Elijah – cooked and touched by the holy God
Series: Holy – Holy – Holy | Bible text: 1 Kings 19:1–10
Elijah has fought and won a great battle for Yahweh, his God. Unfortunately, the expected response from God is not forthcoming, which confuses Elijah and drives him into depression. Despondent, he sets out to see this holy and strange God. On the long way to the mountain of God, he encounters his God in indescribable diversity and wisdom.
In a city like Vancouver, where I have now lived for a long time, there is a huge offer for spirituality. There are Buddhist temples, Islamic centres, many churches and also roadside stands where you can pick up your personal horoscope. In a pluralistic, technological and globalised society, people realise that they cannot live without the divine. There are almost as many religions as there are people. Just 30 years ago, the question was: Can I believe in God? In the postmodern era, the question is: In which God should I believe?
The very different in action
The prophets in the Old Testament lived under similar conditions. They were spiritual leaders in a time when people were surrounded by all kinds of gods and religions. For these people, the question also arose of how to decide among all the competing spiritual possibilities and offers.
When Elijah was a prophet, the royal couple of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel, established the worship of Baal as the official religion in Israel. The goddess Asherah also had a good following. Baal had 450 prophets, Asherah 400. Elijah was the only prophet of Yahweh, the thrice holy God. And he had an idea. «Elijah stood before the people and said: «How long will you waver to and fro? If the LORD (Yahweh) is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!» But the people were silent» (1Kings 18:21 NLB).
To find out whether Yahweh or Baal was God, he held a competition on Mount Carmel. On top of the mountain he built two altars. Then he told the 450 prophets of Baal to cut a bull into pieces and put them on the wood of the altar. Elijah did the same. And now both parties were to call on their respective gods. The true God is the one who answers with fire. Although the prophets of Baal shouted, danced and ultimately went into ecstasy for a whole day, absolutely nothing happened.
Then the attention turns to Elijah. To make conditions a little more difficult, he waters the altar and wood generously. Then he prays: «Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have won back their hearts». Then the LORD brought down fire and set fire to the sacrificial flesh, the wood, the stones and the earth, and even dried up the trench. When the people saw this, they threw themselves to the ground and shouted, «The LORD is God! The LORD is God!» «(1 Kings 18:37–39 NLB). Elijah then had all 450 prophets of Baal killed.
I imagine the same thing in Seon on the Fornholz. Would I have the courage to put my faith in Yahweh so publicly? Would he do the miracle? The result is impressive: the people unanimously confessed that the Lord is God..
One thing is certain: Yahweh, the thrice holy God, is the only one of all gods who is alive and creative. Just as certain is that miracles do not automatically lead to faith. «But despite the many miracles he had performed, most people did not believe in him»(John 12:37 NLB). There is the expression that Christians are the fifth gospel. People no longer read the Bible with the four Gospels, but they see the exponents of the Christian faith. In our theme for the year we are challenged: «You shall be holy, for I am holy»(Exodus 19:2 NLB). Let us give our fellow human beings the chance to recognise the true God by observing us!
Elijah no longer understands the world
The last verse of the chapter says: «At that moment the power of the LORD came upon Elijah. He girded up his cloak and ran all the way to Jezreel before Ahab.»(1 Kings 18:46 NLB). Why does the good man run straight to the capital? Elijah was a wanted man with a bounty on his head. The only explanation is that he expected Ahab and Jezebel to repent now or else be kicked out by the people. He expected that faith in Yahweh would once again become the official faith of Israel. But Jezebel sent him a message with contrary content: «The gods shall kill me too, if I do not do to you this time tomorrow as you have done to them. Then Elijah became afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba in Judah; there he left his servant.»(1 Kings 19:2f NLB).
Elijah had a servant, not because he was a rich man, but because he was a prophet. That is his staff. In other words: Elia resigns from the service. And in the next verse he offers God to take his life. This is what a full-blown depression looks like. In this sad state of mind, Elijah ran into the desert, the «Mountain of God, Horeb»(v.8 NLB). This mountain has an even more familiar name: Mount Sinai. And it is called «the mountain of God» because Moses met God there in his glory. Elijah ran to Mount Horeb because – like Moses – he wanted to see God!
The reason for Elijah’s «fall» is his deep conviction that he has delivered, but God is not a reliable partner and is not doing His part. With the sentence, «I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts»(v.10+13 ELB), he expresses this. Although Elijah experienced the miracle and killed the priests of Baal, the national leadership duo remained unimpressed. And the people did not demonstrate with the slogan: «We want the Lord back!» It will be some time before Elijah is convicted by God’s word and comes to the point where he realises that he has made God the servant of his plans.
The very different very loving
Sometimes we sing or say that God is sovereign. Not infrequently we even use the term as a synonym for God’s holiness. Sovereign associated with God being above it all, detached and somewhat aloof. In the following encounter with Elijah, we get to know the holy God quite differently. The Lord meets Elijah in indescribable loving and manifold wisdom! He does this by sending an angel. What does God, through the angel, first do to this utterly despondent and depressed prophet? He does not say: «Fear not!» Neither: «I bring you good news!» or «Do penance!». Not even: «Do you want to talk about it?» All the angel of God does is cook for Elijah and touch him! «Then he lay down and fell asleep under the bush. But suddenly an angel touched him and said to him: «Get up and eat».»(1 Kings 19:5 NLB). The holy God – tailor-made, personal and loving!
The angel disappears and appears a second time a little later. Again He touches Elijah and encourages him to continue in his purpose to see His God. So he went on for 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb. Once there, the Lord asks him the same question twice: «What are you doing here, Elijah?» (V.9+13 NLB). Then He listens for a long time. When God asks us a question, it is never about Him getting information, but about us getting information.
Elia has a physical nature and lives in a physical world. Sometimes we don’t need a sermon or a lesson, but a long sleep, a walk by the lake or a meal in a good restaurant. We humans are also designed for relationship and need closeness and touch. Likewise we have a psychic nature and need someone to listen and talk to us. And last but not least, we are also Spiritual beings who need God’s word. We need to come into God’s presence and hear his voice. In Elijah this only happens from verse 15 onwards, which will be the content of the next sermon. Fascinating how lovingly the holy God takes all dimensions of being human seriously and encounters them!
When we watch someone treat a depressed person, we learn a lot about their world view. Some people have a predominantly scientific view. The human being is reduced to mechanics, chemistry or synapses. Accordingly, the recommendation is: «It’s a chemical problem, take a tablet!«Others reduce the person to the spiritual level. They are sure that you do not pray, have not availed yourself of the blood protection of Christ, or have too little faith. Such people would never take a tablet, because this is lack of faith. Many people reduce man to the psychological level and say: «You need to see a psychologist. You have probably been abused.» If a world view reduces everything to one level, this is an inadmissible reduction of the problem.
The holy God meets the discouraged Elijah in an exceedingly diverse and loving approach: He cooks and touches (v.5), cooks and touches (v.7), asks questions (v.9+13) and listens. Only much later does He speak to Elijah and correct his wrong beliefs in an extremely sensitive and wise way.
Although completely different, strange, holy, sovereign, He meets us humans individually, personally, lovingly, tailor-made, wisely. The holy God even became man in the person of Jesus Christ to pick you and me up exactly where we are. Last Friday morning I read in the Bible «The Message»: «He’ll make the road smooth for you!» Jesus came to make your road to God smooth and creamy. Now it is up to us to use that road!
Possible questions for the small group
Read the Bible text: 1 Kings 18:1–19:10
- On Mount Carmel, Yahweh proved to be the true God. If you were Elijah, would you bet on your God in such a contest? How can our fellow human beings recognise the true God in today’s spiritual confusion?
- How does God deal with the completely discouraged Elijah who is willing to die? What can we learn from this for our dealings with people? Who needs your touch and your cooking? To whom could you be an angel of God?
- Which of God’s interventions do we commonly refer to as «spiritual»?
- When God spoke, he asked only one simple question and then listened. What could this mean for our communication with God?
- How long did it take Elijah to hear God speak at Horeb (2 Kings 19:15)? Are you ready to walk this long road to the mountain of God?
