Confrontation on
This scene
provides a second contrast of persons.
Seven is the
number of completion or perfection in Scripture.
It simply
teaches us what perseverance and unwavering faith accomplishes.
Because he
was standing confidently on what God had promised! Elijah knew God's will from God's direct
promise to him.
Let me make
four suggestions that might be of help.
1. Be sure your prayer
is grounded in the Word. This gives
confidence.
2. Be
sure your prayer is not made from wrong motives, but directed by solid biblical
principles. Rest in the intercessory
ministry of the Holy Spirit who always prays according to the will of God (Rom.
3. Keep on asking, looking, and
knocking in a faith that rests in God's care, love, and timing (Matt.
7:7-8).
4. Above all, ask the Lord to
teach you what He wants you to learn as well as to do through you during this
period of waiting.
In Elijah's
reaction we see the expectation of the faith and of a man grounded in and
believing the Word of God.
It was
designed to turn sinners from seeking life apart from God.
This
undoubtedly portrays the dynamic effects of living in the Word and prayer.
If prayer is
so important, why is it so many believers are continually halted in their
prayer life?
It is the result of satanic scheming plus our own natural tendencies.
Prayer is a very important dimension in the life of every believer.
The
humanness of the heroes of the Bible can be tremendously instructive and
encouraging to us, and there is probably no passage that we can relate to more
than 1 Kings 19.
Some look at
the Elijah of chapters 17 and 18, the man of faith, and then look at the Elijah
of chapter 19, the man of fear with a critical eye. Wondering, "how could he change like that?"
The myth, so
often perpetuated today, is that believers who are truly spiritual never get
down, never have any pressures or tests.
As students
of the Word we should know this theologically since all who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, though regenerated and indwelt by the Spirit, still possess sin
nature and are in desperate need of God's grace, mercy and strength, moment by
moment.
Chapter 19
stands in stark contrast to the preceding two chapters. It deals with the same man, but the
difference is like night and day.
For a few moments, let's take the time to examine these contrasts to
observe some ideas and thoughts concerning our attitudes and our vulnerability.
Contrast 1:
In chapters 17 and 18, we saw Elijah
operating with strength in the power of God and His divine operating
assets--the Word and Prayer.
But in chapter 19, we see Elijah
weak--weak in himself and operating on the basis of his own strength and
tactics or solutions.
Contrast 2:
In chapters 17 and 18, we saw Elijah
productive. There he was used of God to
minister to others, to vindicate the name of the Lord, and as an instrument
used to bring his people back to God.
But in chapter 19, we see Elijah as a
deserter, non-productive, running away and failing to be a helper to God's
people, even though he is their prophet.
Contrast 3:
In chapters 17 and 18, we saw Elijah
victorious, bold, confident in the face of all kinds
of odds, facing 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah at once. HE HAD A GREAT ATTITUDE AND FOCUS.
But in chapter 19, we find Elijah in
failure, depressed, fearful of Jezebel, running scared, and wishing he was
dead. HE HAD A SELF CENTERED ATTITUDE
AND NO FOCUS
Contrast 4:
In chapters 17 and 18, we saw Elijah
occupied with the Lord, aware of God's presence, aware of the enormity of God's
person, and using his assets in the Lord--the promises of the Word and prayer
to their fullest.
But in chapter 19, we find Elijah
occupied with people and conditions, not God.
He was completely problem oriented.
He failed to
pray and stand on the promises of Scripture.
HE HAD A WRONG FOCUS.
This
involves an age old problem. Again, it
is one of focus and attitude. Whenever
we become occupied with our problems rather than with the Lord it creates a
terrible distortion - wrong perception of reality.
Three
classic illustrations of this:
(1) We have the Israelites who, seeing the giants in the Land rather
than the Lord, also saw themselves as grasshoppers and at the mercy of the
giants (Num.
(2) Then there is David who, after being hounded by Saul for a long period, saw his only solution as one of running away to the land of the Philistines (1 Sam. 27:1f).
(3) Finally, there is Peter who walked on the water until he took his
eyes off the Lord (Matt.
Contrast 5:
In chapters 17 and 18, we saw Elijah
physically nourished and sustained as he waited on the Lord.
But in chapter 19, we find him
physically weak, famished because of a lack of nourishment and lack of
rest.
This is
another one of those chapters that point us to the realism and honesty of the
Word of God--a mark of its character as being God-breathed.
Questions: Why such a difference in the prophet's
attitude? How could such a change
occur? Why is this portrait of the
Prophet in the Word?
Answers: We are given this portrait of the man Elijah:
(1) Because God is perfect veracity, truth, He can do no less than
state the facts about man. God is not
interested in deifying and exalting mankind as people try to do because that is
harmful for us.
(2) It is so important for us to know the truth about ourselves so
that we might have no illusions about who we are. Far too often we live with
unreal expectations.
(3) The reason? So we will
reach out and draw upon God's grace and mercy.
The divine provisions made for us in Christ.
(4) This portrait helps us see the need to glory in God rather than in
people and circumstances of life.