when I was in seminary, my hebrew class was pretty dry. the professor was brilliant, but during this time, he had some major health and personal issues and wasn't very engaged in the class. but in one class, he taught a devotional on 1 kings 19 that has stayed with me ever since. I read it in my daily reading today and was reminded of his devotional.
some backstory first:
israel's king was the wicked ahab and his wife jezebel. they both worshipped baal and ashera. God sent elijah, and elijah told them that there would be no rain on the land until elijah had allowed it. and he was right. the land went through a severe famine: the crops died, the animals died, and the people died off in droves. ahab put a price on elijah's head, but elijah wasn't afraid.
elijah met ahab on mt. carmel along with 400 prophets of baal and a crowd of israelites. there, elijah famously challenged the prophets of baal to call on their god to burn up a sacrifice. baal was the god of fire- so this would be no problem for baal. the prophets called, but no answer. they wailed and cut their skin, but no answer. finally elijah asked that a trench would be dug around the altar and filled with water. in a drought-stricken-land, this was outrageous. but they did, and elijah called on God, and God zapped the sacrifice, the altar and all of the water with a burst of lightning.
elijah called on the spectators to kill all of the prophets of baal, and they did. and then it began to rain.
jezebel, the queen sent a messenger to elijah with this message: "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 (the prophets of baal).”
so what does elijah do in response? does he say, "bring it on!"? does he say, "good luck with that!"? the bible says, "elijah was afraid and ran for his life."
why is he afraid? he has seen the power of almighty God over and over again in his life. for some reason, jezebel's power exceeded God's power in his mind at that moment. so he ran.
while he was running, he was so depressed, that he prayed that God would end his life.
then he travels for 40 days to a place called horeb, the mountain of God. what was so special about horeb? what is in horeb that is worth traveling for 6 weeks to get there?
my seminary prof said that the mountain of God was referring to mount sinai- and that elijah was looking at mount sinai for the same thing that moses found when he was there.
way back in exodus 33, the bible says that God spoke to moses at mt. sinai, face to face- like a man speaks to his friend.in exodus 34, moses hid in a cave while the glory of the LORD passed in front of him, and left his face glowing for weeks after.
my prof suggested that this is what elijah was looking for: something incredible, supernatural, fantastic, that would leave his face glowing.
back to 1 kings 19: elijah arrives at the mountain. he finds the cave. he sleeps in it and waits for the morning. the bible says in 1 kings 19:1 "And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
it has always amazed me that God would address elijah tenderly and with a question. God knows why he's there- but He allows elijah to give his answer.
elijah says, "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.”
basically he is telling God that the queen's power exceeds God's power. then God says this: "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
this is what he came for- to experience what moses experienced and to glow like moses did.
the story goes on and says, "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."
what?! I'm sure that elijah thought that this was the amazing thing that would happen and that God would declare something epic after this hurricane level wind; but God was not in the wind.
"After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire."
all of these crazy, natural disasters are happening right in front of elijah's eyes. he is expecting to hear the booming, powerful voice of God strengthening him and giving him instructions on how to defeat jezebel; but God was not in the earthquake, and God was not in the fire. and then something unexpected happens:
"And after the fire came a gentle whisper."
what did it sound like? instead of booming, God whispered elijah's name and called him to come close. I remember reading this in hebrew class and slowly sounding out the words, and fumbling through my translation in front of the class. when I got to that sentence, the hairs on my arms stood up: "and after the fire came a gentle whisper." can you imagine God whispering your name after these violent acts of nature?
"When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave."
I'm sure he trembled as he walked. again, God gently repeats His question, and elijah fearfully repeats his answer:
"What are you doing here, Elijah?”
God is love.-rev-rob
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