1 Kings 19:1-8--Elijah Flees Jezebel

1 Kings 19:1-8
English Standard Version

Elijah Flees Jezebel
19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

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We see now in chapter 19 something that we may have suspected before--it is really Jezebel who is in charge, and Ahab though the heir to the throne in a line of succession of evil kings is not the one making the decisions here.  Ahab goes back and reports to Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets of Baal with the sword (not 100% accurate as the people of Israel did this, but Ahab saw Elijah as their leader who was responsible for their actions).  Apparently they knew exactly where Elijah was and sent a messenger to him with this message from Queen Jezebel, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them [the prophets of Baal that were killed by the sword] by this time tomorrow."  This threat should have carried no weight to Elijah because the LORD had just proved to Elijah and all the people that the gods that Jezebel is swearing by are impotent.

However, Elijah believes Jezebel's threats more than he believes in the LORD's power to save and deliver him.  Remember what Obadiah said recently?  Obadiah knew that if the Spirit of the LORD wanted to protect Elijah, He could simply spirit Elijah away somewhere else to protect him.  There was no need for Elijah to run.  Have you read the book of Joshua and Judges where large armies were defeated by the LORD with the people of God needing to do practically nothing other than declare victory?  That being said, Elijah reacts in fear like most of us would for Jezebel was a scary person and the LORD had already allowed her to put many of His prophets to the sword.

Elijah runs towards the Mountain of God (called Mount Horeb or Mount Sinai), the same mountain where Moses saw the burning bush and where Moses received the Law, but this is a long distance away from where he's at in Israel and must travel a great distance through the wilderness that he is not prepared for.  He runs as fast as he can for as long as he can, and when he can run no longer, he sat down under a broom tree and asked that the LORD would just allow him to die there (I'm sure he imagined that chariots that were faster than him were chasing him and would catch up to him at any moment).

Instead of allowing him to die as he requested, the LORD allowed him to sleep, and an angel came down and prepared some food for him and then woke him so that he could have something to eat and drink to get his strength back, for it was going to be a long journey as I mentioned before.  With the angel there, Elijah felt safe to go back to sleep and the angel let him sleep but prepared another meal for him and after he ate and drank the second time, he was able to make his way through the wilderness on a forty day journey to the Horeb, the mountain of God (Mount Sinai).  We'll talk about what happens when he gets there next time.