Today we continue our journey through the book of 1 Kings. After the high drama of last week, with the great contest on Mount Carmel, things take a less dramatic, quieter, more sober tone today.
If you were here last week you will remember that the northern Kingdom of Israel is languishing under the evil reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel (King Solomon is long gone). Idolatry has been rife as well, with Baal worship sweeping the nation. In last week’s passage the faithful prophet Elijah challenged over 400 prophets of Baal to a duel. Whichever god succeeded in lighting a giant BBQ atop Mount Carmel would show himself to be the one true God.
You know what happened next – the Lord showed up and incinerated Elijah’s BBQ beef with fire from heaven – leaving no doubt who was truly God. The false prophets of Baal were duly executed (in accordance with the law of Moses) and Eliijah was the hero of the hour.
But, as we rejoin the story today, Elijah is on the run. Queen Jezebel has heard of the events on Mount Carmel and sworn revenge on Elijah. And so verse 3 tells us that Elijah fled the country. He left Israel and went down south to Judah, where he would be safe – outside Queen Jezebel’s jurisdiction. But Elijah was weary and despondent. As verse 4 tells us Elijah “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.’ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.”
Its hard to know exactly what was in Elijah’s mind at this time, but one can imagine that he was exhausted, lonely and discouraged. Like many people in our world today, he had become a refugee fleeing an evil regime. Like so many refugees today, he had no possessions, no shelter, no friends, and a very uncertain future ahead of him. One can begin to understand why he despaired of life itself. One can appreciate why refugees from wars and oppressive regimes today need our help and hospitality – not our hostility.
But, of course, Elijah was not truly alone was he? He was not without a powerful source of strength and support – because the Lord was with him. And so as we look at the remainder of today’s passage together, we are reminded of:
- God’s gracious provision for his people;
- Of God’s all-sufficient word; and, thirdly, of
- The Lord’s justice and mercy
Lets look at each in turn…
God’s gracious provision (v.5b-9a)
Firstly, then, we encounter God’s gracious provision for his people. As we see in verse 5, no sooner had Elijah nodded off to sleep, when “an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ 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.”
Alone in the wilderness, God had provided food and drink for his faithful prophet. It was not the Lord’s will that Elijah should expire from hunger or thirst. It was not the Lord’s will to let Elijah die, he provided for his prophet.
- And God continues to graciously provide for his people today, doesn’t he? Not only does he graciously give us our daily bread (and other material blessings), he also provides spiritual sustenance as well. He’s given us – what are sometimes called – “means of grace” to nourish our Christian faith.
- For instance, he has given us the Holy Spirit, the Holy Scriptures, the Lord’s Supper, and the fellowship of the Church to keep us going in our spiritual life. We have these God-given resources at our disposal to sustain us in our life and ministry, so do make use of them all. So pray constantly, read your Bible daily, consume communion regularly and attend church weekly. Take full advantage of the ‘means of grace’ that God has provided for us so abundantly.
Echoes of Exodus (v.9-12a)
God’s provision for the prophet Elijah was certainly abundant, because as we read in verse 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, [Elijah] travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God..”
You see, God was not done with Elijah yet, so he provided him with sufficient food for a further 200-mile journey south – to Mount Horeb. Elijah’s journey to Horeb, and the subsequent events that transpired, include some echoes of the book of Exodus:
- Mt Horeb, as you may know, is another name for Mount Sinai, that place where God once spoke to the prophet Moses, just as he was about to speak now to Elijah.
- Exodus also tells that God’s revelation to Moses was accompanied by earthquake and fire, and the same phenomena appear to Elijah this time around as well.
- Exodus also tells us that Moses hid in a cleft of rock when God gloriously appeared to him on Mount Horeb – and Elijah also took refuge in a cleft of rock (a cave) when he met God there too.
God’s all sufficient word (v.12b-14)
Despite these similarities, there are a couple of very important differences between what happened at Mount Sinai in Exodus, and Elijah’s experience at the same spot a few hundred years later.
For a start, when God speaks to Elijah he doesn’t speak with a ‘voice like thunder’. Our passage stresses that God’s presence was NOT to be found in the earthquake, wind and fire that Elijah witnessed. The earthquake, wind and fire were only preludes to God’s presence, not God himself. When God personally reveals himself to Elijah it is through a quiet word – a ‘gentle whisper’. This ‘still small voice of calm’ twice asks Elijah “What are you doing here?”. Twice Elijah is invited to unburden himself before the Lord.
- We can learn something from this for our own relationship with the Lord today. The lesson is that God rarely speaks to us through miraculous signs, like fire from Heaven or angelic visitations. Rather, God normally communicates with us through his word in Scripture.
- The normal, natural way we can all hear God converse with us is through calm, quiet, regular reading of his written word. It is in our daily ‘Quiet Times’ of Bible reading (as they are appropriately called) that we can most expect God to speak into our hearts and minds.
God’s justice and mercy (v.15-18)
Returning to our passage, I said that there are two important differences between Elijah’s experience at Mount Sinai and the events of Exodus. The second is this: In Exodus, Mount Sinai was the place where God entered into a covenant relationship with the people of Israel. They would be his people and he would be their God. Like a bride and groom on their wedding day, God and the Israelites had solemnly promised to be faithful to one another – and Mt Sinai was where that ‘exchange of vows’ had happened.
But Elijah came to Sinai for a sadder reason. He came to Mount Sinai to announce Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness. God’s prophet came to this holy mountain to declare Israel’s spiritual adultery. Elijah does this twice in fact, doesn’t he? In both verses 10 and 14 he says the same thing: “The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.” In Exodus, Mt Sinai was the place of covenant creation, but here in 1 Kings it is the venue of covenant rejection.
God’s response to this terrible news is, characteristically, one of both judgment and mercy. Under the terms of the original covenant between himself and Israel, such unfaithfulness by Israel would lead to foreign invasion. And so, as night follows day, we see that God commissions Elijah to go to Damascus in Aram (modern day Syria) to anoint Hazael king there. Over the years to come, Hazael’s military incursions into Israel would become a tool of judgement, a rod of discipline, which God used to punish his wayward people.
Ahab and Jezebel merited special attention for their wickedness, meanwhile, and so Elijah is tasked to anoint Jehu as a new king of Israel. In due course Jehu would replace Ahab on the throne – and ensure that Jezebel met a rather sticky end!
But God’s judgement is always tempered with grace. So before Elijah sets off, the Lord reassures him that he has preserved a “faithful remnant” within Israel. He has chosen 7,000 within the nation who will remain faithful to him and continue to abide by the covenant. These 7,000 will be made immune from the surrounding idolatry and immorality, kept safe and secure by the Lord.
It must have come as huge relief to Elijah to know that he was not truly alone, to know that he would not be the only faithful believer within the borders of Israel.
But here is a helpful reminder for us too. A reminder that God’s judgment is always accompanied by mercy.
- If we are Christians we should know that it was at the Cross of Jesus where God’s justice and mercy were truly reconciled. At the Cross sin was successfully punished AND forgiveness for sinners was made possible.
- We can look to the Cross to see Jesus shouldering the penalty for sin that we all deserve, so that we might receive God’s grace and mercy instead. Here is the heart of the Gospel, the core of what Christ achieved for us!
And so, as I finish, today’s passage provides compelling evidence, were it needed, that our is a God who Provides. Who Speaks. Who Judges. But wonderfully – who saves!