Elijah
The Third in the Series on Old
Testament Heroes
By Ed Winkler
Text: 1 Kings
19:1-15
[1] Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah
had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. [2] Then Jezebel sent a messenger to
Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make
your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." [3] Then he was afraid, and he arose
and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to
Sometimes, we know people’s names, but not much about their
lives. That seems to be the way it is with Elijah. He is probably the most
famous Old Testament character about whom most people know very little.
The year was 869 B.C. What was once the kingdom of Israel
had broken into two kingdoms: Israel in the North and Judah in the South. The
king of Israel was a man named Ahab. The book of First Kings said: “he did evil
in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.” In other words,
Ahab was the worst king ever. Ahab married Jezebel, who led him to worship
false gods. In the eyes of the writers of the Old Testament, worshiping false
gods was the worst thing that a person could do. Ahab even went a little
further: he built a temple to one of the false gods and a shrine to a goddess.
Out of nowhere, Elijah appeared on the scene. We don’t know
where he came from. We don’t know anything about his background. But that
unknown man confronted King Ahab. Elijah told Ahab that there would be a
drought so bad that there wouldn’t be any rain or even dew on the ground. Kings
don’t like to hear that sort of news, so God told Elijah to go hide by a small
stream of water. Ravens brought him food and the brook provided water.
Eventually, the brook dried up. But God had a Plan B. God told Elijah to go to
a certain widow in an area just north of Israel.
Elijah found the widow and asked for food. She told him that
she only had a little oil and flour, and that she planned to make that into
bread as a last meal for herself and her son. Then she and her son would die.
Elijah said, “Don’t worry. Make the bread for me, and God will make sure that
you never run out of flour or oil before the drought ends.” Elijah must have
been pretty persuasive because she did what Elijah asked. God must have been
listening also because the flour and oil never ran out.
After a while, the woman’s son became sick and died. As
people sometimes do in times of stress, the woman looked for someone to blame
and decided that it was Elijah’s fault. Elijah picked up the boy and took him
to the loft where he was staying. Elijah laid on top of the boy and prayed for
him. God answered Elijah’s prayer and the boy began to breathe again. The tough
guy who stood up to King Ahab was also the compassionate man who brought the
widow’s son back to life.
In the third year of the drought, God told Elijah to go back
to Ahab and tell him that the drought was about to end. When Elijah got to
Ahab, Ahab immediately called him the “troubler of Israel.” It’s the sort of
thing that psychologists call “projection.” No one had caused Israel more
trouble than Ahab, but he projected that trouble onto Elijah.
Elijah didn’t back down: “Ahab, you’re the one who has
caused the trouble in Israel. You’ve chased after other gods and ignored the
one true God.”
Elijah proposed a test. He told Ahab to assemble everyone in
Israel and 850 prophets of the false gods on Mount Carmel. When everyone was
there, Elijah told them to make up their minds: “Who are you going to follow,
the real God or the false gods?” The people weren’t sure.
Elijah had the false prophets make an altar. Then they put
firewood and an ox on the altar to sacrifice. Elijah then ordered the false
prophets to pray to their gods to light the fire on the altar. The false
prophets prayed all morning, but nothing happened. Hundreds of false prophets
prayed, but no fire. Elijah taunted them, and still nothing happened. Elijah
then made an altar with twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel. He then
put firewood and an ox on the altar. Elijah dug a trench around the altar. He
then took four buckets of water and poured them over the firewood, the ox, and
the altar. He then poured four more buckets of water over the altar—and then
four more. By this time the altar was drenched and the trench around it was full
of water.
Elijah then prayed to God to show the people who was the
true God and to give the people a chance to repent. Immediately, a fire came
and burned up the altar, the firewood, the ox, and even the twelve stones and
the water in the trench. Needless to say, the people were impressed. In one of
the less graceful parts of the Bible, Elijah had the false prophets killed. To
make the celebration complete, rain began to fall.
Ahab went back to his wife, Jezebel, and reported what had
happened. Jezebel was not converted or happy. She didn’t email Elijah with
congratulations. Instead, she sent a message to Elijah telling him that she
going to kill him. Elijah took off into the desert. There in the desert, hot,
tired, hungry, and scared, he had a different sort of prayer: “Lord, I’ve had
enough. Just go ahead and take me now.”
The Lord had something else in mind. An angel told Elijah,
“get up and eat.” There beside him was a freshly baked loaf of bread and a jug
of water. Full and relaxed, Elijah fell asleep, but the angel woke him up
again: “Eat some more and get going.”
Elijah walked for forty days and nights to the Mount Horeb.
There he crawled into a cave and slept. God apparently didn’t like to see
Elijah sleep. “What are you doing here?” God asked.
Elijah told God, “The people of Israel have abandoned you.
I’m the only one left and they’re trying to kill me.”
God told Elijah to go stand on the mountain. What a scene.
There was Elijah standing there alone on the sacred mountain. Suddenly, a wind
so strong that it shattered rocks ripped through the mountain, but God wasn’t
in the wind. An earthquake shook the mountain, but God wasn’t in the
earthquake. A fire raged around the mountain, but God wasn’t in the fire. After
the fire, there was a “still, small voice.” A more accurate translation of that
phrase is the “sound of sheer silence.” God confronted Elijah in the sound of
sheer silence. That’s where God was found: not in the wind, not in the
earthquake, nor in the fire, but in silence. God again surprised us.
God didn’t have some comforting little message for Elijah:
“Everything’s alright, Elijah. Just relax for awhile.” No, God’s message was
simple and direct: “get back to work.” And Elijah did. He found a disciple name
Elisha who worked with him. Elijah continued to speak the Word of the Lord. In
fact, Elijah was so effective that Ahab eventually repented. At the end of his
life, Elijah went out in style. The Lord took Elijah into heaven in a chariot
of fire.
Elijah lives on in Jewish tradition. There is always a chair
left vacant for Elijah at circumcisions so that he can witness the keeping of
the covenant. There is always a glass of wine poured for Elijah at Passover
Seders. Elijah is a prophet in the Qur’an. His Arabic name is “Elias,” which is
a common name for Christian Arabs. The New Testament mentions Elijah several
times.
There are a lot of things we could say about this story. The
story tells us some important things about God. God pushed Elijah, but God also
provided for him. The story also tells us some important things about Elijah.
Elijah shows us courage: the courage to speak truth to power. Elijah was
willing to confront the most powerful man in the kingdom: the king. Elijah
shows us trust in God. It took a lot of trust to believe that God would bring
fire to that altar drenched in water.
Last week we talked about the power of words. Moses was a
man of words, and he changed the world. Elijah was a man of words. He stood
before the king and called him to task. Elijah’s story also shows us the power
of silence. On the mountain top, God didn’t speak in the wind, earthquake, or
fire. God spoke in the sheer silence. It was as if God said to Elijah, “you
need to be quiet and listen for a change. Now be silent.”
People admire folks who are articulate and able to use words
persuasively. We love people who say witty things and make us laugh. Yet there
is also power in silence. In silence, we can feel God’s presence. In silence,
God most often speaks to us. God is a patient listener who doesn’t interrupt,
but waits until we’ve finished yakking before speaking to us. The New Testament
tells us that Jesus often went to be alone to pray. Even Jesus needed to be
alone and to be silent to hear God’s voice. The power of silence is a reminder
that prayers don’t have to be words. Listening for God is as much praying as
speaking to God.
Being silent before God is not easy for a lot of us. In
fact, it is downright counter cultural. Have you ever noticed how uncomfortable
we are with silence? When I ask people to read along with me, from the hymnal
or the bulletin, I usually wait to see that people have found the page. Even
that five, six, or seven second wait makes some people are uncomfortable. We
have been well trained. When was the last time that there was even seven
seconds of silence on TV or radio? And if there were seven seconds of silence,
we would change the channel. But if we can cultivate the art of being silent,
we’ll be surprised at what we hear in the silence. That’s often when we’ll find
God.
There is also power in silence in human relationships.
Sometimes, we don’t need to speak to people to be helpful. There is power in
presence. Being present with someone is one of the best gifts we can give, even
if we never say a word. Sometimes, people say to me, “I’d like to visit people
who are sick or grieving, but I don’t know what to say.” We don’t have to say
anything. Sometimes, sitting with people, listening to them, or holding their
hand is a healing act. Silence can be as powerful as speaking.
Not speaking is sometimes a gift that we can give to people.
Some things don’t need to be said. Some things shouldn’t be said. It’s OK to
have an unspoken thought. When we’ve released angry or hurtful words into the
atmosphere, we can’t get them back. Losing our temper, telling people off, or
ranting on folks may temporarily make us feel good, but the harm that is done
is often permanent. Childish outbursts are remembered far longer than mature
reflections. We seldom hurt people or damage our relationships by what we don’t
say.
Sometimes, God calls us to speak to God; sometimes, God
calls us to speak for God; and sometimes, God calls us to speak about God.
Sometimes, God calls us to speak to our neighbors. Sometimes, God calls us to
have the courage and self-discipline to be silent.
© 2008 by Ed Winkler