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"What Doest Thou Here, Elijah?"
1 Kings 19
First Kings 19 reveals Elijah in the cave of despondency. And well he might be!
Nationally, Israel had forsaken God's covenant, the very foundation of her
national existence. Religiously, they had thrown down God's altars and slain His
prophets with the sword. Personally, Elijah alone was left as one who was
jealous of Jehovah, and he was a hunted man - they were seeking his life to take
it away.
We can sympathize with Elijah. Many of us have spent many hours in such a cave;
some have hardly been out of it. The whole world has seemed to be a boiling
cauldron belching forth new trouble with every bubble. Often our nation has
seemed to totter on the brink of military embarrassment, of economic collapse
and civil anarchy. True religion is on the decline. Many pulpits of the land are
occupied by infidels and some of the Lord's bitterest enemies are among those
who claim to be of His own household. The courts seem determined to establish
humanism as the national religion and almost daily give new license to
lasciviousness which flows like a flood into our lives through every avenue of
communication. How dark the future appears for us and for our children! How
difficult to resist the pressure!
God's Question
Read God's question two ways: First, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" You, the
foil of Ahab and the frustration of Jezebel, God's champion on Mount Carmel,
"the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof." And, "What doest thou here,
Elijah?" What can you accomplish in this place and in this frame of mind?
Would not God question us in this same way? We profess that faith which "is the
victory that over comes the world." We claim identity with that great church
which in 30 years changed the course of world history, and alliance with the
same God who gave them that success. We claim possession of the same weapons,
the same armor. What do we here in despondency? "For God gave us not a spirit of
fear fulness, but of power and love and discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).
God's Encouragement
Elijah needed three things to remove him from the cave: First, he needed a
revelation of God. It is just such a revelation that each of us needs - oh, not
a literal miraculous vision, but a vision of God by faith. Despondency is weak
faith; it is losing sight of "God amid the shadows;" it is forgetting that "the
Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men." Faith, on the other hand, endures "as
seeing Him that is invisible."
Elijah also needed a vision of his earthly fellowship. He was not, as he
supposed, alone. He was but one of seven thousand who had not "bowed the knee
unto Baal." Any idea today that "I, even I only, am left," is inexcusable. There
are still relatively large congregations of devout, earnest Christians whose
outstanding zeal makes them examples for us all. There are numberless smaller
ones scattered throughout the world, relatively unknown, yet courageously
letting their light shine in
their dark corner. And how many saints there are who may be alone in their own
world, but who in the Lord are joined hand in hand with "the whole family, in
heaven and on earth." "Lord, open thou thy servants' eyes!"
Elijah desperately needed a renewed assurance of God's eventual victory over
Baal and of his role in it. He was a disillusioned man and this was a major part
of his problem. Enthusiasm and optimism go hand in hand. The zeal of the
Galilean disciples was unbounded while they had visions of Jesus sitting on a
throne in Jerusalem, but when His death dashed their hopes, they were consumed
with disillusionment, explaining: "But we had hoped that it was he that should
redeem Israel." The most fervent evangelism America has ever seen was more than
a century ago among those who genuinely believed that the plea for restoration
would eventually break down all denominational barriers and unite all believers.
The most sacrificial and passionate efforts at world evangelism were in times
when men possessed a vision of a world "full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the
waters cover the sea." But we have about decided that these things will never
be. The church of our generation is an old man who has learned that the visions
of youth are unrealistic. But by the Spirit of God, this old man can yet dream
dreams - dreams of battles won, of conquest and victory in the name of the Lord.
God's Commission
Each time Elijah complained, God's response was, "Go!" He instructed him to
anoint a new king over Israel, to appoint a new king over the enemy of Israel
and to prepare Elisha to be prophet in his stead. "Go," says the Lord to us -
"All authority has been given unto me." Renew allegiance to the throne in
spiritual Israel. "Make disciples of all nations," thus making Jesus their king.
And "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the
Lord." The battle soon will be theirs. God is not defeated - His purpose will be
accomplished!
Scanned from CHRISTIANITY MAGAZINE, Sept. 1987
By Sewell Hall
From Expository Files 3.11; November 1996
