Title: How To Behave In A Cave – 8
“Elijah’s Cave”
Text: I Kings 19:1-9
Some things can attack you and push you so far into a cave that you can’t even see the impact of your life anymore. You don’t feel like your doing much of anything. So often we cannot see beyond our present circumstances, so we get discouraged, thinking we are not being as effective as we would like to be. This was the case for the third caveman of the Bible, Elijah. Some of us are in the same predicament that Elijah started out as. But if we could just take a look in the spiritual realm, we would see that we are doing more then we think we are. In our text, Elijah is in a tough spot.
I. FROM THE TREE OF DESPAIR TO THE CAVE OF DEPRESSION
When we read about Elijah in I Kings 19, we see that he was at a very low point in his life. He was so depressed that he wanted to die. Jezebel had just sent word to him that she was going to kill him, so he was running for his life. Sounds quite similar to our other cavemen, David and Jonathan.
The Bible says he fled into the wilderness, sat under a juniper tree and said in despair in I Kings 19:4: “It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” If Elijah really wanted to die, he could have just stuck around that tree for a while, because Jezebel would have taken care of that. But an angel of the Lord came to Elijah and ministered to him until he was strong enough to go up to Mount Horeb. It is important to know where Mount Horeb was:
Exodus 3:4-5; “And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
Deuteronomy 5:2-4; “The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,”
Mount Horeb is the place where God spoke to Moses and changed his life forever. Mount Horeb is the place where God came down and talked with the children of Israel and made a covenant with them. This is very significant in understanding what Elijah was doing. When Elijah was in the deepest despair of his life and at the lowest point, he ran to Mount Horeb because he wanted to get back to the place where God spoke to his people. This is where he was heading, but we find that he got sidetracked again.
I Kings 19:9; “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?”
Elijah hides out in a cave. He answers the Lord with the following words:
I Kings 19:10; “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.”
Elijah was actually saying, “Here I am, Lord, the only one serving You out of the entire country of Israel, it is only me. There is nobody else left but me and now they are all trying to kill me.” Elijah is pouring his heart out to God. He is in such a deep depression at this point in his life. He thinks he is the only one serving God and now they want to destroy him. Later on in verse 18 we find that God told him He had 7,000 who hasn’t bowed their knee to Baal. So even though it looked like Elijah was all by himself, there were plenty others with him.
Even though Elijah was at this low point of despair, God still had a plan for his life and we are going to find that once Elijah makes a choice to come out of this cave of depression that the latter part of Elijah’s life was greater then the former. Elijah just couldn’t see what God had in store for him.
When you are in the cave of depression, it blinds you to the truth and gives you a distorted view of life. That is the kind of view that Elijah had that day. There are some here that are in the cave of depression. You wonder how God will ever use you. You wonder if He has forgotten about you. You wonder if you are the only one feeling this way and if God even cares anymore. After this message is done, I want each of us to leave this house with the reassurance that God has not forgotten about you and God cares about you more then you could ever imagine.
Elijah was blinded by depression. He goes from the tree of despair to the cave of depression. When he enters that cave of depression and tells the Lord why He is there, God then gives him instructions as to what to do.
II. GOD GIVES ELIJAH WORDS OF HOPE
Listen to what the Lord tells Elijah now and what happens:
I Kings 19:11-13; “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: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?”
The Lord told Elijah to take that step and come out of the cave and when Elijah was obedient to come out of that cave, even though the circumstance did not change, the Lord began to give Elijah words of hope. God restored Elijah and strengthened him that day. The Bible says that as Elijah came out of his cave, he just stood for a while in the presence of God, his face wrapped in his mantle. He becomes overwhelmed with his loving heavenly Father. After Elijah hears the still small voice, the Lord then continues and gives him something to do.
I Kings 19:15; “And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:”
This is just the beginning of the things that the Lord had in store for Elijah. No matter how far you run or where you hide, God always knows how to get to your heart. He always knows how to speak words that lift you up. If you are here and you are looking for words from the Lord, you need strength to make it through. The Lord wants to give you words of comfort and strength from His Word.
Jeremiah 29:11-14; “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity.”
Philippians 4:6-7; “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
John 16:33; “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Isaiah 26:3-4; “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:”
John 14:27; “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The Lord is trying to speak peace in your life tonight through His still, small voice. It was when Elijah started hearing the Lord speak to Him that he started taking steps to come out of that cave. You may be in the midst of your cave still tonight, but God wants to give you words of hope. He wants you to know that He is not through with you yet. You may have been so blinded by the distractions of the enemy that you don’t even know which step to take next or where to go. But He wants to restore your strength and He is sending your Pastor to you tonight to encourage your heart and tell you, you are to close to give up now. Jesus is not done with you yet; He has a plan for your life. Elijah went from the tree of despair to the cave of depression; some of you have made that same journey. Then God comes down and gives him words of hope just like He has given you and tells him:
III. YOU STILL HAVE WORK TO DO
Even though Elijah ran and hid in a cave, God still had great things for him to do. He had a plan for Elijah’s life. Elijah went on after his cave experience to do amazing things. Lets just do a little review of all the things that Elijah did after coming out of his cave. He came out of that cave in Mount Horeb and:
I Kings 19:19 – He went and laid his mantle on Elisha, anointing him for ministry.
I Kings 21:17-26; II Kings 1:4 – He went back in Ahab’s face and rebuked him; then he prophesied to him about the death of Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, and son, Ahaziah.
II Kings 1:9-12 – He called down fire from heaven on 100 of Ahaziah’s soldiers and 2 of his captains.
II Kings 2:8 – Right before he was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, he
divided the river Jordan with his mantle.
II Kings 2:9-15 – Elisha receives a double portion of Elijah’s anointing.
Do you want to know how powerful the double portion of anointing on Elisha’s life was?
II Kings 13:20-21; ΒΆ “And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”
Elisha still had such an anointing on him even after he was dead that a dead man couldn’t even touch him without raising from the dead. Amazing! God is so awesome. You are coming out of your cave tonight.
God used Elijah in such a powerful way after Elijah heard the words of hope from God and came out of his cave. You are coming out of your cave tonight. You may have given up on yourself, but I want you to know that God hasn’t given up on you. He still has something for you to do, but the only way you can do what God has planned for you is to come out of your cave. This is why you cannot stay in this cave; God is not through with you yet. He wants to use you.
I want to encourage you with the words to this song:
“Your latter will be greater then your past. You will be blessed much more then you could ask. Despite all that has been done, the best is yet to come. Your latter will be greater, your latter will greater, your latter will be greater then your past.”
I want to encourage you to come to this altar and set in the presence of God for a while just like Elijah did when he heard the words of hope. The Word has given you hope tonight, now it is time to come and meditate on those promises and soak in the presence of the Lord and start making your steps tonight to come out of that cave for good. It is a choice that you have to make.
