The day after fire from heaven, Jezebel sends one sentence — you will be dead by this time tomorrow — and Elijah runs. A day into the desert he lies down under a bush and asks to die. An angel feeds him twice and he walks forty days to Horeb, the mountain of Moses, and hides in a cave. God asks him twice, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Then wind, earthquake, fire — and God in none of them. After the fire a still small voice.
A study in 1 Kings 19 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 9 min read
It Is Enough; Now, O LORD, Take Away My Life
“And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
1 Kings 19:3-4
The same man who faced 450 prophets alone cannot face one woman’s message. The letdown after a spiritual high is real and dangerous. Elijah is not a failure for feeling it; he is a man, and the Bible does not hide it.
“But a reaction such as frequently follows high faith and glorious success was pressing upon Elijah… While under the inspiration of the Almighty, he had stood the severest trial of faith; but in this time of discouragement… he lost his hold on God.”
Ellen G. White · Prophets and Kings, p. 161
Arise And Eat; Because The Journey Is Too Great For Thee
“And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat… And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.”
1 Kings 19:5-8
God’s first response to a suicidal prophet is not a rebuke or a sermon. It is sleep, and food, and more sleep, and more food. “Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.” Sometimes the most spiritual thing available is a meal and a nap.
“After Elijah had partaken of the refreshment prepared for him, he slept again. A second time the angel came. Touching the exhausted man, he said with pitying tenderness, ‘Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.’”
Ellen G. White · Prophets and Kings, p. 166
What Doest Thou Here, Elijah
“And 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? And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts… and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
1 Kings 19:9-10
The question is gentle but pointed: I sent you to the brook, to the widow, to Carmel, to the gate of Jezreel — who sent you here? Elijah’s answer is a list of grievances that ends in self-pity: “I, even I only, am left.” He is wrong about that, and God will correct it — but first He lets him say it all.
A Still Small Voice
“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: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”
1 Kings 19:11-12
Elijah’s whole career has been dramatic — drought, fire, resurrection. Now God shows him wind, earthquake, and fire, and is in none of them. Then He gives him three assignments — anoint Hazael, anoint Jehu, anoint Elisha — and one fact that undoes the self-pity: “I have left me seven thousand in Israel” who have not bowed to Baal. Elijah is not alone, and never was. He hands his mantle to Elisha, and the work goes on past him.
“Not in mighty manifestations of divine power, but by ‘a still small voice,’ did God choose to reveal Himself to His servant. He desired to teach Elijah that it is not always the work that makes the greatest demonstration that is most successful in accomplishing His purpose.”
Ellen G. White · Prophets and Kings, p. 168
