Time to Listen - I Kings 19:1-18

Time to Listen

Focal Text: I Kings 19:1-18

Background Text: I Kings 19

I.            Elijah’s Flight, 19:1-3a

A.       Jezebel, vs. 1

1.      Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, who was identified with Ithobaal I, who was king of Tyre from 887 to 856 BC. During his reign, Tyre expanded its power on the continent, making all of southern Phoenicia its territory, including Sidon.

2.      In glaring contrast to all of the good women of the Bible, Jezebel has gone down in Bible history as the very worst example of evil. She committed many atrocious crimes against those who were faithful and obedient to God.

3.      Jezebel was a fanatical worshiper of the heathen idol Baal. As queen of Israel, she attempted to force it upon the Israelites in the most ruthless and deadly manner. King Ahab made very little effort to stop her - quite the contrary, he actually built a pagan temple for her in the capital city of Samaria and allowed 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to eat at the royal table (1 Kings 16:32, 18:19).

4.      Jezebel directly attempted to overthrow the worship of God - she commanded that the people forsake The Lord, and murdered as many of His prophets that she could find (1 Kings 18:4). The remainder were forced to hide in caves in the wilderness (1 Kings 18:13).

5.      As prophesied by Elijah Jezebel met an extremely horrendous death.

a.      Jehu had three eunuchs throw her from an upper story window, where she was then trampled to bits by horses in the street.

b.      Dogs then came and ate her body, leaving only the skull, feet and hands (2 Kings 9:30-37), according to the word of Elijah (1 Kings 21:19).

c.      It was a horrible end for a wicked human being.

6.      Her name afterwards came to be used as the synonym for a wicked woman.

B.       Elijah’s Life Threatened by Jezebel, vs. 2

1.      You would think after hearing Ahab’s report of all the things Elijah did in the name of the Lord, that Jezebel would have been amazed and conceded that the Lord God was greater than Baal was.

2.      However, no, her heart was too hardened to hear anything accept the part about Elijah slaying here prophets.

3.      Jezebel sends word to Elijah that he has 24 hours to live.

C.       Elijah Runs for his Life, vs. 3a

“Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.”

1.      This has to be one of the most incredible verses in the whole Bible, Elijah’s response to Jezebel’s threat is astonishing, to say the least.

2.      Here is a man who brought a child back to life, he parted the Jordan River (similar to Moses) and he witnessed God’s fire come down from heaven and consume the sacrifice he had made.

3.      You would think that after seeing and participating in such awesome displays of God’s power that his faith in this instance would have sustained him.

4.      I mean who is Jezebel compared to the Lord God Almighty!

5.      For whatever reason fatigue, lack of faith, or a sense of resignation at the prospect of never having peace Elijah flees.

6.      He fears death the way Obadiah did (18:9-14).

7.      One commentator suggests, "Elijah interprets Jezebel's personal attack on him as the end of his ministry. Indeed, the fact that he dismisses his servant in Beersheba, the southernmost point in Judah, then goes a day's journey farther may indicate he has given up his ministry altogether.”

8.      In three short verses, the writer has totally changed the flow of the story. Victory seems to have been transformed into defeat, the brave prophet into a cowering refugee, and the victory over death and Baal into an opportunity for death to reassert itself through Jezebel's oath to take Elijah's life.

9.      Another commentator suggests, “Probably Elijah had played into Jezebel's hand.”

a.      Had she really wanted Elijah dead, she surely would have seized him without warning and slain him.

b.      What she desired was that Elijah and his God be discredited before the new converts who had aided Elijah by executing the prophets of Baal.

c.      Without a leader, revolutionary movements usually stumble and fall away. Just when God needed him the most, the divinely trained prophet was to prove a notable failure.”

II.         Elijah’s Plight, vs. 3b-18

A.       Elijah Flees to Beersheba, vs. 3b-7

1 Kgs 19:3b-5a “When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, 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 tree 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 a cake of 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."

1.      Elijah had been in Jezerel (which was 25 miles from Mt Carmel) and now he flees to Beersheba, which is a distance of about 90 miles and then about another 10-15 miles further into the desert before he finally stops, exhausted no doubt, and sits under a juniper tree.

2.      After running as far as his legs would carry him Elijah exhausted and defeated settles under a juniper tree and asks God to take his life, which ironically is the opposite desire to what he expressed by fleeing into the desert in the first place, INCREDIBLE.

3.      Now God begins to renew his faith by miraculously feeding him. In other words, the Lord ministers to him as in the past. Twice an angel feeds him, thereby giving him strength to travel to "Horeb, the mountain of God."

B.       Elijah at Mt Sinai, vs. 8-18

1.      The First Word from the Lord, vs. 8-10

“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, broken 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."

a.      Trip to Horeb, Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai.

1)     If Sinai is to be found down in the southern region of the peninsula, as the text seems to necessitate, he must travel another two hundred miles and could therefore easily take forty days.

2)     It is true that a caravan could often make seventeen to twenty miles a day, but Elijah is not accustomed to this type of travel and is traveling on his own.

3)     Five miles per day under such conditions in this climate would not be unusual.

b.      After coming to Mt Sinai, he retreats into a cave and falls asleep.

c.      The Hebrew text says, "He came there to the cave," possibly the very "cleft of the rock" where God had placed Moses as His glory passed by (Exo 33:21-23).

d.      God asks a question, that I would want to ask Elijah also, “What are you doing here?”

e.      He replies that Israel is apostate, they kill the prophets, they want me dead, and he alone stands for covenant faith (apparently, Elijah thought quite a lot of himself as the sole defender of the faith, when in reality he was not).

f.       Again, he sees no real reason to continue. Apparently, he had hoped that the Mount Carmel episode would produce a final victory over Baalism in Israel and perhaps the glorious culmination of his career.

g.      The Lord does not comment on Elijah’s self-justification.

2.      The Second Word from the Lord, vs. 11-14

“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?  He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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."

a.      A second word of the Lord invites the prophet to "stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD," for God will pass by there.

b.      Suddenly a rock-shattering tempest smote the mountain around Elijah. Surely, this would announce the divine presence. However, the Lord was not in the wind.

c.      There followed a fearful earthquake, but still God was not there.

d.      A sudden fire followed; yet God had not come. All these physical phenomena were known to be often precursors of God's coming (Exo 19:16, 18; Judg 5:4-5; 2 Sam 22:8-16; Psa 18:7-15; 68:8; Heb 12:18).

e.      Finally, there followed a faint whisper (or a still small voice), a voice quiet hushed, and low. Elijah knew it instantly. It was God!

f.       What a lesson for Eijah! Even God did not always operate in the realm of the spectacular!

g.      Again the Lord asks Elijah what he is doing here (the Lord is probably hoping that Elijah has had time to reflect on the reasons and now has a better understanding.), but he answers the same as before and again the Lord does not comment his answer.

3.      The Third Word from the Lord, vs. 15-18

“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 all whose mouths have not kissed him."

a.      Instead of giving Elijah a comforting word of encouragement and reassurance that he is not alone, God tells him to get up and go back the way he had come, for the Lord still has work for him to do.

b.      Elijah made the mistake of thinking that he was dispensable, God's last and only hope. By announcing three successors, the Lord is making it clear that he is never without recourse.

1)     Aramean king, Hazael, will be God's instrument of judgment on Israel.

2)     Jehu becomes king of Israel and in the process brings God's punishment on the house of Ahab.

3)     Elisha will continue the prophetic work of Elijah.

c.      Then the Lord closes by saying, “by the way Elijah there are over 7,000 besides yourself that have remained faithful to Me”.