1 Kings 19:1-8 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and with how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. I. ELIJAH'S WEAKNESS. 1. His disappointment. With the hand of the Lord upon him he had come to Jezreel (1 Kings 18:46). Was it not because a further success for God awaited him there? Could Carmel's wonders and the mercy of God in the rain now flooding the earth be resisted? Jezebel's message, displaying only determined and increased hostility, rudely dispels the dream. The blighting of the long-expected fruit of prayer and waiting and mightiest effort is worse to bear than all the hardships which went before. Other trials may depress, but under this the spirit is utterly broken. 2. His flight. He shows no trust in Him who was mightier than Jezebel tie flees to the south of Judah. Even there it does not seem to him that he is in safety, and he goes a day's journey into the wilderness; but neither at Jezreel nor at Beer-sheba does he seek direction from the Lord. The overthrow of hope is also the overthrow of faith. Ceasing to hope in God we cease to wait on God. 3. His prayer. (1) Its inconsistency. He had fled for his life, and now he prays God that he may die. We are not fittest for heaven when we are most tired of earth. We must "enter his gates" - the gates of the city that hath foundations - "with praise," not with complaints and accusations. (2) Its unbelief. God's work is abandoned as impossible; nothing remains for Him but to take back the life of His defeated servant! Many a noble heart besides has lifted up the same cry of despair. The noblest of mankind are nothing when once the fire of trust is quenched in the soul. "The just shall live by faith;" when faith dies, every good and noble thing dies with it. II. HOW GOD BINDS UP THE BROKEN HEARTED. 1. He gives rest. "He lay and slept." Even in the desert to which we flee unbidden, God gives shelter and rest. "For so he giveth his beloved sleep." 2. He imparts strength for the onward way to where light will break upon the darkness and a new mission will be given. Elijah is fed once and again with angel food, and in the strength of it goes "forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God." We are revived with tender heavenly ministrations: we see His goodness in the land of the living, and pass onward to the place where we shall meet with Him and hear His voice. - J.U Parallel Verses KJV: And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.WEB: Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. |
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