~ The LORD is in Our Every Battle ~
AFTER THE DEBACLE of the battle between the prophets of Baal and Asherah and Elijah, Ahab returns to his palace and his queen, Jezebel. “Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.” (1 Kings 19-1) Jezebel very much epitomizes the phrase ‘the power behind the throne.’ Elijah’s vanquishing of the eight hundred fifty prophets that she actively supported is a direct affront and a potentially dynasty-changing event that she takes very seriously; she clearly and correctly views this as a threat to her husband’s, and therefore her own, great powers. “So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.’” (1 Kings 19:2)
The prophet responds in a way that seems odd to us. By the power of the one true God, he had just utterly defeated the prophets of the false gods, but now he is overcome by dread and fear of Jezebel. “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” (1 Kings 19:3) Elijah, who had already been in hiding for three years until the battle of the gods, is worn out, beaten down, and depressed, even praying to simply die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” (1 Kings 19:4b)
An angel of the Lord comes to succor him, not once, but twice, in order to prepare him for a difficult journey of forty days and nights of escape into the desert. At the end of the journey, he enters, exhausted, into a cave high up on a mountain for the night. There, perhaps in a dream, or maybe a waking vision, he hears a voice. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9b) He has been alone for more than a month, and the voice rivets his attention. He hasn’t felt this alive and engaged for all the time he has been running for his life. He knows this voice; it is the voice of God. “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” (1 Kings 19:11a) Elijah does as he is told. First, “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.” (1 Kings 19:11b) Then there was an earthquake, followed by a fire, but the Lord was still in neither of those. But then, “There came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:12b-13)
Elijah descends into a pity-party, and recounts to God all the travails he has suffered, as well as the feckless faithlessness of the people of Israel. He speaks in the voice of one who is overwhelmed and depressed. This is something we have difficulty in understanding after witnessing him call fire down from heaven to defeat the false prophets and their so-called gods. It does not correlate with our picture of his strength and power as he slaughters hundreds of the false prophets with the sword. It doesn’t ring true with the man of faith calling up rain to end the drought, and is jarringly inconsistent with the man of God leading the chariot of the king into the public acclaim rising from their awe of the miraculous power of God. It is the pitiful picture of a man who feels defeated, and who is deflecting criticism and transferring blame to others. “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn 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.” (1 Kings 19:14)
The Lord responds, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18) God’s purposes have been met in Elijah’s supernaturally equipped actions. There are simply things that are beyond Elijah’s vision, God working in ways outside of the prophet’s knowledge or understanding. Elijah’s ministry will soon end, transferred to Elisha. (cf. 1 Kings 19:19-21, 2 Kings 2:13-15a) Ahab and Jezebel will both meet their ignominious ends, with Jezebel in particular being eaten by dogs and her blood licked up off the stones (cf. 2 Kings 9:10). Elijah, despite his human weaknesses, is highly regarded by God, and he will leave this life apparently escaping death, lifted up to heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)
What shall we make of Elijah’s extended story? Perhaps simply this: that God uses whom he will, how he will, and when he will. He does so for his purposes, some of which we do not understand. He does so despite our flaws and weaknesses, supernaturally empowering the somewhat feeble natural endowments of average men and women. We are not called to perfection, but to obedience through faith. Even in our weaknesses, God is able, and even in our emotional and mental lapses, his grace is sufficient.
Q. Is God’s resurrection power working through me, or in spite of me?
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