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In Part 14 we
talked a little bit about Satan sowing seeds of doubt mingled with
prevarications and scattering them everywhere for the purpose of some possibly germinating into
disobedience on our part. He cannot force us to do anything against our will, but he is given permission to drop
little seed thoughts that under the right conditions the seed develops and takes root, like Elijah disagreeing with Yahweh and taking His eyes off the LORD and winding up in a place he didn't belong. It sounds almost like some Sci-Fi movie
about an alien invasion and being influenced by an evil entity. With the one exception, this isn't fiction!
The devil can also
be permitted to bring about a situation in our lives that dovetails with
whatever disagreement we have with God. It is not as if God and Satan are
teaming up; light and darkness do not mix. But God uses the roaring lion
walking about to accomplish His purpose in our lives for His glory as the
lion prowls. Those situations can be pretty tough at times (cf. Jonah). This
makes this whole shooting match spiritual in nature though the pressure points can
be physical as well. Such spiritual conflict will never end for the believer on this side of eternity.
We left off in the
last segment on the nature of the disagreement Elijah may have had with the LORD. There are
usually multiple reasons playing into a disagreement, but one sticks out more
than the others leading to what I believe caused Elijah to take his eyes off
the LORD. I think the death of the prophets of Yahweh by Jezebel (1 Kgs 18:4, 13)
was very troubling as well as perplexing to Elijah. First of all, he was a
prophet of the LORD, and second, why would Yahweh allow the prophets to be
killed who are trying to make a difference for Him? Notice Obadiah's statement to Elijah,
“Was it not reported to my lord what I
did when Jezebel killed (massacred, 1 Kgs 18:4) the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of
the LORD's prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water” (1 Kgs
18:13, emphasis mine).
Elijah may or may
not have heard of the report. But since he was a prophet of the LORD, whether
he had heard it from Obadiah, who was actually in charge of Ahab’s household
and a devout worshiper of Yahweh (1 Kgs 18:3, How ironic is that!), or through someone else the
results were the same. It had to have punched him in the gut. He carried that
horrible, tragic, and depressing news up on Mt Carmel with him. Could it be
while the prophets of Baal were wailing and pleading for Baal to hear them, you think this question may have crossed his mind, “Why did God allow such debauchery and degradation to go on as long as
it did? Why did God let King Ahab and his queen continue leading His people in forsaking His Law, tearing down His altars, and killing His prophets? Am I not the last of the prophets of Yahweh here in the thick of it?”
On Mt Carmel the
people were so fickle they couldn’t or wouldn’t tell if Baal was God or if
Yahweh was God (1 Kgs 18:21)! They were going to wait and see who won the
contest before making that call! The altar was torn down and needed repairing (1
Kgs 18:30). Apparently, the 100 prophets hidden by Obadiah didn’t get the word
or were afraid to show up; so Elijah wrote them off with his claim to be the
last remaining prophet of the LORD (1 Kgs 18:22). You can sense his anger in
making that public announcement which was a denouncement of their straddling the fence,
“You are looking at the last man standing for Yahweh because your queen had murdered the rest!” He was certain that God
was finally going to clean the house.
After it was all
said and done on Mt Carmel, the LORD had Elijah run down to Jezreel before Ahab
arrived at the entrance. As he looked at Ahab at the entrance of Jezreel, it
had to have crossed Elijah’s mind, “Why were the killers of the prophets of
Yahweh allowed to escape the sword? Here I am the last of the true prophets
here in Jezreel within Ahab’s and Jezebel’s grasp! Was she not personally
responsible for the massacre of the LORD’s prophets? And Ahab did nothing to
stop her from her villainy!” The Bible doesn’t say why Jezebel was not
supporting her precious prophets on Mt Carmel, but she was at the winter palace
in Jezreel. It was a very dangerous place to be for Elijah but, ironically, it was the
safest place to be for Yahweh sent him there (1 Kgs 18:46). The safest place to be is in
the will of God, but was he spiritual now?
Let’s read about the
possible seeds that could have been sown by Satan. It is a running monologue
from the time of meeting Obadiah to meeting the messenger of Jezebel. Indulge
me.
“Elijah, do you recall Obadiah mentioned to you that Jezebel was
having the prophets of Yahweh massacred? She is still alive living comfortably
in her husband’s winter palace. She despises all the prophets of Yahweh. She
doesn’t desire extermination but their extinction in the Northern Kingdom! You
are the last one remaining! Why did God allow that? Why did He not stay
Jezebel’s hand in murdering the prophets of Yahweh? He could have stopped it,
you know. These were men like you, Elijah, called to perform a task for God,
and look where it got them, Elijah; they are all dead now, and you will die,
too. Jezebel probably blamed them for the miserable famine in the Northern
Kingdom. If God had truly cared for them they would still be alive. What kind
of God would send His prophets to
their death? Elijah, I can sense that it angers you? If God allowed His
prophets to be massacred, what makes you think that you are any different than
them? It was you, not them, who called for the famine before Ahab, remember? Obadiah
bragged about saving a mere 100 puny prophets who do nothing more than cower in
the caves out of fear of Jezebel, consuming precious water and bread in a time
of severe famine. What good is their underground faith, Elijah? They might as
well be dead for all the good they are doing. You truly are the last true prophet
of Yahweh, and these people are not worthy of your effort to redeem them from
destruction. Are these people you have come to rescue really worth risking your
life? They are nothing more than feeble worthless fence riders who merely go
with the flow of things. They have no moral compass but opportunity. They are
nothing more than covenant breakers worthy of death according to the Law. They
should all die, Elijah, for their transgressions! God knows this, but He
continues to allow the likes of Ahab and Jezebel to promote their idolatrous
ways. The altars are torn down; they care nothing about that or God, only for
themselves. If God was going to clean house in Israel, why did He have you cut off
only the tail of the snake on Mt Carmel with the killing of the prophets of Baal? Shouldn’t
that be a concern for you? Those prophets of Jezebel’s can be replaced; there
are plenty where they came from. With God leaving the head of the serpent
intact, Ahab and Jezebel will only grow their tails back! Does that sound
like house cleaning to you? Did God not personally embarrass and shame you by
ordering you to run before King Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel as if that
detestable Ahab deserved such a tribute? That had to be very difficult for you
because Ahab is a very vile and wicked man who never really repented up on Mt
Carmel. He is an opportunist. He doesn’t like you, Elijah. You are nothing but
a meddler and troublemaker to him, and He would rather see you dead, but he leaves
running the religious world to his wife. He wasted no time in telling his wife
everything you did on Mt Carmel, and now she seeks your life, and he won’t stop
her! Is that how he shows his appreciation for the rain as king? Jezebel knows
where to find you now unlike the time of famine when they looked for you
everywhere. See, I told you that Yahweh would have you killed by the hand of
Jezebel just like the others. What does that message from Jezebel tell you? You
are no better than the other dead prophets and will soon join them. What
further proof do you need of Yahweh’s motive; He obviously has no further use
for you like your fellow prophets. He cannot be trusted! You know what I am
telling you is true. You are the last of the prophets of Yahweh and now this
death threat! Don’t act so shocked that God is allowing Jezebel to come after
you to kill you. She blames you for the famine, and you did have a hand in
killing her beloved prophets. It should come as no surprise for I forewarned
you when you were coming into Samaria with Obadiah running his mouth; it is
after all, Baal country. If you don’t run, Elijah, you will be dead before
long. Why would God allow the last prophet of Yahweh, a man of your spiritual
caliber, to die by the hand of an ungodly Gentile woman guilty of promoting
idolatry among God’s people? He should have killed them both for their
wickedness and put an end to this spiritual tyranny in the Northern Kingdom. But
He didn’t. Instead, God allows them to go unpunished for their grievous
sins. Now the hands going unpunished are going to punish you, Elijah! You still
have time to run away as far as you can from all of this!”
In our speculative account of Satan’s seed-planting episodes, there is no doubt in
my mind that some of these thoughts were entertained by Elijah for he didn’t
waste much time leaving Jezreel. By the time the messenger arrived; Elijah had
enough of this; he was primed and ready to leave the Northern Kingdom.
Then the devil was
allowed to give Elijah a full court press for a decision by presenting Jezebel’s
death threat. It is with great irony that the man who was destined not to die
like Enoch ran because of a death threat. So when did Elijah take his eyes off
the LORD and why? In my opinion, Elijah took his eyes off the LORD because he
didn’t agree with God that Ahab and Jezebel went unpunished for their sins. So
when the death threat made itself known, he wound up in a place where he didn’t
belong. The kingdom was already in a pitiful spiritual state inherited from Omri his father when Ahab assumed
the throne, but with his queen, they promoted and incited ungodliness
more than all the kings that went before him (1 Kgs 21:25). When Ahab was allowed to return
to Jezreel from Mt Carmel was, at least in my mind, the tipping point for
Elijah. The death threat only brought it to the surface; why die over a fiasco.
Let’s repeat
Elijah’s answer to Yahweh on Mt Horeb one last time,
“I have been very
zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken
Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword.
I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kgs 19:10, 14).
One thing was positive,
and it is meant to be a contrast to what follows, “I have been very zealous for
the LORD God of hosts” (I did my part! Suggesting God did not?). Elijah pleaded
against Israel (Rom 11:2), “Here is
what I accomplished while in Samaria – absolutely zero. You knew that I was the
only prophet of the LORD remaining, and I was willing to go for You into a very
dangerous and hostile place for prophets of Yahweh. And Ahab and Jezebel, who were
directly responsible and instrumental for Israel plummeting into the depths of deep darkness, have been allowed to go unpunished, and now they are right
back at it seeking to kill me! What was the point in all of this killing of the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel? Was it some kind of shot across the bow?”
God’s question
revealed that Elijah being on Horeb served no purpose. Elijah had thought going
into the Northern Kingdom served no purpose. I am of the opinion that Elijah
took his eyes off the LORD when he realized that Ahab and Jezebel were going
unpunished for how they treated God's prophets and His people and plunging
the Northern Kingdom into deep darkness. Elijah didn’t think that
God went far enough by only chopping the tail of the serpent off whether it was
for the people’s sake or not. The two fangs were still alive at the winter
palace in Jezreel, and the tail will eventually grow back. He disagreed with
God letting the head of the snake stay attached. When the messenger arrived, he
had enough. He said so as much under the broom tree, “It is enough” (1 Kgs 19:4).
Jonah didn’t agree
with Yahweh in sparing the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. He took his eyes off
the LORD because he feared he would be helping the very people who will in the
future destroy the Northern Kingdom; they did in 722 B.C. when the Assyrians under
Sargon II captured Samaria (2 Kgs 17). So Jonah wound up in a place where he
didn’t belong. He took off in the opposite direction from the will of God,
serving no purpose for the glory of God. As I said before, there are no
blessings to be found in the place we don’t belong. I didn’t read of Elijah or
Jonah expressing joy, peace, or contentment while there.
Elijah didn’t agree
with Yahweh in sparing Ahab and Jezebel because they would only continue to
promote idolatry and even murder those who did not agree with them. He had
taken His eyes off the LORD and wound up in the desert. What might have
happened if Elijah remained in Jezreel? I think things would have turned out
differently. We know he would not die. Jezebel’s would-be killers probably
would have wound up like those men dispatched by King Ahaziah to apprehend
Elijah (2 Kgs 1:14). We will never know unless God reveals to us in glory what could have been at the Bema. <><
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