1 Kings 19

It encourages me when I read James 5:17, “Elijah was as human as we are” (nlt). I have a tendency to idealize the men and women in Scripture, but the Bible is the “word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) and describes the warts and wrinkles of even the greatest. When James wrote those words, he undoubtedly had 1 Kings 18 and 19 in mind, for in these chapters we see Elijah at his highest and at his lowest. When the psalmist wrote that “every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Ps. 39:5), he included all of us except Jesus. An old adage reminds us, “The best of men are but men at their best,” and Elijah’s history proves how true this is.

However, the outstanding leaders in Scripture, with all their humanness, knew how to find their way out of what John Bunyan called “the slough [swamp] of despond” and get back on track with the Lord. We can learn from their defeats as well as their successes. Furthermore, by studying passages like 1 Kings 19, we’re reminded to give glory to the Master and not to His servants (1 Cor. 1:27–29). We’re also reminded to prepare for what may happen after the victories God gives us. How quickly we can move from the mountaintop of triumph to the valley of testing! We need to humble ourselves before the Lord and get ready for the trials that usually follow the victories.

If Elijah could have described to a counselor how he felt and what he thought, the counselor would have diagnosed his condition as a textbook case of burnout. Elijah was physically exhausted and had lost his appetite. He was depressed about himself and his work and was being controlled more and more by self-pity. “I only am left!” Instead of turning to others for help, he isolated himself and—worst of all—he wanted to die. (Elijah never did die. He was taken to heaven in a chariot. See 2 Kings 2.) The prophet concluded that he had failed in his mission and decided it was time to quit. But the Lord didn’t see it that way. He always looks beyond our changing moods and impetuous prayers, and He pities us the way parents pity their discouraged children (Ps. 103:13–14). The chapter shows us how tenderly and patiently God deals with us when we’re in the depths of despair and feel like giving up.

The chapter begins with Elijah running away and trying to save himself. Then the prophet argues with the Lord and tries to defend himself. Finally, he obeys the Lord and yields himself and is restored to service. In all of this, Elijah was responding to four different messages.

When the torrential rain began to fall, Jezebel was in Jezreel and may have thought that Baal the storm god had triumphed on Mount Carmel. However, when Ahab arrived home, he told her a much different story. Ahab was a weak man, but he should have stood with Elijah and honored the Lord who had so dramatically demonstrated His power. But Ahab had to live with Queen Jezebel and without her support, he knew he was nothing. If ever there was a strong-willed ruler with a gift for doing evil, it was Jezebel. Neither Ahab nor Jezebel accepted the clear evidence given on Mount Carmel that Jehovah was the only true and living God. Instead of repenting and calling the nation back to serving the Lord, Jezebel declared war on Jehovah and His faithful servant Elijah, and Ahab allowed her to do it.

Why did Jezebel send a letter to Elijah when she could have sent soldiers and had him killed? He was in Jezreel and the deed could have been easily accomplished on such a wild and stormy night. Jezebel wasn’t only an evil woman; she was also a shrewd strategist who knew how to make the most of Baal’s defeat on Mount Carmel. Ahab was a quitter, but not his wife! Elijah was now a very popular man. Like Moses, he had brought fire from heaven, and like Moses, he had slain the idolaters (Lev. 9:24; Num. 25). If Jezebel transformed the prophet into a martyr, he might influence people more by his death than by his life. No, the people were waiting for Elijah to tell them what to do, so why not remove him from the scene of his victory? If Elijah disappeared, the people would wonder what had happened, and they would be prone to drift back into worshipping Baal and letting Ahab and Jezebel have their way. Furthermore, whether from Baal or Jehovah, the rains had returned and there was work to do!

Jezebel may have suspected that Elijah was a candidate for a physical and emotional breakdown after his demanding day on Mount Carmel, and she was right. He was as human as we are, and as the ancient church fathers used to say to their disciples, “Beware of human reactions after holy exertions.” Her letter achieved its purpose and Elijah fled from Jezreel. In a moment of fear, when he forgot all that God had done for him the previous three years, Elijah took his servant, left Israel, and headed for Beersheba, the southernmost city in Judah. Charles Spurgeon said that Elijah “retreated before a beaten enemy.” God had answered his prayer (18:36–37), and God’s hand had been upon him in the storm (18:46), but now he was walking by sight and not by faith. (See Ps. 16:7–8.)

For three years, Elijah had not made a move without hearing and obeying the Lord’s instructions (17:2–3, 8–9; 18:1), but now he was running ahead of the Lord in order to save his own life. When God’s servants get out of God’s will, they’re liable to do all sorts of foolish things and fail in their strongest points. When Abraham fled to Egypt, he failed in his faith, which was his greatest strength (Gen. 12:10ff.). David’s greatest strength was his integrity, and that’s where he failed when he started lying and scheming during the Bathsheba episode (2 Sam. 11—12). Moses was the meekest of men (Num. 12:3), yet he lost his temper and forfeited the privilege of entering the Promised Land (Num. 20:1–13). Peter was a courageous man, yet his courage failed and he denied Christ (Mark 14:66–72). Like Peter, Elijah was a bold man, but his courage failed when he heard Jezebel’s message.

But why flee to Judah, especially when Jehoram, king of Judah, was married to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah (2 Kings 8:16–19; 2 Chron. 21:4–7). This is the infamous Athaliah who later ruled the land and tried to exterminate all of David’s heirs to the throne (2 Kings 11). The safest place for any child of God is the place dictated by the will of God, but Elijah didn’t stop to seek God’s will. He traveled 90 to 100 miles to Beersheba and left his servant there. Did he say, “Stay here until I return?” or did he just set the man free for his own safety. If the enemy came after Elijah, his servant would be safer someplace else. Furthermore, if the servant didn’t know where Elijah was, he couldn’t inform against him.

Beersheba had a special meaning to the Jews because of its associations with Abraham (Gen. 21:22, 33), Isaac (26:33), and Jacob (46:1). The “juniper tree” is actually a flowering shrub (“the flowering broom tree”) that flourishes in the wilderness and provides shade for flocks and herds and travelers. The branches are thin and supple like those of the willow and are used to bind bundles. (The Hebrew word for this shrub means “to bind.”) The roots of the plant are used for fuel and make excellent charcoal (Ps. 120:4). As Elijah sat under its shade, he did a wise thing—he prayed, but he didn’t pray a very wise prayer. “I’ve had enough!” he told the Lord, “so take my life.” Then he gave his reason: “I’m no better than my fathers.” But God never asked him to be better than anybody else, but only to hear His Word and obey it.

The combination of emotional burnout, weariness, hunger, and a deep sense of failure, plus lack of faith in the Lord, had brought Elijah into deep depression. But there was also an element of pride involved, and some self-pity, for Elijah was sure that his courageous ministry on Mount Carmel would bring the nation to its knees. Perhaps he was also hoping that Ahab and Jezebel would repent and turn from Baal to Jehovah. His expectations weren’t fulfilled, so he considered himself a failure. But the Lord rarely allows His servants to see all the good they have done, because we walk by faith and not by sight, and Elijah would learn that there were 7,000 people in Israel who had not bowed to Baal and worshipped him. No doubt his own ministry had influenced many of them.

When the heart is heavy and the mind and body are weary, sometimes the best remedy is sleep—just take a nap! Referring to Mark 6:31, Vance Havner used to say that if we didn’t come apart and rest, we’d come apart—and Elijah was about to come apart. Nothing seems right when you’re exhausted.

But while the prophet was asleep, the Lord sent an angel to care for his needs. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word translated “angel” also means “messenger,” so some have concluded that this helpful visitor was another traveler whom the Lord brought to Elijah’s side just at the right time. However, in verse 7, the visitor is called “the angel of the Lord,” an Old Testament title for the second person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In passages like Genesis 16:10, Exodus 3:1–4, and Judges 2:1–4, the angel of the Lord speaks and acts as God would speak and act. In fact the angel of the Lord in Exodus 3: is called “God” and “the Lord” in the rest of the chapter. We assume that this helpful visitor was our Lord Jesus Christ.

Elijah and the apostle Peter were both awakened by angels (Acts 12:7), Elijah to get some nourishment and Peter to walk out a free man. The angel had prepared a simple but adequate meal of fresh bread and refreshing water, and the prophet partook of both and lay down again to sleep. (Jesus prepared a breakfast of bread and fish for Peter and six other of His disciples; John 21:9, 13.) We aren’t told how long the Lord permitted Elijah to sleep before He awakened him the second time and told him to eat. The Lord knew that Elijah planned to visit Mount Sinai, one of the most sacred places in all Jewish history, and Sinai was located about 250 miles from Beersheba, and he needed strength for the journey. But no matter what our destination may be, the journey is too great for us and we need God’s strength to reach the goal. How gracious God was to spread a “table in the wilderness” for His discouraged servant (Ps. 78:19, and see Ps. 23:5). Elijah obeyed the messenger of God and was able to travel for forty days and nights on the nourishment from those two meals.

When you review God’s ministries to Elijah as recorded in 1 Kings 18 and 19, you see a parallel to the promise in Isaiah 40:31. For three years, the prophet had been hidden by God, during which time he “waited on the Lord.” When the Lord sent him to Mount Carmel, He enabled Elijah to “mount up with wings as eagles” and triumph over the prophets of Baal. After Elijah prayed and it began to rain, the Lord strengthened him to “run and not be weary” (18:46), and now He sustained him for forty days so he could “walk and not faint” (19:8). Elijah wasn’t wholly living in the will of God, but he was smart enough to know that he had to wait on the Lord if he expected to have strength for the ministry and for the journey that lay before him.

God’s angels are His special ambassadors, sent to minister to His people (Heb. 1:14; Ps. 91:11). An angel rescued Daniel from being devoured by lions (Dan. 6:22), and angels attended Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness (Mark 1:12–13). An angel strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43) and encouraged Paul on board ship in the storm (Acts 27:23). The angels in heaven rejoice when a sinner is converted (Luke 15:7, 10). When we arrive in heaven and God privileges us to review our earthly walk, we will no doubt discover that strangers who helped us in different ways were actually the angels of God, sent by the Lord to assist and protect us.

It was about 200 miles from Beersheba to Sinai, a journey of perhaps ten days to two weeks. It had been three weeks at the most since Elijah fled from Jezreel, but the trip expanded to consume forty days (19:8)! If Elijah was in such a hurry to put miles between himself and Jezebel’s executioners, why did he take such a long time to do it? Perhaps the Lord directed his steps (Ps. 37:23)—and his stops—so that he would spend one day for every year the Israelites had been in the wilderness after they were delivered from Egypt. It was Israel’s unbelief and fear at Kadesh Barnea that led to their judgment (Num. 13–14), and it was Elijah’s unbelief and fear that led to his journeying in the desert. (Our Lord also spent forty days in the wilderness when He was tempted; Matt. 4:2.) Since he was heading for Sinai, Elijah may have planned the trip so he could spend forty days in the wilderness to imitate Moses who spent forty days on the mount with the Lord (Ex. 34:28). Elijah had to deal with Baal worship, and Moses had to deal with the worship of the golden calf (Ex. 32).

Elijah made the cave his home and waited upon the Lord. In contemporary religious language, he was “making a retreat” in order to solve some problems and get closer to the Lord. He was so depressed that he was willing to give up his calling and even his life. When the Lord finally came and spoke to Elijah, it wasn’t to rebuke him or instruct him but to ask him a question: “What are you doing here?” The prophet’s reply didn’t really answer the question, which explains why God asked it a second time (v. 13). Elijah only told the Lord (who already knew) that he had experienced many trials in his ministry, but he had been faithful to the Lord. But if he was a faithful servant, what was he doing hiding in a cave located hundreds of miles from his appointed place of ministry?

In this reply, Elijah reveals both pride and self-pity, and in using the pronoun “they,” he exaggerates the size of the opposition. He makes it look as though every last Jew in the northern kingdom had turned against him and the Lord, when actually it was Jezebel who wanted to kill him. The “I only am left” refrain makes it look as though he was indispensable to God’s work, when actually no servant of God is indispensable. God then commanded him to stand on the mount at the entrance of the cave, but it doesn’t appear that Elijah obeyed him until he heard the still, small voice (v. 13). Another possibility is that he did go out of the cave but fled back into it when God began to demonstrate His great power.

“The Lord passed by” reminds us of the experience of Moses on the mount (Ex. 33:21–22). All Elijah needed to get renewed for service was a fresh vision of the power and glory of God. First, the Lord caused a great wind to pass by, a wind so strong that it broke the rocks and tore the mountain, but no divine message came to the prophet. Then the Lord caused a great earthquake that shook the mount, but nothing from God came out of the earthquake. The Lord then brought a fire, but it, too, gave Elijah no message from the Lord. Certainly the prophet must have thought of the giving of the law as he witnessed this dramatic display of power (Ex. 19:16–18).

What was God trying to accomplish in Elijah’s life by means of these awesome and frightening object lessons? For one thing, He was reminding His servant that everything in nature was obedient to Him (Ps. 148)—the wind, the foundations of the earth, the fire—and He didn’t lack for a variety of tools to get His work done. If Elijah wanted to resign from his divine calling, the Lord had someone else to take his place. As it turned out, Elijah didn’t resign but was given the privilege of calling his successor, Elisha, and spending time with him before being taken to heaven.

The wind, the earthquake, and the fire are all means that the Lord has used to manifest Himself to mankind. Theolo-gians call these demonstrations “theophanies,” from two Greek words (theos = God; phaino = to manifest, to appear) that together mean “the manifestation of God.” The pagan nations saw these great sights and worshipped the powers of nature, but when the Jews saw them, they worshipped the God who created nature. (See Judg. 5:4–5, Ps. 18:16–18 and Hab. 3.) But these same demonstrations of the awesome presence and power of God will be seen in the last days before Jesus returns to earth to establish His kingdom. The Old Testament prophets called this period “the day of the Lord.” (See Joel 2:28—3:16, Isa. 13:9–10, Matt. 24:29, and Rev. 6—16.) Perhaps the Lord was saying to Elijah, “You feel like you’ve failed to judge the sin in Israel, but one day I will judge it and My judgment is final and complete.”

After this dramatic display of power, there was “a still, small voice,” which has also been translated “a gentle whisper, a tone of a gentle blowing.” When the prophet heard that voice, he stepped out of the cave and met the Lord. The mighty power and the great noise of the previous exhibitions didn’t stir Elijah, but when he heard the still, small voice, he recognized the voice of God. For the second time (see Jonah 3:1), he heard the same question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” and once again, Elijah repeated the same selfcentered evasive answer.

God was saying to Elijah, “You called fire from heaven, you had the prophets of Baal slain, and you prayed down a terrific rainstorm, but now you feel like a failure. But you must realize that I don’t usually work in a manner that’s loud, impressive, and dramatic. My still, small voice brings the Word to the listening ear and heart. Yes, there’s a time and place for the wind, the earthquake and the fire, but most of the time, I speak to people in tones of gentle love and quiet persuasion.” The Lord wasn’t condemning the courageous ministry of His servant; He was only reminding Elijah that He uses many different tools to accomplish His work. God’s Word comes down like the gentle shower that refreshes, cleanses, and produces life (Deut. 32:2; Isa. 55:10).

In this day of mammoth meetings, loud music, and high-pressure promotion, it’s difficult for some people to understand that God rarely works by means of the dramatic and the colossal. When He wanted to start the Jewish nation, He sent a baby—Isaac, and when He wanted to deliver that nation from bondage, He sent another baby—Moses. He sent a teenager named David to kill the Philistine giant, and the boy used a sling and a stone to do it. When God wanted to save a world, He sent His Son as a weak and helpless baby; and today, God seeks to reach that world through the ministry of “earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7). Dr. J. Oswald Sanders states that “the whispers from Calvary are infinitely more potent than the thunder of Sinai in bringing men to repentance.”

Elijah had nothing new to say to the Lord, but the Lord had a new message of hope for His frustrated servant. The Lord had many reasons for rejecting His servant and leaving him to die in the cave, but He didn’t take that approach. “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.… For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:10, 14 nkjv).

First, the Lord told Elijah to return to the place of duty. When we’re out of the Lord’s will, we have to retrace our steps and make a new beginning (Gen. 13:3; 35:1–3). The honest answer to the question “What are you doing here, Elijah?” was “Nothing! I’m having a personal pity party!” But Elijah was called to serve, and there were tasks to perform. When Joshua was brokenhearted because of Israel’s defeat at Ai, he spent a day on his face before God, but God’s answer was, “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?” (Josh. 7: nkjv). When Samuel mourned over the failure of Saul, God rebuked him. “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go” (1 Sam. 16: nkjv), and Samuel went and anointed David to be the next king. No matter how much or how often His servants fail Him, God is never at a loss to know what to do. Our job is to obey His Word and get up and do it!

Elijah’s first responsibility was to anoint Hazael to be king of Syria. This was a Gentile nation, but it was still the Lord who chose the leaders. “[The] Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses” (Dan. 4: nkjv). Then he was to anoint Jehu to be king of Israel, for even though the nation had divided, Israel was still under the divine covenant and was responsible to the Lord. His third task was to anoint Elisha to be his own successor. Elijah had complained because the past generation had failed and the present generation hadn’t done any better (v. 4). Now God called him to help equip the future generation by anointing two kings and a prophet. This is the Old Testament version of 2 Timothy 2:2.

The people the Lord named weren’t especially significant in the social structure of that day. Hazael was a servant to King Bed-hadad, Jehu was a captain of the army, and Elisha was a farmer. But by the time Elisha and Jehu completed their work, Baal worship was almost wiped out in Israel (2 Kings 10:18–31). No one generation can do everything, but each generation must see to it that people in the next generation are called and trained and that the tools are made available for them to continue the work of the Lord. God was calling Elijah to stop weeping over the past and running away from the present. It was time for him to start preparing others for the future. When God is in command, there is always hope.

But the Lord did more than send His servant out to recruit new workers. He also gave him the assurance that his work and their work would not be in vain. God would use the swords of Hazael and Jehu, and the words and works of Elisha, to accomplish His purposes in the land. Even more, He assured Elijah that his own ministry hadn’t been a failure, for there were still 7,000 people in the land who were faithful to Jehovah. Indeed, the prophet was not alone, yet God sent him to touch the lives of three individuals. The Lord didn’t command Elijah to gather all 7,000 faithful people together in a mass meeting and preach a sermon. There’s certainly a place for sermons and large meetings, but we must never underestimate the importance of working with individuals. Jesus spoke to huge crowds, but He always had time for individuals and their needs.

The phrase “I have left” in verse 18 (kjv) means “I have reserved for myself.” This is “the remnant according to the election of grace” that Paul wrote about in Romans 11:1–6. No matter how wicked the world scene may appear, God always has a remnant that is faithful to Him. Sometimes that remnant is small, but God is always great and accomplishes His purposes.

Without delay, Elijah retraced his steps and returned to the place of duty. It was 150 miles from Sinai to Abel Meholah (v. 16) where he would find Elisha plowing a field. Elisha’s name means “God has salvation.” The fact that Elisha was using twelve yoke of oxen—twenty-four expensive animals—indicates that his family was probably better off financially than most Israelites. Elijah didn’t say a word to the young man but merely cast his mantle (outer garment) over him to indicate that the Lord had called him to serve the prophet and then be his successor. Elisha and his family were part of that “remnant of grace” that God had set apart for Himself. No matter how bleak the days may seem, God has His people and knows when to call them.

Elisha’s conduct seems to contradict what Jesus said in Luke 9:57–62, but this is not so. Elisha was wholehearted in his obedience to follow after Elijah, while the men in the gospel record had hesitations and reservations, and Jesus knew it. Elisha proved his commitment by killing two of the oxen and using the wooden farm implements as fuel to cook them for a farewell feast. In contemporary terms, he was “burning his bridges behind him.” He had no intention of taking his hand off the plow and then going back to it. Elijah’s reply means, “What have I done? I didn’t call you, the Lord did. Am I stopping you? Do as the Lord wants you to do.” The New Living Translation reads, “Go on back! But consider what I have done to you.” How Elisha’s family and friends viewed this sudden change of vocation isn’t shared with us, but there’s no indication they were opposed to Elisha’s decision.

As you review the chapter, you can see the mistakes that Elijah made and how the Lord overruled them and accomplished His will. Elijah walked by sight and not by faith, yet the Lord sustained him. He looked at himself and his failures instead of at God’s greatness and power. He was more concerned about doing more than his ancestors had done in the past instead of calling and preparing new servants for the future. He isolated himself from God’s people and thereby lost the strength and encouragement of their fellowship and prayers. But let’s not be too hard on Elijah, for he did have a sensitive ear to the still, small voice of the Lord, and he did obey what God told him to do. The Lord rebuked him gently and brought him out of his cave and back into active service. Let’s keep these things in mind and recall them the next time we’re under our juniper tree or in our cave!

Finally, let’s be among those who look to the future and seek to enlist others to serve the Lord. To glamorize or criticize the past accomplishes little; what’s important is that we do our job in the present and equip others to continue it after we’re gone. God buried His workers, but His work goes right on.