A Broken Prophet

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.  But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty.  But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets.  I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”  “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him.  And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain.  It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty.  But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets.  I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”  Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus.  When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram.  Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet.  Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha!  Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!” 1 Kings 19:9-18[1]

Salmon swim many hundreds of miles to return to the birthplace of their hatching.  Some species live up to a dozen years, others only two or three…IF they manage to avoid hungry bears and make the full cycle.  It seems kind of a pointless existence, hatch, swim, spawn, die. 

And that may have been Elijah’s problem.  He’d had the courage to stand toe to toe with 850 false prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt Carmel.  Then he realized the head of the serpent (Jezebel) was still sharpening her fangs.  Elijah managed to hack eight hundred bad guys like Rambo on steroids, but he spooked at the thought of one evil woman.  And he felt alone, like John the Baptist, a lone voice crying in the wilderness.  He ran like a frenzied daughter of mine used to run from anything with 8 legs.  Huffing and puffing Elijah returned to his place of safety…God’s mountain…and hid in a cave, shivering more from fear than cold. 

God spoke to the prophet once he settled down enough to hear the small voice after the thundering storms, earthquake and fire.  Whispering, God instructed Elijah how to wind-down his ministry and set the stage for God’s next cycle.  Elisha would take over, and the other kings Elijah anointed would accomplish God’s plans.

A few timeless lessons today from Elijah’s faith (and faults):

1.     God always has His people, no matter what it looks like

2.     No life is worthless when the knee has been bent in reverence to the LORD.

For You Today

So, if you’re facing a fang-bearing queen, or 850 false prophets, here’s the game plan:  make it a fair fight; tie both your hands behind your back, kneel and bow your head, and laugh in the face of all of it; God’s got this, your job is to trust Him!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] For another post on Elijah’s predicament see Chosen...Still!