1 Kings 19:9-18--The LORD Speaks to Elijah

1 Kings 19:9-18
English Standard Version
​
The LORD Speaks to Elijah
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

---

Last time we saw Elijah fleeing from Jezebel and an angel from the LORD proving miraculous provision for him along the way.  Now Elijah reaches his destination--Horeb, the Mountain of the LORD, and the word of the LORD (that's Jesus in the Old Testament--see John 1:1) came to Elijah and said to Him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  The LORD knows the answer to this question of course, but is asking it to make Elijah examine himself and ask, "Why am I afraid?" and "Why am I running?."

Elijah doesn't exactly answer the question, or maybe he answers it as best he knows how.  He answers by relating to the LORD the recent events that have transpired, but instead of making the LORD the central character in the story, Elijah puts himself front and center.  He was very zealous for the LORD and the people were so far gone that he was the only one left who served the LORD (not true), and now "they" seek his life ("they" in this case is Queen Jezebel and all those who follow here, but it's certainly not what all the people want, for they just put all the prophets of Baal to death and praised the LORD together saying "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God."

The LORD then gives Elijah his own display of His power greater than that which was seen by the people on Mount Carmel--apparently that wasn't enough for Elijah to get the message that anyone that tried to mess with Elijah was going to have to deal with the LORD.  The LORD tells Elijah to go out on the mountain and stand before Him.  The LORD passed by and there was a great wind that was so strong that the mountain shook and broke into pieces, but the LORD's answer was not in the wind.  Then after the wind came a great earthquake, but the LORD's answer was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD's answer was not in the fire.  After all this came the sound of low whisper and Elijah hid his face from the LORD, for He knew the voice of the LORD and that he could not look directly on the LORD's holiness.  The LORD repeated the question He had originally asked and Elijah had never really answered, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  Elijah doesn't seem to have gotten the message that the LORD is powerful enough to take care of him and he repeats the same (probably rehearsed) story word for word for the LORD as second time.

The LORD wasn't any more impressed by Elijah's pity party the second time than the first time, so to get Elijah to get the idea that he needed to go back, He gives Elijah direction and a mission.  Elijah is to return on his way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when he arrives in Syria (Israel's neighbor to the north), he is to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.  He is also to annoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel (Ahab isn't going to like that) and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah will be anointed as a prophet in Elijah's place.  That's a hard message to hear from the LORD--go anoint the one that is going to take your place.

The LORD is going to use Syria to judge the wicked, and whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael will be put to death by Jehu, and if anyone escapes from Jehu, they will not escape from Elisha.  The LORD has a plan to take care of all of His enemies no matter how numerous and Elijah is not alone in this battle, and the LORD has already made it His mission to replace Ahab and Jezebel with another king.  Then the LORD tells Elijah that there are at least 7,000 men in Israel who have never bowed their knee to Baal and that the LORD would save them because they are not guilty of the idolatry that has so angered the LORD.  Elijah was never alone--that was just the story he kept telling himself until he believed it.  We too lose the big picture many times and focus on ourselves and our circumstances and it seems like everything is crashing in around us and we know we can't handle things on our own (we were never meant to), like we're in it all by ourselves (we never were), and that we might as well just give up or run away because everyone and everything is out to get us (the world is usually out to get us for sure, but the LORD is faithful to protect His people either by protecting them from death or using what we call death to take them from this world to the place of eternal blessing and take them out of the reach of those who could threaten to do them physical harm.  Not even death can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord).