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We dare don’t say He was at fault
outright, but we imply that by the nature of our question or tone from an
attitude revving under the hood. After all, He is the Creator God! He allowed
it. We truly believe that nothing enters our lives without God’s permission or
orchestration. And the plain truth is; we don’t like what He’s allowing to
happen here, as if to say that God is unjust by His actions, not doing right by
us or others!
He is not fitting into our post-modern
concept of how a God of lovingkindness should be or act (Thank You, LORD, for Your
immutability!)! How could a God of love…? If only You would have… Why didn’t
You…? You could of…! “I’m going to pitch a hissy fit!” Disagreements can quickly
turn into anger, leading to a sour disposition of bitterness. And Satan is doing some kind of demonic
dance of delight that some of his seeds are germinating in our lives into a
glory stealer, disobedience; he can’t wait for all the bloom and gloom.
We are not privy to all of the exchanges between Yahweh and Elijah on Mt Horeb, but what we do find in Scripture is the thrust of it all. After Elijah answers Yahweh for the second time with the same answer to the same question, “What are you doing here?” God instructs and reveals to Elijah things found within his answer of why he was on Horeb. There is an instructive part, and there is a corrective part (just for the record).
We are not privy to all of the exchanges between Yahweh and Elijah on Mt Horeb, but what we do find in Scripture is the thrust of it all. After Elijah answers Yahweh for the second time with the same answer to the same question, “What are you doing here?” God instructs and reveals to Elijah things found within his answer of why he was on Horeb. There is an instructive part, and there is a corrective part (just for the record).
The instructive part for Elijah addresses those things that have
been really bugging him in the Northern Kingdom. When we read this, we should
not take away that Yahweh is obligated to answer any or all of our petulant and
arrogant demands to know the five W’s & how anything God does or doesn’t
do. He is God; we are mankind. The corrective part has more to do with setting
the record straight which probably surprised Elijah since he truly believed
that he was the last remaining prophet of Yahweh in the Northern Kingdom. Paul
referred to it (Rom 11:2-5).
Anyway, Yahweh will leave the very
last part of Elijah’s answer untouched until further down the road and heading
to a private airport to catch a flight on a celestial chariot to glory, alive
and kicking! Glory to God! Oh, the goodness and greatness of God shown to a man
with a nature just like ours! His God is our God, yes! I am of the opinion something
transpired between Elijah’s second answer and the clause, “Then the LORD said to him.” Elijah
was realigned to the will of God; eyes were back on Yahweh. Elijah got the
green light to go forward in the will of God!
I am so thankful He did not share that
conversation with us. God does not disclose our intimate repairing and restoring
process with others; I praise God for that! We just come out of it with
people seeing, our talk and walk, and saying, “He got his heart right with the
LORD.” Such a thing is between the LORD and His servant, and that is all anyone
needs to know, the obvious, not the hidden processes of those tender moments.
The instructive:
1Ki 19:15 – “Then the LORD said to him [Elijah]: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus [through
Israel to Damascus]; and when you arrive, anoint
Hazael as king over Syria.
1Ki 19:16 – Also
you shall anoint Jehu the son of
Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel
Meholah you shall anoint as
prophet in your place.”
1Ki 19:17 – It
shall be that whoever escapes the
sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill;
and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.
From Horeb, the
mountain of God, comes the command from Yahweh, “Go, return on your way to the
Wilderness of Damascus.” The Lord instructed
Elijah to anoint Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. He
was to commission them in destroying Baal worship in Israel. Actually, Elijah
only commissioned Elisha (1 Kgs 19:19); Elisha anointed Hazael (see 2 Kgs
8:7-13), and an associate of Elisha anointed Jehu (see 2 Kgs 9:1-3). What
Elijah started on Mt Carmel these three men would finish it: kill! kill! kill! The
Syrian king Hazael would brutally pulverize the Northern Kingdom (cf. 2 Kgs
8:12). Jehu would exercise God’s judgment on the house of Ahab. Elisha would be
Elijah’s successor.
It speaks of the thoroughness of judgment for sin. According
to MacArthur, by the time the last of these three men died (2 Kgs 13:24), “Baalism had been
officially barred from Israel” (The
MacArthur Bible Commentary on 1 Kings 19:15, p. 423). This phrase “in your
place” should not be construed as a demotion of some sort for Elijah. I don’t look at it that
way; he was reassigned and will in the future get a promotion beyond his
wildest dreams or expectations (2 Kings 2:11). What it does teach us is that
though we are important in the will of God, none of us are indispensable; no
matter how important we may think we are (“I alone am left”).
The corrective:
1Ki 19:18 – “Yet I
have reserved seven thousand in Israel,
all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him
[who had not bowed or kissed the symbols of idolatry in worship].” God just wanted to set the record
straight for Elijah, nothing personal.
Remember Elijah’s proclamation to the people on Mt Carmel of his self-importance, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD” (1 Kgs 18:22)! The whereabouts of the 7k during the confrontation on Mt Carmel is unclear. God said they were cool (anti-Baal); that is good enough for me.
1Ki 19:19 – “So he departed from there, …” After coming off the mountain of God, Elijah headed back up North to Abel Meholah, in the Jordan Valley near Beth Shean to throw his mantel on Elisha as a sign that he would be Elijah’s successor.
Remember Elijah’s proclamation to the people on Mt Carmel of his self-importance, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD” (1 Kgs 18:22)! The whereabouts of the 7k during the confrontation on Mt Carmel is unclear. God said they were cool (anti-Baal); that is good enough for me.
1Ki 19:19 – “So he departed from there, …” After coming off the mountain of God, Elijah headed back up North to Abel Meholah, in the Jordan Valley near Beth Shean to throw his mantel on Elisha as a sign that he would be Elijah’s successor.
God in His infinite wisdom shared with us great insights into Elijah’s feelings of fear and discouragement. Elijah was high up on Mt Horeb, but this was not just a mountain-top existential experience. He was lifted up, restored, encouraged, motivated, and on his way down the mountain. Had not God shared with us Elijah taking his eyes off the LORD, we might be led to believe that James, the LORD’s half-brother, had it all wrong about Elijah being “a man like us” (Jas 5:17, JBP). We are like him, and he is like us!
Staying clear of disagreements with Yahweh will keep our eyes on what is really important in life for all believers, God and His will, running in the eternal rather than in the passing. Do you believe this is where our real independence is found (Eccl 3:14; Jn 8:32)? Like the Energizer bunny, this rabbit just won’t quit; see you in Part 17, my second favorite number. <><
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