July 09, 2024 | Be God's Light
The Lord Appears To Elijah
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-18(NIV)
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 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?”
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?”
14 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.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
Devotional
After his victorious showdown against the prophets of Baal, you might think that Elijah would be euphoric. Rather, he was despondent, as evidenced by verses 3 and 4: “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life… he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness… ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’”
At God’s command, Elijah then walked forty days from the northern tip of Israel to beyond the southern tip of Judah. He ended up on Mt. Sinai (Horeb), where God had given Moses the Ten Commandments.
Centuries later, Jesus took three of His disciples to the top of a very high mountain, when there “appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus” (Matthew 17:3). The embodiment of the Law and the Prophets were having a conversation with Jesus, when God spoke from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5). That is our call: Listen to Jesus only.
In Romans 11:2-5, Paul wrote: “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me’? And what was God’s answer to him? ‘I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.”
Understand this clearly. Moses was not God. Elijah was not God. They merely pointed to Jesus, who was God in the flesh. We are called to be completely sold out to Jesus. For Baal is not God. Other religious deities are not God. Modern cultural ideologies are not God. But Jesus is God in the flesh. And we are called to be His remnant when others seem content to drift toward the false promises of the world.
That is our call: Listen to Jesus only. He may be speaking to you in a gentle whisper. Will you listen for His voice? Will you obey what He says?
Poem
Not Alone
Exhaustion after battle
Despite win, soul is rattled
Depression can ensue
Alone, the tired warrior
Licks wounds in silent corridor
Cries loneliness to God
“I am the only one left!”
“’Tis better that I face death!”
“Abandoned, Lord, I feel.”
The honest cries of grieving
Our God, our Lord, receiving
Ushers a message true
“You’re not alone, I tell you
“Seven times thousand are true
“Remember that I hold you”
“So rest, dear child, in Sabbath
“This be your constant habit
“I’ll minister to you”
