When you have a Queen (who always gets her way) trying to kill you, you get outa Dodge.

Elijah walks more than 100 miles down to Beersheba. Then goes another day’s journey into the wilderness (probably without any provisions), sits down under a broom tree and waits for the end.

We’ve seen this picture of a person waiting to die in the wilderness of Beersheba before.

Remember this?

“So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The difference with Elijah is that he is asking God to take his life. And the reason he gives is “for I am no better than my fathers.”

Elijah seems to view himself as a failure. Maybe he thought the whole nation would repent and return to Yahweh after the fire fell from heaven. The people did proclaim “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” And they also participated in dispatching the false prophets. I would think that’s a promising start. Maybe Elijah expected more. Maybe he had visions of them all tearing their robes in repentance and going out and immediately pulling down the shrines and idols. That does not seem to have happened. It kinda looks like everyone just went home. Back to the usual.

On one hand, Elijah seems to be getting a little melodramatic. But on the other hand, this lowness is WAY more common in the ministry than most people have any clue.

When you know what people are missing out on… When you know the unnecessary pain and suffering they are bringing into their lives and the lives of their families… When you know how much better their lives would be if they would just listen to the Truth and believe Yahweh – and they won’t… it IS depressing. Especially when you give your life – the days you will never get back – to make this truth known. And the people just kinda just glance at you, then go back to whatever they were doing… Yeah… it kinda makes you want to not wake up in the morning.

Elijah is done.

He cannot see any future for his ministry. If literal fire falls from heaven, and that’s not enough to convince people, what do you do for an encore?

And just like Hagar and Ishmael who were at the end, the LORD provides for Elijah.

An angel – which may in fact be the “second Yahweh figure” or the embodied Word of Yahweh – provides bread and water. Twice. And Elijah sleeps in between meals. He is utterly exhausted and burned out.

“The angel of Yahweh appeared a second time and touched him and said, “Get up, eat, for the journey is greater than you.””
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭7‬ ‭LEB‬‬

I love this very literal rendering in the Lexam translation. And it’s true. This journey that we are all on- serving the Lord, walking out the Gospel, living by faith – it’s greater than we are. There is more journey than there is of us. We get to the end of our strength and there are still miles to go.

Jesus said to His disciples, “let us come apart and rest a while.” And if we don’t “come apart” we will come apart. We have to be replenished. Rest is sacred. It’s not a luxury or an option.

😏 Says the gal who works two jobs and is writing 6 blog posts a week and also volunteers for community outreach.

Hey – I’m preaching at myself, ok? And I have learned how to rest hard when I rest.

“So he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭8‬ ‭LEB‬‬

🧝‍♂️ This must have been Lembas Bread.

🤨 Uhh… who are you?

🧝‍♂️ I am Fin-Galad of the Elvin Lands of Middle Earth. I bid you peace.

🤨 I won’t ask how you found your way into this blog. But – what is Lembas Bread?

🧝‍♂️ Elvish way-bread. One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man.

🤨 I don’t think there are any elves in the Bible. Or on Regular Earth.

☝🏼🤓 Actually, Tolkien got the idea for Lembas Bread from both Bible stories like this and the Jewish Talmud which said that a priest could eat a piece of the sacred showbread the size of an olive and be fully satisfied.

🧝‍♂️ I see I am vindicated. My task here is complete. I wish you a fair journey.

⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️

And so we come to Mount Horeb…

Horeb is the mountain where Moses talked with God in a burning bush. 🔥

This mountain is also called Sinai. It’s where Moses received the 10 Commandments written with the finger of God. It’s where Moses hid in a cleft of the rock and Yahweh passed by and Moses saw the afterglow of His glory and heard Him declare His Name.

I wonder if Elijah found that same “cleft of the rock.” He went to a cave and spent the night there.

It’s like Elijah was hoping to have an experience like Moses. But those experiences were for Moses. “What is for you here, Elijah?” Not Moses. You.

Elijah doesn’t have to talk with Yahweh in a burning bush. The Word of Yahweh is already there (minus the burning bush) talking with him.

Y’all – it’s still a valid conversation with God even if there are no bushes on fire.

But I don’t know if Elijah gets that or not. His answer to the Word’s question is a little odd. It’s not really even an answer. It’s more like a defense.

“Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.””
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Ummm… did Elijah just not notice anything when he walked through the southern kingdom of Judah? No Baal and Asherah worship there. No idols or shrines. Lots of people bringing gifts to the temple- worshiping Yahweh. Lots of priests and Levites being faithful. They’re going around teaching the Law in every town. Did he not see any of that?

Discouragement is a mindset. And it filters your perception of reality. It tends to blind us to the good. Maybe Elijah got so focused on his own ministry, on himself and his perceived failure, that he lost sight of what the LORD was doing elsewhere. That can happen. You can get to the place where you think the sun might just not come up in the morning if you are not on top of things.

The LORD is not depending on any one of us to keep the gears of His world turning. The Kingdom of God will not come to a screeching halt if you take a sabbatical. If you think it will, can I just tell you (in love) that you have WAY too high a view of your own importance? (Take it from someone who learned this the hard way)

The LORD’s work and His Kingdom are SO much bigger than we realize. He’s got faithful people all around the world. In places we might be tempted to write off as backward, broken, and hopelessly corrupt, the LORD has His faithful people who have not bowed the knee to the gods of the nations and never will. They may not have beautiful church edifices. They may be surrounded by idolatry and paganism. They may driven into hiding, but they are there.

I wonder if maybe Elijah had put expectations on himself that Yahweh never asked him to take on- as if he was personally responsible for the soul of the nation. All God asked him to do was deliver messages.

So the LORD passes by the cleft in the rock, just like with Moses. Only…not.

When Yahweh showed up on Horeb/Sinai before, there was a ferocious storm cloud and the mountain shook and it was on fire. All the things.

This time, Yahweh is not in the wind. He’s not in the earthquake. He’s not in the fire.

That last one is especially poignant.

He WAS in the fire on Horeb for Moses – in the burning bush and in the fire that consumed the top of the mountain.

Have you ever wished to be like some other saint? To have their experiences or their relationship with God?

By NOT being in the fire for Elijah, it’s like God is saying to him, “You don’t have to be like Moses. I like you as you. When I meet with you, it doesn’t have to look like this other experience you heard about.”

Yahweh speaks in a gentle whisper and Elijah covers his face and goes to the entrance of the cave.

Did he think, “This is it. I’m gonna see God’s glory just like Moses!”?

If he did, he was probably disappointed. Yahweh simply repeated His prior question.

“What is for you here, Elijah?”

I think the answer God might’ve been looking for was: ‘You, LORD. You are here for me.”

But Elijah gives the exact same answer as before. Which I find rather sad. I would’ve thought this encounter with Yahweh might’ve changed his answer. It’s like he’s fixated on himself and his own hopelessness.

The whole trip out to the wilderness seems to be Elijah saying, “It’s over. I’m the only guy left and they’re gonna find me and kill me any day now.” And the LORD says, “Ok. If that’s how you really feel, I’ve got someone to take your place.”

“…and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

From here on, Elijah kinda looks like a grumpy old retired guy yelling, “Get off my lawn! Durn kids.” He will still deliver a couple of messages for the Lord, but it’s like he has basically quit and Elisha is his replacement.

The LORD still loves Elijah and still has a purpose for him; even if he’s in a season where he basically needs to just sit on the back pew and not do much in ministry for a while.

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I’m sorry this one was rambley. As someone who has been burned out (to a charred little crisp) and exhausted and looking for a broom tree under which to expire- I tend to see a lot of my own experiences in Elijah’s trip to the wilderness.

I’m thankful that God is gracious and he provides rest and sustenance when the journey is too great for us.