Human After All
The early church leader James says of the Old Testament prophet,
“Elijah was a man just like us” (James 5:17)In the Greek this phrase implies that "Elijah felt just as we feel emotionally." James takes it for granted that Elijah was a great and extraordinary prophet, but is reminding us that God uses ordinary people to do the great things in history. Elijah is commemorated by the Jews, even to this day. At Passover they set a place for him complete with a full glass of wine.
James must surely have come to say what he does about Elijah because of what occurs in 1 Kings chapter 19. After the prophet's victory on Mt. Carmel which required great conviction and heroism, and where he showed no sign of fear or frailty, chapter 19 shows that he is human after all. After Victory comes collapse.
A Story of Failure
God is telling us this story of failure because there are lessons to
be learnt! It’s not just what God does through us that matters but
also what he does with us. Unless he establishes a strong relationship
with us first, he can do nothing through us. We must be willing partners
in this relationship. Normally it is better to read the Old Testament as
God's history, or rather what he did in history using his people Israel,
rather than identifying too strongly with the heroes and heroines. We should
be slow to put ourselves in a prophet's shoes but perhaps we can be excused
for doing so with this particular story.
Tempted and Demoralised
We all face situations of failure, feelings of worthlessness, and sudden
temptation and these can come at the moment of our greatest triumphs. Many
high profile evangelists have been disgraced by disclosures about their
private lives, and just when they were bringing Jesus into the lives of
many people they betray their Lord through financial or sexual indiscretion.
But these aren't the only temptations. Demoralisation is lurking everywhere.
Failure can come from general fatigue: perhaps week in week out Sunday
School teaching, or simply the struggle of day to day witness where no
one seems to take the slightest notice of the word of God and our efforts
to live holy lives. We might get the impression that only we are carrying
the true torch against all the odds - a true believer in a congregation
that’s spiritually dead, with a pastor who is either a weak teacher or
who doesn’t preach the gospel at all. We might arrive back from a Christian
conference all fired up only to be dragged down by every day life and fellow
believers who have lost their hunger for Jesus. Perhaps we start to worry
that we’re not saved after all: our Bible study and prayer life just don’t
seem to be right. We haven’t brought anyone to Christ when others seem
to be doing it all the time.
Paul says,
"no temptation has seized you except what is common to man." (1 Cor 10:13)But this can be of little comfort when our spirits are really low. How do we pick ourselves up? This really is an important issue, isn’t it? Henry Ford said, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” To translate that into Christian-Speak, failure gives us a chance to reconsider our relationship with the Lord, how we came to grief and how we might stay closer to him in future. But we don't have to rely on our own strength for we have a heavenly father who answers prayer (Luke 11:1-13)
So how would God like us to deal with these situations? That’s what this chapter is all about. God speaks to Elijah when he's in a jam and through the BIble's record of this history he speaks to us too.
Looking at vv 1-3 we find Elijah’s world fall apart for a number of reasons. His victory didn’t produce the expected results in that Jezebel and Ahab do not capitulate, They are not at one with the people who shouted, "The Lord - he is God!" in 18:39. The victory on Mt. Carmel proved to be a matter of winning a battle and not a war. To top it all he is threatened with death. After the stress and physical strain of his showdown with the prophets of Baal, it is perhaps not surprising that he 'gives in' to fear.
One of my favourite Steely Dan songs has a chorus that says, 'When the
demon is at your door, In the morning it won't be there no more. Any major
dude would tell you.' The point is that when we are tired and run down
our emotions and weakness tend to take over whilst reason and strength
desert us. Elijah's eyes stray from God to Jezebel and he stops trusting
the Lord. Like Obadiah in chapter 18, he suddenly fears a person more than
God and the teacher needs to learn his own lesson.
The Great Escape
The journey that Elijah undertakes from Jezreel to Beersheba covers
all the land from Northern Israel to Southern Judah and is about 160 kilometres.
Even then he travels another day’s march into the desert. And he’s in such
a low mood that he leaves his servant behind - he just wants to be alone
and miserable. Elijah sits under the broom tree and prays for death. David
Jackman comments rather astutely,
“It’s an extraordinary thing isn’t it, to run all that way, to travel as fast as you can, a hundred miles and another day’s journey into the desert, and then to ask God to do for you exactly what Jezebel had offered to do when you were back in Jezreel.”He certainly seems to be in a bit of a muddle about everything. But then something happens to change the situation.
Too Frightened Not to Pray
A notice spotted outside a church said:
"Remember, when you’re at the end of your tether, God is at the other end."The contents may not have been exactly what the Lord wanted to hear but Elijah prays! In a situation like this, this is the instinct of the Christian. Isn’t that true? It’s just a shame that Elijah didn’t do it sooner. We can learn from this that when we’re feeling weak and feeble, down and depressed, we should tell God! However muddled up we feel, however incoherent what we say is, we should pour it all out in prayer, and the sooner the better.
A Christian of ten years standing, who was seeking counselling of a pastor was asked whether she had talked over her problems with God. She replied that God wouldn’t be interested in her petty affairs and that he had much more serious matters to deal with in the world. How wrong could she be? If God is our 'Abba', our Father, then he is very interested in us and our feelings and troubles. He longs to be involved intimately with us and we mustn't be like the teenager who locks his parents out of his life by hiding behind a closed bedroom door.
God deals with the whole person
Once Elijah allows his heavenly father to be involved in the situation,
God responds to it. He deals with the physical problems first
- sleep, food and drink (v5-7). God doesn’t send Elijah some keen insensitive
fellow believer to tell him to snap out of it, or offer some other unhelpful
platitude. We should not be too quick to spiritualise every problem. There
are times when the correct spiritual thing to do is sleep and rest. Perhaps
we should not forget to see what practical assistance that can be given
when helping another person. The angels of this story may be other people,
maybe you. Perhaps you can help by cooking a meal, making coffee and lending
an ear rather than doing a Bible study.
A friend who has come to you for help when a relationship is in trouble
may very well need Christ in his or her life, but to start with, it is comfort
and solidarity that is of more importance, just being there for them. The
gospel can come a little later when the Lord makes an opportunity for it.
Of course you will have been praying and asking the Lord for that opportunity,
won't you?
God gives Elijah the time he needs to recover and build up the strength
he need to get to Mt. Horeb (or Mt. Sinai), a journey which he takes at
a much easier pace. Mt Horeb is the place where God met with Moses
in Exodus 34.
Where is Elijah?
In v9 the Lord finally gets round to dealing with the inner man. He
asks, “What are you doing here?”
Elijah’s reply to God's question indicates self-pity that seems to say,
'I’ve done my bit Lord, where are you?' It shows pride in that his vision
is horizontal and his eyes are off God still. And there is also a distinct
sense of loneliness that is accentuated by his self-pity and pride.
But this is not where God wants him to be because it's a place of Elijah’s
choosing, not God's, and the Lord wants him somewhere else. The question
must begin to prompt Elijah to see that God is still committed to Elijah's
ministry despite this setback, and that there is therefore much to be hopeful
about.
Where is God?
As Elijah wallows in his misery God gives him the command of verse
11 to stand and wait for the presence of the Lord to pass by. Elijah's
pulse must have quickened at the prospect. Perhaps he would be given a
vision of God just like Moses before him. Here is the God who has trained
him for the big flashy show on Mt Carmel about to embue him with more divine
'street credibility' and muscle, but...God is in the quietest whisper of
verse 12, not in the dramatics of verse 11.
What is God teaching Elijah? "Don’t expect fireworks like Mt Carmel
in your ministry as a matter of course. Expecting to be the big Moses type
figure, filled by God’s power to fight for and lead a great revival movement
in Israel may appeal to your vanity Elijah, but I won’t necessarily use
you like that. And first of all I want to spend quiet time with you!"
Christian experience starts with the quiet contemplation of God - the
still small voice - and it’s heeding that which changes situations. Do
we look for God in the big flashy experience, or in the Bible and the quiet
of our prayers? Are we seeking a life in the fast lane of cut and thrust
evangelism that panders to our self esteem, or are we seeking first to
live a life of quiet reverence and obedience? Are we really listening to
the Lord and doing the work that he wants us to do? Or are we rushing out
to do what we imagine he wants us to do?
Let's get more obvious
Elijah doesn’t seem to latch on very quickly, for when he hears
the voice of God he repeats his same litany of woe. So God is more direct
now and in verse 18 he deals with Elijah's pride by saying, "You’re not
the only believer. Be encouraged. You’re not the last
genuine Christian left who really cares." Such a thought would mean God
couldn’t look after his own affairs.
In V15 Elijah is told to go back the way he came, and to be content
with where God has put him. He's being encouraged to get on with
the job assigned to him. He must start looking at things from God’s point
of view rather than his own.
Stay put and Get on with it
Many a businessman longs to be a preacher,
many a mother longs for a ministry, and perhaps ministers would love to
be lay people again. But we need businessmen and mothers and clergymen. Where has God called you to be? Well, get on with it! That is very much
the biblical principle. Elijah had been so effective on Mt Carmel because
he was doing what he had been called to do. Remember, God had gifted him
and chosen him for that task - it could have been anyone else. In some
ways God is saying, "You’re right Elijah, you are indeed no better than
your ancestors....
....but I want you to be Elijah, the person I chose for the task."
David Jackman says, “ If we judge by human wisdom and visible statistics, as Elijah was tempted to do, then we will become discouraged and depressed.” Let's get on with the job in hand.
God assigns Elijah a new task, giving him something to get on with, and
something to be hopeful about:
He is sent to annoint Hazael, a pagan king and annoint Jehu, a king
for Israel. Also he is given Elisha, a helper for his loneliness and a
sign that God will not forsake his people even when Elijah is gone! It's
not all down to Elijah.
So we read in verse 19 that Elijah went...back in the saddle, as it were.
Marys and Marthas
As so often we see that it is God’s word that opens the door and turns
the situation. So much of the Christian life is about being a 'Mary', sitting
at the feet of our Lord listening to what he says and hoarding the treasure
in our hearts. Then when we go about our business we are trained and ready.
Yet, how many of us are 'Marthas', so busy with this and that around the
church fellowship that we never spend time with our noses in the Bible?
Then when the important things come along we don't know what to do because
we have failed to focus on our Lord and acquire the mind of Christ.