What Are You Doing Here? (1 Kings 19)

INTRODUCTION

• BAZZELL STEALING COP CAR

"Sometimes we’ll hear a story about people we know and we think to ourselves, “That doesn’t sound like something they’d do.”

Other times we’ll hear a story about someone and we’re instantly like, “Yeah, that tracks.”

ELIJAH

In our story today, the main character Elijah does something that seems very out of character for him.

Elijah shows up in ch. 17 as a man on a mission from God.

God has gotten fed up with Israel's wicked ways and their worship of false idols.

So he sends Elijah to warn them that they better tighten up.

He’s fearless and determined…a mighty instrument of God.

So naturally, Elijah wasn’t very popular with some of those in power.

AHAB

Was a weak king who was used to getting his way.

Reluctantly, he formed a political alliance with another king in order to strengthen his military position.

BONUS: HE GOT TO MARRY THE KING’S LOVELY DAUGHTER JEZEBEL.

“SHE CAME BY IT HONESTLY…”

• Jezebel’s father, had first served as a pagan priest, but then murdered the king and stole the throne.

• He was very wicked and could’ve cared less about the people.

• “Well, the apple didn’t fall very far.”

Jezebel was the one who really ran the empire.

She was as ruthless as she was cunning. [NABOTH]

"ELIJAH DON'T PLAY THAT.”

Jezebel was the one who brought the worship of the false god Baal into the mainstream.

She did so by punishing those who bowed down to any other deity.

However, Elijah wasn’t having that…he called out Jezebel’s prophets (all 450 of them) in order to remind the people that there is but only One True God.

1 Kings 18:25–39 NIV

25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” 34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

“HELL HATH NO FURY”

“She vows to her ‘false god’ that within a day’s time, either Elijah would be dead, or she would.”

• “So, what…Who cares, right?”

• “It’s not like her ‘god’ is real.”

“It’s like getting whooped in a fight and then saying you’re gonna go get you’re imaginary friend and come back.”

“You wouldn’t really be too worried about it.”

“Unfortunately, Jezebel had already established a certain reputation for killing the Lord’s prophets.”

“She was fully capable of following through with her death threats.”

SPIRITUAL FATIGUE

• The combination of emotional burnout, weariness, hunger, and a deep sense of failure, plus lack of faith in the Lord, brought Elijah into deep depression.

• But an element of pride was also involved, and some self-pity, for Elijah was sure that his courageous ministry on Mount Carmel would bring the nation to its knees.

• His expectations weren’t fulfilled, so he considered himself a failure.

BETTER OFF ALONE

• Then Elijah left his winded servant behind.

• A mistake, but a tendency we all have, is that when we get a little depressed, we pull into a shell and isolate ourselves from people.

• Ironically, those are the times when we need the fellowship of friends more than ever.

THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK

• Once Elijah let fear get the best of him, he quickly drifted into self-pity, asking God for a quick way out.

• Have you ever noticed that when you are down in the dumps and have the blues, you say things you don’t really mean?

SOUL FOOD

• Just like exercise and eating the right foods are some of the best things you can do to fight physical depression…How do you think we fight spiritual depression?

• On the mountain of God,God was about to feed his spiritual nature.

• God revealed Himself to Elijah and addressed the spiritual causes of his depression.

Unfortunately, Elijah wasn’t catching on...

1 Kings 19:5–9 NIV

5 Then he lay down under the bush 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 some 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. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

1 Kings 19:10–13 NIV

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

GOD DOESN’T HAVE TO SHOUT TO GET HIS MESSAGE ACROSS.

• In a relationship, you shouldn’t ever have to shout.

The thing that is most important about Elijah is he had a close relationship with God.

In a relationship, you’ve got to be encouraging but also firm.

HARDHEADED

• One might expect this dramatic revelation of God to transform Elijah’s attitude.

• Yet when He asks Elijah the exact same question, Elijah gives the exact same response.

• Elijah’s response focused entirely on himself: what he couldn’t do because “they” were out to get him.

• He was too focused on “they” and “them” when the whole time he should’ve been focused on “HIM.”

“It’s time to get back to work.”

• He said, “It’s time to get back to work.”

• The Lord was calling Elijah to stop weeping over the past and running away from the present.

• The time had come for him to start preparing others for the future.

• Sometimes the best cure for the blues is God’s reminder of the work He has called us to do.

A NEW PROTEGE

• Elisha is fully committed to his new call: he sacrifices his oxen on a fire made from his plowing equipment.

• For him there can be no turning back once he has set his hand to the spiritual plow.

• Elisha’s response was a beautiful picture of Jesus’ point in Luke 9:62, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Elijah — “God is”

Elisha — “God saves”