1 Kings 19
“And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” 1 Kings 19:9-10
I don’t want to be too hard on poor Elijah here; after all, he is among the greatest prophets in the history of Israel. He was important enough that he didn’t even die like the rest of us; he was carried to heaven on a flaming chariot! So, Elijah is quite a big deal. We have sort of talked about whether Elijah’s trip to Mt Horeb was God-approved or not; as we read through this passage I think I find myself fairly firmly in the “not God approved or commanded,” camp on this. When God asks Elijah, “What are you doing here?” I can almost hear, “Elijah, why are you here on this mountain instead of continuing on with the mission I had given you?” Elijah’s response is what really seals my thought on the matter. Not to sound flip, but his response sounded a bit like, “But, what about meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, God?”
We ought to not be shocked by this, or too judgmental about it either; when you are king of the hill, so to speak, it is important to remember that everybody not on top desperately wants to unseat you from your place. Not only should we cut Elijah a bit of slack, but we ought to understand that, in the right circumstance, that could be any one of us.
Standing strong for God can be tiring. Elijah had done exactly as told for a few years, and when things reached their climax no one could deny that the prophet had come through grandly. Undoubtedly, Elijah was simply tired. Elijah may have simply been shocked that suddenly, after all this time of God seemingly taking care of every need, that out of the blue this woman Jezebel wanted to kill him. Maybe that was a shock to the prophet.
All of that notwithstanding, it does seem Elijah did something that we should all be careful of; he seemed to have become quite fixated on himself. Not to be overly harsh, but maybe Elijah got a bit full of just how he fit into God’s plan. He was quick to remind God of all that he had done, and just as quick to remind God about the failure of others. He even seemed to think he was the sole remaining faithful person in God’s service.
Friends, serving our Lord can be a lonely place, especially if one takes a position that is not popular. It is not unusual for those doing brave service for God to feel isolated and even abandoned. God is going to teach Elijah a lesson, and it’s a lesson for all of us to use. Stay tuned.
June 6, 2019 at 10:25
Reblogged this on Broken Pieces and commented:
Elijah, though the man of God he was was still weak in the flesh. A battle we all must fight daily. Thanks again bro. Wally.
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June 6, 2019 at 14:19
And thanks again for sharing bro Tim!
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June 6, 2019 at 11:08
Thanks for another good Elijah post, Wally. Sometimes in our Christian walk we feel like abject failures and then we remember, Oh, yeah, Jesus died on the cross for me because I’m far from perfect, even after accepting Him as Savior. We praise Him for His abundant grace!
RE: It is not unusual for those doing brave service for God to feel isolated and even abandoned.
Yup, it’s sometimes hard to do amidst the circumstances, but we must strive to be God-pleasers rather than self or men-pleasers.
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June 6, 2019 at 14:20
Tom, thanks. I always appreciate you sharing the Gospel in your replies
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June 6, 2019 at 14:38
Thanks, brother, and I appreciate your many posts that always bring it back to salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.
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June 6, 2019 at 19:19
OK. Many pastors and teachers of the truth feel that way in churches today. The people of today, play the blame game too often. Ty.
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June 6, 2019 at 21:10
Thank you. Yes, truth will get you in trouble sometimes
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June 7, 2019 at 00:37
I found this to be very true: “Friends, serving our Lord can be a lonely place, especially if one takes a position that is not popular.”
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June 7, 2019 at 01:10
It’s a fact. And then Satan strikes
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June 7, 2019 at 01:16
Scary but often He does
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