Elijah—a Time To Flee, To Learn, And To Return Series

One of the saddest things here is that he is re-tracing the steps of Israel, instead of heading into the Promised Land, back to Mount Horeb (close to, if not identical, with Mount Sinai). The LORD had wanted Israel—ALL Israel—to be united in one faith and one law, showing the rest of the world how great the God of Israel truly was. To say the least, Israel fell way short of that many times over. Instead of moving forward in victory, they wandered in the wilderness of, mostly, what seems to be the Sinai Peninsula and, folks, to be honest, the pictures I’ve seen of that area give me no reason to ever want to spend 40 minutes there, let alone 40 years! But sin not only brings forth death, as James would later write; sin also brings waste. For Israel, they wasted 40 years due to the sin of unbelief (see Numbers 13-14 for the whole story).

But even though Elijah had run for dear life, and was probably exhausted to the point of near death, the LORD had mercy and compassion on him. Just as He had provided for Elijah with the brook and the ravens, so the very Angel of the LORD came down to assist him. First, the Angel of the LORD touched Elijah and woke him up! The first thing the Angel said was “arise and eat” as Elijah was probably too afraid of Jezebel to stop for either food or water. Elijah saw a cake or, maybe, a piece of bread baked on coals and a “cruse” or pitcher of water.

Doesn’t that remind us of a prior incident? Elijah had told the widow of Zarephath that if she would make him a “little cake” and give him some water at the first, then the God of Israel would provide—and He did indeed! Now, this may be a gentle reminder that just as God was with Elijah at Zarephath, He would be with Elijah here in the wilderness, too, with the very same things he had requested before. It’s amazing how the LORD provides!

Elijah was still very tired indeed because he promptly “laid him down again” which to me means he once again fell into a very deep sleep. Of course there’s nothing wrong with getting adequate rest—the body needs it, and for proof, we don’t need to look any farther than our Lord Jesus Himself. True, there were times He spent all night in prayer but on at least a few different occasions, He was so tired He fell asleep in a boat while crossing the Sea of Galilee!

The Angel of the LORD touched Elijah the second time, telling him to once again “arise and eat” but this time the Angel added some very pointed, direct, words: “The journey is too great for you.” Someone once observed that the more one attempts, the less one achieves, and there is no glory in being constantly exhausted. Elijah needed food, water, and rest, and the Angel of the LORD came to make sure he got all of these. In fact, with the second meal, Elijah was able to go from wherever he was (I’ve never found a listing for “Juniper Tree” in Judah, humorously speaking!) all the way to Mount Horeb.

The Mountain of God.

And Elijah was about to experience something unique to only a few people.

2 A Time to Learn