Post by alon on Jul 23, 2016 10:20:22 GMT -8
1 Kings 18:46-19:21; Haftara for Par’shah Pinchas
This is the account of Elijah’s fateful flight from Jezebel and the aftermath. The prophets position after his retreat from Jezebel’s wrath was never quite what it iwas beforehand. He was given work to do, however it consisted of anointing three men to share in and continue the ministry he might have completed himself, if only he had been true to the opportunities HaShem had placed before him.
God’s work will always go on; if not done by us then by others who will take our place.
I often quote Pastor Ed Cole because this bears repeating: “You are at greater danger after a great victory than before the battle.” It is then we let our guards down, and the enemy knows this. I can imagine Elijah, tired even though he was to receive supernatural strength and stamina. Flushed with victory and the euphoria that hard physical works of endurance bring but worn down mentally and emotionally by the long fight, he was ripe to be plucked by the enemy.
1 Kings 18:46 (ESV) And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
It was both a personal honor and a way of honoring a king to run before the king’s chariot:
1 Samuel 8:11 (ESV) He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots."
1 Kings 1:5 (ESV) Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
His motivation in this run is not stated, but it’s possible ELijah was honoring his enemy to give him every chance to repent. However, probably well aware of Jezebel, Elijah did not enter Jezreel.
1 Kings 19:1-2 (ESV) Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “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.”
Jezebel, in an imperious act of hatred threatens Elijah, warning him of her plans to avenge her countrymen. Now suddenly Elijah goes from victory to defeat. He begins to walk by sight and not by trust in his Elohim; believing the words of the queen, not those of Eloah, Elohim- "He with whom one who is afraid takes refuge." Forgoten now was the fact God had cared for him for three and a half years, and fear replaced faith as the prophet ran for his life; into Judah and away from Jezebel’s jurisdictional reach.
1 Kings 19:3-4a (ESV) 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. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree.
Becoming more concerned with saving himself than giving of himself, he flees south across Judah and into the wilderness, possibly well over six hundred miles.
Mark 8:34-36 (ESV) And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Elijah could well have perished slowly and miserably here. But God still had plans for him.
1 Kings 19:4b (ESV) 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.”
We get a sense of the isolation and failure the prophet must have felt. He was self-occupied, losing his trust and utterly discouraged. Elijah was not the only prophet to ever wish for death:
Jonah 4:3 (ESV) Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Job 3:20-21 (ESV) “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
Numbers 11:15 (ESV) If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
We all too often feel this way as the enemy hammers our body and sould, trying to stael our hope. This is not however the answer answer to our despair. It is selfish and does not glorify God. The real answer is to die to self and trust God to work it all out:
John 12:24 (ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Note the sequence in Elijah’s thought pattern: in verse two it is “your life”; in verse three it is “his life”; and in verse four it’s “my life.” When we allow others to direct our thoughts and move our focus to us instead of God, it usually follows this pattern to destruction. When he said “take my life,” had he meant it as an act of surrender to God instead of surrendering to his fears, how might the Lord have worked in his life more than had already been done? This is an especial warning to us here, isolated often even in our own homes: beware, when you think you’re the only faithful one left. God always keeps a remnant to Himself.
1 Kings 19:5-7 (ESV) 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.”
Even though Elijah had just ran and hid far from any supply and without resources, still God sent a messenger (angel) to minister to his needs and encourage him onward. In the depths of our despair God meets us and restores us:
Genesis 21:15-19 (ESV) When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
1 Kings 19:8 (ESV) 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.
Horeb means “dry place.” It is also called Mt. Sinai. The “forty days” in this passage suggests a link to Moses (second rule of Hillel- gezerah shawah: argument from analogy) who spent forty days and nights on Sianai when Elohim gave him 
.
Exodus 24:18 (ESV) Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Forty is quite possibly used as a formulaic number in both passages, and may not be meant to be taken literally.
1 Kings 19:9-13 (ESV) 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.” 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 [JPS “soft murmuring sound,” others “a still small voice”] 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?”
There is an obvious thematic parallel to Moses in the cleft in the rock which sheltered him when the Lord passed by (Exodus 33).
Deuteronomy 18:18 (ESV) I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
1 Kings 19:14 (ESV) 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.”
His repetition of the reason he was there seems to be much less urgent, possibly even fretful and moody.
1 Kings 19:15-18 (ESV) And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 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.”
“Anoint Hazael to be king over Syria … Jehu … king over Israel, and Elisha … to be prophet in your place.” Each of these men were as different from each other as they could be. Yet each one had a place appointed by God in dealing with the idolatries and impurities that were destroying God’s people. The lives of men are ordered by God such that, while they may escape one net they will eventually be snared by another.
This revelation gave Elijah some perspective. He was not alone and God had not forsaken him nor Israel. There was a lesson in how God came to Elijah as well. He doesn’t always work in large events. Most of the work for His Kingdom is done by ministries which are neither big, loud, nor dramatic.
Seven thousand people had not not bowed to Ba’al, and these would be preserved. God’s economy is not quantity, but quality instilled by His Ruach in those who will accept it. The work would continue, as men were already raised up who would replace Elijah.
Whenever we feel as Elijah that we are beaten, we need only obey these words:
Mark 5:36b (ESV) “Do not fear, only believe.”
1 Kings 19:19-20 (ESV) So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again [JPS- I am not stoping you], for what have I done to you?”
It is assumed here that the other two tasks were done, a only the calling of Elisha is recorded. It was pretty casual, but symbolically rich as Elijah simply threw his mantle over Elisha and walked on.
The reason for Elijah’s response to Elisha’s reasonable request to say goodbye is unclear. It is possible that if he should turn back, the symbolic act might lose its’ meaning or importance. This would be echoed centuries later when Yeshua called out His first disciples:
Matthew 8:22 (KJV) But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
1 Kings 19:21 (ESV) And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
JPS- “He turned back from him”
Again the text is unclear, but it does look as though Elisha did at least pause to prepare a feast of sorts of the oxen with which he was plowing when called.
Dan C
Resources: JPS Study TNK, W Wiersbe, FB Meyer, MF Unger, Pastor Ed Cole, My father, Rav S and others
