THE CAVE OF DOUBT AND THE CALL OF DUTY.
1 Kings 19:9-18.
While Obadiah was hiding others in a cave (cf. 1 Kings 18:3-4), Elijah hid himself in a cave.
I. THE CAVE OF DOUBT (1 Kings 19:9-14).
Why are YOU here?
Indignant self-righteousness.
Wind, earthquake,
and fire -
and a thin, barely perceptible voice in the midst of the silence.
Why are you HERE?
Indignant self-righteousness.
We might insert here some comparisons and contrasts between Moses and Elijah.
1. The LORD passed by Moses (cf. Exodus 33:19; Exodus 33:22; Exodus 34:6), just as he later passed by Elijah (1 Kings 19:11). But whereas Moses interceded for an idolatrous people (cf. Exodus 32:11-14), Elijah was here wallowing in self-pity (1 Kings 19:4; 1 Kings 19:10; 1 Kings 19:14).
2. This was the same wilderness, and the same mountain - but Elijah was going backward, not forward. However, both appeared later, with Jesus, in another mountain (cf. Luke 9:28-31).
II. THE CALL OF DUTY (1 Kings 19:15-19).
The LORD’s practical response to His despondent servant was to re-commission Elijah, and to give him the responsibility for the anointing of:
1. A foreign tyrant (1 Kings 19:15; cf. 2 Kings 8:11-13);
2. A new dynasty (1 Kings 19:16; cf. 2 Kings 9:3); and
3. A young apprentice for Elijah to mentor (1 Kings 19:16; cf. 1 Kings 19:19; 2 Kings 2:13).
This was delegation in operation (1 Kings 19:17; cf. 1 Kings 19:19; 2 Kings 8:13; 2 Kings 9:1-3).
Despite Elijah’s protests that he was ‘the only one’ (1 Kings 19:10; 1 Kings 19:14), he was told that: “There are yet seven thousand people in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (1 Kings 19:18). Neither are we, any one of us, as alone as we might imagine.
We can draw strength from the fact that the LORD has not deserted us. He is still with us in the cave of doubt. He is with us in the recall to duty. WE ARE NEVER ALONE.
