Bible Men: Ezra

The Great God!

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Neh 8:6 

Who is Like unto Thee O God?

Drop it. God is great.

Shout it. God is great.

Whisper it. God is great.

Who is a God like our God?

“Bless the Lord O my soul”!

“How great art thou!”

And God can’t be any other way but great.

It is a thought that lingers in the head like the ancient perfume.

It is a thought that stirs like a flame of fire in the heart.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 

Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. Son 1:2-4  

I open my Bible and the words arrest me.

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Psa 139:1-6 

Really God? 

“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.” 

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. 

Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 

But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Jer 1:5-7

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. Eze 16:6 

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7 

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. Jer 20:9 

The God Who Stands Above the Whole Earth

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised. 

The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 

Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, 

Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! Psa 113:3-6

For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods. Psa 97:9  

The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. Psa 99:2  

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: Isa 40:15,22 

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Psa 8:3-9

I will Sing!

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 

Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. 

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 

And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. Psa 27:1

O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. 

For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. Psa 47:1-2 

Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power. Psa 21:13  

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 

In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 

The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. Psa 95:1-6

Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 

Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Psa 113:1-2  

Bible Men: Nehemiah: Building More than Walls

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Neh 2:19 

The History of Hate

We are children of wrath.

That’s what God’s word says.

Hate is interwoven in the design of our fall. Cain was a son of Adam, and Cain became the first murderer after he killed his brother Abel.

Cain became wroth (incensed/ full of hate) because God rejected his sacrifice.

God tried to reason with Cain, but Cain chose disobedience. He chose the way of Satan.

It is thus hate became ingrained in the eternal warfare between God and Satan.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Gen 3:15  

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Eph 2:2-3 

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Joh 3:19  

Sin is the garment of humankind. Hate then is easy to understand, for a believer. It is not so for a non-believer, who sees hate in everything which does not measure to his liking. 

But God is the standard of all moral values, which is why we believe him. It is when we deny him, like Cain, that sin becomes our desire.

And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Gen 4:6-7  

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer 17:9  

The Kind of Hate

Incidentally we can’t do without hate. It would be a tragedy. Hate is the other side of love. We go to bed full of love, only to wake in the morning full of hate.

There is a positive hate and a negative one.

The hate of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem ran the gamut of moral history. Their hatred went deep, racking up historical grievances. They may have felt inferior when measured against the God of the Jew, or they may have been storing bitterness at the loss of their land to these outsiders. But now the Jew was in exile, and their roles were reversed.

But then there arose Nehemiah who wanted to improve the social affairs of the Jew (the exile). And it is that which galled the sensibility of Sanballat and his company. “When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel” (Neh 2:10).  

The easiest way to earn the wrath of the world is to try to seek the welfare of the people of God. “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews” (Neh 4:1).  

Someone wants to improve the lot of lowly people. But someone gets vexed. He takes great indignation. He mocks. He threatens. And why? Because a man wants to do good for the people!

And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Neh 4:2 

When it is Easy to Love the Poor

People can change in an instant. It is easy to love someone when he is poor. What is hard is to see their lives change for the better!

They had been friends before. They had loved before. But not now, and the reason was that someone wanted to improve the lot of these people!

I think that is the proof for me of our depraved nature.

On the surface we might be wearing a smile. But underneath a terrible rage might be brewing.

O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 

Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 

Their feet are swift to shed blood: 

Destruction and misery are in their ways: 

And the way of peace have they not known: 

There is no fear of God before their eyes. Rom 3:10-18   

Vain men mock. They revile. Yet that never stops the work of God from being done!

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. Neh 4:3  

So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.  But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. Neh 4:6-9  

Nehemiah’s tools of war were both spiritual and physical. As it is in all OT battles, the people of God took up arms. They won when God was on their side.

And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. 

They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. Neh 4:16-17  

Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Psa 76:10  

When The Saints Go Marching In

Nehemiah had left a palace life to redeem a desolate people and a city, and his selfless act has been fought by haters from all directions to this day.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom 8:35 

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Joh 15:18-19   

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. Amo 5:10  

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 1Jn 5:19  

So now we don’t build walls around our cities, but around our hearts. It’s there that the enemy attacks. We don’t guard it with swords, but by his blood.

Don’t fear him who can kill the body but not the soul…

Bible Men: Nehemiah: Building More than Walls 

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. Neh 1:6 

This is Why We Pray

The one thing which strikes at the heart is the prayerful zeal of Nehemiah.

We read, when he received news from home, how his heart brought heaven down. “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven” (Neh 1:4).

What follows is the pouring of a soul, like a waterfall, when the waters hit the rocks below.

Nehemiah rends his heart. His breadth reduces into a vapour, and you almost catch the sweat dripping from his brow.

And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 

Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:  But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 

Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer. Neh 1:5-11  

Prayer is speaking with God. Prayer is adoration, it is sweeping the drapes aside and focusing the eyes on God.

Prayer is confession, it is going down on one’s knees, eyes cast down, and touching the hem of God.

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Psa 139:1  

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight… Psa 51:1 -4

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Psa 139:7 

Prayer is thanksgiving. It is lifting the palms up, and breaking into a thunderous tumult.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psa 100:1,4  

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Heb 13:15  

Prayer is supplication, it is the opening of the bowl of the heart to God, and allowing the incense to percolate.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.  I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. 

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. Psa 142:1-3 

LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psa 141:1-2 

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 

I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. Psa 61:1-4 

Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Psa 27:9  

Prayer is an ambrosial; it is an anchoring of God into the soul.

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psa 103:1-5 

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. 

While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Psa 146:1-2 

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.  Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.  Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psa 150:1-6 

It is the sort of prayer you want to pray, and pray and pray…

Shall we pray like that tonight? Shall we believe like Nehemiah?

Yet it is not a work which man can do, but only a work which the Spirit of God can do.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Rom 8:26-28  

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Jn 1:8-10  

 

  

Bible Men: Nehemiah: Building More than Walls 

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace. Neh 1:1 

East or West Home is Best!

The name of Nehemiah means “The Lord Comforts.”

The setting of this wonderful book is Shushan the palace. This is also the setting for the story of Esther, and Daniel was carried there in a vision.

Nothing is known of Nehemiah’s childhood, youth or family, except that his father’s name was Hachaliah, and that he had a brother called Hanani.

It is presumed his great-grandparents were taken into captivity when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. He may have been born in Persia in or after Zerubbabel’s ministry in Jerusalem.

His ministry is closely tied with that of Ezra, the “ready scribe in the law of Moses.” The setting of their work is the postexilic era when the faithful Israelites were returning from Babylon to Judah to reestablish their temple worship, which they had neglected before the exile.

There were three returns from Babylon to the land of Israel: the first was led by Zerubbabel in 538 B.C., the second was under Ezra in 458 B.C., and the third was led by Nehemiah in 444 B.C.

Nehemiah was in the position of a cupbearer to the king when he learned of the deplorable state of his people back in Jerusalem. He subsequently got himself appointed governor in Judah with authority and resources to rebuild the city walls.

Nehemiah was a man of singular skill and daring. He first surveyed the walls at night to avoid detection by his adversaries, and then he assembled a labour force and, dividing the walls into sections, he supervised the building until the end, finishing the work in the short time of 52 days.   

The book reads like Nehemiah’s personal diary in its conciseness and brevity.

His work faced intermittent harassment though from three of his fiercest enemies: Sanballat the Horonite (a Samaritan), Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshen the Arab. 

Nehemiah was a deeply pious man, and his oft repeated words during his prayers were “O God, strengthen my hands.”

Drought in a Palace

The immediate thing which strikes one is that Nehemiah lived in a palace, in a far country, and yet his heart reeled with the love of his country and his folk in Jerusalem.

That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. Neh 1:2 -4 

You may wonder why the earlier arrivals from Babylon never saw the ruin that their city was in. But remember it is possible to live in the midst of ruin and not notice it. Poverty, or intense pain, can do that. And love can also do that! The people in Jerusalem were in great distress. Their lives and country were falling apart. And yet they did not see it.

The Covenant Faithfulness of God

God delivered Israel to Babylon, and it was God who delivered them back from Babylon. “If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee” (Deu 30:4).  

God may deliver a man into his exile because of his unbelief, and only God may deliver him out of it again.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Rom 1:24-25 

Love can go to the uttermost to save, and it usually does. Love still believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, because love never fails.

I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Hos 5:15  

For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Lam 3:31-33  

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Psa 119:67  

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. Psa 119:71  

There is no Rest in Babylon

We hated our parents once because they were too severe. But then we grew up, and we learnt that the rod can also mean love. We finished our years “in Babylon”, and, at the mercy of God, the heart returned home where it always belonged.

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? Luk 15:4  

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luk 15:17-20  

Coming Home

Which other bible prophet chose self-exile over a palace life? Moses lived in the palace of the Pharaoh king of Egypt. He might’ve been content, but Moses knew his extraction was of a better kind than that of Egypt.

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Heb 11:24-26  

A guy, the palace is good but it’s not our home. Heaven is!

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst

thereof. 

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 

            How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? Psa 137:1-4   

Bible Men: Elijah: A Man of like Passions as We Are

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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:  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1Ki 19:11-12  

 

The Elijah We Have Known

This is an apt summary to the story of Elijah. He first appeared to us as a quiet, lone man laboring in the LORD’s work.

We met him by the brook Cherith where he drank its waters and the ravens fed him there. We met him next with the widow of Zarephath, whose faith he restored, and her son also who had died. We met him next on his way to meet Ahab again.

And it was at this meeting which led to the showdown at Mt. Carmel where the prophets of Baal were defeated, and God sent down rain.

Ahab was there and saw it. And he went home (even as it began to rain) and told his wife Jezebel, who swore to kill Elijah (“wrath hath no fury”…). It is this incident which plunged Elijah into depression as he ran for his life.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 1Ki 19:2  

God Meets Us in Our Own Wilderness

Elijah ran into the wilderness where God met him next.

And often that is where God meets us too. From here the angel of God fed him, and next sent him into a great journey. It is from here that the LORD spoke next to Elijah.

And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 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. 1Ki 19:8-10 

God Encourages Elijah

And it is from a mountain that God encourages Elijah. Are you discouraged? Go to the mountain.

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1Ki 19:11-12  

The Meaning of a Still Small Voice

From high up on the mountain God comforted Elijah. He usually does not break upon our brokenness in wrath and fury but in mercy. “A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory” (Mat 12:20).  

One also can detect a foreshadowing of the New Covenant in the above verse.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer 31:31-33  

God in Old Testament worked majestic deeds. God in the New Testament often works in “a still small voice.” At Pentecost God’s Spirit was poured upon his disciples as he had promised.

Today we hear him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is come, and behold everything is now new.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Heb 1:1-2  

Hearing God Depends on the Heart

We all hear the still small voice. For some it is a major haunt all their lives. They hear it. They know the source of it. But they shut it down.

And other times we might be mistaken in our hearing and believing like the men on Mars’ Hill.

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. Act 17:22-23  

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Act 17:30 -31 

It is a humbling experience to be struck by the mercy of God. In our new “smallness” we see quite far. God opens our eyes to behold things we didn’t know before.

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jer 33:3  

For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Psa 95:7-9 

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”