The last verses of the Hebrew Prophecy Books, Malachi, the final book in the Hebrew Testament (Old Testament or Old Covenant, which isn't really old at all, but a continuous living hope fulfilled in Christ), promise a prophet in the mold*of Elijah.
The prophet Elijah preached God's truth in one of the darkest periods of Hebrew history; idol worship and sin is at an all time high, with God's chosen rebuking their father and turning towards false gods. Elijah calls the people of Israel to repent and turn God, their heavenly father. He defies the status quo of the earth and acts with bold faith. Elijah struggles at times, questioning the task at hand, disheartened by the unbelief in the land. He feels burdened and afraid, as if all hope is lost. God answers doubts with a call to active faith and a reassurance of his guiding power and redemption, even out of darkness, even in wilderness lands.
1 Kings, Chapter 18-19 shows the upheaval of carnage, life, despair and redemption...A testament of the constant guiding power of our LORD, and the path to repent so that we may be prepared for reconciliation...Even in turmoil and trial, in the wilderness there is life in the Father...a call to repent and turn to his instruction, to embrace life in the Father, over the death of the world.
"And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment
and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." 1 Kings 18: 46
"Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "so may the gods to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." Then he (Elijah) was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But 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 fathers,' 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 baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, 'Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.' And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God."
Chapter 19 of 1 Kings gives me hope in distressing times. Here you have a righteous man of God, an a prophet in the highest degree, whose humanness and fragility strengthens the message of God's guiding hand. How many times have we 'fled,' isolating ourselves in fear and desperate for death because we feel the futility of life's strife. Elijah has seen the faithful hand of God in the most dramatic ways, yet the terror of the world causes him to flee and to despair. He feels that his preaching is a failure because the people of Israel and their leadership, the evil Ahab and Jezebel, are turning to malicious idol worship...They are guided by the world, instead of turning to the true God of Israel, in repentance. He assumes that all is lost, yet nothing is lost when we trust in God. He makes twisted, confounding, treacherous paths straight and builds bridges through adversity to faith and trust. Read scriptures and you quickly come to find that God doesn't use the 'easy' way, he uses his people to help prepare the way for his joyous truths. We must stumble in order to comprehend our reliance of God. His hand lifts us up, his spirit guides our journey through the uncertainty of this world and certain trust we find in HIM.
In the above verse, The angel of the Lord feeds Elijah, offering sustenance in a time of emptiness and fear. Elijah has come out of one of the biggest triumphs (the Prophets of Baal defeated) forced in this period of reflection to come to terms that his authority comes from the one who sent him, and that when we turn to God, though we might stumble, God prepares our path and guides us. Elijah felt that he was a failure, the human sorrow of finite despair, instead of the infinite triumph and glory of God. Even when it feels we are treading water, even drowning, if we turn to God, crying for repentance and seeking guidance, God works through us. His spirit rests upon us. It comforts us and sustains us, not so that we are exempt from suffering, but find God's grace in the pain of the world. God binds all wounds and his purposes will be fulfilled in HIS time.
"Arise, eat for the journey is too great for you." Yes, the journey is too great for us, yet with the Trinity the impossible is made possible, death finds life and the hungry are feed with spiritual food of Christ.
The pain of this life is just a flicker, while the unquenchable fire of the Holy Spirit is eternal, a hope everlasting...the living salvation of Christ, waters that quench all who thirst and the power of God the Father, just and full of love, who builds paths to redemption
19: 9-
There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel 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."
The world's evil tries to suffocate us with despair and doubt, it seeks to destroy our faith and to tries to convince use to forsake God. Elijah didn't forsake God, but lost faith that he was worthy. He accepted his failure, and in doing so questioned God's purpose in calling him. God's purpose is never off. We must trust God to lead us on the journey. He feels alone, when God has always been with him.
"And he said, 'Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, 'the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Sometimes we lose sight of the trail, the way to God becomes muddled so we search and wander. We languish in the wilderness, give up and accept that we cannot fulfill God's calling in our lives. God doesn't let us sit back and wallow in self-pity, he uses this wilderness time to teach and pull us closer to him, he calls us in the nadir of our life to action. We might wander in circles, depressed and cyclic in our thought patterns, clutching regret, betrayal, anger, faithlessness...God continues to calling us to action: 'What are you doing here?'
"...And the Lord said to him...Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."
When Elijah is discourage, the Lord comes in a low whisper, not fire and rain-thunder and lightning, but a subtle whisper, yet that whisper of truth is enough to redirect his path and fill him with the spirit of hope and trust. God promises Elijah that he is not alone and informs him that there is a remnant of faithful who continue to worship the true God. Isn't it encouraging that even when the faithful are few, God's covenant and promise of redemption is not lost. God works through his creatures to prepare a path to redemption and a new life in Christ.
John the Baptist, came to fulfill the prophecies of one to prepare the way for the Messiah. In the next few blogs will focus on John the Baptist, a torch who signaled the fire of Christ, the Messiah.
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