1 Kings 19: From the Fire to the Whisper

If you brought a Bible to church, we are picking up where we left off last Lord’s Day here at Piqua Baptist. We work our way through books of the Bible a little bit at a time, and we’re working through the book of Kings. We are in 1 Kings, chapter 19. If you’re not super familiar with the Bible, if you don’t have one, there’s a Bible under one of the chairs near you. You’ll find our reading today, 1 Kings 19, on page 301 of the church Bible. We’ll work our way through the entire chapter together — it usually takes us about forty-five minutes or so to work through a text like this.

1 Kings chapter 19. Here’s the big idea this morning: when God’s work appears to have failed, trust that He is doing far more than you can see.

Let’s pray.

Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Oh great, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God, be with us this morning as we learn from Your Word. Give us eyes that we would see Your glory and the preciousness of Your Son. Write these truths upon all of our hearts. For the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Amen.

This man stood before the God of heaven and earth. This man spoke to God. This man spoke for God. This man called the wicked king Ahab to repentance. This man prayed, and it didn’t rain for three years. This man prayed again, and it rained over the entire kingdom. This man was fed by ravens. This man raised the dead. This man faced off against 450 pagan prophets, whom he mocked and then single-handedly slaughtered one by one. This man called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel. This man outran the king’s chariot. This man is Elijah. And this has been his ministry. It has been spectacular.

We come to 1 Kings 19, and we see this same prophet, in this same kingdom, with this same wicked king. But this time we’re on a different mountain, and this time he will have a different ministry experience. God will be silent. Elijah will be despondent. And this man, who learned to trust the Lord in the loud fire, must now learn to trust the Lord in the low whisper.

You have either been, or you are, or one day you will be, in a season like Elijah in chapter 19 — a season where you can’t see what God is doing, where God’s purpose and God’s will seem hidden, and it feels like He isn’t doing anything at all — that your plans and your prayers and your hopes have all come to nothing, and it feels like you’re stuck.

There are three things I’d like to show you about your God through His care for the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19:

1. God provides in the wilderness
2. God is present in the cave
3. God has a purpose in the field

I’ll repeat these as we go along.

I. God Provides in the Wilderness (vv. 1–8)

The first thing I’d like you to see about your God, in His care for Elijah in this chapter, is this: God provides in the wilderness — even if that wilderness is a wilderness of our own making.

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.” 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. 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.”

It’s the ninth century BC. Ahab is king in Israel. He is a wicked man, a worshiper of a demon god called Baal. He was with Elijah on Mount Carmel when he witnessed the Lord embarrass the prophets of Baal — Ahab witnessed Elijah mete out God’s judgment against them. And Ahab rushes home and tells his wife, the witch queen Jezebel, what Elijah had done. Jezebel is worse than Ahab. She hates Yahweh and the servants of Yahweh. She invokes a curse upon herself, saying, in effect, “By this time tomorrow, it’s either going to be me dead or Elijah dead.”

So Elijah confronts her to her face and calls her to repent of her sins. Is that what the Bible says? No. Verse 3 says Elijah was afraid. This is curious. Last week he risked his life; this week he’s running for his life. And by the way, he doesn’t run across town — he runs across the entire country, to Beersheba, which is about as far away from Jezebel as you can get and still be in the land of Yahweh.

Think about this with me. At the end of chapter 18, Elijah is outrunning chariots. At the beginning of chapter 19, Elijah is running for his life. In chapter 18, he’s calling down fire from heaven. In chapter 19, he’s praying for his own death. What would cause a spine of steel to turn into spaghetti? Well, few things will take the starch out of a guy like unmet expectations, like the feeling that you have spent so much of yourself to so little effect. Sure, back in chapter 18, Elijah got a confession from the people — all the people said, “Yahweh is God.” But as time went on, he found out that not all confessions are conversions, and signs and wonders do not change hearts. The heart of King Ahab remains unmoved. And Elijah is disappointed and exhausted. And in his exhaustion, he puts himself in isolation.

You could say the prophet ought to have sought out the fellowship of others. Do you remember, back in chapter 18, we learned that Elijah’s friend Obadiah had protected and provided for a hundred prophets who were in hiding? You could say Elijah should have sought out their fellowship, their counsel, asked them to pray for him. But instead, the great Elijah isolated himself in the wilderness. Now, in the Bible, sometimes the Lord leads His people into the wilderness where they have to learn to trust Him. But sometimes God’s people lead themselves into the wilderness.

Verse 4 is Elijah in the wilderness, and we have a very different picture of this man than we’ve seen so far. He’s all alone, sitting under a tree, praying for his own death. Who does that sound like? Anyone? Jonah. Jonah. Not a good look for this man who, in his own words, stood before the Lord. He prays, “I’ve had enough. Take my life, Lord. I’m no better than my ancestors.”

Some of you may resonate with a prayer like this. What good have I done? I’m no better than anyone who came before. What difference have I made? The king worships demons and sleeps with a witch. The people are no closer to God than they ever have been. I have failed. My ministry is a failure.

Church, if you ever find yourself in a similar mental state as the prophet is here, wishing for his own death — would you please reach out for help? Suicide is a serious thing, and you need to know: you are not alone. You are never alone. And you are not your own. Understand that when the Lord Jesus saved you, He purchased your soul and your body. Both belong to Him. He wanted both. He loves both. The price someone pays for something is an indication of how valuable that thing is to them, and your heavenly Father paid for your body and your soul with the price of the life of His own Son. For the Christian, suicide is never an option, and help is always available. Reach out to a pastor, and we’ll help you find help.

But listen — Elijah isn’t serious. If he really wanted to die, it’s simple: turn himself in, Jezebel’s already made a vow. Real easy. He’s tired. He’s embattled. He’s alone. And here is something you already know, but need to be reminded of: Christian, when you are tired, when you are embattled, when you are alone, your perspective is almost always wrong. You’re not good at assessing your life, or any situation, when you are tired and embattled and alone.

Let’s pick up reading in verse 5.

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.” 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.

Elijah throws himself a pity party, and who shows up — uninvited? Behold the tenderness of your God. Our boy is all screwed up. He’s become Jonah. And yet our dear Lord doesn’t come to him with a harsh rebuke, but with compassion and with provision. It’s like David prayed: “Your gentleness has made me great.” The Lord makes Elijah a meal. Life can be hard. Ministry can be disappointing. Sometimes you just need a hearty meal and a good sleep.

Notice how, when the Lord comes to Elijah, He’s in no hurry at all. He wakes him up, feeds him angel food cake or something to drink, Elijah goes back to sleep, He wakes him up, feeds him again. The Lord knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:14). PBC, this is your God. He does not change. He’ll show up at your pity party too. He’s so gracious, so patient in all of your fussing and in your folly. He loves you at your best and no less at your worst. He’s tender with you. A bruised reed He will not break.

So Christian, when you find yourself in seasons like Elijah — weary, embattled, feeling alone, even after isolating yourself in the wilderness of your own making — your Lord will come to you. Look to Him. He’s there. He’s always been there. And He will give you rest.

Oh, but our Father will give us rest under a different tree. Our Father will give us rest under the shade of a tree called Calvary. It is there you will find true rest and the quiet you need for your restless soul. Do you remember what the Apostle Peter told the people in Jerusalem? “Repent… that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” The Bible says Jesus died to bring you to God.

If you’re not a Christian, I’m glad you came to church today. I don’t know where you’re looking for rest, but I can tell you this: you’ll find it nowhere except at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. What you need is forgiveness of sin and to be reconciled to your Creator. There you will not only find rest, but friend, you will find peace. Turn from your sin today. Trust in Jesus Christ, and you will receive the refreshment you need from the presence of your God.

Where, friends, will you find rest when you are weary? Where will you find strength when you are weak? Where will you find joy when you are embattled? There’s only one answer — at the cross. At the cross, where you first saw the light, and where the burden of your heart rolled away. Jesus cannot love you more, and Jesus will not love you less. Take your rest in Him. Feast upon the food He has placed at your head, and savor the blessings of this our great and boundless Savior, because He knows what you need for the journey ahead. He’ll give you what you need. God provides in the wilderness.

II. God Is Present in the Cave (vv. 8–18)

The second thing we see in this text: God is present in the cave.

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. And 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.”

A little geography may help here. Beersheba — where he was in the wilderness — to Horeb is south, about 250 miles. It’s a long way. The food the Lord had provided for Elijah strengthened his body for forty days and forty nights, and he comes to a mountain called Horeb. You know what Mount Horeb is, right? It has a different name — Sinai. Fasting forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai — who does this remind us of? Moses. The Lord met Moses on this same mountain and revealed Himself to Moses in the same way He’s going to reveal Himself to Elijah.

The word of the Lord comes to Elijah and asks a question. And just so you know — anytime in Scripture when God asks a question, He’s not looking to ascertain information He doesn’t already have. His question isn’t for Him; His question is always for the person He’s asking. He says, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

What do you think the tone of this question is? Is it a rebuke? The commentators are split on this point. Some say it’s a rebuke — “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Others say this question is simply calling Elijah to take inventory of his life, to come clean — more gentle, like, “Why are we here, Elijah?” Whichever it is doesn’t change the meaning much. Personally, I favor the latter, and the reason is we need not forget the audience to whom Kings was written. Remember, this book was written to the exiles — the Jews exiled in Babylon, wondering, after the judgment of God had fallen and they had been kicked out of the land and sent into exile, “Why are we here? How did we get here?” So this question is doing a lot of work for Elijah — and for the original audience. What are you doing here, Israel?

Note the prophet’s response in verse 10. Philip Ryken, in his excellent commentary, points out that everything Elijah says in response to the Lord’s question is built on half-truths. He says, “I have been very jealous for the Lord.” Well, he might have been able to say that back in chapter 18, but so far in chapter 19, all this boy has done is run for his life, sleep under a broom tree, and eat angel food cake. “Very jealous”? Zeal for God is not why he’s at Sinai.

By the way, he says the people of Israel have all forsaken God’s covenant. All of them? It’s just a chapter ago that all of them confessed that Yahweh is God — at least some of them must have meant it. Surely, Elijah, you’re not the only faithful servant of God in the entire kingdom, are you? He says they’ve killed all the prophets, and now they’re coming for him. But what did Elijah himself learn in the first part of chapter 18? There are at least a hundred prophets of Yahweh in hiding, protected and provided for by the king’s chief of staff. They haven’t killed all the prophets. He isn’t the only one.

But this is what we do. When we’re spiritually despondent, spiritually depressed, we convince ourselves of half-truths, and we speak to ourselves in absolutes — blanket statements about how the world is. “This situation’s never going to end. Ever.” “Everyone is like this. Everyone.” “I’m the only one. The only one.” You know what this is? Self-pity. And I’m sad to say it’s a dear friend of my own. We feel sorry for ourselves, and we isolate, and then we blame others for being distant. And the prophet’s perspective is completely askew. Not everyone is trying to kill Elijah — Jezebel is, and she is formidable, but she’s not everyone. Elijah’s despondence has turned one queen into an entire nation. That’s what self-pity does. It makes us big. It makes God small. And thereby makes all our problems insurmountable — which in turn feeds self-pity. Ask me how I know.

Ryken points out another half-truth: Elijah says, “I, and I alone” — which is more than just self-pity. It reveals what the prophet thinks of himself and his own importance in the work of God. If there is to be reformation in the kingdom, if there is to be revival in the land, I’m the only one who’s going to make it happen. This is how spiritual depression and despondency unfold in our hearts — self-righteousness and self-pity mixed together, and the unhappy ingredients create an elixir of conceit. We get big; God gets small. We make expectations, we make demands, we expect certain outcomes, and when those expectations aren’t realized, the dimmer switch on our joy gets turned down. We become despondent. We become inconsolable. We throw pity parties. And when this happens, we, like Elijah, need a change in perspective — to stop staring at our own belly buttons and start staring at the risen Christ.

Does anyone remember how Elijah has described himself so far in 1 Kings? As the man who stood before the Lord. Well, he needs to stand before the Lord again. And that’s just what the Lord calls him to.

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.

Before we get into wind and earthquake and fire, let’s pause on that phrase — “the Lord passed by.” That phrase has been attached to this mountain before, hasn’t it? Before Elijah climbed Sinai, Moses climbed Sinai, and Moses asked the Lord to see His glory. The Lord said, “You cannot see My glory and live — I’ll make My goodness pass by.” Exodus 34 says the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” That event is in the background here — God passes before Elijah as He once did to Moses, and God reveals Himself to Elijah as He once did to Moses.

There was a great wind — I don’t know how strong a wind has to be to break rock, but it’s breaking rocks, which would have been loud and terrifying. But the author of Kings says the Lord is not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, and the mountain shook — unsettling, terrifying, the whole thing shaking and you’re on it — but the Lord is not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire, and Elijah knows fire — he’s dealt with fire before — but we’re told the Lord is not in the fire. And then there’s the sound of a low whisper — or, if you’re using the King James, “a still small voice.”

Now, this is new. Think about the ministry of Elijah — it has been full of dramatic divine interventions: droughts, miraculous provision, raising the dead, confronting prophets and kings, judgment, the spectacular. But when these things did not bring about reformation in the kingdom, at least not in the way he expected, Elijah is despondent. And Yahweh passes by him in these spectacular ways — but we’re told the Lord is not in those things. Instead, the Lord is in the still small voice, in the silence, in the low whisper. And that is what draws Elijah out of the cave.

“Why are you here, Elijah?” This is here to teach us that sometimes God’s kingdom will advance on the surface, through the spectacular, and at other times God is pleased to see His kingdom advance underneath the surface, through the power of His word. So, Piqua Baptist, when you don’t see the spectacular, don’t assume God is not working. It is impossible to gauge God’s work in pieces — it can only be seen in the whole, and the Lord doesn’t often show us the whole. More often, our Lord moves through the invisible and the inaudible.

Let’s pick up reading in verse 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?” 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.”

Same thing he said before. Verse 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. 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 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

It starts off with the same question from the Lord and the same answer from the prophet, word for word. But this time there’s a different response from the Lord. The first time He said, “Go stand before Me.” This time He says, “Go, return.” Turn back. There is more the Lord intends to do through the prophet Elijah.

Now, I don’t want to move on without at least making the point that God is not done with Elijah. We just learned He has 7,000 men and women who are faithful to Him in the kingdom. He has at least a hundred prophets He could use to do the work — but He still chooses to use Elijah. If you are despondent and feeling sorry for yourself, if you find yourself not responding well to adversity and setbacks, if you are isolating yourself — you need to know: God is not done with you. You just need to get back to work.

I think the best book I’ve ever read on pastoral ministry is called The Shepherd’s Life, by James Rebanks. It’s not a book about church ministry at all — in fact, Rebanks isn’t even a Christian. It’s called The Shepherd’s Life because it’s about a shepherd’s life; it’s about raising sheep. There are a couple of sentences in that book that have been so useful to me for pastoral ministry. Rebanks says there are three rules in shepherding: the first rule is, it’s about the sheep and the land; the second rule is, sometimes things don’t work out; and the third rule is, shut up and do the work. That has been so useful to me in ministry. It’s not about me — it’s about the people and the kingdom. And sometimes things don’t work out the way I think they should, and I just need to shut up and do the work.

You see what the Lord is doing with Elijah, don’t you? He’s telling Elijah, “I’m doing a thousand things that you don’t know and don’t understand. Go anoint a pagan, Hazael, over a pagan country, Syria. Go anoint Jehu over Israel. Go anoint Elisha as your successor.” God is still working in the kingdom in ways Elijah can’t see. He’s sovereign over pagan nations. He’s sovereign over His own. He’s telling the prophet, “I have this well in hand, young man.” And maybe I’m reading between the lines, but He’s telling him, “I don’t need you to accomplish My will. You think you are jealous for My glory — I am more so.” If a worshiper of Baal escapes Hazael, Jehu will take care of him. If he escapes Jehu, Elisha will take care of him. “I’ll see to it.” The Lord works through means, and the Lord has many means. The Lord has all the means.

And here we see every single one of Elijah’s half-truths come down. He’s not alone — 7,000 people in the kingdom have not bowed the knee to Baal. And this is a lesson for us: in making too much of ourselves, we build expectations about how our God ought to run His world, and when He acts differently, or moves at a different pace than we would like, we become despondent. We become like those disciples on the road to Emmaus, whose unmet expectations kept them from seeing the risen Christ: “We had hoped that You would be the one to redeem Israel” — yet He’s standing right next to them, and they can’t see Him.

So Yahweh came to Elijah in the same way He came to Moses. And friends, it’s the same way He’s going to come to you. He will come in gentleness. He will come in compassion. But He will come to change your perspective. There is nowhere you can go apart from His Holy Spirit. Church, in the dark, find your Father’s hand and take hold. The dark is not dark to Him. Remember what the psalmist said in Psalm 23 — that he would not fear walking through the valley of the shadow of death. You know why? Because “You are with me.” You don’t have to be afraid walking through the valley of the shadow of death, because Jesus went there first. Jesus went to death first and came back. He knows the way. He’ll lead you through.

When you can’t see what God is doing, know that God loves you. Know that He’s doing a thousand things you can’t see — things you wouldn’t understand even if you could see them. The great nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon put it as only Spurgeon could put it: “God is too good to be unkind, and He is too wise to be mistaken, and when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”

III. God Has a Purpose in the Field (vv. 19–21)

Though Elijah is a mess, the Lord didn’t give up on him. He has a purpose yet for this prophet, and that brings us to our last point, which will go very quickly: God has a purpose in the field.

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, for what have I done to you?” 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.

So we’re introduced to the prophet Elisha. We don’t know much about him except what we’re told here. He’s plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, which seems to suggest his family was probably pretty wealthy — the equivalent, in a modern farm, of requiring twelve tractors to do twelve plows. Elijah passes by him — an interesting phrase, the same word from back in verse 11 — and casts his cloak on him, which is a designation that he’s choosing this man to be his successor, after he goes to be with the Lord. He’s telling Elisha what the Lord Jesus would later tell the disciples, about a thousand years later: “Come, follow Me.” And Elisha does what the disciples did — he sells the farm, slaughters the oxen, cooks the meat over the yokes, gives it to the people, and follows the prophet.

God’s purpose will go forward — and it will go forward less through Elijah and more through Elisha. Elijah’s ministry will become less about calling down fire and more about training up another. And yet, though there is no fire in this part of his ministry, his God is no less present in it — no less magnificent or sovereign in it. God is still working. He still has a purpose in the field.

This chapter started with Elijah running, and it ends with Elijah returning. It started with Elijah alone, and it ends with Elijah together with another. The Lord has asked him, twice, “What are you doing here?” And in the middle of the chapter comes the main point: the Lord working in the low whisper. Elijah trusted the Lord in the loud fire; now he must trust his Lord in the low whisper.

We could ask ourselves this question this morning, PBC: what are you doing here? Have you been looking to God to show up in a whirlwind, in an earthquake, in a fire — in the spectacular? Have you been disappointed by how the Lord has worked in your life, how He has called you to trust Him in thin silence, in a low whisper, in the ordinary? Well, if so, friends, this is what the Lord is calling you to: to trust Him, to rest yourself at His cross, to feast yourself upon His Word, and to invest yourself in the spiritual well-being of another.

So, you’ve blown it. We all have. Lift up your eyes and see your Savior. Trust that your God is doing a thousand things that you can’t see and wouldn’t understand even if you could. Know that He has not given up on you — that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion, and that He is doing more, far more, than you could ask or even imagine, and that all things will work together for your good. Trust this. Believe this.

Let’s pray. Father, we thank You for 1 Kings 19 and for Your precious Word. Write its truth upon our hearts, and let it bear fruit in our lives, in Jesus’ name.