wind, seeking shelter from the fire, or disappointed that God was not in the wind, earthquake or fire.
In the cave, though, he something faint, barely perceptible.
He realizes that the sound that he is hearing is a still small voice.
Elijah knows immediately who this voice belongs to.
Like Moses, he wraps his face in his mantle.
He returns to the mouth of the cave.
This is the voice of God.
God is teaching Elijah not to limit God by expecting Him to act like we do.
Elijah was loud.
God can be loud.
When God is quiet, though, it doesn’t mean he is inactive.
God again asks his prophet, in a still small voice...
What are you doing here, Elijah?
What are you doing here, Elijah?
Elijah again protests to God about his zeal.
He says the exact same things.
But...I have to wonder, was there perhaps a slightly different tone and attitude this time.
Maybe a little less anger and a little more sadness.
God does not rebuke Elijah.
He doesn’t punish him.
He doesn’t even lecture him.
Instead, God directs Elijah to prepare for a new stage of his ministry.
There are three people that Elijah will need to go find and anoint.
Anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
Anoint Jehu to be king over Israel.
Anoint Elisha to be prophet in Israel.
Elijah’s ministry will look drastically different than it has to this point.
The drama and miracles will recede a bit.
Instead, there will be consistency and regular teaching.
This change most plainly benefits Elijah’s soon-to-be student, Elisha.
This doesn’t mean that there is never a time and place for loud, demonstrative action.
God comforts Elijah with a reminder of His own zeal.
The patience and long-suffering of God are never indicators of His passivity or approval.
God will bring judgment on His enemies.
Those three men that Elijah is to anoint will each be used to bring judgment on Ahab and the wickedness of Israel.
Whoever escapes the sword of one will be met with the sword of another.
God doesn’t let the wicked get away with their evil.
Just because Elijah doesn’t see anyone else that has been loyal to God, it doesn’t mean that that’s the case.
God knows all that are faithful to Him.
Just like He knows Elijah.
God knows all 7,000 of them in Israel.
Elijah got discouraged when he wrongfully expected God to act the way that he would act if he were God.
Elijah got discouraged when he wrongfully expected God to act the way that he would act if he were God.
God had to show Elijah that he wasn’t God.
God was not like Elijah.
God was not a product of Elijah’s mind; He is an independent actor that will act according to His own will.
These are things that we need to keep in mind too.
We can’t expect God to be a reflection of us.
We can’t expect God to be a reflection of us.
This is backwards to what should be reality.
We might not agree with God’s tactics.
Elijah wanted big and dramatic action, but God is not alway in the big and dramatic.
He is just as capable of working through the still and the small.
We may not agree with God’s mercy on others.
Like David we’re praying imprecatory prayers on our “enemies” while God is being patient and merciful with them.
We misinterpret His patience as inaction, but that is never the case.
We may be ignorant of what God knows.
Elijah should have known that there were at least 100 other prophets.
He had no idea that there were 7000 in Israel that were loyal to Yahweh.
Is it possible that in a situation that we are involved with, w may not have all the information.
In these times, we must trust God.
