October 18, 2023

A Gentle Whisper

1 Kings 19

Melody Chambers
Wednesday's Devo

October 18, 2023

Wednesday's Devo

October 18, 2023

Wednesday's Devo

October 18, 2023

Wednesday's Devo

October 18, 2023

Big Idea

Wise leaders walk closely with God.

Key Verse | 1 Kings 19:11b-12

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.

1 Kings 19

Elijah Flees Jezebel

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 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.” 3 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.

4 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.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 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. 7 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.” 8 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.

The LORD Speaks to Elijah

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?” 10 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.” 11 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. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 1 19:12 Or a sound, a thin silence 13 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?” 14 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.” 15 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. 16 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. 17 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. 18 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.”

The Call of Elisha

19 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. 20 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, for what have I done to you?” 21 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.

Footnotes

[1] 19:12 Or a sound, a thin silence

S2:203 1 Kings 19

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | 1 Kings 19

Elijah was a great prophet and also a relatable one! In the previous chapter, the Lord allowed Elijah to defeat 450 prophets of Baal, Jezebel's henchmen. Now, in 1 Kings 19, because of Jezebel's threats, Elijah runs away in fear and disappointment. Charles Spurgeon said Elijah "retreated before a beaten enemy." How quickly we forget the Lord's faithfulness!

In 1 Kings 19:5, we see Elijah sitting underneath a scraggly tree, depressed, and defeated. In the Lord's great kindness, "the angel of the LORD" provides food and drink and lets Elijah sleep. Our awesome God, the Creator of the universe, cares enough for Elijah to provide simple food and drink. He knows Elijah's limitations—"Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you" (1 Kings 19:7b)—just as He knows ours. Because of His love and grace, He provides everything we need for our own journey.

In addition, the Lord pursues us despite our faithlessness. The Word of the Lord comes to Elijah, as he is tucked away in a cave on Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai), and the Lord inquires in 1 Kings 19:9b, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" God asks him this question because Elijah had not been sent, but rather ran out of fear and self-reliance. Elijah's reply is, again, so relatable! He says, in essence, "I've done everything You have asked and remained faithful, and yet here I am all alone and threatened for my life!" It is that age-old question: Is the Lord good? (Psalm 100:5) Does He intend good for me? (Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11)

On Mount Horeb, God could have shown Himself to Elijah in many ways to display His might and sovereignty. But instead, our key verses (1 Kings 19:11-12) describe how the Lord comes in the form of a gentle whisper to draw Elijah out of the cave and out of isolation. Elijah hears this whisper and knows it is the Lord. He knows it because he has been following the Lord and recognizes His voice. May we, too, have ears to hear and hearts open to receive the Word of the Lord.

This month's memory verse

5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6  In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
 

– Proverbs 3:5-6

Discussion Questions

1. Throughout 1 Kings 19, Elijah is preoccupied with people and his circumstances, rather than keeping his eyes on the Lord. In what areas do you find yourself preoccupied, having taken your gaze off the Lord? God longs to enter those places. Confess today and invite Him into those areas. 

2. Elijah expected revival from the people of Israel. What expectations have you put on the Lord? Have they become demands?

3. Elijah flees to Mount Horeb and hides in a cave in fear of his life. Where are you making strategies to meet your own needs and wants, rather than trusting in God's good provision and timing?

4. God brings Elijah out of the cave to speak with Him. When you have been brought low, do you stop to consider why you are where you are and what the Lord might be trying to teach you?

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Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Melody. I love these chapters and your devo is a great look at all the goings on in this one. THANK YOU! Love this from your devo- “He knows Elijah's limitations—"Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you" (1 Kings 19:7b)—just as He knows ours. Because of His love and grace, He provides everything we need for our own journey.” Q1. As always seems to be the case I still fight a day-to-day battle with the inbox and task list. On the other side is all kinds of relaxing activities that would “take me away”. The call to faithfulness is the one that should be primary. Its rewards are intangible and last forever. Q2. Amy and I are somewhere between 12 and 15 years in “Prodigal-hood”. Early on I expected God to fix this problem if I did what I was supposed to do. What I didn’t realize to that He would use the problem of my prodigals to fix me. In His grace, we have very few storms now. And those are much less severe. And that is enough. Q3. I hide in leisure activities. No problem in having them. Just in using them as an escape hatch to avoid the hard work of sanctification. Q4. Similar to Q4, we have realized that God is constantly drawing us to Him. We get daily reminders that this journey is about us and how we can have a deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus. It’s not about making time in this life easier.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

Among the most important truths I have learned in all the discipleship ministries is that I AM NOT IN CHARGE. The faithfulness God calls me to is this- proclaim, witness and teach, (Psalm 71:18, , Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20). In this, His call to me is to know Him and make Him known to others. What is tempting is to think the outcome is something that is up to me. How silly that is. God gives me the role of “inputs”. “Outcomes” are up to Him. What I see in Elijah is that he seemed to get discouraged that, after Mount Carmel, the nation did not immediately repudiate all idols. His input did nt deliver the outcome he wanted. it just doesn’t seem to work that way. "His [Elijah's] God-given successes had fostered an inordinate pride (cf. vv. 4, 10, 14) that had made him take his own importance too seriously. Moreover, Elijah had come to bask in the glow of the spectacular. He may have fully expected that because of what had been accomplished at Mount Carmel, Jezebel would capitulate and pagan worship would come to an end in Israel—all through his influence!" "Like Simon Peter when he took his eyes off the Lord, looked at those waves, and began to sink, Elijah lost his courage." ———————————————————————————— In leading discipleship groups I learned this truth the hard way- A few years into re:gen I was talking with a long-time leader and asked him what the completion rate was from first night on. I was surprised when he said “low”. Asking around further, I was told at each stage about 50% fall out. So…if 100 come on Monday about 50 return. Of those about 25 make it through “open group” and into a “closed group”. Of that group, -about 1/3 either drop out or do the minimum. -about 1/3 have meaningful change. -The final 1/3 are “rocket launched” into discipleship and the new life God promises in 2 Corinthians 5:17. That’s about 8 of the original 100 who enter a new life in Christ. Talks with some of Dallas’s best rehab ministries lead similar figures. That recalls the question as to what’s behind this? SNL has the answer- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MQpV3ST6Kso
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Hugh Stephenson

————————————————————————— Betterman pastor Chris Harper offers this thought- Satan devotes 168 hours a week trying to deceive and distract you. You will not renew and protect your mind by glancing at your Bible for 5 to 10 minutes every week. If you want a distracted, worldly mind, keep doing what you're doing. If you want a renewed mind, give more. Think about this: reading the Bible for 30 minutes is only 2% of your day. https://betterman.com ————————————————————————— We don’t read a lot about the battle in the spiritual realm. When I got off the couch and into these ministries, I saw that Satan was definitely in GAME ON mode. Sadly, Elijah’s failure takes him out of a primary position. He is replaced by Elisha, who will do a great deal as he walks with Elijah. The notes offer this on the events at Mount Sinai - God provided supernaturally for His servant in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, as He had provided for the Israelites for 40 years. Though "the angel of the LORD" usually refers to God Himself in the Old Testament (e.g., Exod. 3:2-6), here it may refer to a human messenger (vv. 5, 7). The Hebrew text has "the" cave rather than "a" cave (v. 9), suggesting that this may have been the very spot where God had placed Moses before He caused His glory to pass before him (Exod. 33:21-23). Elijah's 'pilgrimage' to Sinai was a search for the roots of Yahwism. There Yahweh had appeared to Moses when he was herding sheep, and there He appeared to him when he gave the law. Elijah needed reaffirmation. What he thought he saw happening on Mt. Carmel did not happen, namely, the repentance of Israel. So he went to Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb) to chide Yahweh for forsaking him."[399] Moses had spent 40 days and nights on the mountain fasting while he waited for a new phase of his ministry to begin (Exod. 34:28). Jesus spent 40 days and nights in a wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry too (cf. Matt. 4:1-2). Elijah covered his face because he realized that He could not look at God and live (v. 13), as Moses also realized (Exod. 33:20-22; cf. Gen. 32:30). "Elijah recruits his attendant and successor at the workplace, as Jesus was to do with many of his followers."[409] This closes the so-called Elijah cycle or narrative (chs. 17—19), one of the richest portions of the Old Testament for preaching and teaching. In many ways Elijah, Israel's savior, prefigured Jesus Christ and His ministry.
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Michael Sisson

Re: 1Kgs 19:2 1Kgs 19:2 (NASB) Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So >>>may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”<<< Jezebel’s death threat against Elijah turns out to be a curse upon herself. Re: 1Kgs 18:8 a.k.a. Mt. Sinai Re: 1Kgs 19:10,14 From whence we derive the Christian phenomenon known as an “Elijah Complex.” https://www.backtothebible.org/amp/the-elijah-complex
GJ

Greg Jones

Good morning Melody. Clawdia :-) That’s caaatchy. I like how the question Melody what are you doing here has been asked and answered in your life. I like working those word search puzzles. You find words that are hidden inside a grid of random letters. You find one word and circle it. When you find one horizontal word you rarely realize that there are one or two vertical words and one or two diagonal words running through the first word. If there were thirty words to find in the puzzle and you used one puzzle sheet per word you would experience working the puzzle differently than you would finding all thirty on one sheet. Sometimes I feel like reading the Bible is a little like working one of those puzzles. Sometimes I just circle the story. Sometimes I look to see if other stories are running through the one I’m reading. This is a case of the latter. Verses 15-17 set up what is coming in the first 10-13 chapters in 2 Kings. And the rule of Jehu, 2 Kings 9-10 sets up the book of Hosea. Without going into a lot of detail since we will read about it later, it is written that Jehu gets a personal commendation from the Lord in regard to his acts against the house of Ahab. And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” 2 Kings 10:30. Later in the history of Israel it is written in the Hosea section of the book of the twelve. And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. Hosea 1:4 That’s how the word search puzzle and reading the Bible are kind of alike to me. The puzzle is made in a way to where the intent is to find all the words on one sheet, and when you do, you see where words intersect. Each word is a sequence of letters, that’s the detail within the puzzle. When all the words are circled and accounted for, that’s when you see a broader view of the detail that is within the puzzle. You train your brain to look for intersections. If you’re given the same sheet over and over again but you’re instructed that there is only one word to be found per puzzle you still find each word, or the letter sequence that spells the word. But, your brain will not look for intersecting words. And your view of what the “worked”puzzle looks like is different. What’s different about the Bible and a word search, my opinion, word searches are usually theme related and fun to work but there’s no life changing, paradigm shifting content in them. There are definitely some themes running through the Bible. And I enjoy working out what is puzzling in it. But the Bible is timeless in how its applications can be life changing and paradigm shifting in the lives of believers.
GJ

Greg Jones

Q2 For myself I have a lot of faith in this simple prayer. Father, be in my thoughts. That prayer is always followed by a later thought and that thought can sound a lot like, Greg what are you doing here? God repeatedly being in that question/prayer helps me stay connected to these great questions here. “What expectations have you put on the Lord?” “Have they become demands?” Two observations looking back. Chapter 17 the widow in Sidon. When her son dies Elijah prays and God revives him. The gentile woman’s response is, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” I like to think she came to that conclusion when she heard God in this thought “what is the man of God doing here?” Drought, famine, and just enough Bisquick in a box each day wasn’t convincing her. Drought was Elijah’s first prayer. Chapter 18, And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) If asked, Obadiah, what are you doing here? Here could mean Ahab’s house or one of two caves and Obadiah could have given the same answer “feeding the hidden.”
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Michael Scaman

Jezebel ( an odd name for a princess meaning something like utterly without honor ) takes a curse on herself and it is fulfilled in a messy way despite t her royal makeup and lipstick I would love some of that superfood Elijah ran 40 days and night on but maybe it shows the reality of depression even after a victory and need for sustenance and strength form God for us all. God sends an earthquake, wind and fire that he is not in in some sense and a still small voice he is in some stronger sense. Some see this as parallel to the three people, Jehu, Hazael, Elisha sent with power and fury and judgement but not God's main work. God's main work is in the 7000 people following him like a still small voice. That should be us, the believing remnant in the world. Some also say Elijah ministered with power but mainly apart from the people. In contrast, Elijah's successor Elisha, lived much more among the people. One pastor I recall long long ago says Elisha got a double portion of Elisha's spirit and some calculated he did twice the miracles.
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Amy Lowther

1. When a boss overloads me with work, I can initially become preoccupied with work and take my gaze off the Lord. Prayer: God, you are awesome. Thank you for all you do and thank you for being with me in the work place. May I continue to look to you for everything and may I look to you instead of being preoccupied with overloads of work. May I do things your way and not be overcome by my nerves. Amen. 2. I expect the Lord to help produce “sunshine” in whatever is available in each and every situation of life. As I work and as God works, my expectations are reasonable and not demands because God helps me be knowledgeable of what is available. 3. My strategy is to trust and use God’s good provision and timing in my approach to meet my needs and wants. 4. Yes.
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Sue Bohlin

Thanks, Melody. I especially appreciated how you noted how easily our expectations of God can grow into demands. (Then we get mad at Him for not coming through with what He never promised in the first place.) Growing up, my choice of birthday cake was always angel food cake with chocolate frosting, Today I see that Elijah was given angel food cake to supernaturally sustain him for a crazy-long 40-day-and-night journey. Cool! Connecting the dots, I see that Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tempted, and Elijah traveled 40 days on his way to Mt. Sinai. The same 3 shared a powerful literal "Come to Jesus" meeting on the Mount of Transfiguration. I also see that apparently God sent Elijah to Mt. Horeb, also known as Mt. Sinai. So in the midst of Elijah's deep depression, God sent him to the same place He had revealed Himself to Moses, and revealed Himself to Elijah through the soft whisper, also known as the "still small voice." Twice, God asks Elijah, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Both times, the "here" is not a place God had told Elijah to go. It's so easy for us to hear in these words a tone of castigation and shaming coming from an angry or disappointed deity. That's our default setting, most of us. It never occurs to us that God may be asking with the most tender, compassionate, quiet whisper, filled with love and affection for His hurting child.