What are You Doing Here?

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went 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 prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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 a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

The Mountaintop of Victory

King Ahab of Israel married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. They were worshipers of Baal. Ahab set up an image of Baal in the temple of God. Jezebel made it her quest to eradicate the worship of YAHWEH and to execute His prophets.

At the LORD’s direction, Elijah proclaimed a drought in the land, a direct attack on the god Baal who provided rain. This drought lasted 3 ½ years.

Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. They would each build their altar and prepare a sacrifice. The God who answered by fire would be Israel’s God. The LORD answered by fire and the people fell on their faces declaring that the LORD (YAHWEH) is God. The 450 prophets of Baal were then executed.

Elijah prayed, and a heavy downpour of rain came to break the drought. The LORD, not Baal, provided the rain!

The Enemy’s Counterattack

Our enemy is relentless. He will not accept defeat without another fight.

1 Kings 19:1–2 NKJV

We are most vulnerability after a season of great victory.

We must not be ignorant of Satan’s devices lest he take advantage of us. (2 Corinthians 2:9)

The Power of Fear

1 Kings 19:3 NKJV

And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

Fear will rob us of our peace and paralyze our faith.

Fear will cause us to run rather than fight.

The Stronghold of Depression

Elijah lost his hope.

Elijah sat down on the inside.

Elijah prayed that he might die.

Elijah slept to escape the struggle.

Many are imprisoned in a stronghold of depression.

The angel told Elijah to wake up, get up, eat, and get ready to go move on.

The Cave of Despair

A cave is a place of escape.

A cave is a place of refuge.

A cave is a place of isolation.

A cave is no place for an overcomer! “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

The Pit of Self-Pity

Elijah began to feel sorry for himself.

He rehearsed and nursed an exaggerated view of his “unfair” suffering.

1 Kings 19:10 NKJV

So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

The Voice of the LORD

The LORD said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

The LORD called Elijah out of his cave.

1 Kings 19:11–12 NKJV

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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 a still small voice.

The LORD was not in the wind, the earthquake, and the fire. He was in the “still small voice.”

We don’t need another sign. We need the word of the LORD!

“What are you doing here, Elijah?”

The Renewal of Vision

Elijah responded by looking back at where he had been.

The LORD told him it was time to move on!

It was time to stop thinking of himself as a victim; it was time to plan for victory!

The LORD imparted to Elijah a vision for victory!

Anoint Hazael as king over Syria.

Anoint Jehu as king over Israel.

Anoint Elisha as prophet in your place.

The Sovereign Perspective

Elijah needed to see the bigger picture.

1 Kings 19:18 NKJV

Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”