Elijah’s Big Crash- TBU 7
I Kings 19:1-15
October 22, 2024
Welcome
Hi, I'm Brent and this is the Bible Unplugged Podcast. I recorded the last episode outside while our house repairs were underway. I've cleared enough room in my sound studio slash storage closet to record inside this week. Living in a dusty construction zone has been a challenge for me and my wife this last week.
In this episode, we're going to take a look at a time when challenges in Elijah's life drained his personal strength and also his ability to stand up to evil. We'll also look at what this means and share some practical ways we can apply these lessons to our lives. Please take a minute to look at the show notes, which includes the Bible text and study resources for this episode at powerlovinmiracles.com under the podcast tab.
In each episode, we take away the misconceptions and mistranslations of Scripture that can cloud our understanding about what the Bible actually says. My hope is, by the time you finish this episode, you'll have something new to think about.
Context
Over the last few episodes, we've talked about some of the whirlwind events in Elijah's life. He confronted the prophets of Baal and then prophesied rain to end the three-year drought. In 1 Kings chapter 19, though, things change. In verses 1 and 2, “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, So let the gods do to me and more also if I don't make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”
Based on Elijah's forceful personality, we would fully expect him to take care of Jezebel the way he did the prophets of Baal. But that's not what happened. In verse 3, he got up and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
It would have been a simple matter to confront Jezebel, but Elijah panicked and ran. He ran a long way, too. That was a 100-mile journey that took several days. Jezreel, where he was, was on the northern end of the kingdom, and Beersheba was on the southern part, in the middle of the Negev desert.
Elijah left his servant there either for the servant's safety or maybe Elijah didn't want anyone to see his anguish. This tells us that even the greatest characters in the Bible have human frailties just like we do, so there's hope for us.
Study resources for this passage can be found at: https://biblehub.com/web/1_kings/19.htm
Elijah’s Depression
In verse 4, Elijah went a day's journey into the wilderness alone and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he might die and said, “It is enough. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's. Elijah shows many classic symptoms of depression.”
Humans tend to feel let down after an emotional high, so it wouldn't be unusual for Elijah to feel these things. In fact, he may have even felt imposter syndrome, where you feel like you're not worthy to be in the position you are and believe that others might think the same thing.
Some of the most famous people in our culture suffer from depression too. Jim Carrey, in describing what he felt like when he was depressed, said, “I don't want to be this character anymore. I don't want to hold up this avatar that you've created in the world. It's too much for me. You should think of the word depressed as deep rest. Your body needs to be depressed. It needs deep rest from the character that you've been trying to play.”
Elijah’s Recovery
So far, Elijah has done things right. He was honest with God about his feelings, because he felt like his life had no more purpose. He didn't want to go on feeling the way he did. He did acknowledge God's supremacy despite his feelings. When he said he was not better than his ancestors, he compared himself to others rather than seeing his own uniqueness. And happiness cannot be found in comparisons. Beginning in verse 5, we see what Elijah did about it.
He didn't fight the negative feelings, but he laid down and slept. And getting rest is mandatory when you're emotionally and physically drained.
An angel appeared with food and water and woke Elijah up and said, That's exactly what Elijah did for Ahab before the rain came. I believe that Ahab was probably feeling depressed as well after all that had happened. and Elijah was taken care of him. Now the angel takes care of Elijah. It's interesting that God did not rescue Elijah from his feelings, but responded only after Elijah recognized his state. He recognized his exhaustion and lay down and slept. That's when God took care of him. Maybe there's a lesson in that for us too.
In verse 7, the Lord's angel woke him up again and provided more food and water, saying, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” God provided the necessary resources for his next challenge. And there are times when God calls on us to do things that are far beyond our capability, but God gives us the ability to do it.
Elijah’s Renewal
Mount Horeb is where Moses saw the burning bush and also received the law from God. Now, it's only a 12-day journey, but it took 40 days and nights for Elijah to get there.
In verse 9, God says, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” This was indirect, probably in a vision, because the word came to him. It doesn't say God said to him. But also, too, did God not know why Elijah was there? As we talked about in the episode with Cain and Abel, sometimes God asks us questions to get us to examine our own lives.
In verse 10, Elijah responds, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” When Elijah says, I am the only one left, that wasn't true, because Ahab's assistant protected some of the prophets of God, so they were still there. When he said, they seek to kill me, actually it was just Jezebel
But when we're in a crisis like that, we tend to universalize everything, and also that is a feature of feeling depressed and defeated.
God responded to Elijah's complaint by saying, go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. As Elijah stood there, God passed by and a strong wind tore up the mountain, but God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake happened, but God was not in the earthquake. Fire burned through the wilderness, but God was not in the fire. We often look for God in the great and spectacular thinking that that's the only way God can show up. But God has other ways.
After the fire, there was a still, small voice. The word “still” in Hebrew means silent and calm, and “small” means scrawny and wasted away, meaning there wasn't a sound, there wasn't a substance to this sound outside of Elijah, and we don't know exactly what the voice said, but this marks the first time that God spoke from within a human. Before, God's voice was something people heard like any other sound. This was a change in the way God related to his creation.
In verse 13, it says,” Elijah heard the voice, wrapped his face, and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” Elijah wrapped his face because he knew God was waiting for him. And God asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” This time God asks him directly. It's not in a vision. And Elijah repeated his complaint. God sent him to find the 7,000 soldiers who remained faithful.
Elijah couldn't look past his own misery to see that there were others who were on his side.
What do we Learn from this
Don’tfight negative feelings. Allow them to teach you. There is a lesson there.
One of the first steps to recovering from a painful experience is to take care of yourself like Elijah did.
Depression and disappointment can be springboards to greater faith and commitment.
We tend to look for God in the spectacular and find him in the quietness of our own spirits. So we need to listen.
God is patient but persistent. Elijah complained twice exactly the same thing, and God listened and then provided his resources.
God has a plan. He gives us the resources and fortunately is very patient with us.
And more importantly than anything else, if you feel like life is not worth living, hear from me that you are a priceless child of God. Ask for help from someone you trust. In the United States, you can call 988 on your cell phone to connect with someone who's willing to help.
What do we do with this?
Spend some quiet time making an honest assessment of the times you have felt down and possibly depressed. Where was God during those times?
When the crisis is over, what did you learn? How has that lesson helped you since then?
And look around you for people who need someone to care about them and to show them God's love. God put us here to be his ambassadors and show his love to the people that need it.
Conclusion
Well, the music in the background means I have to stop talking,
and you probably know by now how hard that is for me. I hope this has been helpful, though. If so, please give us a high rating and share this with others. And join me in the next episode when we start the Advent series with saints, sinners, scandals, and scoundrels behind the Christmas story. I think you'll enjoy it.
My prayer for you is that you will see how God has carried you through the difficulties in life and gives you the strength for the road ahead. Have a blessed week.
Disclaimers
Oh, yeah. Just to let you know, all opinions are my own. If you agree, keep listening. If you don't, keep listening. There's a lot to learn here.
All Bible quotes come from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Our show theme song is Awesome Call by Kevin MacLeod and is available under Creative Commons license. The content of this podcast is copyrighted 2024 by J. Brent Eaton, and this has been a Power, Love, and Miracles production.
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