Elijah Flees
Elijah had stood up to the corrupt rule of Ahab’s family. After God had demonstrated that he was the only true God, Elijah had ordered the people to execute the servants of Baal (1 Kings 18). The demonstration seemed to have shaken Ahab but his wife, Jezebel, sought to have Elijah executed in retaliation.
With the kingdom of Ahab seeking his life, the prophet went out to the wilderness assuming he would die.
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.”
1 Kings 19:4
After receiving nourishment from an angel, he was instructed instead that he was to travel 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb.
Mighty God
Here God came to him and asked him what he was doing wandering the wilderness and he responded that he was running from the people of Israel. God’s response is proceeded with great power.
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.
1 Kings 19:11-12
First came a wind so powerful it broke rocks to pieces. Then came the earthquake. Finally, there came fire. All of these things demonstrate the power of God to Elijah, yet “the Lord was not in” any of these grand events.
It’s clear that these things were brought about by God. This phrase doesn’t mean that these were strictly natural phenomenon that were outside of God’s control. He is sovereign over every event in all of creation but beyond that these events would not be expected in the course of normal history.
Elijah was told to stand before the Lord, and he was waiting on him. Mighty as the wind, quake, and fire were, they were merely the procession which announced the power of the God for whom Elijah waited.
Gentle God
With all that power, one might be forgiven for thinking God is all terror. This mountain had been ripped to shreds, shaken, and burned with Elijah hiding in the cave. Yet Elijah knew God well enough to know that he is a good God. When he heard what sounded like a gentle, small whisper, he went out to hear the Lord.
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?”
1 Kings 19:13
While the mere procession of God was amazing and terrible, God himself arrived gently to his servant to deliver his command. The message Elijah is to give is, itself, also quite wrathful. The judgement of God is to come upon the house of Ahab and the people of Israel who served Baal. Even Elijah’s own apprentice will bear the sword in that judgement. Yet it is a message that came not with the wind, shaking, or fire, but which was delivered with the soft voice.
Day of the Lord
Reading this verse reminded me of another promised day. Jesus spoke of his return in Matthew 24. First would come wars, famines, and earthquakes. There will be persecution, false messiahs, and rampant lawlessness. With the whole world seemingly gone mad, we’re told still that Christ’s return is not yet.
So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
Matthew 24:26
There are still more things which must proceed the return of our Lord.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Matthew 24:20
Destruction of cosmic proportions will herald the coming of our savior. Yet for all the terror of these events, we believers still eagerly await his return. Like Elijah in the cave, while we marvel at his power we also trust in his goodness. While these things precede a message of judgement, we trust that God will be faithful to preserve for himself a remnant.
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
2 Thessalonians 1:9-10
All of the tribulations which come before his return will be as nothing compared to the eternal destruction that comes with his return. Yet, this is just more for which the saints will give him glory, for we know that his judgement (as are all things with God) is good. He is perfect in might and also perfectly gracious, giving to those who believe far more blessing than we deserve, even as he gives to the world no more judgement than the wages of their own sin.
Our God is powerful and gentle, wrathful and merciful. These aspects of his nature do not contradict each other but prefect them. Praise him!
