1 KINGS 19, GOD RESTORES ELIJAH
INTRODUCTION
Today we’re returning to the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 18 tells us about Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. In 1 Kings 19, we find that Elijah has become very depressed. He thinks he’s a failure, but God helps him back on his feet.
I gave a first talk on this subject two weeks ago; this is now the second and last talk on this subject.
SETTING THE SCENE
Let’s set the scene. Israel and Judah have split apart. Both nations fell away from God, but Israel fell away faster. At the time of Elijah, Ahab, the king of Israel, had married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Tyre. She introduced Baal worship into Israel and brought with her 450 prophets of Baal. Baal wasn’t just one god; there were lots of Baals.
It seems that in Elijah’s time most of Israel had been drawn into Baal worship. Most, but not all. God told Elijah, ‘Yet I will leave SEVEN THOUSAND in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’ If just 7,000 people had remained faithful to God then the vast majority had fallen away.
But Elijah yearned to call the Israelites back to God.
Elijah’s first strategy was to pray that there would be no rain – for three and a half years! Baal was supposed to be the god of rain. If there was no rain for three and a half years, then he clearly wasn’t much use. But three and a half years without rain would not be funny. No rain would mean no crops and no food. There would be real hardship. God was not speaking in a mild way.
Elijah’s second strategy was to call the people to a showdown between God and Baal on Mount Carmel. At the end, God sends fire which consumes the sacrifice which Elijah had prepared. God had accepted sacrifices by sending fire in the time of Moses, of Gideon, and of Solomon, so maybe that was what gave Elijah the idea.
After God sent fire which consumed the sacrifice, ‘the people saw it … fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”’ Then Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.’ Then they killed them. This isn’t something we like to hear about. But Moses did much the same when Israel started to worship a golden calf.
Ahab got into his carriage and went down to Jezreel, and Elijah ran ahead of him. When Ahab arrived, he told Jezebel what had happened. When she heard the news that all her prophets were dead, she sent a message to Elijah to tell him: ‘So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ Elijah flees. At some point, he lies down under a broom tree and prays to God, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’
That is the point we’ve reached. Elijah is so depressed that he even prayed to God to take away his life. But by the end of the chapter, Elijah is on his feet and back to work. What happened?
According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. So, this passage is well worth our attention. But before we go further, I want to give a caveat. We are looking at one instance of depression. We should not assume that what happens here applies equally to all cases of depression. However, the principles that I think come out of the passage fit with what I have read about depression.
FIRST STEPS
When Elijah lay down under the broom tree he was depressed. But his depression was made worse by tiredness and hunger and fear of Jezebel. His run-in with the prophets of Baal must have been exhausting, and after that he’d had two long runs.
He sleeps. An angel appears to him and gives him some water and cake, and encourages him to eat. Then he sets off on a 40-day journey to Mount Horeb. The rest, the food and water, the encouragement to eat, the exercise, and time all help Elijah on the road to recovery.
We looked at this two weeks ago. If you feel like being an angel to someone who’s depressed, follow the example of the angel who came alongside Elijah. Give them cake and encourage them to eat and get out and walk. Encourage them to seek God’s presence.
GETTING THROUGH
Let’s imagine that you’re eighteen and you’ve just got your ‘A’ level results. They aren’t what you – or your parents – were hoping for. When your parents ask you what happened, you tell them it’s because of coronavirus and some mysterious algorithm. You disappear into your room. You feel you’ve failed personally and you’ve also failed your parents. You’re prickly and defensive and your parents really can’t get through to you.
That is roughly where Elijah is. He’s just woken up to the result of his hard work. It isn’t what he hoped for and he’s pretty sure it isn’t what God wanted. When God asks him what he is doing at Mount Horeb, he tries to justify himself. ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty,’ he says. It seems he hardly wants God to speak to him. He initially stays in the cave, and when he emerges, he wraps his face in his cloak. Elijah feels he’s failed. Maybe he’s failed God. He’s afraid of God’s judgement, and that fear is making him prickly and defensive.
God has to get through that defensiveness and prickliness. But Elijah won’t even listen to God until he has some confidence in HOW God will speak to him. Some people imagine that God never gets angry but God can get angry. Will God speak to him in angry way?
God sends a wind that breaks the rocks. Then our passage tells us: ‘BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE WIND.’ After the wind an earthquake. ‘BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE EARTHQUAKE.’ After the earthquake a fire. ‘BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE FIRE.’ It’s a three-fold repetition. God is emphasising something!
What did these three ‘NOT IN’s signify? God was telling Elijah how he would NOT speak. He was NOT about to speak to Elijah in a loud, angry, intimidating way.
Then comes the sound of a low whisper. Elijah pricks up his ears. God has broken through Elijah’s defensiveness, his fear.
I think this is key to unlocking the problem. God spoke to Elijah in a gentle way. He isn’t angry with him. Indeed, why should he be angry? He isn’t a boss who demands results. What God is looking for is that we listen and follow – or that we ‘trust and obey’, taking the words of the old chorus. Elijah has done that.
At this point the healing process is well under way. Elijah is starting to realise that God isn’t angry with him, and he’s listening to God.
TACKLING THE ROOT CAUSE
When Elijah was under the broom tree he prayed to God, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, FOR I AM NO BETTER THAN MY FATHERS.’ In other words: ‘The prophets before me tried to draw Israel back to God. They failed, and I have failed too.’
THE CAUSE OF ELIJAH’S DEPRESSION WAS A SENSE OF FAILURE.
This is a common cause of depression today too.
J K Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, experienced clinical depression when she was about 28. Many years later, after she had achieved success as an author, she was invited to give an opening address at Harvard University. At the address she said, ‘By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.’
In my previous talk I quoted Ruth Sutherland, the Chief Executive of Samaritans. She wrote:
Something called the ‘gold standard’ of masculinity puts pressure on men. It’s a persuasive little voice that whispers, ‘You’ve failed’ – unless you have gone out and secured that job, that house, that car, that woman, those children and that sunny family life.
J K Rowling’s depression was connected to a sense of failure. Men can easily feel that they have failed. Depression as a result of a feeling of failure is common today.
But let’s try to be a bit more specific than simply saying that the cause of Elijah’s depression was a sense of failure.
It isn’t immediately obvious why Elijah should consider himself a failure. God had shown himself in a mighty way on Mount Carmel. The people had accepted that ‘the Lord is God.’ The prophets of Baal are dead. It seems like a good result!
At first, I thought Elijah thought he’d failed because of Jezebel. Elijah’s attitude changed when he received Jezebel’s message. She was certainly a formidable woman. But Jezebel don’t seem to be the key problem. On Mount Horeb, God asks Elijah, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ Elijah doesn’t mention Jezebel in his answer. So, what is the problem? Elijah says this:
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.
In Elijah’s view, the Israelites have turned away from God en masse, he is the only one left, and they are trying to kill him.
A little earlier I said the cause of Elijah’s depression was A SENSE OF FAILURE. But there’s more to it. ELIJAH FEELS THAT THE SITUATION IS HOPELESS.
There are therefore two root causes for Elijah’s depression.
I imagined how I might speak to Elijah.
I might say: ‘Elijah, you’re not seeing things right. Things aren’t anything like as black as they seem to you. You’re not seeing things clearly because you’re depressed. Suppose you ARE alone. Would that matter? Didn’t you face the prophets of Baal alone? God was with you and helped you. And anyway, you’re not alone. Your friend Obadiah hid 100 prophets. And 7,000 people are still following God.’
I might say: ‘Elijah, you shouldn’t judge success as the world judges success. For a Christian, doing what God asks you to do is success. You mustn’t think you’re a failure. You did what God asked you to do. That makes you a success. The results are up to God.’
I might say: ‘Elijah, you simply can’t judge the situation. You have to trust God and leave it in God’s hands.’
But God doesn’t say any of these things. God’s answer seems to be completely unrelated to Elijah’s complaint. It’s almost as if God ignores it!
I think that God knows that Elijah doesn’t need the kind of answer I would have given him. Elijah needs another kind of answer.
Remember what we noted a few moments ago. There were two root causes to Elijah’s depression. He had a sense of failure and he thought the situation was hopeless.
God’s first word to Elijah is ‘Go’.
There was one occasion in my life when a company I worked for told me they were entirely happy with me – and then terminated my position! I took that to mean they were NOT happy with me, regardless of what they said. But there have also been several times in my life when a company has reemployed me. Employing someone, or discontinuing their employment, says more about what you think of them than words.
God gives Elijah his old job back. That proves beyond doubt that Elijah isn’t a failure in God’s eyes. Sense of failure resolved.
After that, God tells Elijah three times, ‘You shall.’ More instructions, more purpose. God explains what is going to happen. Ahab’s time is going to come to an end. He’s been replaced. Hopelessness gives way to hope.
Then God tells Elijah: ‘Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’ The situation isn’t as black as Elijah had imagined. More hope!
CONCLUSION
We come to the end of the chapter with Elijah going on his way, no longer feeling a failure, with restored hope. It didn’t happen by accident. An angel came and helped him, and Elijah was willing to be helped. God understood that Elijah was hurt and defensive. He assured him that he would speak to him gently, and that opened the way for him to speak at all. God understood what Elijah needed – an assurance that he wasn’t a failure, and hope. He gave him those.
When I compare what I do with what God did, I see lots of mistakes in the way I interact with people I meet who are depressed. But I also see many things in this passage which are pointers for what I should do, and little by little, I’m trying to put them into practice.
Before I finish, I’d like to make a plea for prophets. The age of the prophet never closed. We need prophets today, people who are willing to stand up to the Jezebels and false prophets of today. They have a tough calling. They need our support.
