Opening Prayer
My Father in heaven, it is from you that all blessings flow. Thank you that you are with me in everything I do; use me to bless others.
Read 1 KINGS 19
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Elijah Flees to Horeb
19 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[a] 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.
The Lord Appears to Elijah
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.”
The Call of Elisha
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”
“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 19:3 Or Elijah saw
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, / O still, small voice of calm!’1
Think Further
Emotional highs are often followed by emotional lows – and we crash. Has that happened to you? Here, Elijah’s life is under genuine threat (v. 2). The courage he’d shown at Carmel has evaporated in the desert heat and he runs away (v. 3). So many times, I’ve echoed his words, ‘I have had enough, Lord’ (v. 4)! He lies down under the only shade available in the desert and goes to sleep. An angel wakes him and gives him fresh bread and water – twice (vv. 5, 7)! – and he makes his escape to Horeb (v. 8). He may have felt that he needed a dramatic solution to his problems, but simple food, drink, and sleep did the trick (as they often do).
God speaks to Elijah again, asking what he is doing there (v. 9b), only for him to pour out his self-pity (v. 10). Has he learned nothing from Mount Carmel? Is God a local god who can only speak at Horeb (Sinai)? Is Elijah really alone?2 God’s answer is simple, just as it was when he provided for him in the desert (v. 6). It’s not in powerful winds, earthquake, or fire – it comes in a gentle whisper, ‘a brief sound of silence.’3 Whether or not we’re aware of it, God is at work. Elijah receives new orders (vv. 15–17). Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha will play significant parts in God’s purposes for the future.4
With twelve pairs of oxen (v. 19), Elisha must have had quite a large farm with at least enough laborers to drive the other eleven pairs. Receiving Elijah’s cloak was the equivalent of being anointed: the blessing was passed on to him. Just as, much later, Jesus’ disciples would leave their nets,5 Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burned his farming equipment. There was to be no turning back from this call.
Apply
What has it meant to you to follow Jesus’ call? Is anything getting in the way of full obedience?
Closing prayer
Jesus, there are times when I want to shut myself off from the pressures of life—when things seem just too hard and too unfair. Thank you that you are always with me when I feel weary and defeated. Thank you for the comfort that only you can offer.
Last Updated on September 3, 2024 by kingstar
