Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Our world loves winners, champions and victory celebrations, don’t we? You know the feeling I’m sure. You’ve had a victory of some type in your life and you feel great, perhaps a little invincible, at least for a few moments. Maybe you treat yourself to something special as a reward for your accomplishment!
I can only imagine how euphoric old Elijah must have felt after that almost indescribable showdown on Mount Carmel, and God sending fire from heaven to burn up his sacrifice and thousands of people declaring the LORD to be their God and repenting of their spiritual rebellion.
And then of course what euphoria Elijah must have felt as the sky grew dark and it started raining after a 3 year drought! I left you yesterday watching old Elijah bent over, trying to catch his breath after a 30 mile run and actually outrunning King Ahab in his chariot!! (1 Kings 18:38-46)
As Elijah finally caught his breath and looked around, he found himself standing in the town of Jezreel, and perhaps even looking at the regional palace of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. I’m sure it didn’t take Elijah more than a few moments to realize this was not the place for him to celebrate all he had experienced with God over the past few hours, and Elijah started heading out of town.
Meanwhile, King Ahab had quite a story to tell his wife Queen Jezebel, and while we have no record of exactly what he said, Jezebel went into a frenzy of rage according to 1 Kings 19:1. Jezebel sent a messenger running to find Elijah with the message that he was going to be a dead man within 24 hours! Now I wonder what you would have done if you were Elijah?
Have you ever found yourself actually having an emotional melt-down while at the same time you are euphorically celebrating a great victory? That’s what happened to Elijah and the record tells us Elijah ran for his life. Now friends, Elijah didn’t just run out of town, Elijah ran south, all the way to the town of Beersheba, and from Jezreel that’s almost 120 miles!
While the first run from Carmel to Jezreel was a Holy Spirit empowered run, actually outrunning King Ahab in his chariot, I think this was a fear induced, adrenalin run. I’m sure Elijah didn’t actually run without stopping for over 100 miles, but I’m equally confident his fear propelled him with much greater endurance than he would normally have had!
How do I know Elijah was afraid? Because the record tells us this: “Elijah left his servant in Beersheba while he walked a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom tree and sat down under it and he prayed that he might die! He said, ‘I have had enough, LORD! Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then Elijah lay down under the tree and fell asleep.” (1 Kings 19:3-5) That’s more than just fear, isn’t it my friends? That sounds like discouragement, maybe even depression!
Now I ask you, how does a man of God like Elijah go from the mountain top experiences with God on Mt Carmel, to running for his life in response to a threatening message from Queen Jezebel, and all the way to asking God to end his life there under a tree in the wilderness... and all this within hours or a day or two at most?
Now don’t rush past that question my friends. Wrestle with it and personalize it! When have you found yourself on the emotional rollercoaster from high euphoria to low desperation and what lessons have you learned on that emotional roller coaster about yourself and about the power of God available to you?
Did you know this is not the first time a great man of God, a Biblical hero, found themself on this emotional rollercoaster and asked God to end their life in their time of great discouragement? Moses found himself there when surrounded by ungrateful, grumbling, angry Israelites, and you’ll find that in Numbers 11:14,15.
But please take note of this: in both cases God responded personally and powerfully. God gave Moses instructions to gather 70 trusted leaders of the Israelites to help him carry the burden of leadership.
For Elijah, God sent an angel to nourish and encourage him, not once but twice! (1 Kings 19:5-7) The first visit was brief with simple instructions from the angel to exhausted Elijah: “Get up and eat”. And when Elijah got up he found food and water available to him, so he ate, and lay back down and went back to sleep! I guess I can’t blame him, I get tired DRIVING 120 miles!
A second time this angel awakened Elijah, this time with both nourishment and instructions. The record says: “Then the angel of the LORD came a second time and awakened Elijah. “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” (1 Kings 19:7) Oh my, do you see two important things here?
This is no ordinary angel, this is “the angel of the LORD”, and many Bible scholars believe that phrase identifies an Old Testament appearance of Jesus, God the Son! Secondly, do you see God had a specific journey ahead for Elijah and since there is no further instructions in the record, I presume the Holy Spirit gave to Elijah a strong leading that he must travel south from Beersheba, into the wilderness, all the way to Mount Horeb, also known as Sinai!
Now since we don’t know exactly where Mt Sinai is located, this could be another trip of over 100 miles, but this time there is no well traveled road, no frequent and comfortable Inn along the way for refreshment. This is hot, windy, sand blown, cactus desert! This is also no longer about fleeing FROM Jezebel, this is now APPROACHING God! Elijah knew very well all that Moses had experienced on Sinai during his 8 trips up Sinai, and now I can imagine anxiety and great anticipation grew with each passing mile as old Elijah approached Mt Horeb/Sinai!
Let’s walk along with this great man of God. Let’s replay in our minds all that Elijah has experienced with God since first announcing there would be a drought, 3 years ago, as recorded in 1 Kings 17 & 18. Let’s consider how God has shown Himself powerful and personal, and let’s look into our journey, our relationships, our economics, as we consider preparing to meet with God and Elijah on Mt Sinai tomorrow! And here’s a special song to help us consider God’s majesty.
Today’s Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-8.
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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