On The Road With Elijah
On the Road with Elijah To Horeb Pt. 2
1 Kings 19:9-18
The famous statue of Moses by Michelangelo can be found in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. I have read that there is a slight chip in the statue's right knee. A story goes that when it was completed, Michelangelo was so impressed with its life-like qualities that he ordered it to speak. When the statue did not obey he struck the statue with his mallet chipping the right knee.
Speaking is not possible with a statue of stone, but it is the nature of God. Elijah, as we have seen in our past studies was well acquainted with the voice of God. His ear had become attuned to God's voice. In both his highest and lowest moments he had heard God speak. Once again he hears God's voice.
In our last study we looked at the question that God asked Elijah when He came to him in the cave at Horeb. Now let's look at the context in which that question was asked. As we do, we hear:
1. The Stern Voice Of God
19:9
Once again Elijah hears the "word of the LORD" coming to him. However, the tone of His voice was different than on past occasions.
When God asked Elijah where he was he was not asking for information about his location.
The God who knows all things knew exactly where he was. God had been patient with Elijah since the hour he had fled from the threats of Jezebel. God had let him run for many miles. He had let him run to the wilderness of Beersheba and even further to the cave of Horeb. He had let him run for several days. When God confronted him in the cave of Horeb it was time to stop running and God was about to stop the running.
There are times when God has to confront us for failures in our life. God is patient in His dealings with us, but there comes the hour when God does AND WILL confront us. When we run from His will, He will only let us run for so far and so long. When we run from His work there is a limit to how far and how long He will let us run.
God often has to confront us for unconfessed sins.
God often has to confront us for unfulfilled vows.
God often has to confront us for unforgiving hearts.
God often has to confront us for ungodly deeds.
God often has to confront us for unacceptable motives.
God often has to confront us for unfaithful attendance.
God often has to confront us for unfavorable attitudes.
God often has to confront us for unkind words.
There are times when God confronts His people.
Elijah was out of God's will and work. When God asked why he was where he was, Elijah knew exactly what God was saying. He knew God was rebuking him for being where he was..
To a believer out of God's will, God asks, "What doest thou here?"
To a believer living in sin, God asks, "What doest thou here?"
To a believer out of Church, God asks, "What doest thou here?"
To a believer in an ungodly place, God asks, "What doest thou here?"
How did Elijah respond to God's rebuke?
19:10
Instead of confessing his failure, he defends himself.
I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The word "confess" means to say the same thing or to agree with. God's question to Elijah was in essence a condemnation of where he was. Instead of agreeing with God about where he was, he ignored what God asked and sought to defend himself.
Are we not guilty of the same? We try to defend our actions or excuse our lack of actions.
It is easier to talk about what we did in the past than admit where we are in the present.
Solomon said, "He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoever so confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy" (Prov. 28:13).
The word "covers” was used to speak of someone clothing themselves. The idea is to conceal. Instead of confessing our sin, we seek to cover or conceal our sin.
Donald Grey Barnhouse told the story of Governor Neff, of Texas, who visited the penitentiary of that state and spoke to the assembled convicts. When he had finished he said that he would remain behind, and that if any man wanted to speak with him, he would gladly listen. He further announced that he would listen in confidence, and that nothing a man might say would be used against him.
When the meeting was over a large group of men remained, many of them life-termers. One by one they passed by, each telling the governor that there had been a frame-up, an injustice, and judicial blunder, and each asking that he be freed.
Finally one man came up and said, "Mr. Governor, I just want to say that I am guilty. I did what they sent me here for. But I believe I have paid for it, and if I were granted the right to go out, I would do everything I could to be a good citizen and prove myself worthy of your mercy." The governor pardoned the one who admitted he was guilty.
When God confronts us for something in our life, the response ought to be, "Yes, Lord, you are right." If there is to be forgiveness, sin must be confessed, not condoned or covered.
So there was the stern voice of God. But there was also
2. The Still, Small Voice Of God
19:12
This is an interesting phrase. The word "still" is translated once as "silence" and once as "calm." The word "small" means "thin." A "still small voice" is literally "the sound of a thin silence" It implies that God spoke to Elijah in a calm and gentle whisper.)
God had spoken sternly, now calmly. And notice what He said:
19:11
Running and hiding was to stop. It was time to get Elijah's attention and get him back to where he should have been. The command was followed by a personal visitation from God: "And behold, the LORD passed by" (19:11).
As we saw in our last study, it is believed that Elijah was in the same cave that Moses was when the Lord passed by and received a glimpse of His glory (cp. Exo. 33:21-22). In a similar fashion, the LORD passed by Elijah. When the Lord "passed by" several things happened.
First, "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD" (19:11). The mountains were torn asunder and rocks broken and shattered into pieces by the force of the hurricane strength wind.
Secondly, we read that "after the wind an earthquake" (19:11). The whole area shook as the ground rolled and rocked from the earthquake.
Thirdly, we read that "after the earthquake a fire." The darkness was illuminated by a fire. The word "fire" was sometimes used for lightning. Possibly lightning filled the night sky or it could have been burning lava gushing forth from the ground open up by the earthquake.
The whole scene was reminiscent of when God descended upon the mount in the days of Moses: "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled...And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly" (Exo. 19:16, 18).
Wind, earthquakes, and fire have on other occasions had been ways in which God had manifested Himself and revealed His holiness and glory.
However, on this occasion we read, "but the LORD was not in the wind...but the LORD was not in the earthquake...but the LORD was not in the fire" (19:11, 12).
Although wind, an earthquake, and fire accompanied God's visitation to Elijah, neither were the means by which God revealed Himself to Elijah on this occasion.
How blessed are those moments when the Lord passes by. A normal, ordinary service is turns into an hour of worship and glorious results when He passes by. A revival meeting becomes more than a series of services when He passes by. It becomes indeed a "meeting." It becomes a meeting with God!
Job said, "Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit" (Job 10:12).
In his darkest hour and at his lowest moment, God had visited him. That visitation had "preserved" Job. The word means "to exercise great care over." God had come to Job in an hour when he needed Him the most. He had come to help Job. We have all been there when we needed God to pass by, and blessed be His name, He does.
God first spoke to Elijah to rebuke him for where he was and where he was not. It was a stern voice that spoke to Elijah. When He spoke the next time and passed by Elijah it was to revive and restore him. God confronted him about where he was, but He then took steps to put him back where he should have been.
God was not in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but "after the fire a still small voice" (19:12). God spoke to Elijah in a mild and calm whisper.
Elijah had seen mighty demonstrations of God's power, such as when the fire fell from heaven upon Carmel, but in the hour he needed God the most, God spoke to him in "a still small voice."
All too often we limit God's work to the mighty and miraculous. Do we not often associate the "big" as being God or of God; the big church, the big meeting, the big event, and even the big preacher? God can be in the "big" but bigness is not the evidence of God's presence and power. The big church may only be a big crowd and not necessarily a great work of God. The big meeting filled with excitement and emotion when it subsides may bear little lasting fruit.
The big preacher, the one everyone follows and emulates, may be nothing more than one with good communication skills, charisma, and the ability to entertain a congregation. A "Dr." in front of a name does not always translate into greatness. We get the big boys to come in but when they are gone the crowd they drew and the excitement they created are gone as well. Oh, we can brag that we had so and so, but nothing of eternal value and lasting fruit came from them being with us.
Some of the deepest works of God I have seen did not happen in an arena of thousands but in some small place where ego and personalities were forgotten and the elaborate and dramatic were absent. More than often, a word from God and a work by God was done through someone who had none of the credentials often attached to the big names, but yet they knew God. There was no wind, earthquakes, or fire, but God passed by and spoke to His people.
Warren Wiersbe writes: "In this day of mammoth meetings, loud music, and high-pressure promotion, it's difficult for some people to understand that God rarely works by means of the dramatic and the colossal. When He wanted to start the Jewish nation, He sent a baby named Isaac; and when He wanted to deliver that nation from bondage, He sent another baby named Moses.
He sent a teenager named David to kill the Philistine giant, and the boy used a sling and a stone to do it. When God wanted to save a world, He sent His Son as a weak and helpless baby; and today, God seeks to reach that world through the ministry of "earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7).
Dr. J. Oswald Sanders states that '"the whispers from Calvary are infinitely more potent than the thunder of Sinai in bringing men to repentance.'"
I have always appreciated the straight forward and honest writings of Leonard Ravenhill. Perhaps nothing he ever said was any truer than, "The accent in the Church today, is not on devotion, but on commotion."
We measure everything by how big it is, but in most cases, God works in the little things. As Spurgeon said, "It is astonishing what little things God will use when he pleases to do so. He wanted to soften the heart of that rough prophet Jonah, and he sent a worm and a gourd, and they did it. He would bring Peter to repentance, and he bade a cock to crow. It was a strange preacher, but it was as good as a dean of a cathedral to the Apostle."
It was the "still small voice" of God that moved Elijah:
19:13
Covering the face was a token of respect. Was Elijah covering his face out of respect? Or was it out of shame or fear? In either case, Elijah was moved by the still small voice of God
19:13-14
It has been suggested that Elijah in his second response was expressing his doubts that the people will turn back to God and that God has any future plan for him.
Failure can leaves us feeling worthless and useless. Failure can make us feel that God can or will never use us again. God had a further word for Elijah to dispel those fears.
Lastly, notice:
3. A Specific Voice Of God
It has been well said that God says what He means and means what He says. God is never engaged in idle talk or chat. When He speaks there is always meaning and purpose. In the cave at Horeb, He spoke to Elijah in a stern and small voice. Now we see him speaking to Elijah with specific instructions and commands.
God's word to Elijah was specific.
19:15
God said, "Elijah, go back the way you came." Did you ever notice that when God restores the soul of one of His erring people, He causes us to retrace our steps and return to the place we left God?
When one has left their place of service, God's word is always to return to where they used to be. When Abraham went down into Egypt, he came back "unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning" (Gen. 13:3).
God's command to the Church at Ephesus who had left their first love was "Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works" (Rev. 2:4-5).
If one has gotten out of the will of God, God says return."
If one has gotten out of the work of God, God says "return."
If one has gotten out of fellowship with God, "God says "return."
If one had gotten out of Church, God says "return."
The step to take if there has been failure or a departure is to "return" to where one used to be.
God was not through with Elijah. He still had a plan for him and a place in His work. He was to get back in God's will and do the work God had for him to do.
Again, God's word to Elijah was specific.
19:15-16
He was given a three-fold responsibility.
First, he was to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
Secondly, he was to anoint Jehu to be king over Israel.
Thirdly, he was to anoint Elisha to be his successor.
God commanded Elijah to get back in His work and then He explained to Elijah the work He had for him to do. Elijah's return led to restoration. Restoration led to being re-commissioned.
The story is always the same. When we come back to where we should be, God can use us again, and glory be to His name, He will!
They say one of the most precious possessions of the British Museum is what is known as the Portland Vase. It is a work of perfect and incomparable beauty. One day a madman, passing through the room in which it was exhibited, struck it with his stick, and smashed it into fragments. There it lay, its beauty gone, a thing for pity and for tears.
But one, with infinite patience and with love, came and gathered the pieces together and built it up again with such genius and success that only with careful examination can the fact of its ruin be observed.
Elijah is not the only follower of God who ever failed. Many of us can add our name to the list. However, we all can testify that God restores those who fail. How thankful we are for the hour when we heard His voice.
