Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Like I said, we'll be in First Kings chapter 19 this evening. We looked at this briefly a couple of weeks ago when we were ending chapter with the rain finally coming down and we're kind of now in this transition period, you might say, in the life of Elijah. And so now we've got to ask the question, where are we going? Where did we come from? And kind of how does chapter 19 fit? What type of transition are we talking about? And we kind of began that with the first three verses there that as Ahab came home and told Jezebel of all that had done and not what the Lord had done but what Elijah had done. and how he'd kill the prophets with the swords, the 450 prophets of Baal after the fire rained down from heaven and the rain finally came. And then finally Jezebel speaks and says what, she makes a vow, an oath in verse two saying that, 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. And so here is the change you might say and Elijah turns and in verse 3 this is kind of where we're going to start this evening. Then he was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah and left his servant there. And so before we get into the real details of chapter 19, we need to be able to ask a really important question and that's what we're gonna be able to talk about and try and dissect tonight is, is this a positive passage or is this a negative passage in the light of Elijah and his life? Is Elijah here filled with sin and fear or is Elijah acting as he should as a prophet? And this is a very important question because how you answer this question really helps us understand this conversation that happens here at Mount Horeb with Yahweh and Elijah. If Elijah is sinning, then we read this question and this dialogue a different way than if we see it as a positive thing of Elijah acting not out of sin or fear, but out of faith. Now you can turn many different ways to be able to find this. Majority of people actually think that he's acting out of fear. You see that there in the start of verse three, that he was afraid. And so we are going to look at this and try and unpack. Now what we find sometimes is that we are given, recorded in Scripture and we are told something has happened. Ahab did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. We might be able to look at Ahab and his life and be able to say, was he good or bad? Was he a good king or a bad king? And we might be left not sure. But we can see that Ahab was a wicked king, Asa the same way. That we can look at his life and we can see that he does a lot of good things but then there are things that he does not do that are well. But he can still please the Lord because he can be serving through faith. And so occasionally we do get passages like I've mentioned before in 2 Samuel 11 verse 27 where we are told directly that the thing that David did had displeased the Lord. And And so now we need to be able to try and understand, is this a positive passage or is this a negative passage in the life of Elijah? And many people kind of read this passage that it's a negative light. And this is the common interpretation. Many commentators kind of lean this way. And this is the view that I had when I understood this passage. But reading a little bit more, and particularly Dale Ralph Davis will get to his view later, which I believe is the correct interpretation that we'll argue. But first we need to understand this passage and how many people try and understand it. And there's reasons why they understand it this way. I think we need to be cautious that they haven't really merely just taken some emotional, psychologized view of this passage, that they come to this passage and look at this passage and believe that it's biblical in their position. And so what we see is that they really connect to this verse in 5 verse 17 and say that Elijah is a man just like us, with a nature like ours. And so when we come to a passage like this we connect a lot to these emotional sides of these arguments and say, yes he's exactly like us. And it's helpful for us to be able to see that. And like I said, you can be preaching the right doctrine from the wrong text. And many people can do that. And I've probably done that many a time as well. But here, Elijah seeks to be able to be on the run. look at six reasons why they think that here that Elijah is acting kind of out of fear rather than faith. That he is going through you might say is somewhat of a midlife crisis. But what we see is that the first reason is that he runs because he is afraid of dying by the hand of Jezebel. We see this in verse 3 that here he is running because he is afraid. You see that in that translation there that then He was afraid. He rose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there." So the first reason they would say is that here he's running out of fear, not out of faith. You see that also. The second reason is that we're not told here that Elijah responds in verse 3 that he hears of this news and he runs. He runs for his life. He's afraid, so therefore he responds. don't get what we've seen previously in the passages that in verse 2 of chapter 17 that the Word of the Lord came to Elijah. In verse 8 the Word of the Lord came to Elijah. And then verse 18, after many days the Word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth. And so the argument is that here Elijah is not told by Yahweh to be able to go to and leave, flee this area. So here he's responding out of his personal fear of dying by the hand of Jezebel. The third reason is that it doesn't seem that Elijah is really in the right frame of mind you might say, that he runs away and then what does he do in verse 4? He goes a day's journey into the wilderness, comes and sits underneath a broom tree and he asks something and he says in verse 4, and he asks that he might die saying, it is enough now. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father's. And so here Elijah is responding out of, not out of seeking, how may I serve you Lord in this calling? He's been on the run for about three and a half years from Jezebel. Finally he gets this great climactic moment where the whole of Israel is worshiping. He runs before the chariot showing Ahab that he is willing to be able to serve alongside him. And then Jezebel comes and the news he gets back, instead of being honored as A.W. Pink says, that he's treated as a traitor. He's put to death. And so you can see why you'd be depressed, unhappy about this outcome. Finally, you think that you might be able to get your life back to a little bit of normal. But he's willing then to be able to say, I'm ready to die. I'm done. I'm out. He's tired, exhausted. You think about that. You know, starting to be exhausted from ministry, exhausted from life. And so again, we relate to this, don't we? That sometimes in our life we don't really have that much strength to be able to go on, or as much strength as we have in the past. And so again, this is why many people would favor this type of interpretation, because Elijah's just got a nature just like ours. The fourth reason is that here he's exhausted from ministry. You see this kind of, as he goes there, he comes to the, underneath the broom tree, and then in verse five, he lay down and slept under the broom tree. And so you see this kind of response here that not only is he, you know, exhausted from his life, but he's also willing to be able to sleep. He's ran a long distance, you know, from Carmel all the way to Israel. And, you know, 18, 20, 30 miles, whatever it is. And so he's exhausted. And so not only is he physically exhausted, but again, just put yourself in his shoes for been on the run for about three years, three and a half years, really fearing for your life, not worrying, not knowing where what's going to happen. The fifth reason is that here, what's the Lord ask him? Two times the Lord asks him a question and he says, what are you doing here, Elijah? What are you doing here, Elijah? from memory verse 10 and then verse 13 or 14 at the end of verse 13 and the end of verse 10. End of verse 9 and end of verse 13 he asks, what are you doing here Elijah? And often when the Lord comes and approaches someone and asks them a question often it is because of their sin. Think about the Garden of Eden and the Lord comes down in the cool of the night and He asks, where are you Adam? Or Cain and Abel as Cain comes down, where is your brother? And so the Lord asks a question to be able to respond in grace. And so many people would then say that the Lord's question, what are you doing here, Elijah? Why are you here? shouldn't you be somewhere else? And so they respond and say this is a negative part that Elijah didn't listen to the Lord in the first place and then he's run down to be at the mountain. And the sixth and final reason is that they say that here in Elijah's response that he says that, I am only left, I am alone. that here not only is exhausted, but as his life and ministry, he has found himself with no companions, no friends. And so he finds himself in that situation. Now, again, all of these things we relate to very well. that sometimes we feel exhausted from ministry, sometimes we don't know, feel like we have the right amount of strength to be able to go on as we have. We find something in our lives that responds us to a sense of, an aspect of fear, been afraid, think that you can understand where people come from as they begin to be able to interpret this passage. And they look at Elijah and they say that he is a man like us. And what we need is not a man like Elijah we need a man like Christ. who has the strength to be able to continue, the faith to be able to continue, not the ability, not the getting afraid when death is confronted by him, willing to be able to put his life on the line, who is willing to be alone and left and abandoned in the hour of need that he might be able to save God's people. And again, we understand that. It connects well, it preaches well. And the truth is that Elijah is a human, that he is just a man like us. But I think if we focus on Elijah here, I think we miss the main point of this passage. And also what we then miss is the context of what is to come. And again, I had this understanding, this is how I was intending to be able to teach this Bible study from this view, because that's how I had read it previously before. That's how I'd heard servants taught. That's how I'd read in many commentaries. But I think what we then miss is the context of chapter 19, and then what follows after chapter 19. We don't see the movement, this transition. When an interval happens in a stage play, then they reset the stage. They put on a new scene. And this is what's happening here is this is laying the scene for the rest of 1 Kings and Ahab's reign, but also even into 2 Kings as well. And then we also then miss the application of this. Because then what is the application of this? Well, you need sleep. Sleep is good. The rest is good. You need companions and friends to be able to help you on the way. That even going to the point where the dialogue with God comes, that it's good then to be able to venture frustrations towards God, that it can be a good thing. Again, these are applications that you find throughout the Bible, but you might be preaching the right doctrine from the wrong text. But I think the real danger is it misses the point, misses the movement. The chapter 19 is not there just to be able to deal with depression and emotions, although that can be an application and helpful for us. There's something more that's happening in this passage. Chapter 19 is a passage that not only deals with the prophet, but it deals with God's people and how the prophet represents the people. Dale Ralph Davis is a great book to be able to commentary, to be able to read on anything. I've never found anything that Dale Ralph Davis isn't helpful in some way or another and so Dale Ralph Davis is a helpful book to be able to unpack and understand how we come to this conclusion that this is actually a positive passage, that Elijah's not sinning in this passage per se, but what we see is then a more movement about what Elijah's role is. Delrath Davis, I gave you six reasons why some people see Elijah acting out of a negative fear-based aspect. Delrath Davis argues seven reasons why he thinks that Elijah here is acting out of faith. Again, it doesn't mean that we'll see that Elijah is not a sinner. But particularly when we focus on that, we miss kind of the point. But Delroy Davis's first reason that he says is that it's not so much that he was afraid, but he saw and then responded from what he saw. And so in verse 3 here chapter 9 verse 3, He was afraid and He arose and ran for His life and came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah and left His servant there. And afraid in Hebrew, in unpointed Hebrew is the same vowels you might say consonants and then just like English we have the same consonants that form a word but we change the vowel behind it. or add letters to it, so we can see the root word there, but then add suffixes and prefixes and things like this. So here, afraid can also mean that he saw. Delref Davis here that he does act in somewhat of a fear based as he sees with his eyes and he responds. He sees something and that something that he sees then causes him to be able to respond. And so he runs for his life from Jezebel. And so Delref Davis points out that he can see and he can also be broken. His response can be driven by this sinfulness But then we should be cautious not to then be able to then let that lay the foundation for the rest of the passage. That it's helpful for us to be able to see that, that he did not want to then be able to give Jezebel credit for his death. You see then that's why he asked that he's ready to die. It's not that he's afraid of death. He doesn't want Jezebel to be gloating or boasting about his death. The second thing that we see is the map. Where does then Elijah drive to? Where does he go? If he was merely running from Jezebel to be able to save his life, he could have stopped in Beersheba. Beersheba is roughly, you know, it's hard again to be able to calculate all these distances, but roughly about 100 miles. And yet he continues to go to a different destination as we'll see. We're actually told in verse three that it's in Judah. And he believes, he then leaves his servant there. The servant that Jezebel would have seen, the servant which probably Jezebel would have chased down. She went country to country making sure that every king made an oath and a vow that Elijah wasn't in their territory. And so to be able to find a servant probably is not that difficult a task. And so he's not merely just running from Jezebel, he's running to a destination. There's a bit of a change there that we see that if he's merely running from Jezebel, that's different than running to something. Particularly in verse seven we see this that the angel comes a second time, touches him and says, arise and eat for the journey is too great for you. that there's this movement, there's a journey that the angel Lord sends him on to, a destination which he's going to. Again, Delroth Davis finishes and says, the map suggests we're dealing with a plan rather than a panic, a plan rather than a panic. Which leads us to our third reason why he thinks that it's acting out of faith is the final destination. You see this in the end of verse seven, verse eight, that he or he ends up at Mount Horeb. Now this is no small coincidence. Mount Horeb is not just a random mountain that Elijah was going to. The Mount Horeb is a special particular place. Kendall Ralph Davis points out the similarities between Moses and Elijah and how they should not be overlooked. And then how it also responds to God's people. Mainly that he says that this is not a crisis but a covenant issue. That the covenant focus of this place. This is the covenant intersection, this renewal and restoration of Moses as you see in Exodus 32 and 34. What happens when people go and worship the golden calf in Exodus and then it drives us into Moses going to the mountain, interceding for the people and God restoring the people. What has happened up to first Kings with Jeroboam and the nation of Israel is they have established false idols, particularly what did Jeroboam establish? Golden calves where the people worshiped false gods in a false way, ending with Baal is what Elijah tells the Lord that they've thrown down the altars. And so Dale Ruff Davis points out that here Elijah comes before God to be able to make his case as the covenant lawyer with the accusation in verses 5 to 15 and then the covenant judgment with verses 15 to 18. Again, Dale Ruff Davis ends this way, he says, such parallels suggest at the very least we may be dealing with matters of redemptive historical movement and not merely with a whiny prophet. that here Elijah is going to a specific place, all the places to be able to hide, but he goes to Mount Horeb. And even to be able to take it a step further than Delroy Davis does in this short little commentary, is that here Mount Horeb is a special mountain. It is not mentioned frequently throughout the Bible. It's not a popular destination for people to go. Actually, it's almost always in reference to Moses and the covenant which is made with them. It's the covenant mountain, Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, as it's referred to. And here, this place has significance for the people of God. Now, if I was to be able to tell that, you know, have a place of historical significance, there could be many places in a country's history. Again, what do we call Lincoln's famous speech? Well, it's the Gettysburg Address, is the place where he gave that speech. Or if we were to be able to say that there was a speech being given on freedom, independence, given at Pennsylvania State Hall in Philadelphia. Again, anyone who understands American history understands this is no small coincidence. It's an important place. Everyone should then think about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Those dots need to be connected. And similarly, now the prophet ascends Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, where God will speak. And we'll see these similarities as we get into more detail. prophet represents God and his people, it's not merely the prophet then just representing himself before God. As Delroth Davids points out that, you know, it's about the people not the whiny prophet. The fourth then is then the angel, specifically the angel Lord instructs whether it's directly through command or at least indirectly you can say that here the angel is moving Elijah to be able to go to the Covenant Mountain, Mount Horeb, that in verses five and seven the angel of Yahweh comes and speaks to him. And that's what we see is that movement As you see there in Deuteronomy, it's known as the covenant at Horeb. But then that movement in verse 8 speaks to him in verse 7, arise to be able to go on your journey. And then what does he do? He arose, he ate food, he drank, he went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mount of God. Again, the author is making us make sure we understand that this is not just any Horeb, it is the mountain of God. as it's referred to commonly in the book of Exodus. The angel knew of this journey and gave him instructions to be able to eat and to be able to sleep, to be able to give him strength to be able to get there. That leads to the fifth point which speaks to the question which then the Lord asked Elijah. Again mentioned before in verse nine, As Elijah comes to the cave, he lodges there. The word of the Lord came to him and said, what are you doing here, Elijah? In verse 13, behold, there came a voice to him and said, what are you doing here, Elijah? Now, we can interpret this many, many different ways. Now, again, I mentioned, I think it is a good argument that many times when the Lord comes and asks a question, often it is asked because of a sinful action. And the Lord is giving grace to be able to respond where we can say, I have sinned. I'm here because I'm filled with shame, whatever that might be. But I think you can interpret these words in various ways, depending on what tone you think is used. We say it to the kids frequently, and I say it to myself even more. It's not what you said, it's how you said it. The words can carry meaning, particularly how you say those words. saw this the other day and I thought it was a helpful illustration to be able to understand that here you can say these words, these seven or so words, and you can say them differently depending on which word you focus on. I didn't tell her you were angry. And that could mean that someone else told her. I didn't tell her you were angry. emphasizing that your action of not telling her, I didn't tell her you were angry. I merely just implied it. I didn't speak those words. I didn't tell her, but I told someone else. I didn't tell her you were angry. I told her someone else was angry. I didn't tell her you were angry. I told her you still are angry. I didn't tell her you were angry. I told her you were feeling something else. And so when we try and dissect the tone the Lord is using here, we don't automatically have to say that, what are you doing here, Elijah? Shouldn't you be somewhere else? What in the world are you doing here, Elijah? Again, Delrath Davis points out that he asked the question this way. What are you doing here at Moses' place as the covenant mountain, Elijah, where I myself have led you to be able to come, directed you to come? Why is the prophet on this mountain? And this leads us to the sixth reason, the prophet and the covenant persecutor. What we see throughout this passage is Pears. He comes and he sleeps and eats, he eats and sleeps and he's on his way. The Lord comes to him and, what are you doing here Elijah? Again, what are you doing here Elijah? Elijah gives the same speech, two times, same, exact same. You see the pair of provision, the pair of the preliminary hearing, the pairing of judgment, And here, Elijah's here not merely just as a weary warrior or weary prophet, but he's here as the prophet of Yahweh. Again, we can read this in a different light, but in verse 14, when he responds, he does this exact same in verse 10. But we can focus on his aspect, that I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. And I, even I, only am left. And they seek my life to take it away. And so we can read this and say that this is a personal attack here on Elijah and he feels depressed and despaired. But if we read it a different way, it's the prophet presenting his case before Yahweh. I've heard it in different ways in different people that here you have the covenant prosecutors. That's what a prophet's role is to do. He represents God to the people and people to God. And so here, Elijah is not merely complaining of what is happening, he's stating fact to God of what has happened. That the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant which they made on this mountain with you. Look at this more in detail. They've killed your prophets. And so when we focus on the people rather than the prophet, and we elevate the person of the prophet rather than the office of the prophet, then we start to interpret this in a different light. And what we end up is that here he is, he doesn't want to be alone. Again, Delrath-Davids ends and says, in my view, Elijah's mission at Horeb was to bring covenant accusation against Israel for the breach of the covenant. He's standing there representing the people and how they have sinned against God and His covenant. The seventh argument that Delrath-Davids gives is context. If merely chapter 19 is about a whiny prophet, as Delroth Davids puts it, then where's the outcome? Where's the solution? Yeah, in some ways that he's not alone because there's 7,000, 5,000 have not bowed the knee to Baal. Maybe he finds a companion in Elisha to be able to share his ministry with. But the outcome, the resolution of all this is God's protection and provision of his people through not letting 7,000 dies, preserving the remnant. But also what God then tells Elijah and instructs him to be able to do. Again, we'll get more into this in verse 15. But he's to anoint three people. He's to anoint two kings, and then also one prophet. And what are these to do? They're to bring the sword upon the people who go against God. The passage was merely about Elijah being tired, then he would have had rest in Beersheba. If it was merely about him being lonely, he would have found some friends. If it was truly about him being sinful, then surely God would have rebuked him. If he really was in the wrong place, God would have told him. And that's where the resolution comes with Elijah then being instructed to be able to anoint those two kings and one prophet. For what? Judgment. God hears the case of the prophet. he renders a judgment and a verdict. So Delrath Davies gives us those seven reasons why he thinks that here Elijah is acting as the prophet of God. Here's some other points to be able to consider as well. Mountain transfiguration, again prophets that are there with on the top of the mountain with Christ as he transfigures before Peter James and John. We have two men, They're Moses and Elijah. Now that's significant when we think about both of them been on the top of the mountain, meeting with God. Again, they've done this before very uniquely on the Mount of God. They meet with God as he speaks to them through the fire in Exodus, through the whisper in 1 Kings chapter 17. The similarities are very helpful. As they talk to Jesus about his Exodus, as Luke puts it, And then what does the father say about the son? This is my son, in whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. He's emphasizing the role of Christ as the prophet, and you have there both two prophets meeting there. If Elijah was merely tired and exhausted, then those connections there are harder to make. Or again, another argument I think is found in Romans chapter 11, we'll get to this eventually, but Romans chapter 11, when Paul's explaining what happens in this time, but he says in verse one and two, I ask then, has God rejected his people by no means? For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? What's Paul then saying here? It's not saying Elijah's up on the mountain saying, I'm exhausted, I'm tired. Here, Paul specifically says he's appealing to God against Israel. And Paul pulls the two quotes that come out that here, Elijah says he's jealous for God, and then speaks of that judgment to come. Again, this is why it's helpful to understand the covenant is important. Particularly what we saw in chapter 18 as well, that as we heightened this, that we saw these connections to Exodus chapter 24 and other passages. The covenant that God had made with Israel, Jacob, The covenant God had made with Sinai at Horeb came up several times in what Elijah had said to the people. Come near to me and come all who came near to him. And he repaired the altar that had been thrown down. Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribe of the sons of Jacob. To him the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be your name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar. as great as would contain two seas of a seed." And then verse 36 and 37, and at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are the God in Israel, and I am your servant, and I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back. And we see all this covenant language in what Elijah was saying as we study that passage a little in depth, the 12 stones, the sons of Israel. Israel should be your name, setting them apart, building an altar. With the climax then in verse 39, and all the people saw and they fell on their faces, the Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. Yet what is it that Elijah then says as his argument before God as he makes his appeal to God against Israel? This would then be a false accusation that he says, I've been jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They've thrown down your altars. Specifically, Elijah built up, restored, healed the altar in chapter 18. So you would say that there's been a change of heart, but yet Elijah's representing the people before God and said, they've thrown them down. Elijah then would be a false witness. If it's depression or despair or whatever that is, then it's not helpful. But God's action is clearly, he acknowledges what Elijah says, not only that they have sinned, that he is jealous, that he feels like he's the only one, but he says that there's gonna be 7,000 that don't bow the knee to Baal, but specifically that judgment is coming. If we merely think about this as Dale Ruff Davis puts it, the whiny prophet, that we miss that point, that here it's the sin of the people. So we'll look at more detail what happens next week, but I think if we understand this passage not merely about a midlife crisis of a prophet, but a covenant persecutor, the prophet doing his duty, who approaches God, he announces God's judgment upon his people. The focus of the first verse 8 is the movement which is happening. God sending Elijah on that journey to the mountain of God. What we see as we read through the redemptive historical timeline of what happens from Exodus onwards is the people of God are in slavery. They then get free, they go into the wilderness. They then meet God at the mountain, they make a covenant with God, they wander in the wilderness where God provides for them bread and water and finally he fulfills and enters into the promised land where they find rest. And what we see is an undoing, a reversal of this story that rest ceases to be. Going backwards, now Elijah's outside of the promised land. Finally, bread and water provided for him in the wilderness, where he meets the mountain. Return into the wilderness. Eventually, what we'll see with Israel, the northern kingdom, is they'll go all the way back to slavery. And so now we understand this, now we can understand how we get to this transition and this movement from Mount Carmel to Mount Horeb. I'm gonna finish by reading verses four to eight, then we'll end there. But he said, he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father's. And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake of bread on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat. The journey is too great for you. And he rose and ate and drank and went in strength for that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God." So we see this movement, this transition now sets the scene for what we're going to encounter as we continue to study when the Lord finally speaks to Elijah on the mountain of God. Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Seven Springs Presbyterian Church began in 1874 and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in Glade Spring, Virginia. Please join us for worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. for His glory and His gospel.