Learning from Elijah: An In Depth Devotional
Introduction (I know this is a long post, but I think God deserves a few more paragraphs of thought and reflection than the usual short devotional. So if you saw the length and said no way, come back to it when you have time.)
The Bible, a set of books and
letters that reveal through the ages the divine revelation of God, can
sometimes feel for new believers like a grand story of fictional tales and
heroic battles than the salvific historical material in which it soundly
resides. Literary analysis then, aids in peeling back the merely superficial
appeal of the texts and allows a deeper story to prevail, or as one scholar
states, “By focusing on the text as an artistic composition, we can begin to
understand the purposes of the final author…”[1]
So let’s give God’s Word the attention it deserves. (short version of 1 Kings
18 & 19: Israel is whoring after the pagan god Baal, God sends Elijah to
get them to turn back to Him, huge contest between God and Baal on Mount
Carmel, God comes down in an all-consuming fire and rocks everyone’s socks off,
Elijah is happy for a moment, but in chapter 19 he is dejected. I URGE YOU TO
READ THESE TWO CHAPTERS, THEY ARE AWESOME!)
Literary Analysis of
1 Kings 19:1-21 (The Prophet Elijah Feels Defeated)
To fully grasp the passage at hand,
a brief description of the characters is needed. Elijah is a wonderful man of
God. We know where he is from (1 Kings 17:1), his utter devotion to God (1
Kings 17:14), is a man of goodness and power (1 Kings 17:22), but is also human
in his sorrow and perceived failure (1 Kings 19: 4). Jezebel is the complete
opposite. She is, “the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians” (1 Kings
16:31), an enemy of God (1 Kings 18:4, 13), and quite powerful, for Ahab’s
marriage to her results in immediate apostasy. It’s a battle then of two
strong-willed individuals; Elijah who serves God alone, and Jezebel, the
powerful Sidonian Queen that worships Baal. The passage being discussed opens
with the latter having the supposed upperhand.
Moving on to the text, the author
of 1 Kings 19 uses many literary devices to explain and develop a theme and
story that shows the varying degrees of emotion in humanity and ultimately that
God is in control and will bring judgment on the wicked. First, we see Jezebel
threaten Elijah for killing the prophets of Baal and proclaim, “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” (v.2). Ironically, her statement becomes reality in
verse 17 where her death is foretold and followed through with in 2 Kings 9:33
(quite graphic, take a look). Another quite obvious literary device is
repetition. In verses 4, 10, and 14 Elijah asks that his life end because he is
in despair and weary. This is done to, “bring into focus the various steps God
uses to renew a weary, discouraged, and suicidal prophet.”[2]
The first time Elijah asks for death (v.4), he is beleaguered and utterly in
despair. In verse 10 he is still weary, but has been miraculously fed twice
(v.6, 8), does not specifically ask for death, and has even gotten up to make a
long trek to Mount Horeb (v.8). Finally in verse 14, Elijah is still selfishly
grumbling, but accepts his new mission, renewed by God’s provision (Pretty cool
eh).
Last, the author uses intertextuality (relationship
between texts) to get the reader to think back to Exodus 32 and view Elijah’s
frustration of the Baal worship his people are attracted to, to Moses’
disbelief at the worship of the golden calf by the Israelites. “Like Moses who
returns to Sinai after the slaughter of the worshippers of the golden bull, Elijah
takes refuge at Horeb after killing the prophets of Baal” (Cohn). Elijah, like
Moses, also experiences a somewhat theophanic (manifestation of God to man,
yay, learning new words!) means of communication from God, in the coming of
wind, an earthquake, and fire; and although he does not hear God through these
natural occurring phenomenon’s that God most likely caused, he does hear Him
in, “a gentle whisper” (v.12). The author’s use of these three theophonic-like
occurrences are again to harken back to how God spoke to Moses and Israel, “in
a thick cloud” (Exodus 19:9). Lastly, like Moses in Exodus 3:11, Elijah does
not really want to obey God’s command (1 Kings 19:14), but ends up completing
the task despite his lack of faith.
Interpretive Issue of
1 Kings 19
The passage of 1 Kings 19
presents a particularly interesting quandary when read with previous sections;
that is, after such a grandiose and sweeping defeat of the prophets of Baal,
why in chapter 19 is Elijah so frightened when Jezebel threatens his life? Was
he in fact afraid for his life or was there a deeper meaning behind his grief?
Looking at
the verse just before chapter 19 Elijah is said to have, “gathered up his
garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel” (1 Kings 18:46). It is
quite possible that Elijah was expecting a full repudiation of Baal worship and
the turning towards God in a spectacular scene of jubilation and fervency, but
instead his life is threatened and things remain the same. In this sense then,
Elijah did not flee afraid for his life, but walked away because he was, in his
words, “…no better than my fathers” (v.4). This phrase shows that he believed
that he failed to bring about a full recovery from apostasy, just as his
ancestors had failed (Exodus 32, Judges 2:11-12, 1 Samuel 8:6-7). One scholar
notes, “Elijah is
distressed that the victory on Mt Carmel has not led to the disempowerment of
Jezebel and the eradication of the last vestiges of Baal worship in Israel.
Therefore his flight to Beersheba is taken in a fit of petulance…”[3]
With this in mind then, Elijah sees his office and calling
of prophet an utter failure with Israel on the path to absolute destruction,
for he is the only true believer left and is afraid this is the end of the
covenant (1 Kings 19:10, 14). Resolve
and an answer to this overblown reaction comes in verses 15-18 where God tells
Elijah that he will raise others like him to carry on the battle against
idolatry and that He will save a remnant of Israel. Paul uses this story in
Romans 11:2-5 to show his readers that Israel indeed is still alive, despite
many turning their backs on Jesus.
Personal Application
of 1 Kings 19:1-21
To fully comprehend and
appreciate 1 Kings 19, which delves into the low point and rejuvenation of
Elijah’s life, a Christian must stop and look at both the theological and
applicable principles that may apply to his or her life.
Theologically,
the greatest point from this passage is that God is love (1 John 4:8) and will
sustain those that belong to Him (Psalm 145:14). Christians live in a society
bent on destruction through the worship of idols such as money, materialism,
self, and other abominable practices. Like Elijah, living in such an
environment may seem hopeless and the odd of revival impossible, but God
nourishes and feeds those that pray to him. Elijah, desperate and downtrodden,
pleads to God to take away his burden through death (1 Kings 19:4). As a
prophet of God, Elijah’s hurt is felt by God and is fed by one of his messengers
(v.5, 7). God today feeds Christians through his people who are a part of the
Body of Christ (Romans 12:3-5) and calls them to, “…look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interest of others” (Philippians 2:4). God is love,
and will provide for His creation through His creation.
Another
very important lesson is that burnout is real and once the top is reached,
whether it is with a career, a sport, or whatever, there is nowhere to go but
down. Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias states that, “When pleasure has run
its course, a sense of despondency can creep into one’s soul that may often
lead to self-destruction” (153). 1 Kings 19 shows the importance of rest, for,
“God did not scold, punish, or reject Elijah for his discouragement and
exhaustion. He provided for Elijah, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
He allowed Elijah to retreat from ministry and then prepared him to reenter the
fray” (Floyd, 254). Burnout, especially in Christian ministry, is real and
devastating. What God teaches in this passage is that He is in charge, so that
Christians do not need to place such burdens on themselves. God has unlimited
resources, so when rest is needed Christians do not need to agonize, for that
in actuality is prideful. To think one’s ability is the only way something can
be accomplished is to take God’s power from him. Elijah felt he was a failure,
but God, in verses 15-18, shows him that He indeed is omnipotent and will
complete what is needed in time and through the proper means. God saw Elisha’s vigor
and passion, so that upon receiving Elijah’s cloak Elisha ran to him and stated
that he was more than willing and able to follow (v.19-20).
Finally,
this passage brings up a quite common and disastrous trait that many today
suffer from, that is, negative self-talk and comparing one’s self to others. In
verse 4 of the passage Elijah emphatically states, “It is enough; now, O Lord,
take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” Wait, Elijah had just
won a decisive battle against the prophets of Baal, brought many back to
serving God, and had brought rain to an area of famine, so why the tone of
defeat? As the King James translation of Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he
thinketh in his heart, so is he,” meaning that what a person thinks of him or herself
is what is believed. As counselors and authors William Backus and Marie Chapian
put it, “Misbeliefs generally appear as truth to the person repeating them to
himself” (17). It is imperative for the Christian then to think on the things
that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent
(Philippians 4:8). Elijah had compared himself to those who went before him and
believed he had failed even though God had always had control from the start.
Conclusion
Learn something? I hope so. The
bible has so much more to offer when really studied and thought over. Want me to analyze a favorite
passage of yours? Add a comment to this post and I will get to work!
[1] Cohn, Robert L. “The Literary Logic of 1 Kings
17-19.” Journal of Biblical Literature
101, no. 3(September 1982): 333-350.
[2] Epp-Tiessen, Dan. “1 Kings 19: The Renewal of Elijah.” Direction 35, no. 1 (Spring 2006): 3334.
http://www.directionjournal.org/35/1/1-kings-19-renewal-of-elijah.html (accessed June 25, 2013).
[3] Lockwood, Peter F. "The Elijah Syndrome: What is Elijah
Up to at Mt Horeb?" LutheranTheological Journal 38, no. 2 (08,
2004): 51-62
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