1 Kings 19 is such an interesting story! Have you read it lately? If not, I recommend you read it, and the chapter before it (1 Kings 18), before you read my comments. I call Chapter 19 “Elijah’s Big Crash,” because it’s about a time when this great hero of faith really stumbled, and demonstrated that he too was just a man, plagued by the same kinds of doubt, fear, and weakness with which we all struggle. We can all learn from Elijah’s story.
The chapter before (1 Kings 18), recounts one of the most spectacular victories any person of faith ever won by the power of God. Elijah, whose very name means, “Jehovah (or the Lord), is God,” challenged his society and their false gods to a showdown on Mt. Carmel. He called all of Israel together, along with their wicked king, Ahab, and all their false prophets, and essentially challenged them to a duel! He said, “Look, if God is God, you should serve Him, but if Baal is god, then serve him. Let’s do something to prove who the real God is. You guys build an altar and put a sacrifice on it, and I’ll do the same. The god who answers by fire will obviously be the true God.”
Well, you know the story. Baal never answered, though his prophets cried out for hours and even cut themselves with swords and knives to show their devotion. Elijah mocked them openly! Then he prepared his sacrifice for the Lord, and even made it “extra difficult” (as if anything could be difficult for God), by having barrels and barrels of water poured over everything. Then Elijah prayed, asking God to show everyone that what he’d done that day was at God’s command. The Lord answered by fire from heaven, a fire so fierce it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the water, and even the stones of the altar! The people were absolutely astounded! They bowed down and chanted “Eli-yahoo, Eli-yahoo” (which is really how you say Elijah’s name in Hebrew, but remember, it means, “The Lord, He is God!”) Wouldn’t you love to see some kind of demonstration like this today, maybe on TV, so that thousands or millions of Americans all bowed down and proclaimed, “Jesus, He is Lord. Jesus, He is Lord!”? Wow – I can’t imagine a greater victory or demonstration of faith, can you?!
Through Elijah’s faith and obedience, God performed a spectacular miracle to call His people back. Then Elijah struck down all 450 false prophets himself! Alone on his knees on the rugged mountain, he prayed for rain, (remember, by this time it hadn’t rained in 3 ½ years). God answered and clouds began to form. Before the rains began to fall, Elijah told King Ahab to go home, then he outran Ahab’s chariot and beat him there, (covering a distance of more than 20 miles!) Wow! God was really with Elijah! Nobody had ever seen anything like this! This episode on Mt. Carmel was truly a “mountaintop experience”!
But then come’s chapter 19! Queen Jezebel tells Elijah she’s going to have him killed. He becomes absolutely terrified and runs for his life. We can all relate to this. Any of us would have done the same thing. But Elijah? After all he’d just done, all the hostility and danger he’d just overcome, all the faith he’d just demonstrated? Why would this man, this hero of faith, become terrified and run for his life just because an ungodly woman threatened him?! It seems so out of character!
We won’t completely understand till eternity. I guess for some reason, Jezebel’s threat just struck him differently? It was somehow unexpected, somehow more terrifying? Maybe he was just exhausted after so much action and conflict? This was just the final straw? Whatever the reason, Elijah just took off! He left his servant behind and headed out into the barren desert alone. Coming to a desert broom tree, he just lay down and went to sleep. He slept and he slept, which is a sign of how truly exhausted and depressed he must have been. He prayed for God to take his life. (You know, if he had really wanted to die, Jezebel would’ve happily obliged him! But I digress…)
Elijah said to God, “I’m no better than my ancestors.” Why did he say that? Did he think somehow that he should’ve been better? I guess he thought he was some kind of special, extra spiritual man, a man of faith and power? Well, of course, he was. But he was also still just a man. He could still get afraid and act like a coward like anyone else. He could still be weak. Sure, he had great faith for some things, but other things scared him. He was vulnerable. The thing is, Elijah didn’t expect to fall like this, so when he did, it was a double-whammy. It made him feel guilty and ashamed. I believe he was disappointed in himself. That’s why he said, “I’m no better than my ancestors.”
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? We’ve been to a place where we said, “God, I’m not good. I’m not the man/woman you need, not the person even I thought I was. I give up. I don’t want to live any more. I’ve failed miserably. Can I just quit?”
This chapter used to surprise and trouble me, but it really shouldn’t have. After all, it’s just another example of human failure and weakness, just another illustration of how we can all crash and burn, yes, even a prophet like Elijah. Some of what happened after this crash (in the rest of the chapter), is a mystery. I’m not sure how to interpret it. But there are some sure lessons to be learned from what we’ve seen so far.
First, while none of us has ever had an experience as dramatic as Elijah’s, we’ve surely all had times of victory, times when we felt God had really used us or blessed us, and we were really doing well, right? Times when it seemed our faith was invincible.
Well, Elijah’s story proves three things: 1) such “mountaintop” experiences don’t last; 2) they are often followed by valleys, trials or attacks (say it isn’t so!) 3) we’re all vulnerable to such attacks, so we need to keep our guard up! The Bible says (and this episode proves), “Let him who stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12).
Now on the one hand, knowing that even a man like Elijah went through such a deep valley should actually encourage us. It proves we’re not unusual or bad when we experience such things. They happen to us all! On the other hand, I don’t believe God’s people have to crash as Elijah did! Surely we can learn from his mistakes!
The first lesson, we’ve already seen. We’re in a spiritual war, and we live in a fallen, hostile world. There are many dangers, toils, and snares all around us. We don’t need to fear this; we just need to recognize it, and keep our guard up. God has given us armor and weapons with which to fight. We just have to use them!
Second, we need to be self-aware, and take care of ourselves. It seems to me that Elijah got physically exhausted, and that surely contributed to his overreaction and downfall. All of us have to over-extend at times; that’s just life. But we need to be careful not to live there. Things always look so much more dismal when we’re tired, hungry, or physically unwell! So we need to be mindful of our state, and take care. Often, just going to sleep and starting over the next day can make a huge difference! Being sure to eat right, to take breaks, to get exercise, these are simple, but important safeguards to help us avoid crashes. I gotta think Elijah may have pushed himself too far during this time, and that contributed to his crash? It’s only wise to be self-aware and protect our physical and emotional health.
A third point of weakness in Elijah is that he faced everything alone. It’s easy to understand. That’s how he’d lived his whole life, and it’s why he could stay holy when all around him were backslidden. But at the same time, it made him vulnerable. Being separate from the world was good, but not being separate from God’s people. Notice his complaint to God, “I alone am left.” He thought he was the only one serving God. Ever felt that way?
What did God say to him? Elijah, I have 7,000 people who’ve remained faithful to me. You’re not alone! Elijah failed to connect with God’s people. He felt totally alone. He even left his servant when he ran out into the desert. We do need to be able to stand alone at times, and serve the Lord, no matter what others may say or do. But at the same time, God has designed us to need one another, and He has given us the Church to help us through this hostile world. We will never achieve all God intends for us in isolation from the Body of Christ.
One other thing is clear. Elijah’s main problem was a breakdown in faith. He was a man of great faith when he faced the false prophets and all the people. But for some reason, he didn’t continue to stand in faith when it came to Jezebel’s threat. Maybe even the fact he was so alone demonstrates a lack of faith that God was powerful enough to sustain others as He had sustained Elijah? (He was the only one. God needed him!)
One thing’s for sure: the faith that brings us to the mountaintop is the same faith we need in the valleys! Elijah trusted God to do what He’d promised when he went to Mt. Carmel, challenged those false prophets and built that altar. He needed to continue to trust Him when Jezebel’s threat came and he felt all alone.
God wasn’t surprised by Jezebel, though Elijah apparently was! God hadn’t gone anywhere, though Elijah may have felt abandoned! Jezebel was no worse than what Elijah had already faced, and the same God who gave him victory on Mt. Carmel would be sufficient for Jezebel! Somehow, Elijah stopped trusting the Lord. God will keep us in perfect peace, if we keep our minds focused on Him. (Is. 26:3) Elijah felt totally alone, but he was never alone. He needed to exercise his faith that “God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in trouble.” (Ps. 46:1) HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US! (Heb. 13:5) Like all of us, he needed to continually “lift up his eyes,” and remember his help would always come from the Lord. (Ps. 121:1)
Peter walked on the water, then took his eyes off Jesus and sank. Elijah called down fire from heaven, then took off like a scared jackrabbit when Jezebel threatened him. Though we’ve all done the same at times, we don’t have to crash as they did. Hebrews 10:22-25 kind of sums up what we need to do. It says to continually draw near to God, keep our eyes on Him, keep trusting in Him and calling out to Him, and likewise, to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We’re not to stay out there under some desert broom tree, moping around, sleeping, staying alone, and feeling sorry for ourselves! We need to continually seek God, and seek out His Church, the Body of Christ. These are God’s keys to victory in trials.
James 5:17 & 18 tells us Elijah was just a human being, like all of us. Boy, was he ever! God used him so mightily, but he also got really fearful and depressed and failed to walk in faith. I’m thankful for this story of his big crash, and pray God helps me learn how not to repeat it!