Elijah Flees to Horeb - 1 Kings 19:1-21

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* 1. What was one of the loneliest moments you can remember?

  2. Why do you suppose natural disasters have been called "acts of God"?

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  3. Why was Queen Jezebel determined to kill Elijah the prophet? (19:1-2)

* 4. What did Elijah pray when he had fled to a lonely place? (19:3-5)

  5. How did God miraculously care for Elijah in the desert? (19:6-9)

  6. What did God say to Elijah when the prophet had taken refuge in a cave? (19:9)

* 7. How did Elijah express his despair about his circumstances? (19:10)

  8. What did God command Elijah to do? (19:11)

  9. What disturbances of nature did Elijah witness from inside the cave? (19:11-13)

  10.  In which of the manifestations that Elijah saw was God present? (19:11-13)

  11.  What question did God repeat in the "gentle whisper"? (19:13)

  12.  What was Elijah's reply after seeing the demonstrations of God's power? (19:14)

* 13.  What "marching orders" did Elijah receive from God? (19:15-17)

  14.  How many faithful worshipers did God report to be in Israel? (19:18)

  15.  Where was Elisha when Elijah found him? (19:19)

  16.  What symbolic action did Elijah perform when he found Elisha? (19:19)

  17.  What did Elisha call his family together to do before he left to follow Elijah? (19:20-21)

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* 18.  To what extent do you think Elijah was justified in being discouraged by his circumstances?

  19.  Why did God reveal Himself to Elijah when the prophet was discouraged?

  20.  What strikes you as unusual about God's question to Elijah in the cave?

* 21.  In what settings have you felt that you were the only believer?

  22.  Of all of the manifestations of God's power, which might have Elijah wished God would show to his enemies?

  23.  What important lesson did Elijah learn about how God chooses to speak to people?

  24.  How was Elijah to be involved in the punishment of God's enemies?

  25.  How did Elisha make a dramatic break with his past before he followed Elijah?

  26.  What would be difficult about making a sudden break with your present life-style if God were to ask you to do it?

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* 27.  In what discouraging circumstances can you remind yourself that God is in control?

  28.  What habit could you cultivate to make you more ready to respond to God's call at a moment's notice?

ELIJAH, THE PROPHET

Elijah’s name, meaning ‘my God is Yahweh’, reflects his character as a man totally dedicated to God. Because of this commitment God was able to use Elijah powerfully. His is one of the most colourful and exciting biographies in the Bible. His story is told in the middle of the accounts of the kings of Israel and Judah, between 1 Kings 17 and 2 Kings 2. These chapters recount three aspects essential to understanding Elijah’s role and ministry: the miracles, the message and the man himself.

Elijah’s miracles

The miracles surrounding Elijah are the most vivid of the three aspects of his life. Whether raising the widow’s son from the dead, or calling down fire from heaven, or ascending to the heavens himself, these are the dramas which everyone remembers. Behind these wonders, however, lies their consistent use by God to teach faith. The miracles represent ‘signs’ which call their witnesses to a decisive moment. They must decide for or against God. This is clearest on Mt Carmel (1 Kings 18:16—46). Elijah challenged the people, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD iS God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him’ (1 Kings 18:2 1). At first the people said nothing. When they heard Elijah’s challenge to the priests of Baal, they gave their consent (1 Kings 18:24). Elijah won them over to his side when he enlisted their aid in the construction of the altar and in soaking it with water (1 Kings 18:30—35). However, it was only when the fire fell from heaven that the people responded with the confession of faith, ‘The LORD—he is God! The LORD — he is God!’ (1 Kings 18:39). They then participated in the capture of the pagan priests. Thus the miraculous sign challenged the people to respond in faith. A similar miracle, in which Elijah called down fire from heaven to incinerate two companies of soldiers who came to arrest him (2 Kings 1:9—12), led to a confession of faith in Elijah as a ‘man of God’ and a plea for mercy from the captain of the third company which was sent (2 Kings 1~13—14).

The signs given to the widow at Zarephath (1 Kings 17:7—24) also led her to

respond in faith. When she gave Elijah some of her flour and oil, she received back an unending supply to keep her alive during the drought. When Elijah restored her son to life, her accusation of Elijah (1 Kings 17:18, ‘Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?’) turned into a confession of belief in his mission and ministry (1 Kings 17:24, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth’).

The last miracles of Elijah occurred in the company of his spiritual successor, Elisha (2 Kings 2:1—12). Elijah reversed the path which Israel took when it entered the Promised Land, from the hill country of Bethel and Ai to the region of Jericho, and finally to the Jordan River. As Israel first entered the Promised Land through a parting of the waters, so Elijah now left it. When Elisha saw how the waters sep arated for his master, he requested, ‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit’ (2 Kings 2:9). Across the Jordan, like Moses before him, Elijah was granted a special blessing at the moment of his departure from this life. He ascended to heaven in a whirlwind. Again, Elisha confessed the power of Israel’s God: ‘The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ (2 Kings 2:12). His further activities demonstrated the faith in Elijah’s God which Elisha now possessed (2 Kings 2:14).

Elijah’s message

The miracles of Elijah served to call many in Israel back to faith in God. However, the message of Elijah had a different reception. While the miracles elicited responses from wayward and lukewarm Israelites of all levels in society, the message of the prophet was directed towards the kings (and queen, in the case of Jezebel) of Israel and of Judah. Elijah warned Ahaziah that his consultation with Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, for treatment of his foot injury was sin and would lead to his death (2 Kings 1:1—17). Ahaziah died with no notice of any repentance. The sole mention of Elijah in Chronicles occurs when Elijah sent a message to Jehoram king of Judah (2 Chron. 21:12—20). Elijah warned the king that his murderous and pagan practices, more like those of Ahab than those of his predecessors in Judah, would lead to a horrible death for himself. The notice that Ahaziah died of a painful bowel disease, unmourned by his subjects, affirmed the prophet’s words and the absence of any repentance from the king.

Elijah’s relationship with Ahab was the most significant illustration of the clarity of the prophet’s message and the failure to repent on the part of the leadership. No king of Israel received as many warnings, and yet no king of Israel fell as deeply into sin. Elijah’s ministry began with a warning to Ahab of drought (1 Kings 17:1). Yet all Ahab could do was to send out search parties to try to capture the prophet (1 Kings 18:1—14). In the end Elijah, led by God (1 Kings 18:1—2, 15—19), chose the time and place for their meeting. In his first explanation to Ahab of the reason for the drought, the prophet made clear that it was the king’s own fault: ‘I have not made trouble for Israel. . . But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’S commands and have followed the Baals’ (1 Kings 18:18). The miracle on Mt Carmel demonstrated the superiority of Yahweh over the false deities. Although this was directed to all the people, God used Elijah to give a private demonstration of divine power for Ahab. While Ahab was in his chariot, hurrying back to Jezreel to celebrate the rain, Elijah appeared and outran the king’s chariot (1 Kings 18:45—46). Even so,

Elijah’s powerful demonstration of faith in withholding and granting the rains (James 5:17—18) did not turn Ahab away from his false worship.

This message led to no change of behaviour on the part of Ahab. Influenced by his Tyrian wife, Jezebel (1 Kings 21:25), Ahab continued his life of compromise with the Canaanite culture around him. He desired the vineyard of Naboth at Jezreel (1 Kings 21). Although this was the patrimony given by God to Naboth’s family, it meant little to Ahab and nothing to Jezebel. This king should have what he wanted regardless of the covenant between God and his people. Naboth was falsely accused and put to death. Ahab seized the vineyard. To all this God had a message of doom for Elijah to take to Ahab. The king would die. His queen would also die and dogs would devour them both. This was a terrible judgment, for it meant they would not rest with their ancestors but would die unmourned and cursed by God. Of all the kings to whom Elijah delivered words of warning, only Ahab responded posthvely. We read that he tore his clothes, wore sackcloth, and fasted. He humbled himself before God, and God responded by delaying the coming doom to the days of his son (1 Kings 21:27—29). Yet the judgment was to come, just as Elijah had predicted. The king was killed and dogs licked his blood (1 Kings 22:34—38). Jezebel also shared the same fate (2 Kings 9:30—3 7). Finally, the whole dynasty of Ahab was wiped out byJehu (2 Kings 10). Just as God had promised Ahab (1 Kings 19:17), it came to pass.

The messages of Elijah all came true. However, their true purpose was more than that of a pronouncement of doom. Elijah’s prophetic ministry was to call the people to repentance at a time of national apostasy. His miracles provided visual aids which challenged the people, who perhaps were not as prepared to hear his arguments. However, their response contrasted throughout his ministry with the hard-hearted refusal of most of the leadership to listen to the prophet. The warnings of judgment were.designed to produce repentance in the people who heard them, and in later generations, who would recall the prophet’s words when they came to pass (2 Kings 9:36; 10:10, 17).

Elijah the man

The subject of national apostasy introduces the third aspect of Elijah’s life preserved in the biblical text: Elijah the man. There are two parts to this aspect: the loneliness of Elijah and the archetypal prophetic role which Elijah played. The first examines the unique relationship between Elijah and God and between Elijah and those who were called to hear his word. The archetypal role of the prophet begins with his successor, Elisha, and reaches into the NT.

The loneliness of the prophet encompasses every part of his life and ministry. It begins with his origins, for he came from Gilead, the land east of the Jordan (1 Kings 17:1). Thus in the capital and the chief cities of the northern kingdom he would have been a provincial. He was probably regarded by many as a fanatic from an uncivilized backwater of the kingdom. Yet it is from such ‘backwaters’ that God often chooses prophets and messengers, whether from Gilead or from Galilee. This often serves as a witness against the people who regard themselves as better than the rest, for God can find among them no one with sufficient faith to act as a messenger of the divine word.

In Elijah’s case, his ministry brought him into contact with those who had no

regard for his ‘simple’ religion of worshipping Yahweh alone. They preferred the sophisticated religion of the urban Canaanites, which integrated gods from such powerful and wealthy commercial centres as Tyre. The challenge on Mt Carmel may have been a sanctuary on the borders of Tyre and Israel. Thus it implied the introduction of a pagan deity into Israel as the chief god there. Elijah’s call to confront this wickedness was an example of a called, lone minister standing against the power of hundreds of opponents supported by the state (1 Kings 18:19). God’s effectiveness was not hindered by the uneven sides. Indeed, it all the more dramatically displayed the power of faith at work. But such an experience could only enhance the sense of loneliness which Elijah must have felt. For two years he had been in hiding with few companions other than a widow and her son (1 Kings 17:1—24). Even though he may have heard of prophets of Yahweh (l Kings 18:13), they were in hiding and provided him with no support. Therefore it is no surprise when Elijah, fearing the reprisals of Jezebel, fled for his life to Horeb (1 Kings 19:1—8). His miraculous sustenance there for 40 days evokes the image of Moses in communion with God (Exod. 24:18), but it also confirms the picture of a lonely figure called out from the midst of a sinful people. Twice God asked Elijah his purpose in coming, and twice Elijah replied with the same words of complaint (1 Kings 19:10, 14; cf. Rom. 11:2—3), ‘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.’

The loneliness of Elijah reached a turning point in this scene. Until now he had been accustomed to express the presence of God through the use of magnificent ‘special effects’ miracles. God, however, now showed Elijah that the divine presence does not lie in such demonstrations of power but in the apparent weakness of the softly spoken word (1 Kings 19:11—13). Henceforth, Elijah’s ministry would emphasize the word rather than the act. Further, his work would not be alone but would be performed alongside other faithful prophets.

This began with the appointment of Elisha, who carried forward the ministry after Elijah’s death, including the anointing of Hazael and Jehu as kings of Aram and Israel (1 Kings 19:15—17). This concern to address the loneliness of the prophet is evident in the godly characters who populate the chapters which follow the scene at Mt Horeb (1 Kings 19). Unlike 1 Kings 17—18, where Elijah functioned alone, thereafter his activities were interspersed with other events and prophets. This began with Elisha’s call (1 Kings 19:19—21). There were unnamed prophets at work in I Kings 20. Elijah reappears in the account of Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21:1— 28), but this is followed by the prophecies of Micaiah son of Imlah (1 Kings 21:1— 28), which confirm specifically what Elijah had already prophesied generally concerning the death of Ahab. In 2 Kings I Elijah reappears with a message for Ahaziah. There he delivered his message alone, but in 2 Kings 2 he was accompanied by Elisha and encountered groups of prophets at Bethel and Jericho. The ministry of Elijah exemplifies what one individual who hears and obeys the word of God can accomplish. It also exemplifies how the public faithfulness of one can be a catalyst to embolden others to make public their faith.

We have already noted the symbolism of Elijah as the successor of Moses, who meets God at Horeb and leaves this life in a special way. He also represents Joshua

and the people of Israel, who cross the Jordan River on dry ground. Even more important is the role of Elijah as an archetypal prophet. Although prophets existed in Israel before Elijah, he takes on a special role. His miracles and his message are carried forward by Elisha, who requested a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and who began his ministry by repeating Elijah’s miracle of crossing the Jordan on dry ground (2 Kings 2:14). Elijah’s message of judgment for the north was picked up by the writing prophets to the north, Hosea and Amos. A century after Elijah’s work they brought the same message of judgment for the sins of the people and of the rulers. In the southern kingdom this warning was also carried forward by figures such as Isaiah. The very last of the writing pTophets, Malachi, piomised a return of Elijah to hold out hope for repentance before judgment (Mal. 4:5—6).

In the NT this prophecy is remembered and embodied in part with the coming of John the Baptist (Luke 1:17). Also a loner, he called the people to repentance from the Jordan River. John would refuse the identification (John 1:21, 25), but Jesus allowed that he was Elijah (Matt. 11:14; 17:10—13; Mark 9:11—13). Later some would confuse Jesus with the return of Elijah (Matt. 16:14; Mark 6:15; 8:28; Luke 9:8, 19). Jesus would never claim this identification, although he would liken his ministry to that of Elijah, as one sent to those outside Israel (Luke 4:24—26). Elijah himself would reappear in the Transfiguration. There he would appear alongside Moses as a representative of all the prophets who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah (Matt. 17:2—9; Mark 9:2—10; Luke 9:28—36). Elijah would talk with Jesus and encourage him on the lonely and self-sacrificing road to the cross (Luke 9:3 1). Thus it is clear how misconceived was the scorn of those at the crucifixion who suggested that he might be calling on Elijah and that Elijah could deliver him (Matt. 27:47—49; Mark 15:35—36). Christ’s redemptive sacrifice was the purpose for which Elijah had ministered while on earth. It was the purpose of Elijah’s symbolic return in the form of John. And it was the goal about which Elijah spoke to Jesus in the Transfiguration. (See Prophets and Prophecy)

Richard Hess (1995) in The Complete Who’s Who in the Bible, Ed P Gardner P.  London: Marshall Pickering pp149-153.