1 Kings 19:1-18
Elijah Flees Horeb
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
Was Elijah so depressed that he wanted to take his life?...He prays to God to take his life, so we know that he is depressed...After the Prophet had performed such good acts with God against the false god Baal, it is hard to understand why Elijah wanted to take his life...Elijah has just seen the power of His LORD against the Baal idol...There is this great contrast in his previous and earlier actions and now him being depressed...Yet, Elijah has fallen into despair and depression...We really do not know what Elijah is thinking, but his thoughts are negative now...These negative thoughts have made Elijah become depressed ...Maybe Elijah thought Ahab and Jezebel would be more considerate after God’s miracles against Baal...But the king and queen were not more considerate afterwards and knowing the power of God...Elijah was afraid of Ahab and Jezebel...He ran for his life, and then later Elijah was praying for his own death...
But God did not answer this prayer about His Prophet's death....God LOVES Elijah...And God knows when we are depressed...God knows the human condition...God does not say, pull up your boot straps and get going...He does not say, snap out of it...So He sends an angel to Elijah to help him with his appetite, and the Prophet eats...Eating helps Elijah prepare for another journey and a meeting with God at Horeb and on the Sacred Mountain...And the Prophet who thought God might be in the strong wind, or an earthquake, or a fire -finds God in a gentle whisper...
God had not answered Elijah's prayer...God helped with sleeping and eating and God refreshed His Prophet...Elijah finds God in gentleness, a gentile whisper...Elijah is helped and comforted by this gentleness and this gentile whisper...God helps us when we feel good, and He is there when we feel bad and depressed...