2 Kings 19, Elijah’s Pity Party

Summer Bible camp, when I was a kid, was often what we called a “mountain-top experience.”  The camp staff would often warn us, on the day of departure, about going back to “the valley.”  We needed to learn how to walk faithfully with the Lord, not just at camp but in our normal life.

Do you think that’s what happened here?  Elijah has just come from Mt. Carmel and the amazing display of God’s power.  It’s the epitome of “mountain top experiences.”  Is he a little proud?  Or unprepared for Satanic attack?  Elijah is not in the same category as the young teen believer going home from camp.  I can tell you I never faced after summer camp what Elijah faced after Mt. Carmel.  But the story certainly reveals some faulty thinking by the prophet. 

Another introductory question is whether or not Elijah experienced clinical depression.  Again, there’s no indication that Elijah had these symptoms other than in this one event.  But while we might not call it “clinical” we can certainly call it “depression.”  Or discouragement, if you wish.  And I do want to say that the way the LORD dealt with Elijah is a perfect example of how we can help someone who is discouraged. 

The last word of introduction is this: this story is neither centered on Elijah’s mountain-top experiences or on his depression.  As usual, God is the focus of this event.  For Elijah, it was an issue of faith.  Would he trust God?

One key factor in this story has to be Elijah’s “travels.”  First, he ran ahead of Ahab and his chariot from Mt. Carmel to the entrance of the city of Jezreel (1 Ki. 18:46), about 15 miles.  Then he ran approximately 120 miles from Jezreel to Beer Sheva (19:3).  This was in Judah, the Southern Kingdom, so he might have considered himself safe there.  But he left his servant there and continued on into the desert (19:4). 

Why did he continue on without his servant?  The scripture gives us a good clue: it was because Elijah wanted time alone with the God.  There is serious discouragement, enough to want to die (19:4). 

It is at that point that we see God is in charge of the situation.  He commissions an angel to feed Elijah in preparation for more travels.  This time it is a forty-day journey to Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai), a distance of as much as 150 miles, perhaps more (we don’t know the exact routes Elijah took in his travels).

Upon Elijah's arrival at a cave, God begins to reveal Elijah’s heart (19:9-10).  “What are you doing here Elijah?”  “I have been very zealous … I alone am left.”  Elijah will repeat these words, in answer to the same question (19:13-14), but only after God reveals Himself, not in the mighty wind or the earthquake or the fire but in “a still small voice” (19:11-12).  What is that all about?  I think the answer is obvious: Elijah saw God’s work on Mt. Carmel, the powerful and awesome work of God; but he failed to see God when God was not as easily seen.  That idea comes from 19:18 where God corrects Elijah, that he is not alone but there are still 7000 in Israel who are true to God.

But notice that God does not give this answer to Elijah until after He gives the prophet instructions to anoint Hazael, Jehu and Elisha.  It’s as if God is saying, “You don’t need to know the truth; you just need to serve Me and trust Me with the validity or fairness of your situation.” 

The truth for Elijah and for us is this: GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK!  If we are overcome by our “smallness” and think our situation hopeless then we have gone awry.  Jonathan, the son of King Saul, said this: “Nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few” (1 Sam. 14:6-7).  Again, to put words in the LORD’s mouth, “Elijah, even if you were the only one left, nothing would keep Me from doing My will in Israel.  But in case you’re wondering, there are 7000 in addition to you.”   In the end, Elijah needed to say with the Apostle Paul, "we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead" (2 Cor. 1:9).  

I had a wonderful friend in my early years of ministry who believed that God basically was done with Elijah at this point, that he gave Elijah menial tasks.  I’m not sure that’s the case but it could be.  Elijah only anointed Elisha; Elisha after Elijah would anoint Hazael and Jehu.  But in the end, Elijah is still the “gold standard” of the prophets, being the one who will come ahead of the Messiah (Mal. 4:5-6).  And that is a pretty significant ministry!