Read 1 Kings 19:11-21

The Work Continues

Elijah was discouraged by his perceived lack of support and fled from the threat of Jezebel. He believed he was the only one faithful to God’s Word, but God showed him that he should not have run. He asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:13). Elijah was not where he was supposed to be, or where God wanted him to be; there was still work to be done, and in that work, the prophet would be supported by and protected by the Almighty.

Elijah explained his thought process, saying, “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:14). But God told the prophet, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18). God did not reprimand His prophet harshly but encouraged him through the knowledge that there were others like him.

Since there were still faithful servants, God gave Elijah certain tasks to complete. These tasks would help get Elijah out of his depressed state, giving him real purposeful work to complete. When we find ourselves discouraged in our work, we should take a close look at its purpose and how fulfilling that purpose will help God’s cause. Elijah was told to anoint Hazael as king over Syria and Jehu as king over Israel. God also told him to anoint Elisha as the prophet to follow him.

Do you remember in school when a teacher would give you “busy work” to fill time? There was no real point to the work. This is not what God assigned to Elijah. Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha all had important work to do.

Elijah’s focus was no longer on his perceived failures against Ahab and Jezebel, but on the successes that lay before him in God’s kingdom. Was this not the apostle Paul’s focus as well? “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Read 1 Kings 19:1-10

Discouragement

Even in the life of a faithful child of God, there will be times when everything seems hopeless. It appears as if no one around you is doing what they ought, and you are fighting a battle you can never win. No matter which direction you turn, you will lose. There is no point in even trying!

The prophet Elijah was discouraged following the defeat of the prophets of Baal. Ahab told his wife Jezebel what happened, and she sent word to Elijah that she would have him killed. “And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went 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 room tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” (1 Kings 19:3-4).

Have you ever been so discouraged in your life that you prayed for death? Elijah saw himself as a failure. Despite proving the power of God and defeating the idolatrous prophets of Baal, Elijah continued to stand alone. No one wanted to join him in serving the true God of heaven. “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:10).

There will be times in life that you will feel alone in doing what is right in the sight of God. Don’t let that discouragement derail you from doing the will of God! Keep in mind that even if you stand alone with God, you are still on the winning side. God cannot be defeated.

Consider the words of Paul the apostle: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?…Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:31-32, 37).

You will get discouraged. Don’t give up. Stand with God through it.

Read 1 Kings 18:19-40

God is Always There for the Faithful

When Elijah challenged Ahab and his prophets of Baal, he knew that God would show Himself powerful. Elijah knew that Baal was the product of man’s imagination, whereas man is the creation of God. Baal does not really exist.

The scene must have been something to behold. Elijah sarcastically said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27). Can you imagine Deity going on vacation?

The true God of heaven is always there for His children. He is never too busy for your prayers! Day or night, winter or summer, in good times or bad times, God wants to hear the desires of your heart. “Seeing then that we have a High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all pointed tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Jesus told His disciples just before His ascension, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). We should never be afraid to do what the Lord has commanded!

We have a promise from God that Baal could never make to his followers. The Hebrews writer said, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

The creations of man can never provide anything for man, but the Creator of man can (and will) bless His creation. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

Read 1 Kings 18:1-19

Who is the Troubler?

After three years of drought, God sent Elijah to king Ahab. Upon seeing the prophet, the king declared, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17). One can imagine the amount of political propaganda Ahab had produced to blame the prophet for the drought, since Elijah was God’s mouthpiece in delivering the news (1 Kings 17:1). Hence, the king saw Elijah as the troublemaker, the one at fault.

Elijah made it clear, however, that the drought was Ahab’s doing. Elijah said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals” (1 Kings 18:18). When one turns his back on God, he has no one to blame but himself for what happens. Still, the sinner will try to shift the blame.

This has been the habit of man since the beginning of time. The serpent tempted Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she did. Then she gave to her husband, and he ate. When God confronted Adam, what was his response? “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). The man blamed not only his wife, but even blamed God Himself! To paraphrase, Adam said, “God, if you hadn’t made her in the first place, I wouldn’t be in this predicament now!”

Eve’s response to God was no better. “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13). In essence, she claimed, “The devil made me do it!” Friends, the devil cannot make you do anything! Sin is a choice that we make. He can tempt you, but he cannot make you do anything!

Ahab wanted to blame Elijah for the drought, but it was Ahab’s rebellion against the truth that caused it. Elijah was not the troubler of Israel; Elijah wanted Israel to do what was right! Ahab was the man who “did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him….Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30, 33).

When confronted with sin, what is your response? Do you call the one who attempts to restore you the troublemaker? Do you shift blame to others? Or do you accept the responsibility and consequences for your own actions?

Read 1 Kings 17

Confirmation of God’s Truth

While the southern kingdom of Judah saw a mixture of good kings and bad, all those who reigned in Israel did “evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 15:26, 34; 16:19, 25, 30; etc.). During the reign of Ahab, in the ninth century B.C., the prophet Elijah came on the scene.

Elijah prophesied about a drought in Israel. God told His prophet, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there” (1 Kings 17:3-4). Elijah did as he was instructed, but in time the brook dried up due to the lack of rain.

God then told him to go to Zarephath and stay with a widow and her son. When Elijah arrived, the widow explained that she had only a little flour and oil left, enough for her son and herself to eat one last time before death. Elijah told her to take care of him first, and the flour and oil would never run out until it rained again. “So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days” (1 Kings 17:15).

Her son became sick and died. She brought this to Elijah’s attention, and Elijah questioned God, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” (1 Kings 17:20). Elijah prayed for the son’s life to be restored, and it was. Upon seeing her son alive, the widow declared, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth” (1 Kings 16:24).

The miracle that God worked through Elijah served the same purpose as the miracles of the first century performed through the apostles. They served the purpose of confirming that the word spoken by the prophets and apostles were true, that they were indeed sent by God. Mark explains that the disciples “went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20).

We have no need for the miraculous today – God’s Word has been fully revealed, “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17). Don’t look for signs, read His Word!