1 Reis 19

1 Reis 19

Pink comments on Elijah’s loss of faith in this way: “Hitherto Elijah had been sustained by faith’s vision of the living God, but now he lost sight of the Lord and saw only a furious woman.” (Life of Elijah) Pink then makes the proverbial comparison: “As Peter’s courage failed him in the presence of the maid, so Elijah’s strength wilted before the threatenings of Jezebel.” Some have argued that Elijah’s flight was not only an act of cowardice and faithlessness but also the rash action that destroyed the possibility for continuing his revival. F. B. Meyer speaks of him as being “utterly demoralized and panic-stricken.” (How the Mighty Fell!) But then he wistfully notes: "What might have been! If only Elijah had held his ground—dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, and hiding under the shadow of the Almighty—he might have saved his country; and there would have been no necessity for the captivity and dispersion of his people." (Ibid) Leon Wood follows the same approach: "The evidence is all too clear that Elijah indeed was wrong, and tragically so. He had conducted himself so well until this point, providing a shining example of strength and faith as we have seen; but here he failed. When he ran that night, he did nothing less than take all chance for revival with him. (Elijah the Prophet of God - see his related work "Prophets of Israel") Howard G. Hendricks seems almost to relish the flaw of fear he finds in Elijah: “Single-handedly he took on 850 prophets, but one woman said, ‘I’ll get you,’ and he ran.” (Borrow Elijah : confrontation, conflict, and crisis) Hendricks also goes so far as to criticize the prayer of Elijah in the desert, terming it “hypocritical”: Hendricks also goes so far as to criticize the prayer of Elijah in the desert, terming it “hypocritical”: "The longer I examine this, the more I think there is a touch of the hypocritical in Elijah’s prayer. Whenever you have distorted perspective, you always become dishonest, even in your praying. I don’t think Elijah wanted to die. If he had wanted to die, he did not have to travel 120 miles south. All he had to do was to make himself available to Jezebel. She’d be delighted to accommodate him.' (Ibid) Taken together we have a most curious picture of the prophet of Yahweh. On the one hand we read (with strong assent) the finely worded commendation of Elijah by the late H. H. Rowley: "The prophet Elijah is one of the great figures of the Old Testament. In Jewish expectation it was believed that he would return to herald the messianic age, and we know that in New Testament times there were some who asked whether Jesus was Elias redivivus. In the story of the Transfiguration of our Lord, Moses and Elijah appeared on the mountain with Jesus. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and was the mediator of the Sinai Covenant. Elijah was the prophet who saved the Israelite faith in the greatest peril it had to face between the days of Moses and the Exile." (Borrow Men of God) On the other hand we are told by some writers that in Elijah’s flight from Jezebel this great figure of OT prophetism was cowardly, unfaithful to God, guilty of self-pity, responsible for the failure of the revival, and even hypocritical in his prayer. These are serious charges. Is it really credible that a man of such bold daring would really become afraid of Jezebel?... Elijah was broken, but he was not afraid! While it is certainly true that even the greatest Biblical heroes are often described in their moments of defeat, sin and despair, and while it is also possible that Elijah’s fear before Jezebel may be described as psychologically understandable, when one takes into account the tremendous inner strain he must have suffered during the conflict on Carmel—is it really credible that a man of such bold daring would really become afraid of Jezebel? Does saying, “Ah! But you never saw Jezebel!” really answer this basic question? It is the contention of this paper that the most common approach to 1 Kgs 19:3a is decidedly in error. Elijah was broken, but he was not afraid! (Read the complete article online to fully grasp Ronald Allen's reasoning = Elijah the Broken Prophet" - JETS - 22:3) 1 Kings 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.” NET 1 Kings 19:4 while he went a day's journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub and asked the LORD to take his life: "I've had enough! Now, O LORD, take my life. After all, I'm no better than my ancestors." CSB 1 Kings 19:4 but he went on a day's journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, "I have had enough! LORD, take my life, for I'm no better than my fathers." ESV 1 Kings 19:4 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." NIV 1 Kings 19:4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." NLT 1 Kings 19:4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died." sat down under a juniper tree: 1Ki 13:14 Ge 21:15,16 Joh 4:6 he requested: 1Ki 19:3 Nu 11:15 2Ki 2:11 Job 3:20-22 Jer 20:14-18 Jon 4:3,8 Php 1:21-24 better: Am 6:2 Na 3:8 Mt 6:26 Ro 3:9 1 Kings 19 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries EXHAUSTED & DOWNCAST ELIJAH PONDERS A DEATH WISH But (term of contrast) he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness - A day’s journey would have taken him about 15-25 miles into the wilderness (depending on his pace considering he had just run almost 100 miles from Jezreel not to mention that this is in the Negev which was hot and arid.) THOUGHT - Isolation from spiritual fellowship can deplete our ability to fight temptation. (Paul Apple page 307) and came and sat down under a juniper tree - This is often called a broom tree (Retama raetam), which averaged 6-10 feet height and was more like a large shrub or small tree than a towering tree. The branches were long, thin, green and covered with small green leaves (to reduce water loss) and small, white pea-like flowers (blooming in spring) which provided limited shade. THOUGHT - Elijah’s experience of despair challenges us not to get the wrong idea about Christianity. Many people still have the idea that if they trust in Jesus, all their troubles will be over....People have these wrong ideas about Christianity in part because the American church gets big, unhealthy doses of the health-and-wealth gospel. (Philip Ryken) and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers - In the previous verse Elijah ran for his life and here in verse 4 he wanted to run from life! How quickly it seems that he forgot the lessons from Brook Cherith, Zarephath and Mount Carmel! (We never do that do we? Rhetorical!) Elijah "prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died." (NLT) Ironically not only did God not answer his prayer, Elijah is one of the few men in Scripture to NEVER die! Other great men of God have prayed for death (cf. Moses in Nu 11:15, Job in Job 10:18–22, Jeremiah in Jer 20:14-18, see Jonah below). Now the truth is if Elijah really wanted to die, then why did he run? All he had to do was stay in Jezreel and Jezebel would have taken his life. One is reminded of Jonah's sad state after seeing Nineveh repent at his preaching. Jonah prayed “Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”...8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.” (Jonah 4:3,8) David