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.”