Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Experiences which cause our heart to beat faster and maybe take our breath away are memorable and sometimes even leave us with life impacting changes, isn’t that true? Have you had some of those experiences in your life? What do you remember about them and how are those experiences still affecting you even now, perhaps years later?
Come with me and let’s rejoin the old prophet Elijah as he is carefully, slowly easing his way out of a cave following a wind storm that was catastrophic, probably more terrifying than a tornado would be, as described in 1 Kings 19:11.
As often happens after a terrible storm, it appears stillness came to that mountain-side of Mt Horeb, where Elijah had come to meet with God. Elijah listened and watched… but nothing. The record says: “…but the LORD was not in the wind…” This does not mean the windstorm happened on its own without any involvement from God, for nothing happens in our universe without God’s oversight, for He is Sovereign over all and all exists and is sustained by Him, according to Colossians 1:17. This phrase means God chose not to SPEAK to Elijah through the windstorm nor after in the stillness which followed. So Elijah watched and waited.
It appears Elijah didn’t have to wait long for soon he began to FEEL the power of God in an earthquake! Have you ever been in an earthquake so severe you fell to the ground or you watched buildings collapse? The record says: “After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.” We don’t know how long this earthquake lasted or if it caused an avalanche on Mt Horeb as rocks and boulders were dislodged and began cascading down the mountain side, but I assume Elijah sought safety inside the cave once again! Finally when the ground stopped shaking, Elijah like went out to the mountainside to survey the damage and LISTEN. But once again nothing but stillness at this wilderness mountain.
I presume we’ve all had the same experience which Elijah was experiencing: silence from heaven when we expected and yearned for some word, some answer from God! So how have you handled that silence my friends? When God seems silent do you and I get impatient? Do we call out louder or with greater intensity perhaps thinking God may need to see more passion, more desperation from us before He answers our call? Throughout the Bible we find stories which evidence that God is watching and fully aware of ALL that is transpiring on our planet, and in the lives of EVERY person! (Ps. 33:18-22)
I love the story of Jesus praying late at night on a hillside, watching His disciples struggling to keep their little boat afloat while a storm raged on the Sea of Galilee. Do you remember what Jesus did? He walked out to them ON THE WAVES and eventually got into their boat and calmed the storm! (Matt. 14:22-33)
Of course Elijah didn’t know about that event for it happened centuries after he died, but Elijah did have many, many stories from Israel’s history which proved God’s watchful eye upon His people and God’s response to their cries. So I believe God’s silence did not frustrate Elijah as much as it caused him to listen even closer, just in case God would speak softly rather than in the loud wind or terrifying earthquake.
Was it only a few moments or was it hours later that suddenly Elijah experienced yet a third powerful demonstration of God’s terrifying power? The record says: “After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.” Now since Elijah had only a few days before experienced God sending a fireball from heaven to burn up his sacrifice on the Mt Carmel altar in the great showdown with the prophets of Baal, I’m assuming Elijah might have seen this as a second episode of heaven sent fire, and I have no doubt Elijah scrambled into the cave for protection!
Please don’t hear me minimizing this heaven sent fireball, I’m sure it was terrifying. Before long the fire died out and Elijah once again came out of the cave to survey the damage. Scorched earth was all around him, and in the stillness Elijah listened. Still nothing.
The record says: “And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it he pulled his cloak over his face and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘Elijah, what are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19:12,13) Oh my that stirs deeply in my soul. A “whisper“? What do you think the “Whisper of God” sounds like, my friends? In our loud, noisy, busy world of 2024, would you or I recognize it if God whispered to us?
I’ve tried to imagine the contrast between the rock shattering tornado and the mountain shaking earthquake and the blazing fireball, all of which must have terrified Elijah… and the gentle whisper of God!! Did you know the name “LORD” which God spoke to Moses is the English literation of the name of God called the “tetragrammaton” which is four Hebrew letters Y H W H. Without vowels, it is pronounced like a whisper, a breath of wind.
Was God speaking His Holy, Glorious, Magnificent name with Elijah in this gentle whisper, as He had done with Moses on this very same mountain 600 years before? (Exodus 34:8) Oh my friends, what happens in your heart and mind when in your quiet worship times you have this type of encounter with God?
And once again Elijah heard the same question from God, now a second time. “What are you doing here Elijah”? And once again Elijah proclaimed his complaint and his confidence that he was all alone, the only one still standing who believed in God and was willing to be known as man of God. Oh how easily our perspective becomes so distorted, so small, so myopic!
God’s response to His prophet Elijah was two fold.
First, God gave Elijah the directive to anoint Elisha to be his successor, and others into significant leadership.
This was important for it reminded Elijah that God had yet much more in His plans for Israel in the future, a future after Elijah was gone. Watch that friends, God is always looking into the future, while He is working today, in anticipation of tomorrow, even tomorrows long after you and I are gone!
And secondly God gave Elijah an accurate perspective: “I have reserved 7000 in Israel whose knees have not bowed down to Baal…” (1 Kings 19:18)
Some say there may be nearly 1 Billion Christians in our world today, so no matter where you live and how big or small the Christian presence in your city, remember you and I are one small part of a global movement Jesus is accomplishing as He fulfills His promise in our day: “I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail…” (Matt. 16:18)
Let’s pause right here and reflect on what we’ve experienced with Elijah today. The power of God displayed in our world; the voice of God both in whisper and in directive; and the people of God who have not bowed their knee to the pressures of our world, the false gods of our world.
Let’s celebrate the sovereignty and supremacy of Jesus as we join with the William Carey University choir and band in worship… and will you meet me here again with Elijah tomorrow?
Today’s Scripture: 1 Kings 19:11-18.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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