Bethel Christian Fellowship
August 24, 2014
Elijah, Prophet Of Fire (9): His Encounter With The Lord At Mt. Horeb
“Elijah On The Rebound”
1 Kings 19:9-18
Bouncing back from life’s setbacks is surely one of the major challenges of the Christian life.
When shattered dreams and broken spirits become part of one’s life experience, the strong are
not always so strong; the brave are not always so brave; and the trusting are not always so free of
fear and doubt. The experience of Elijah is a notable example of this.
One would have expected that his spectacular victory on Mt. Carmel would have led to a farreaching reformation of the entire nation of Israel. Elijah certainly did, but that reformation
never came. His victory had been turned into defeat through the hardened and unrepentant heart
of Jezebel, who was just as committed to Baal as ever before. As a result, Elijah saw no hope for
any lasting change in Israel. In great despair and despondency, he fled from his place of
ministry, attempted to resign his prophetic office, and asked the Lord to end his life.
But not only did God not answer his prayer, He graciously began a process of restoring Elijah to
useful service through a unique encounter on Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai). That process begins and
ends with mercy and grace, and is full of significance for us today. How the Lord dealt with
Elijah’s discouragement is important for us to grasp, as the escape route from our times of
discouragement will often follow the same path. For Elijah, this would prove to be a three-step
process:
First, the Lord gently communicated His Word to Elijah, and then graciously listened to his
complaint (vv. 9-10). After Elijah had spent his first night holed up in a cave, the word of the
Lord came to him, but there wasn’t any hard-hitting sermon, or word of rebuke, or any fingerpointing or blame or shame directed his way. Instead, the Lord asked a question – a simple
question of clarification – “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
This was not a request for new information. Rather, the Lord was encouraging Elijah to speak
his mind and to make his case for leaving his place of ministry. “The question implies that
Elijah had come to Sinai for his own misguided reasons and not because the Lord had sent him.”
(NIV Study Bible notes)
The Lord then graciously listened, but Elijah never answered the question directly. Instead, he
came back with his complaint (v. 10). It was as if he had never been to Mt. Carmel. All he
could focus upon was the fact that Yahweh’s covenant had been broken; his altars had been torn
down; and his prophets had been killed. His analysis was correct as far as it went, but when he
added that he was the only faithful prophet left, his despondency has distorted his perspective.
That may have been the way he felt, but there was a big difference between his feelings and
reality. Despair, as is so often the case, had made Elijah focus only on himself. Spiritual myopia
had set in, which necessitated the Lord to move Elijah to the next step.
The Lord then graciously drew Elijah into His presence and prepared him for a new
understanding of His purpose for him (vv. 11-14). Amazingly, the Lord offered no response; nor
did He try to argue Elijah out of his self-centered perspective. Instead, He drew him into an
encounter that had direct parallels to the experience of Moses in that same place: “stand on the
mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by” (v. 11). Years earlier, this
was the same word given to Moses, “There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock.
When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until
I pass by” (Ex. 33:21-22).
The spectacular signs that Elijah is then given – the earth shattering wind, the earthquake, and
the fire – were also part of Moses’ experience on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20:18-19; 24:17; Deut. 4:11-12;
5:22-25). But unlike the days of Moses, God’s presence was not revealed to Elijah through these
spectacular phenomena. Rather, He chose to reveal His presence through the sound of a “gentle
whisper” (NIV), or “a still small voice” (KJV).
In light of the verses that immediately follow (vv. 15-18) the Lord’s revelation to Elijah is best
understood in the following way:
Perhaps we are to see a contrast: you may not find Yahweh in the spectacular
explosions of nature, but you can be sure He is present in His quiet word given to
His prophets, a word that directs history (vv. 15-17) and preserves a people (v. 18).
(Dale Ralph Davis, I Kings: The Wisdom and The Folly)
Elijah, therefore, is being prepared to return to the land of Israel and to continue his prophetic
responsibility on behalf of God’s people; and as we shall see, Elisha is to carry it on for another
generation (v. 16b). But when the Lord repeated the question (Cf. v. 9), “What are you doing
here, Elijah?” (v. 13), Elijah’s response was still the same (v. 14), demonstrating that he did not,
in fact, understand the significance of the revelation he had just received. He seemed to be stuck
in his own gloom.
But the Lord, in His grace and mercy, was not going to give up on Elijah. Instead, He proceeded
to reveal a new dimension to his ministry, and a new commission. This is mercy at its very best,
beautifully portrayed by “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and
God of all comfort . . .” (2 Corinthians 1:3), which now takes us to the third step in the process.
The Lord graciously revealed to Elijah a new understanding of His purpose for him, along with
a word of encouragement (vv. 15-18). Up until now Elijah had served the Lord on his own.
This time he was sent back into the fight against Baal by enlisting others to complete the victory.
His call was to appoint three men who would eliminate the worship of Baal in Israel.
Elijah’s first task was to anoint Hazael king over Aram (Syria). As the book of Kings unfolds, it
is clear that God’s purpose was to use the campaigns of this pagan king to bring His judgment
against the house of Ahab (2 Kings 8:7-15, 28-29; 10:32-33; 12:17-18; 13:3, 22). Elijah’s
second task was to anoint Jehu king of Israel. Jehu was the military commander under both
Ahab and his son Joram (2 Kings 9:5-6). Through the word of the prophet Elisha, he will be
directed to launch a complete purge of the house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:1-10:17). Finally, Elijah’s
task was to appoint Elisha as his successor. Like Elijah, he too will prophesy oracles of
judgment against the house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:1-10).
God’s plan was clear – and His judgment would be severe (v. 17). Any members of the house of
Ahab left untouched by the campaigns of Hazael would be killed by Jehu (2 Kings 9:24). If Jehu
left survivors, Elisha would complete the purge. There would be no more prophetic challenges
for the house of Ahab to repent; those days are now over. “A man who remains stiff-necked
after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed – without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1).
The Lord then communicated a final word of encouragement (v. 18). Although Elijah felt
isolated and alone, he really wasn’t. God was still at work among His people – there were seven
thousand faithful followers of the Lord in Israel “whose knees have not bowed to Baal.” At this
critical point in his life, Elijah needed to know that the God of judgment is also the God of grace:
He had preserved a faithful remnant who were as deeply loyal to Yahweh as himself. This
remnant will be the future (and only) hope for the nation. What an encouragement that must
have been for this embattled and beleaguered servant of God!
As we think about God’s gracious ways with Elijah, we need to remind ourselves that God is
often much more patient with us than we are with ourselves. And we need to beware of isolation
– the Lord knew that Elijah did himself no favors by running, and hiding, and focusing upon his
own misery. Finally, we need to recognize the fact that the Lord primarily reveals Himself in the
“quietness” of His Word, as opposed to the spectacular, so-called signs and wonders. Christians
today may crave signs but will seldom find Christ in the wind, earthquake and fire. Biblical faith
is content with the Word, quietly and sovereignly at work in our lives. Ultimately, it is only His
Word that can move us forward and put us back on the rebound, as it is through His Word that
God continues to give us a renewed understanding of who He is and what His purposes are for
our lives. That is precisely what Elijah needed, more than anything else. The same is no less
true for us today.