God’s gentle whisper - 1 Kings 19:1-18
Prayer and welcome
Ask people what they know about Elijah the prophet (five to six answer).
• King Ahab, influence by his foreign wife Jezebel, has lead Israel into idolatry. Just before this scene, the power of God came upon Elijah in amazing ways.
• A contest with the prophets of Baal, Elijah demonstrated the Lord’s superiority over Baal, resulting on the execution of the false prophets
• After a long drought God send rain in response to Elijah’s prayer
• The Lord empowered Elijah to outrun Ahab’s chariots
Read - 1 Kings 19:1-18
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 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.”
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “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.”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
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. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 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?” 14 He replied, “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.” 15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
What impresses you the most about this story? (Let people respond)
A) We see four sources of despair in Elijah’s life.
He was depleted by victory
• Elijah was really pumped up after the amazing victory on Mount Carmel.
He was on a spiritual high and maybe thought that since all the false prophets were put to death that Jezebel would be next.
• The most vulnerable point in our life is right after we’ve experienced a mighty victory.
He was disconcerted by fear (Verse 2-3a)
• Instead of being impressed with Elijah, Jezebel was infuriated and flew into a rage, demanding his immediate execution.
• Look at verse 2: “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.”
• We could translate her sentiments this way: “Elijah, you’re a dead man!”
• Elijah should have laughed because her “gods” had just been exposed as powerless in chapter 18. Instead of chuckling, verse 3 tells us that he ran for his life!
He was disabled by isolation (3b-4a).
• Elijah was stuck in emotional overdrive.
• He was driven, fatigued, tired, exhausted, weary, burned out, anxious, and running on empty. Compounding his problem, verse 3 tells us that he left his companion who had always been by his side during the good times.
He was devastated by self-pity
• Verse 4b - Elijah ran for an entire day until he saw a small tree and collapsed in its shade.
• Why did you supposed Elijah prayed to die? (Let people respond)
• In his ditch of despair, he prayed that he might die in verse 4: “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life.” He let self-pity cultivate a “victim mentality” within himself.
• When we are dwelling on self-pity we don’t think straight - If he really wanted to die, all he needed to do was to show up before Jezebel and she would gladly have accommodated him.
B) GOD FOUR CURES FOR ELIJAH’S DESPAIR.
#1: REST (5-8a)
• The first thing that God responded may surprise you. Instead of telling him to suck it up and snap out of it, God knew that the most important medicine Elijah needed was rest.
• God didn’t give him a sermon or shower him with shame.
• Elijah had collapsed under the tree and fallen asleep in utter exhaustion.
• Because God loves us, He is with us at all times and knows our every hiding place.
• Psalm 139:7-10: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
1 Kings 19:5 says that God then sent an angel to Elijah who said, “Get up and eat.” When he looked around, he found some fresh bread and some bottled water. He ate all the bread and downed the water and went back to sleep.
After allowing him to sleep some more, the divine messenger returned and told him to get up again and eat some more food. - Sometimes we are so burn out that we need to be touch by God more than once.
• Our bodies were designed to need rest.
• You can either wait until you’re totally maxed out like Elijah was and collapse in total exhaustion, or, you can take the healthier approach and begin to incorporate rest into your life.
• For the guilty out there - Don’t be afraid to slow down the pace of your life. Sometimes we Try to set aside time every day for quiet and rest.
• The love of God should be our motivation to do things, not guilt.
#2: REDISCOVER GOD (8b-13)
• When we’re emotionally strung out, it’s easy to think that everyone is against us.
• When we no longer have emotional margins, even God seems distant.
• After regaining his strength, verse 8 tells us that Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Mount Horeb.
• While this mountain was several hundred miles away, there’s no way it should have taken him 40 days (or many days) to get there.
• This just shows that fear forced Elijah to go through more than he needed to. The same is true for us. When we’re afraid or discouraged, we tend to wander aimlessly and take much longer to get where God wants us to be.
Verse 9, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” God knew why Elijah was there but He wanted him to answer. God is not asking because he needs the information but because he wanted to provoke a response.
God decided that Elijah needed to rediscover the Divine and told him to come out of the cave and stand on the mountain because God Himself was about to pass by him.
By the way, this is the same mountain on which God appeared to Moses.
• Because Sinai is the place of holy memories. Sinai stood forever as the reminder to Israel of God's power and God's grace.
• Elijah stayed in the cave.
• He didn’t have the emotional resilience to stand out in the open and wait for the Almighty to make an appearance.
• He probably didn’t think there was much chance of that happening anyway.
• What cave are you in today?
• The cave of offense. Are you mad at God or someone else? Have you withdrawn because you’re secretly angry?
• The cave of sadness. Are you feeling numb and isolated from people and places?
• The cave of comfort. Some of you may be wrapped up in your own comfort and as a result have become insulated from the desires of God and the needs of others.
While Elijah was in his cave
• A violent, rushing wind swept across the ridges. But the Bible says that God was not in the wind.
• An earthquake ripped through the entire area - God was not in the earthquake
• A furious fire that consumed everything - But God wasn’t in the fire either.
• A gentle whisper. God was there
How do you expect God to work in your life? (Let people respond)
• It is quite wrong for us to assume that whenever God is at work, there must be blood and fire and noise and smoke and power
• No, God works when things, apparently, are at a standstill. Throughout the Scripture, you have again and again, this lesson driven into our hearts by these old stories that when things seem to be utterly hopeless – nothing is happening – in the resources and activity of God, the greatest things of all are happening.
You see, like us, Elijah needed to come out of his cave in order to rediscover
• God. He needed to learn that God was with him when things were going good and that God was with him when things were tough.
• God doesn’t always keep us from going through difficult times but He does promise to walk through them with us.
• Hearing God’s whisper reminded Elijah that God was still in control of all the circumstances.
#3: REASSIGMENT (14-18)
• Now that Elijah is rested and has rediscovered God, now he gets a reassignment to serve others • Verses 15-16: “…Anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu…over Israel and anoint Elisha…to succeed you as prophet.”
• Do you see the progression here?
• Before he rediscovered God, Elijah was focused only on himself. Now that he’s back on track spiritually, God gives him an important assignment.
• It’s as if God was saying, “I’ve got things for you to do.
• There’s still a place for you.”
Are you consciously putting the needs of others first? Are you involved in the lives of people to such an extent that you’re able to meet their needs?
• Are you serving here? Are you making a difference by using your God-given abilities and gifts to strengthen this church?
• If you want to increase your emotional energy, then take your eyes off yourself and your problems and develop an “others orientation.”
• You’ll be amazed at how this will fill your tank. Remember, you were never designed to do everything on your own.
• I love how verse 18 shatters Elijah’s parameters: “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”
Elijah felt like he was alone, but he was actually part of a team.
• There were 7,000 other believers he had forgotten to count when he was sitting in the cave of self-pity.
• Look around, why we still hearing things like… “There is no nobody to disciple me,” “I’m having hard time to get someone to come to the bible study with me,” “we need new teacher, please not the same people again.”
• Sometimes we feel like if WE don’t do it will never get done – May be we have to ask to the other 7,000 to stand up and help.
#4: RELATIONSHIPS (19-21)
• Elijah was alone and isolated in his despair. Even though he was rested and had rediscovered God, he was still alienated from others.
• God then provided him with a genuine friend and companion named Elisha.
• Verse 21 describes Elisha as the personal attendant of Elijah. They ministered side-by-side from that point on, until Elijah was taken up to heaven.
There is perhaps no more effective way to relieve emotional pain than to be in contact with another human being who understands what you are going through.
• Just as God led Elijah to a friend, so too, His desire is for you and I to cultivate some authentic relationships with others.
• Can you name 4 or 5 people that are in your life right now giving you godly advice?
CONCLUSION
• God reversed Elijah’s emotional burnout by meeting his basic needs.
• He needed rest and nourishment, so God provided sleep and food.
• He needed a fresh understanding of who God is, so God revealed Himself by gently whispering to him.
• He needed a proper perspective of himself -- a sense of purpose -- so God assigned him a task he could handle.
• And, finally, Elijah needed some close relationships with others, so God provided a friend for him.
Let’s face it. Most of us are tired. We’re burned out and saturated. We’re running like mad on the treadmill of life. But God wants us to slow down, refocus, rediscover him and be more effective for his kingdom.
Max Lucado puts its well when he says, “God likes you just the way you are but He loves you too much to let you stay that way!”
