He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. Anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel; and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah to be prophet in your place. He who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I reserved seven thousand in Israel, all the knees of which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.”
So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Elijah went over to him, and put his mantle on him. Elisha left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” He said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?”
He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their meat with the instruments of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and served him.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21 He complaineth that the more zealous that he showed…
He complaineth that the more zealous that he showed himself to maintain God’s glory, the more cruelly was he persecuted.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–21 1Ki 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave,…
1Ki 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD [came] to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
Ver. 9. And he came thither unto a cave.] The same, saith R. Solomon, wherein was Moses when he first saw God’s backparts. {Exo 34:6} Hence this cave was in no small esteem among the ancients, as Josephus testifieth. Certes, it could not but be a great confirmation of Elijah to renew the sight of those sensible monuments of God’s favour and protection to his faithful predecessor Moses.
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What dost thou here, Elijah?] Accusatur hic obliquae nimiae timiditatis et trepidationis. Here he is secretly taxed for leaving his station out of too much fear of Jezebel, q.d., Is this a fit place for truth’s champion?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 A tacit reproof. This is not thy proper place,…
A tacit reproof. This is not thy proper place, nor the station in which I set thee, which was in Israel, to turn that backsliding people, to which end I gave thee my help, and would have proceeded to assist thee further, if thou hadst continued there. Nor did I give thee those excellent gifts to lie idle in this wilderness, but to employ them for thy people’s good, whom now thou hast deserted, and art come hither, not by my command, but through thy own fear and cowardice.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv9, 19 Here is, I. Elijah housed in a cave at…
Here is, I. Elijah housed in a cave at Mount Horeb, which is called the mount of God, because on it God had formerly manifested his glory. And perhaps this was the same cave, or cleft of a rock, in which Moses was hidden when the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed his name, Exo 33:22. What Elijah proposed to himself in coming to lodge here, I cannot conceive, unless it was to indulge his melancholy, or to satisfy his curiosity and assist his faith and devotion with the sight of that famous place where the law was given and where so many great things were done, and hoping to meet with God himself there, where Moses met with him, or in token of his abandoning his people Israel, who hated to be reformed (in the latter case, it agrees with Jeremiah's wish, Jer 9:2, O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them, for they are all adulterers) and so it was a bad omen of God's forsaking them; or it was because the thought he could not be safe any where else, and to this instance of the hardships this good man was reduced to the apostle refers, Heb 11:38. They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
II. The visit God paid to him there and the enquiry he made concerning him: The word of the Lord came to him. We cannot go any where to be out of the reach of God's eye, his arm, and his word. Whither can I flee from thy Spirit? Psa 139:7, etc. God will take care of his out-casts; and those who, for his sake, are driven out from among men, he will find, and own, and gather with everlasting loving-kindnesses. John saw the visions of the Almighty when he was in banishment in the isle of Patmos, Rev 1:9. The question God puts to the prophet it, What doest thou here, Elijah? Kg1 19:9, and again Kg1 19:13. This is a reproof, 1. For his fleeing hither. "What brings thee so far from home? Dost thou flee from Jezebel? Couldst thou not depend upon almighty power for thy protection?" Lay the emphasis upon the pronoun thou. "What thou! So great a man, so great a prophet, so famed for resolution - dost thou flee thy country, forsake thy colours thus?" This cowardice would have been more excusable in another, and not so bad an example. Should such a man as I flee? Neh 6:11. Howl, fir-trees, if the cedars be thus shaken. 2. For his fixing here. "What doest thou here, in this cave? Is this a place for a prophet of the Lord to lodge in? Is this a time for such men to retreat, when the public has such need of them?" In the retirement to which God sent Elijah (ch. 17) he was a blessing to a poor widow at Sarepta, but here he had no opportunity of doing good. Note, It concerns us often to enquire whether we be in our place and in the way of our duty. "Am I where I should be, whither God calls me, where my business lies, and where I may be useful?"
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III. The account he gives of himself, in answer to the question put to him (Kg1 19:10), and repeated, in answer to the same question, Kg1 19:14.
1. He excuses his retreat, and desires it may not be imputed to his want of zeal for reformation, but to his despair of success. For God knew, and his own conscience witnessed for him, that as long as there was any hope of doing good he had been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts; but now that he had laboured in vain, and all his endeavours were to no purpose, he thought it was time to give up the cause, and mourn for what he could not mend. Abi in cellam, et dic, Miserere mei - "Away to thy cell, and cry, Have compassion on me."
2. He complains of the people, their obstinacy in sin, and the height of impiety to which they had arrived: "The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, and that is the reason I have forsaken them; who can stay among them, to see every thing that is sacred ruined and run down?" This the apostle calls his making intercession against Israel, Rom 11:2, Rom 11:3. He had often been, of choice, their advocate, but now he is necessitated to be their accuser, before God. Thus Joh 5:45, There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, whom you trust. Those are truly miserable that have the testimony and prayers of God's prophets against them. (1.) He charges them with having forsaken God's covenant; though they retained circumcision, that sign and seal of it, yet they had quitted his worship and service, which was the intention of it. Those who neglect God's ordinances, and let fall their communion with him, do really forsake his covenant, and break their league with him. (2.) With having thrown down his altars, not only deserted them and suffered them to go to decay, but, in their zeal for the worship of Baal, wilfully demolished them. This alludes to the private altars which the prophets of the Lord had, and which good people attended, who could not go up to Jerusalem and would not worship the calves nor Baal. These separate altars, though breaking in upon the unity of the church, yet, being erected and attended by those that sincerely aimed at the glory of God and served him faithfully, the seeming schism was excused. God owned them for his altars, as well as that at Jerusalem, and the putting of them down is charged upon Israel as a crying sin. But this was not all. (3.) They have slain thy prophets with the sword, who, it is probable, ministered at those altars. Jezebel, a foreigner, slew them (Kg1 18:4), but the crime is charged upon the body of the people because the generality of them were consenting to their death, and pleased with it.
3. He gives the reasons why he retired into this desert and took up his residence in this cave. (1.) It was because he could not appear to any purpose: "I only am left, and have none to second or support me in any good design. They all said, The Lord he is God, but none of them would stand by me nor offer to shelter me. That point then gained was presently lost again, and Jezebel can do more to debauch them than I can to reform them. What can one do against thousands?" Despair of success hinders many a good enterprise. No one is willing to venture alone, forgetting that those are not alone who have God with them. (2.) It was because he could not appear with any safety: "They seek my life to take it away; and I had better spend my life in a useless solitude than lose my life in a fruitless endeavour to reform those that hate to be reformed."
IV. God's manifestation of himself to him. Did he come hither to meet with God? He shall find that God will not fail to give him the meeting. Moses was put into the cave when God's glory passed before him; but Elijah was called out of it: Stand upon the mount before the Lord, Kg1 19:11. He saw no manner of similitude, any more than Israel did when God talked to them in Horeb. But, 1. He heard a strong wind, and saw the terrible effects of it, for it rent the mountains and tore the rocks. Thus was the trumpet sounded before the Judge of heaven and earth, by his angels, whom he makes spirits, or winds (Psa 104:4), sounded so loud that the earth not only rang, but rent again. 2. He felt the shock of an earthquake. 3. He saw an eruption of fire, Kg1 19:12. These were to usher in the designed manifestation of the divine glory, angels being employed in them, whom he maketh a flame of fire, and who, as his ministers, march before him, to prepare in this desert a highway for our God. But, 4. At last he perceived a still small voice, in which the Lord was, that is, by which he spoke to him, and not out of the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire. Those struck an awe upon him, awakened his attention, and inspired humility and reverence; but God chose to make known his mind to him in whispers soft, not in those dreadful sounds. When he perceived this, (1.) He wrapped hi face in his mantle, as one afraid to look upon the glory of God, and apprehensive that it would dazzle his eyes and overcome him. The angels cover their faces before God in token of reverence, Isa 6:2. Elijah hid his face in token of shame for having been such a coward as to flee from his duty when he had such a God of power to stand by him in it. The wind, and earthquake, and fire, did not make him cover his face, but the still voice did. Gracious souls are more affected by the tender mercies of the Lord than by his terrors. (2.) He stood at the entrance of the cave, ready to hear what God had to say to him. This method of God's manifesting himself here at Mount Horeb seems to refer to the discoveries God formerly made of himself at this place to Moses. [1.] Then there was a tempest, an earthquake, and fire (Heb 12:18); but, when God would show Moses his glory, he proclaimed his goodness; and so here: He was, the Word was, in the still small voice. [2.] Then the law was thus given to Israel, with the appearances of terror first and then with a voice of words; and Elijah being now called to revive that law, especially the first two commandments of it, is here taught how to manage it; he must not only awaken and terrify the people with amazing signs, like the earthquake and fire, but he must endeavour, with a still small voice, to convince and persuade them, and not forsake them when he should be addressing them. Faith comes by hearing the word of God; miracles do but make way for it. [3.] Then God spoke to his people with terror; but in the gospel of Christ, which was to be introduced by the spirit and power of Elias, he would speak by a still small voice, the dread of which should not make us afraid; see Heb 12:18, etc.
V. The orders God gives him to execute. He repeats the question he had put to him before, "What doest thou here? This is not a place for thee now." Elijah gives the same answer (Kg1 19:14), complaining of Israel's apostasy from God and the ruin of religion among them. To this God gives him a reply. When he wished he might die (Kg1 19:4) God answered him not according to his folly, but was so far from letting him die that he not only kept him alive then but provided that he should never die, but be translated. But when he complained of his discouragement (and whither should God's prophets go with their complaints of that kind but to their Master?) God gave him an answer. He sends him back with directions to appoint Hazael king of Syria (Kg1 19:15), Jehu king of Israel, and Elisha his successor in the eminency of the prophetical office (Kg1 19:16), which is intended as a prediction that by these God would chastise the degenerate Israelites, plead his own cause among them, and avenge the quarrel of his covenant, Kg1 19:17. Elijah complained that the wickedness of Israel was unpunished. The judgment of famine was too gentle, and had not reclaimed them; it was removed before they were reformed: "I have been jealous," says he, "for God's name, but he himself has not appeared jealous for it." "Well," says God, "be content; it is all in good time; judgments are prepared for those scorners, though they are not yet inflicted; the persons are pitched upon, and shall now be nominated, for they are now in being, who shall do the business." 1. "When Hazael comes to be king of Syria, he shall make bloody work among the people (Kg2 8:12) and so correct them for their idolatry." 2. "When Jehu comes to be king of Israel he shall make bloody work with the royal family, and shall utterly destroy the house of Ahab, that set up and maintained idolatry." 3. "Elisha, while thou art on earth, shall strengthen thy hands; and, when thou art gone, shall carry on thy work, and be a remaining witness against the apostasy of Israel, and even he shall slay the children of Bethel, that idolatrous city." Note, The wicked are reserved to judgment. Evil pursues sinners, and there is no escaping it; to attempt an escape is but to run from one sword's point upon another. See Jer 48:44, He that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare. Elisha, with the sword of the Spirit, shall terrify and wound the consciences of those who escape Hazael's sword of war and Jehu's sword of justice. With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked, Isa 11:4; Th2 2:8; Hos 6:5. It is a great comfort to good men and good ministers to think that God will never want instruments to do his work in his time, but, when they are gone, others shall be raised up to carry it on.
VI. The comfortable information God gives him of the number of Israelites who retained their integrity, though he thought he was left alone (Kg1 19:18): I have left 7000 in Israel (besides Judea) who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Note, 1. In times of the greatest degeneracy and apostasy God has always had, and will have, a remnant faithful to him, some that keep their integrity and do not go down the stream. The apostle mentions this answer of God to Elijah (Rom 11:4) and applies it to his own day, when the Jews generally rejected the gospel. Yet, says he, at this time also there is a remnant, Kg1 19:5. 2. It is God's work to preserve that remnant, and distinguish them from the rest, for without his grace they could not have distinguished themselves: I have left me; it is therefore said to be a remnant according to the election of grace. 3. It is but a little remnant, in comparison with the degenerate race; what are 7000 to the thousands of Israel? Yet, when those of every age come together, they will be found many more, 12,000 sealed out of each tribe, Rev 7:4. 4. God's faithful ones are often his hidden ones (Psa 83:3), and the visible church is scarcely visible, the wheat lost in the chaff and the gold in the dross, till the sifting, refining, separating day comes. 5. The Lord knows those that are his, though we do not; he sees in secret. 6. There are more good people in the world than some wise and holy men think there are. Their jealousy of themselves, and for God, makes them think the corruption is universal; but God sees not as they do. When we come to heaven, as we shall miss a great many whom we thought to meet there, so we shall meet a great many whom we little thought to find there. God's love often proves larger than man's charity and more extensive.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–21 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged…
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there,.... This cave, some travellers say (u), is to be seen at this day, not far from a church dedicated to the prophet Elijah, and that the cave itself has the appearance of a chapel; but a more particular account of it is given in a journal (w) lately published, which says, this cave exists to this very day, and is situated at the foot of Mount Sinai, and is now enclosed in a church built of red and white granite marble, the entrance into which is from the west; the dimensions of this cave are in length five feet, in depth four feet, and in height four and a half. The Jewish writers are of opinion that this was the cleft of the rock in which Moses was put, when the Lord passed before him; but, if so, there would have been no need of Elijah to have gone forth to and stand upon the mount when the Lord passed by, Kg1 19:11,
and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him; an articulate voice was heard by him:
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and he said unto him, what dost thou here, Elijah? this is not a proper place for a prophet to be in, in a wilderness, in a mountain, in a cave in it: what work could he do for God? or what service to his people? in the land of Israel he might bear his testimony against idolatry, and so be a means of reclaiming backsliders, and of establishing those that were in the true religion; but of what usefulness could he be here? Abarbinel takes it to be a reproof of Elijah, for going into a place so holy as it was, and in which Moses, the chief of the prophets, had been, and that it did not become such a man as he was to be in such a place.
(u) Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 2. p. 166. (w) Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai in 1722, p. 26. Ed. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Unto a cave - Perhaps the same wherein Moses…
Unto a cave - Perhaps the same wherein Moses was hid when the Lord passed before him, and proclaimed his name.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Verse 9. He came thither unto a cave] Conjectured…
Verse 9. He came thither unto a cave] Conjectured by some to be the same cave in which God put Moses that he might give him a glimpse of his glory. See Ex 33:22.
What doest thou here, Elijah?] Is this a reproach for having fled from the face of Jezebel, through what some call unbelieving fears, that God would abandon him to her rage?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 1Ki 19:9. He came thither — Unto the mount…
1Ki 19:9. He came thither — Unto the mount where God had formerly manifested his glory in so extraordinary a manner; unto a cave, and lodged there — Perhaps the same cave, or cleft of a rock, in which Moses was hid, when the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed his name. Hither, in his wanderings, the Lord led him, probably to assist his faith and devotion with the sight of that famous place where the law was given, and so many great things were done, and that he might meet God there, where Moses had so often met with him. Behold, the word of the Lord came to him — We cannot go any where so as to be out of the reach of God’s eye, his arm, and his word: Whither can I flee from thy Spirit? God will take care of his outcasts; and those that for his sake are driven out from among men, he will find and own, and gather with everlasting loving-kindness. What doest thou here, Elijah? — A tacit reproof: as much as to say, I have no business for thee here. This is not thy proper place, nor a place wherein to do me service. It is not the station in which I set thee, which was in Israel, that thou mightest turn unto me that backsliding people, to which end I endowed thee with extraordinary powers, and vouchsafed thee my almighty aid and protection, and would not have failed to continue them unto thee, if thou hadst remained there.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 A cave - Rather, “the cave.” Some well-known cave…
A cave - Rather, “the cave.” Some well-known cave must be intended - perhaps the “cliff of the rock” Exo 33:22. The traditional “cave of Elijah” which is shown in the secluded plain immediately below the highest summit of the Jebel Mousa, cannot, from its small size, be the real cavern.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Here. Thy presence is necessary in Israel. (Tirinus) ---…
Here. Thy presence is necessary in Israel. (Tirinus) --- Elias had been guided by a natural fear. (Menochius) --- "With how great familiarity is he received by God!" (Tertullian, contra Psychic. vi.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 20, 21 Abel-meholah--that is, "the meadow of dancing," in the valley…
Abel-meholah--that is, "the meadow of dancing," in the valley of the Jordan.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 9. Unto a cave — Hebrew, unto the cave.…
9. Unto a cave — Hebrew, unto the cave. “There is nothing to confirm, but there is nothing to contradict, the belief [of the Arabs] that it may have been in that secluded basin which has long been pointed out as the spot, beneath the summit of what is called ‘the Mount of Moses.’ The granite rocks enclose it on every side, as though it were a natural sanctuary. No scene could have been more suitable for the vision which follows.” — Stanley.
What doest thou here, Elijah — Literally, What is to thee here?
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That is, what is thy business here? Why hast thou left Israel, to whom I sent thee, and come to these mountains? How these words remind one of the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden of Eden and crying among the trees, “Adam, where art thou?” Gen_3:8-9. It is, wherever uttered, the voice of the Spirit that convinces and reproves the world of sin, and of the love that chastens to reform.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 9–18. God’s revelation and direction to Elijah (Not in…
9–18. God’s revelation and direction to Elijah (Not in Chronicles)
9. unto a cave] The Hebrew has the article, and this is represented in the LXX. by τὸ σπήλαιον ‘the cave.’ It is very likely that by Elijah’s time tradition had fixed on a definite place as that ‘cleft of the rock’ in which Moses stood (Exo_33:22) when Jehovah passed by. If this were so the place would be deemed very sacred, and would be most appropriate to that divine explanation now to be given to Elijah. For to him was to be presented another Theophany. Some have suggested, as an explanation of the definite description, that the cave had already become a resort of pilgrims to Horeb, but for this there appears no evidence.
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What doest thou here?] An opportunity is given to Elijah to open his whole heart. The question here must have a different force from that which it bears after the manifestation of God’s presence in 1Ki_19:13. Here it must signify ‘Why art thou thus cast down?’ ‘Has thy knowledge of Jehovah gone no farther than to see Him only in works of vengeance?’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 (9) A cave.—This is properly, “the cave”—perhaps a reference…
(9) A cave.—This is properly, “the cave”—perhaps a reference to some cave already well known, as connected with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, or perhaps only an anticipatory reference to the cave which Elijah’s sojourn was to make famous.
The word of the Lord came to him.—The connection suggests that this message came to him in vision or dream at night. The LXX. implies this distinctly by inserting in 1Ki_19:11 the word “to-morrow,” which is also found in the rather vague and prosaic paraphrase of the passage in Josephus. What Elijah replies in imagination in the vision, he repeats next day in actual words.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–21 And he came thither unto a cave Heb. the…
And he came thither unto a cave Heb. the cave. LXX tolaion. Many commentators identify this with "the cliff of the rock" where Moses was concealed while the Lord "passed by", (Exo_33:22) and the use of the same word, rbe in ver. 11 certainly favours this view. But is it clear that the clift (hr; qni fissure) was a cave? Ewald understands "the cave in which at that time travellers to Sinai commonly rested." It is perhaps worth remembering that a part of the desert, though at some distance from Horeb; boars at this day the name of Magharah, or cave. But there is a "narrow fret" pointed out by tradition as the abode of Elijah, on the side of Jebol Muss. "There is nothing to confirm, but there is nothing to contradict, the belief that it may have been in that secluded basin, which has long been pointed out as the spot No scene could be more suitable for the vision which follows" (Stanley). There is, however, one formidable difficulty in the way of this identification, viz., that the cave is only just large enough for a man"s body, which does not agree with ver. 18, and lodged it means strictly to pass the night. It is possibly connected radically with hl; yl" there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him Not "in vision as he slept" (Rawlinson). He could not "go forth" in his sleep. That he was to go forth "on the morrow" is equally unlikely see ver. 11, note, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? Many writers, Bahr and Keil among them, will not allow that there is aught of reproof in this question, or that Elijah had in any way erred in his hasty flight. The former asks how it comes to pass that the angel, instead of reproving him, succoured and strengthened him (vers. 6, 7), if he was acting in faithlessness or disobedience. But surely it does not follow that God denies all grace and sustenance to His elect servants even if they do, in a moment of despair, forget or distrust Him. Elijah may have been strengthened for this very journey, Because God would meet with him and teach him the lessons of patience and trust he needed to learn, at the "mount of God" itself. And his answer, especially when contrasted with that of ver. 14 (where see note), certainly betrays, not only irritation and despair, but a "carnal zeal which would gladly have called down the vengeance of the Almighty upon all idolaters" (Keil). The question in itself, it is true, does not necessarily impart censure it might merely mean, "What wouldst thou learn of me?" But when it is remembered that the prophet had been sent to every other destination by the "word of the Lord," and that he had left Jezreel without any such word left it in terror and bitter disappointment and sheer distrust of God it does look as if the words conveyed a gentle reminder that he had deserted the post of duty, and had no right to be there. So Clerieus, Quasi Deus diceret nihil esse Eliae negotii in solitudine, sed potius in locis habitatis, ut illic homies ad veri Dei cultum adduceret.
The word of the Lord came to him." Though he had not merited such a favour, for he had acted without that word when he fled. True, he fled to the desert, so far as we can see, that he might hear what God would say concerning him, but he had no right to presume that He who had not spoken at Jezreel would speak at Sinai. But God never deals with us as we deserve, or as we deal with one another. "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" (Psa_130:8) "If they break my statues then will I visit their transgression with the rod nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him," etc. (Psa_89:31-38) "Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord". (Jer_3:1) If the word did not come to us when we stray, how could we be reclaimed? God must take the first step. (Joh_6:44)
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doest thou here, Elijah?" It is more than doubtful whether there was any audible voice (see ver. 12). God spoke through the conscience. And this is still the organ used by the Holy Ghost. Have we never heard this question in our secret souls? perhaps when we stood in the way of sinners, or sat in the seat of the scornful. We should do well to put it repeatedly to our own hearts. Bernarde, ad quid venisti? it was thus that the greatest saint of the Middle Ages often tried his motives and conduct.
Vers. 9-18.
Elijah at Horeb.
Elijah went in the strength of the refreshment he had received from the Angel-Jehovah a forty days" journey to Horeb. He was now on holy ground. It was the "mount of God" on which Moses had seen the Angel-Jehovah in the bush, and was within sight of Sinai, memorable for the giving of the law. On Horeb he lodges in a cave, perhaps the very recess from which Moses witnessed the Shechinah, (see Exo_32:22) and here becomes the subject of Divine communications and revelations. Consider now
I HIS INTERCESSION AGAINST ISRAEL.
1. Observe the occasion.
(1) The question came to him by the word of the Lord, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" In answer to this he urged what Paul calls his "intercession against Israel". (Rom_11:2, Rom_11:8) Wherever we are it behoves us to ask ourselves what business we have here. Everywhere our first business is to glorify God.
(2) This question is thought to suggest that Elijah might have been more profitably employed elsewhere. But did he not come here after receiving supernatural strength from God Himself expressly for this journey 2 (See vers. 7, 8.)
(3) Rather must we not look upon his journey in the light of a parable, showing how God abandons those who refuse to be reformed? (Compare Jer_9:2) In this view we can see how Elijah acted in "faith" in this journey; for Paul seems to allude to him in Heb_11:38.
2. The matter of the accusation.
(1) The view now given harmonizes with this, the substance of which is the prophet"s great jealousy for the Lord God of hosts, whose honour had been outraged by the apostasy of the children of Israel. Here is no confession of that unworthy timidity with which Elijah has been, we think, too hastily charged. Nor had he any rebuke from God for such supposed dastardliness, which doubtless he would have received had he deserved it. He is here because he cannot abide in the land of Israel, where Jehovah was commonly insulted.
(2) He recounts the particulars of his grief. "For the children of Israel have forsaken flay covenant have substituted false Elohim for Thee; "thrown down thine altars attempted to abolish Thy worship; "slain thy prophets with the sword to provide against any revival of the pure religion of their fathers; "and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away." Of what use, then, could he be to such a people? (See Hos_4:17)
(3) The motive of this intercession to God against Israel is not personal revenge, but zeal for Jehovah. And though we are bound, as Christians, to love our enemies, that does not say that we are to love the enemies of God. There is a spurious charity in high favour which the Scriptures do not sanction. (See 2Ch_19:2; Psa_119:19 Psa_139:21; Luk_14:26) Beware of that charity which has complicity with sin.
(4) The repetition of the answer when a second time the question was put evinces the deep sincerity of the prophet"s soul.
II THE ANSWER OF GOD UNTO HIM.
1. This was first given in symbol.
(1) To witness the vision he was caused to stand on the mount before the Lord. Probably this was the place where Moses stood on a similar occasion. (Exo_19:9, Exo_19:16) We should have the Rock of Ages for our foundation when we witness visions of God. All shall witness them in the judgment of the great day.
(2) Terrible signs immediately followed upon the passing by of Jehovah.
(a) First, "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord." Here was a sign of wrath upon the rulers and people, through invasion. (Compare Jer_4:11-15; Eze_6:2; Amo_4:1)
(b) "And after the wind an earthquake." This is a sign of revolution, whether in things civil, ecclesiastical, or both. (Compare, Psa_68:8; Rev_6:12 Rev_16:18)
(c) "And after the earthquake a fire. This is the symbol of judgments more immediately from God (see Deu_4:24; Psa_18:12-14; Jer_48:45)
(3) But the Lord was in none of these. Judgments are a strange work to Him. They are necessary to the order of His government, but not congenial to His nature. "He delighteth in mercy." So the Lord was in the "still small voice" which followed. The gentle voice of the gospel follows the law which came with the uproar of the elements, and God is in it. So Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle. (Compare Exo_3:6; Isa_6:2)
2. It was afterwards expounded in words.
(1) Elijah, the intercessor against Israel, and therefore the impersonation of anger against sin, was to return to Israel by way of Damascus, where he was to "anoint Hazael to be king over Syria." In Hazael now we must look for the "strong wind" that was to come up and make havoc upon the mountains and rocks of Israel. (Compare 2Ki_8:12, 13 10:32, 33 13:3)
(2) "Jehu the son of Nimshi" was Elijah to "anoint to be king over Israel." Here was the instrument of the "earthquake" of revolution. (See 2Ki_9:1-3) Not only did Jehu bring a signal destruction upon the whole house of Ahab; he brought down judgment also upon the worshippers of. (2Ki_10:28)
(3) "Elisha the son of Shaphat" was this impersonation of righteous anger to "anoint to be prophet" in his room. Here is God"s instrument of "fire." His words are to be swords of flame. So "it shall come to pass that him that escapeth from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay." No sinner can escape the fire of God"s word.
(4) But the "still small voice" of the gospel of mercy has its triumphs. "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel," etc. God has His faithful "hidden. (Psa_83:3) No wonder Elijah should cover his face with reverent gratitude at the discovery of that sealed company in whose midst was JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH! (Eze_48:35; Rev_7:13-17) J.A.M.
A Question from God for the consideration of Man.
Elijah was fleeing from peril and from work, but he could not flee from God. The Father seeth in secret. No man is out of His sight, no feeling eludes His vigilance. (Ps 139) Christ knew the plans of His foes. (Mat_12:25) He understood the unexpressed wants of the sinful. (Mat_9:2) He heard the secret conversations of His followers, (Mar_9:33) and lovingly answered their unspoken questions. (Joh_16:19) In this story God"s pity is as conspicuous as His knowledge. Refreshed by the provision given by unseen hands, Elijah went to Horeb, a place sacred in its associations and lonely in its grandeur. There, hidden in a cave from the wrath of Jezebel, the voice of Jehovah reached him, saying, "What doest thou here, Elijah?
I THE QUESTION CAME TO A PROPHET IN HIS HOUR OF DESPAIR. This Divine interposition on his behalf teaches us the means God uses to bring us out from our despondency. The prophet was delivered from his depression by learning the following lessons:
1. That God was near. Whatever the sin that needs pardon, the weakness that wants conquering, the doubt that wants unravelling, there is no fear of the issue if we can consciously bring it to God. Elijah was saved because he dared tell Jehovah all that was in his heart. Moses sometimes was compelled to leave his work to the elders, that he might speak to God face to face. The disciples "went and told Jesus" their grief and their triumph. Aye, and the Master Himself nerved Himself for work and for suffering by prayer on the mountain or in the garden., Satan says, Give up prayer till
2. your difficulties are removed. Christ says, Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
3. That success was assured. Elijah thought he stood alone. but the Lord said, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel," etc. Success was not where the prophet had looked for it. The crowds on Carmel had not been radically changed, but the secret worshippers of God had been strengthened by his heroism. So in the Lord"s ministry, the nucleus of the Church was not found in the applauding multitudes on Olivet, but in the few faithful ones in the garden of Gethsemane. Our work may be greater than we think. No word or work for Christ fails of its reward. "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
4. That work was waiting (ver. 15). Elijah was not to remain in the cave, any more than the disciples were to dwell on the mount of transfiguration. For his own sake and for the good of others he was to be up and doing. If you would be saved from brooding, despondency, and doubt, throw yourselves into the work of God. Do with all your might what your hands find to do: and your service will restore tone to your mind, and bring hope to your heart, and prepare you to hear the "Well done, good and faithful servant.
II THIS QUESTION CAME TO A MAN IN A FALSE POSITION. "What doest thou here, Elijah?" The inquiry should pursue others who have fled in caves in which they would fain hide themselves from responsibility.
1. It comes to the impenitent, in the cave of concealment. They say, "Doth God know?" He sees the secret sin. He knows the iniquity of that which society applauds, and the day is coming when excuses shall be stripped off, and wickedness discovered Before that terrible day, when "the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed," come to the feet of a pardoning God.
2. It comes to the penitent in the cave of despondency. To all such God says, "Come now, and let us reason together.
3. It comes to the indolent in the cave of sloth. Years of profession unrelieved by a single act of service or sacrifice call for repentance.
4. It comes to the sorrowful in the cave of murmuring "Lift up the hands which hang down," etc. Suffer your Redeemer to bring you out of the horrible pit, and "put a new song into your mouth, even praise unto our God.
CONCLUSION. The Lord speaks to all. "Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. A.R.
Vers. 9-18.
Elijah at Horeb.
I How GOD DEALS WITH THE DESPAIRING.
1. Elijahs mistake. Because Jezebel"s enmity remained unsubdued the straggle was at once given over as hopeless; "and he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there." The same mistake is made by those who labour on with unexpectant toil, whose wrestling with God is given up, whose feeble thought and listless tones proclaim their hopelessness: by those who have laid down the work to which God called them preachers in retirement or in other spheres, teachers, etc. and those who have ceased to strive against their own sin.
2. Gods remedy.
(1) The heart is searched. "What doest thou here, Elijah?" A prophet in the desert? A living man illumined with the light of the knowledge of God, a companion of reeks and stones and solitude; and death and sin crying to be visited with the rebuke of God, and hearts fainting for lack of His light and consolations? Was it for this God endowed and called thee? A word for those who have left the vineyard; for those who have not yet entered; for the worldly and the sinful. To hear this voice is preparation for entering the path of life and of service. Till it be heard there is no possibility of either.
(2) Unbelief is unveiled. When God s voice is heard, and the reasons for the wilderness flight are named, it is seen that He has been shut out of sight. He mentions his own zeal, and Israel"s sin, but of God there is nothing said. It is unbelief alone which can kill prayer and earnest, hopeful toil. It was only when Peter ceased to gaze on Jesus that the stormy waves engulfed him. If we are in the wilderness, forgetfulness of God has set us there.
II THE PATH OF DELIVERANCE FOR THE HOPELESS.
1. The vision of God. Elijah"s thoughts of God"s way were corrected.
(1) God was not in the whirlwind, or the earthquake, or the fire. What had failed to turn Israel and subdue Jezebel was not what was really God"s power unto salvation, but what Elijah erroneously conceived to he this. We despair because certain methods, influences, arguments fail; but they can only fail because God is not in them.
(2) God was in the still small voice that awoke within the heart. The power which now held and searched the prophet"s own soul was the manifestation of what was power for the souls of others.
1. The recognition of ourselves as only part of the manifold agency of God. Other hands as well as his were to carry on the work of judgment and of mercy (vers. 15-17). To feel our brotherhood with the servants of God fills us with joy and power.
2. The assurance that God never works in vain (ver. 18). The results may be hid from us, but they are known to Him. J.U.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 18, 19 And he came thither into a cave.
1Ki_19:9-12
And he came thither into a cave.
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God manifesting Himself to man
We may learn three things from the passage before us.
I. God investigates the motives that govern human conduct. The word of the Lord came to him, and said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1. When God investigates the motives that governs human conduct He comes near to man. The word of the Lord came to Elijah.
2. When God investigates the motives that govern human conduct He interrogates man. What doest thou here, Elijah?
(1) Life is state of servitude. What doest thou? Man must serve.
(2) Life necessitates personal service. What doest thou?
(3) Life contains special spheres of service. What doest thou here?
II. Human conduct is affected by the religious life of the community. Three things affected the conduct of Elijah.
1. Gods covenant had been forsaken.
2. Gods altars had been destroyed.
3. Gods servants had been slain.
III. God controls human conduct by the most gentle agencies.
1. Great achievements are accomplished in nature by gentle agencies.
2. Great achievements are accomplished in grace by gentle agencies.
(1) God works upon the understanding by gentle agencies. The Gospel is a still small voice; but the power of God unto salvation to every one, etc.
(2) God subdues the restive will by gentle agencies. The life of Christ was a still small voice. And Christ said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will, etc.
(3) God renews the polluted heart by gentle agencies. The Holy Spirit is a still small voice. (Preachers Analyst.)
What doest thou here, Elijah?--
The responsibility of man as an agent
The master-thought contained in this question seems to be mans responsibility. What doest thou here? I am thy Lord and Master--thou hast no right here without consulting Me. I demand reason for thy conduct.
I. The fact that man has all the primary conditions of responsibility. Were the question put--What must any creature possess in order to render him accountable to God for his actions? Our answer would be, a threefold capability: a capability to understand, obey, and transgress the Divine will. If a creature has not the first--the power to understand what his Maker requires of him, he could not in equity be held responsible for not rendering it.
II. That man has a deep consciousness of his responsibility.
III. To the fact that society deals everywhere with men as responsible. A locomotive rolls its crushing weight over a man and kills him; a billow dashes against a frail barque and buries all on board in the mighty abyss; or a wild beast tears to pieces a human being; has society the same feelings towards that engine, that raging billow, or beast, as it has towards that man that has just murdered his brother? No, there are in the last case, as in none of the rest, popular denunciation and vengeance. It is felt that justice has been outraged, and that the destroyer is to be dealt with as a criminal. All the arrangements of society are based upon the principle that its members are responsible.
IV. To the fact that the Bible everywhere teaches it. It is implied in all its appeals to the undecided. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. It is implied in its allegations against the sinner. Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life. It is implied in its representation of the judgment-day. God shall bring every idle word into judgment. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. Indeed, the very existence of the Bible implies it. (Homilist.)
A question from God
We may consider this question as addressed to the following cases:
I. To the deceiver in the cave of hypocrisy. God asks the deceiver in the cave of hypocrisy, What doest thou here? Deceiving, you say, deceiving and being deceived--deceiving whom? Not a devil; for every devil who knows the man who is a hypocrite, knows that he is a hypocrite. Whom? Not an angel; for every angel who knows the deceiver at all, knows that he is a deceiver. Not the Holy Spirit; for He strives with the man even in this his hypocrisy. Not the Saviour; for He searches the heart. Not the Father of spirits; for He has even foreknown the career of the hypocrite. Deceiving, you say, for how long? At longest only through a few brief years, and then the revelation! Deceiving, and for what? What profit is there of deception and hypocrisy? The man who openly saith, I am an atheist--I am a deist--I am a sceptic--I have no religion, is a far better man than he who, with unbelief at heart, makes a profession of Christianity. What doest thou here? saith God to the deceiver in the cave of hypocrisy.
II. God addresses this question to the notable sinner in the cave of supposed secrecy. Few notable transgressors sin openly. There is something mean about sin. You see men sneak into the haunts of vice. They go when they think that the darkness covers them. Here! God saith, here! And you a husband! Here! God saith, at the threshold of these places, and you a father! Here! God saith, and you betrothed to unpolluted virtue, and to unsuspecting love! Here! risking money that a diligent and careful father has provided for you! Here! spending the patrimony which has been left you by a devoted and loving mother! Here! Men and brethren, you talk of secrecy, there is no such thing as secrecy. It never has been; and it never can be. The notable sinner in the cave of his supposed secrecy is recognised by God, who calls to him, and speaks of him by name. What doest thou here, Elijah?
III. What doest thou here? God saith to the penitent sinner in the cave of despair. What art thou doing? Despair cannot secure pardon. Despair cannot bring peace. Despair cannot purify the heart. Despair will not pray. Despair can find no promise. And, what is more, despair, in the heart of a penitent sinner, hath neither warrant nor justification.
IV. What doest thou here? God saith to the converted man in the cave of non-confession. Here is a man walking in the counsel of the ungodly; a man standing in the way of sinners; a man sitting in the seat of the scornful. He becomes converted: but he is yoked with unbelievers; he is connected with unrighteousness--with unrighteousness in his business--unrighteousness in his recreations--unrighteousness in his connections and friendships. And God saith to him, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing.
V. To the godly, in the cave of luxurious retirement and easy seclusion, God addresses the same question.
VI. He speaks also to the godly in the cave of misanthropy and disgust. There is a cave Adullam--an old resort for religious people, and it has been well kept up. There is such a cave near every Church of God; and thither the contented with themselves, and the discontented with everybody else, have constantly resorted. (S. Martin.)
A call to self-knowledge
Every wise master mariner wants to know at sea just where his ship is, just what his longitude and latitude are. Years ago, when I was crossing the Atlantic Ocean, we had a long spell of bad foggy weather. For several days and nights neither sun nor stars had been visible. We had been sailing by dead reckoning, and did not know where we were exactly. One night while I was on deck, there was a sudden rift in the clouds, and the North Star shone out. Word was sent ai; once to the captain, and I remember how the captain fairly laid himself across the compass, and took an observation of that star, because he wanted to know just where he was. Every wise man wants to know where he stands physically, whether he has a sound heart and sound lungs. He may find out his physical condition is not as good as he hoped, but if his physical condition is bad, he wants to know it, so that he can guard against the dangers he might plunge into. Many a man lies in the grave to-night because he had a weak heart and didnt know it. It is very important in all the affairs of this world, that we know just where we are, but it is infinitely more important that we know where we are in the affairs of eternity. (Thomas Spurgeon.)
Elijah in the cave
This strange narrative serves to illustrate the following things:--
I. The fallibility of an eminent saint. Elijah was undoubtedly an eminent saint. His teachings, miracles, prayers, and the testimony of Gods word show this. But he was not perfect, and the fact of his fleeing to the cave shows this. Why did he retire to solitude?
1. The want of success. We are not judges of success. Nor is success the right rule of life.
2. The corruptness of his times. The very reason why he of all men should be out in public life.
3. The fear of persecution.
II. The minuteness of gods providence. God knew where he was.
1. God knows everything about the individual man. Jacob at Bethel, Jonah on the sea, Moses at Midian, John in Patmos, and now Elijah in the cave.
2. God demands from individual man an account of himself. What doest thou here?
(1) Thou art a reasonable being, and must have reasons for thy conduct. What are they?
(2) Thou art a moral being, and art responsible to Me for thy conduct. Providence has to do with the most minute as well as the most vast.
III. The order of Divine procedure. This terrible manifestation came first. Then came the still small voice.
1. This is a type of Gods dispensations with the race at large. First came the terrible, and then the more pacific. Judaism is the terrible--Christianity the mild. Ye are not come to the mount that might be touched, etc.
2. This is a type of Gods dealing with His people individually. There must first come the storm, earthquake, and fire of moral conviction; and then the still small voice, etc.
IV. The force of pacific agency.
1. The pacific is most manifestly Divine. The Lord was not in the wind, etc. But He was in the still small voice. God is a God of peace. Nature shows this. Storms are exceptions. The history of Christ shows this. He did not cause His voice to be heard, etc. The influence of His Gospel shows this.
2. The pacific is most morally effective. Neither the thunders of civil law, nor the fulminations of a heartless declaimer, can touch the soul. Nothing can travel to her seat but the gentle message of the truth in love. Thy gentleness hath made me great. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 19 "Who heardest the rebuke of the Lord in Sinai,…
THE THEOPHANY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
1Ki_19:9-15
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"Who heardest the rebuke of the Lord in Sinai, and in Horeb the judgment of vengeance."
-ECCLUS. 48:7.
THROUGHOUT the Scriptures infinite care is taken to preclude every notion that the Most High God can be represented in visible form. He manifested Himself at Sinai to the children of Israel, but though the mount burned with fire, and there were clouds and thick darkness, and the voice of a. trumpet speaking long and loud, the people were reminded with the utmost solemnity that "they saw no manner of similitude." Indeed, in later times, when there was a keener jealousy of every anthropomorphic expression, the giving of the law is rather represented as a part of the ministry of angels.
The word Makom, or Place, is substituted for Jehovah, so that Moses and the elders and the Israelites do not see God but only His Makom, the space which He fills; the delivery of the law is ascribed to angelic ministers. At times the angels are almost identified with the careering flames and rushing winds which a modern theologian describes to us as being "the skirts of their garments, the waving of their robes" for is it not written, "He that maketh the winds His angels and the flaming fires His ministers"?
And in the daring description of Jehovah s visible manifestation of Himself to Moses, when He hid him in that fissure of the rock with the hollow of His hand, Moses only observes as it were the fringe and evanishment of His glory, "dark with excessive light."
It was natural that Jehovah should reveal Himself to Elijah under the aspect of those awful elemental forces with which his solitary life had made him familiar. No spot in the world is more suitable for those powers in all their fire and magnificence than the knot of mountains which crowd the Sinaitic peninsula with their entangled cliffs. Travelers have borne witness to the overwhelming violence and majesty of the storms which rush and reverberate through the granite gorges of those everlasting hills. It was in such surroundings that Jehovah spoke to the heart of his servant.
First "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks, before the Lord." The winds of God, which blow where they list, and we know not whence they come nor whither they go, have in them so awful and irresistible a strength, that man and the works of man, are reduced to impotence before them. And when they rush and roar through the gullies of innumerable hills in tropic lands where the intense heat has rarefied the air, the sound of them is beyond all comparison weird and terrific. We cannot wonder that this roar of the hurricane was regarded as the trump of the archangel and the voice of God at Sinai; or that the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind; {Job_38:1; Job_40:6} and appeared to Ezekiel in a great cloud and a whirlwind out of the north; {Eze_1:4} or that Jeremiah compared His anger to a whirling and sweeping storm; {Jer_23:10-20; Jer_25:32, Jer_30:23} or that the Psalmist describes Him as bowing the heavens and coming down and casting darkness under His feet, and flying upon a cherub, and walking upon the wings of the wind; {Psa_18:10, Psa_104:3; Psa_18:5} or that Nahum says, "The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet, and the mountains quake at Him." {Nah_1:3; Nah_1:5}
And Elijah felt the terror of the scene, as the storm dislodged huge masses of the mountain granite, and sent them rolling and crashing down the hills. But it did not speak to his inmost heart for
"The Lord was not in the wind."
And after the wind an earthquake shook the solid bases of the Sinaitic range. The mountain saw God and trembled. The Lord, in the language of the Psalmist, shook the wilderness of Kadesh, the mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like young sheep. {Psa_18:7, Psa_77:18, Psa_97:4, Jdg_5:4, 2Sa_22:8} And man never feels so abjectly helpless, he is never reduced to such absolute insignificance, as when the solid earth beneath him, the very emblem of stability, trembles as with a palsy, and cleaves beneath his feet; and shakes his towers to the earth, and swallows up his cities. Once more the soul of Elijah shuddered at the terrific impression of this sign of Jehovahs power. But it had no message for his inmost heart: for
"The Lord was not in the earthquake."
And after the earthquake a fire. Jehovah overwhelmed the Prophets senses with the dread magnificence of one of those lurid thunderstorms of which the terrors are never so tremendous as in such mountain scenes, where travelers tell us that the burning air seems transfused into sheets of flame.
In that awful muttering and roar of the lurid clouds, that millionfold reverberation of what the Psalmist calls "the voice of the Lord," when the lightnings "light the world, and run along the ground," and, in the language of Habakkuk, "God sends abroad His arrows, and the light of His glittering spear, and burning coals go forth under His feet, the lips of man quiver at the voice, and his heart sinks, and he trembles where he stands." And this, too, Elijah must have felt as "the hiding-place of Gods power" {Hab_3:3-16} and yet it did not speak to his inmost heart; for
"The Lord was not in the fire."
"And after the fire a still small voice." However the rendering may be altered into "a gentle murmuring sound," or, as in the Revised Version, "a sound of gentle stillness," no expression is more full of the awe and mystery of the original than the phrase "a still small voice." It was the shock of awful stillness which succeeded the sudden cessation of the earthquake and hurricane and thunderstorm, and instantly, in its appalling hush and gentleness, Elijah felt that God was there; and he no sooner heard that voiceful silence speaking within him than he was filled with fear and self-abasement. He wrapped his face in his mantle, even as Moses "was afraid to look upon God." He came from the hollow of the rock which had sheltered him amidst that turbulence of material forces, and stood in the entering in of the cave.
At once the silence became articulate to his conscience, and repeated to him the reproachful question, "What doest thou here, Elijah?"
Amazed and overwhelmed as he is, he has not yet grasped the meaning of the vision. Something of it perhaps he saw and felt. It breathed something of peace into the despair and tumult of his heart, but he still can only answer as before:-
"I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
Whatever that theophany had taught him, it had not yet fully removed his perplexity. But now God, in tender forbearance, unfolds at any rate the practical issue of the vision. Elijah is to be inactive no longer. He is to find in faithfulness and work the removal of all doubts, and is to learn that man may not abandon his duties, even when they are irksome, even when they seem hopeless, even when they have become intolerable and full of peril.
He has to learn that it is only when men have finished their days work that God sends them sleep, and that his own days work was as yet unfinished. He is no longer to linger in the wilderness apart from the ways of guilty and suffering men. He is one with them: he may not separate his destiny from theirs; he has to feel that God has no favorites and is no respecter of persons, but that all men are His children, and that each child of His must work for all. "Go," the Lord said unto him, "return on thy way by the wilderness to Damascus." Did the return involve unknown dangers? Still he must commit his way unto the Lord, and simply be doing good, regardless of all consequences. The saints of the Old Dispensation no less than of the New had to go forth bearing their cross, and on their way to Golgotha.
Three missions still awaited him.
First, he is to supersede the old dynasty of Benhadad, King of Syria, founded by Solomons enemy, and to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
Next, he is to abolish the dynasty of Omri, and to anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, to be king over Israel.
Thirdly-and there was deep significance in this behest, and one which must have humiliated to the dust the risings of pride and the half-reproach, so to speak, for inadequate support which had underlain his appeal to Jehovah-he is to anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, to be prophet in his room.
Elijah had thought himself necessary-an indispensable agent for the task of delivering Israel from the guilty and demoralizing apostasy of Baal-worship. God teaches him that there is no such thing as a necessary man; that man at his best estate is altogether vanity; that God is all in all; that "God buries His workmen, but continues His work."
And something of the meaning of these tasks is explained to him. The people of Israel are not yet converted. They still needed the hand of chastisement. The three years drought had been ineffectual to wean them from their backslidings, and turn their hearts again to the Lord. On the royal house and on the worshippers of Baal should fall the remorseless sword of Jehu. On the whole nation the ruthless invasions of Hazael should press with terrible penalty. And him that escaped from their avenging missions should Elisha slay. The last clause is enigmatical. Elisha can hardly be said directly to have slain any. He lived, on the whole, in friendship with the kings both of Israel and of Aram, and in peace and honor in the cities. But the general idea seems to be that he would carry on the mission of Elijah alike for the guidance and the heaven-directed punishments of kings and nations, and that the famines, raids, and humiliations which rendered his nation miserable under the sons of Ahab should be elements of his sacred mission. {Isa_11:4; Isa_49:2; comp. Jer_1:10; Jer_18:7}
One more revelation remained to lift the Prophet above his lower self. His cry had been, again and again: "I, I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." He must not indulge the mistaken fancy that the worship of the true God would die with him or that God needed his advice, or that God was slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness. He was not the only faithful person left, nor would truth perish when he was called away. Nor is he to judge only by outward appearances, nor to suppose that the arm of God can be measured by the finger of man. A new prophet is soon to take his place, but God has not been so neglectful as he supposes, -"Yet," in spite of all thy murmurings of failure and a frustrated purpose-"yet will I leave Me"-not thee, thee only- "but seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him."
It has been regarded as a difficulty that Elijah fulfilled but one of the three behests. But Scripture does not narrate events with the finical and pragmatic accuracy of modern annals. Elisha, directly or indirectly, caused both Jehu to be anointed and Hazael to ascend the throne of Syria, and we are left to infer that in these deeds he carried out the instructions of his Master.
It is a more serious question, What was the exact meaning of the theophany granted to Elijah on the Mount of God?
Here, too, we are left to large and liberal applications. The greatest utterances of men, the loftiest works of human genius, often admit of manifold interpretations, and lend themselves to "springing and germinal developments." Far more is this the case in the revelations of God to the spirit of man. We can see the main truths which were involved in that mighty scene, even if the narrator of it leaves unexplained its central significance.
It is usually interpreted as a reproof to the spirit which led Elijah to regard the tempestuous manifestations of wrath and vengeance as the normal methods of the interposition of God. He was fresh from the stern challenge of Carmel; his hands were yet red with the blood of those four hundred and fifty priests. It was perhaps needful for him to learn that Gods gentler agencies are more effectual and more expressive of His inmost nature, and that God is Love even though He can by no means clear the guilty. Something of this lesson has been at all times learnt from the narrative.
"The raging fire, the roaring wind,
Thy boundless, power display;
But in the gentler breeze we find
Thy Spirits viewless way."
"The dew of heaven is like Thy grace,
It steals in silence down; But where it lights, the favored place
By richest fruits is known."
Quite naturally men have always seen in the storm, the earthquake, and the fire, the presence of God as manifested in His wrath. "Then the earth shook and trembled," says the Psalmist; "the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth. There went up a smoke in His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals burnt forth from it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under His feet. And He rode upon a cherub, and swooped down: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind." {Psa_18:7-9; comp. 2Sa_22:8-11} "I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, at the wrath of the Lord." {Isa_13:13} "Thou shalt be visited," says Isaiah, "of the Lord of Hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire." On the other hand, in His mercy God maketh the storm a calm. When He reveals Himself in a vision of the night to Eliphaz the Temanite "a wind passed before my face, so that the hair of my head stood up, and there was silence, and I heard a voice saying, Shall mortal man be great before God? shall a man be pure before his Maker?" These passages in no small measure explain the symbolism of Elijahs vision, and point to its essential significance. Who can measure (asks Mr. Ruskin) the total effect produced upon the minds of men by the phenomenon of a single thunderstorm?-"the questioning of the forest leaves together in their terrified stillness which way the wind shall come-the murmuring together of the Angels of Destruction as they draw in the distance their swords of flame-the rattling of the dome of heaven under the chariot wheels of death?" Yet it is not the thunderstorms nor the hurricanes that have been most powerful in altering the face or molding the structure of the world, but rather the long continuance of Natures most gentle influences.
Viewing the vision thus, we may say that it pointed forward to that transcendently greater than Elijah who did not strive, nor cry, nor was His voice heard in the streets. "There is already a gospel of Elijah. He, the farthest removed of all the Prophets from the evangelical spirit and character, had yet enshrined in the heart of his story the most forcible of all protests against the hardness of Judaism, the noblest anticipation of the breadth and depth of Christianity." This view of the passage is taken, with slight modifications, by many, from Irenaeus down to Grotius and Calvin, and modern commentators.
Similarly it is a universal law of history that while some mighty and tumultuous energy may be needed to initiate the first movement or upheaval, the greatest work is done by gentler agencies. As in the old fable, the quiet shining of the sun effects more than the bluster of the storm. Love is stronger than force, and persuasion than compulsion. Mr. J. S. Mill treats it not only as a platitude but as a falsity to assert that truth cannot be suppressed by violence. He says that (for instance) the truths brought into prominence by the Reformation had been again and again suppressed by the brutal tyrannies of the Papacy. But in all these instances has not the truth ultimately prevailed? Is it not a fact of experience that
"Truth, pressed to earth, shall rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers;
But error, wounded, writhes in pain
And dies among her worshippers"?
The truth prevails and the error dies under the slow light of knowledge and by the long results of time.
Nor is it any answer to this view of the revelation to Elijah on the Mount of God that there is not the slightest proof of his having learnt any such lesson, or of such a lesson having been deduced from it by the narrator himself. Neither Elijah, it has been said, nor the writer of the Book of Kings, felt the smallest regret for the avenging deed of Carmel. Their consciences approved of it. They looked on it with pride, not with compunction. This is shown by the subsequently recorded story of Elijahs calling down fire from heaven on the unfortunate captains and soldiers of Ahaziah, in whatever light we regard that story which was evidently current in the Schools of tile Prophets. If the massacre of the priests cannot be regarded as morally excusable, the destruction of these royal emissaries by consuming fire was certainly much less so. The vision may have had a deeper significance than Elijah or the Schools of the Prophets understood, just as the words of Jesus often had a deeper significance than was dreamt of even by the Apostles when they heard them. The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Neither Elijah nor the sacred historian may have grasped all that was meant by the wind, and earthquake, and fire, and still small voice.
"As little children sleep and dream of heaven,
So thoughts beyond their thoughts to those high bards were given."
It is scarcely more than another aspect of the many-sided truth that love is more potent and more Divine than violence, if we also see in this incident a foreshadowing of the truth, so necessary for the impatient souls of men, that God neither hasteth nor resteth; that He is patient because Eternal; that a thousand years in His sight are but as yesterday, seeing that it is past as a dream in the night. Something of this we learn from the study of nature. It used to be thought that the upheaval of the continents and the rearing of the great mountains was due to cataclysms and conflagrations and vast explosions of volcanic force. It has long been known that they are due, on the contrary, to the inconceivably slow modifications produced by the most insignificant causes. It is the age-long accumulation of mica-flakes which has built up the mighty bastions of the Alps. It is the toil of the ephemeral coral insect which has reared whole leagues of the American Continent and filled the Pacific Ocean with those unnumbered isles
"Which, like to rich and various gems, inlay
The unadorned bosom of the deep."
It is the slow silting up of the rivers which has created vast deltas for the home of man. It has required the calcareous deposit of millions of animalculae to produce even one inch of the height of the white cliffs along the shores. Even so the thoughts of man have been made more merciful m the slow course of ages, and quiet, incommensurable influences have caused all those advances in civilization and humanity which elevate our race. The "bright invisible air" has produced effects incomparably more stupendous than the wild tornadoes. "That air, so gentle, so imperceptible, is more powerful, not only than all the creatures that breathe and live by it, not only than all the oaks of the forest which it rears in an age and shatters in a moment, not only than the monsters of the sea, but than the sea itself, which it tosses up with foam and breaks upon every rock in its vast circumference; for it carries its bosom all perfect calm, and compresses the incontrollable ocean and the peopled earth, like an atom of a feather."
"Thus regarded," says Professor Van Oort, "the picture of Elijah at Mount Horeb is full of consolation to all lovers of the, truth. Sometimes they cry, All is lost! and are ready to despair. But God answers, Never lose heart. Storms in which God is not, in which the power of darkness seems to sweep unbridled and unconquered oer the earth, come before the whispering of the cooling breeze, but the kingdom of peace and blessedness is ever drawing nigh. Let all who love God truly, work for its approach."
Let us then cling to the lesson that mercy is better than sacrifice, and is transcendently to be preferred to holocausts of human sacrifice, even when the victims are polluted and cruel idolaters. Scripture never hides from us the imperfections of its heroes, and St. James tells us that Elijah was but a man of like passions with ourselves. The progress of the generations, the slow shining of the light of God, has not been in vain, and we can see truths and read the meaning of theophanies by the experience of three subsequent millenniums, of which two have followed the incarnation of the Son of God.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v19 1Ki_19:20. Go back again; for what, &c.—לֵךְ שׁוב. Luther…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_19:20. Go back again; for what, &c.—לֵךְ שׁוב. Luther renders, “Go (to thy parents), and come (then) again.” (Keil) “Go, but return soon, for it is a great thing that thou shouldst be my successor.” (Lange) “Return to thy parents as thou wishest; I have not intended to coerce thee; I leave the decision as to thy prophetic call to thy free will. What have I done to thee?—Bids him recognise the solemn meaning of the symbolical action in casting his mantle upon him. It laid him under obligation to assume the prophetic mission.—W. H. J.
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HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_19:19-21
THE DIVINE CALL TO DUTY
THESE words describe the call of Elisha to the office and work of a prophet of Jehovah. The contrast between Elijah and Elisha was striking and complete. Elijah appears on the scene abruptly, without warning and with an unknown history; Elisha is first introduced to us as a domesticated man, at home with his father and mother, and familiar with the pastoral scenes and employments of the rich Jordan valley. Elijah is the solitary, haunting the grots and caves of the wilderness and the solitudes of the hills; Elisha tarries at Jericho (2Ki_2:18), is a frequent visitor at Shunem (2Ki_4:8-9), has his own house in Samaria (2Ki_5:9), and lingers now and again among the schools of the prophets (2Ki_4:38; 2Ki_6:1): Elijah is robed in a rough mantle of sheepskin, with his massy hair waving in long shaggy locks; Elisha is attired in the ordinary dress of the period, and with a shaven crown at which the young men mocked (2Ki_2:23): when Elijah appears in connection with kings and courts it is as their opponent; Elisha as their counsellor and friend: Elijah was fierce, furious, stern, unbending; Elisha gentle, peaceful, calm, approachable: Elijah was the bold, intrepid Luther of his age; Elisha the Melanchthon. Observe—
I. That the Divine call to duty is significant and unmistakable. “And Elijah cast his mantle upon him” (1Ki_19:19). Elisha at once understood the meaning of this act. It was a formal investiture with the prophetic office, and a sign of adoption as a son. This ceremony is considered by the Eastern people as an indispensable part of the consecration to the sacred office. It is in this way the Brahmins are still invested with the priestly character, a yellow mantle being thrown across their shoulders, which is buckled round the waist with a sacred ribbon: in this way, too, the Persian suffees are appointed. Elisha realized the solemnity and obligation of the call, and as soon as he recovered from his surprise, “he left the oxen and ran after Elijah.” The Lord leaves his servants in no doubt as to the reality and meaning of their call to work for him. In some way or otherwise, sufficiently distinct and impressive, that call will be made known; it may be in a deep inward impression which no self-battling against can remove, it may be by significantly favourable providential events, or by the unanimous call of the church. The call is always so plain and unmistakable that it cannot be disobeyed without involving acute suffering; and what suffering is more constant and aggravated than to feel every day of a rapidily fleeting life—“I am in my wrong groove; I have missed my way”?
II. That the Divine call to duty is the occasion of much anxious thought. “Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother” (1Ki_19:20). Can it be wondered at if Elisha’s heart still clung to home and kindred—a home where he had every comfort, and that in abundance, and where, perhaps, he was the only child of fond, loving parents? The prospect was not inviting. The untamed Jezebel still reigned; and every prophet of Jehovah would be exposed to her vindictive fury. Elijah had no luxuries to offer, for he had none himself; sustenance was at least sure, if the fare was coarse and simple; but to Elisha it was exchanging affluence for comparative poverty. Besides, there was the sense of personal unworthiness for so high and holy a calling, and this to a sensitive nature is the exciting cause of much mental anguish. It is a duty we owe to ourselves as well as to God to give to the Divine call the most pains-taking consideration. At such a time the destiny of an individual life is at stake; and who can say how many will be affected by the decision either way?
III. That the Divine call to duty demands an immediate and absolute response (1Ki_19:21).
1. It is superior to the claims of the most lucrative worldly calling. Elisha’s occupation is an indication of his character. He is emphatically a man of peace. He lives in the rich Jordan vale, on green meadowland, where village festivals are held with dance and song. He passes the year in those rural occupations which are natural to the son of a wealthy yeoman, superintending the field-labourers himself, and, with the simplicity of primitive manners, taking a share in their toils. But all this he willingly surrenders. The most flattering worldly prospects may turn to bitter disappointment if we resist the Divine call on their behalf.
2. It is superior to the claims of home and kindred. It was at this point that Elisha seemed to show hesitation. This may account for Elisha’s somewhat cold reply, “Go back again; for what have I done to thee?—i.e., “Go, return to thy ploughing; why shouldst thou quit it? Why take leave of thy friends, and come with me? What have I done to thee to require such a sacrifice? for as a sacrifice thou evidently regardest it. Truly I have done nothing to thee. Thou canst remain as thou art” (vide Speaker’s Comm.). But Elisha has meanwhile made up his mind to choose the better part. The exigencies of a Divine call supersede human duties and relationships (Luk_9:61-62).
3. It is justly regarded as a distinguished honour. No longer hesitating, Elisha returns a few steps to his oxen and labourers, indicates the complete relinquishment of his home and calling by the slaughter of two oxen and the burning of the instruments, makes a feast to his people to show his gratitude for his call and his sense of the honour done to him, and then, leaving father and mother, cattle and land, good position and comfortable home, attaches himself to the fortunes of the wandering Elijah. It is no small dignity put upon man when he is culled to be a “co-worker with God.”
4. It brings man into association with the noblest spirits. “Then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him” (1Ki_19:21). Elisha had heard of the startling exploits of the mountain-prophet, and it would be with feelings of reverence and awe that he found himself in such intimate fellowship with the fearless and august Tishbite They were together as father and son, as is evident from the final address of Elisha to Elijah: “My father! my father!” (2Ki_2:12); and in the request for a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit (ib., 1Ki_19:9). God calls us into companionship with the loftiest and choicest spirits of the universe: these are ever in the vanguard of the holiest progress. Above all, we have the exalting and sublimating friendship of God Himself!
LESSONS:—
1. It is disastrous to embark in any sacred work without a consciousness of the Divine call.
2. Everything should be freely surrendered in obedience to the Divine call.
3. To persist in resisting the Divine call is to entail the bitterest remorse and suffering.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_19:19-21. The call of Elisha. Note—
1. The variety of character among God’s servants.
2. The honour God puts on the ordinary secular occupations of life.
3. The spirit of joyful self-sacrifice manifested at the call of duty.—Macduff.
1Ki_19:19. The dignity of labour.
1. A blessing to man.
2. Not to be despised by any.
3. Sanctioned and approved by God.
—Though master of the ground and oxen and servants, yet he himself laid his hand to the plough. Idleness is no man’s honour, nor is husbandry any man’s disgrace. An honest calling in the world does not put us out of the way of our heavenly calling.
—Elisha is found, not in his study, but in the field; not with a book in his hand, but a plough. His father Shaphat was a rich farmer in Abelmeholah, himself was a good husbandman, trained up, not in the schools of the prophets, but in the thrifty trade of tillage; and behold this is the man whom God will pick out of all Israel for a prophet. God seeth not as man seeth; neither doth He choose men because they are fit, but therefore fits them because He hath chosen them. His call is above all earthly institution. I hear not aught that Elijah said; only he casts his cloak upon Elisha in the passage: that mantle, that act, was vocal. He finds a strange virtue in that robe; and, as if his heart was changed with that habit, forgets his team and runs after Elijah. The secret call of God offers an inward force to the heart, and insensibly draws us beyond the power of our resistance.—Bp. Hall.
—Another in his place would long before have come to the conclusion that he was too good for the plough; he was born for a higher sphere than that of a simple peasant; he was not at liberty to withhold his talents from mankind; he must study, and then enter upon the theatre of public action to help to enlighten and govern the world. Consider: the lights have the fairest and clearest lustre which know not that they shine; and those flowers of God scatter the sweetest perfume around them which, well contented with the little spot the Lord has appointed them, bloom hidden in silent dales. It does not follow from the calling of Elisha away from the plough to become a prophet, that every one without much gifts and without much knowledge can leave the plough, or any other ordinary occupation, and take up the prophet’s calling. Men often think the Lord calls them to another, higher position, while it is only their vanity and the over-estimation of their gifts and powers which impel them. If God has called thee to anything, he will also open the way for thee, and furnish the means that are requisite thereto.—Krummacher.
1Ki_19:20-21. Grace is no enemy to good nature: well may the respects to our earthly parents stand with our duties to our Father in heaven. I do not see Elisha wring his hands and deplore his condition, that he should leave the world and follow a prophet; but for the joy of that change he makes a feast; those oxen, those utensils of husbandry, whereon his former labours had been bestowed, shall now be gladly devoted to the celebration of that happy day wherein he is honoured with so blessed an employment. If with desire, if with cheerfulness, we do not enter into the works of our Heavenly Master, they are not like to prosper in our hands. He is not worthy of this spiritual station who holds not the service of God his highest, his richest preferment.—Bp. Hall.
—Elisha in comparison with the three followers of Christ (Luk_9:57; Luk_9:62).
1. Although the son of rich parents and heir to a great possession, yet he forsakes and renounces all, for he considers it a greater gain to follow and serve the poor prophet.
2. He takes leave, indeed, of his parents, but he does not put off the succession to a later time, until after their death; he does not disavow filial affection, but it does not keep him from entering upon his succession immediately.
3. He looks not backward after his call, but forward, and has no longing after that which he gives up; he follows on and serves with undivided heart in complete and joyful consecration. How deeply this Elisha shames many amongst us, to whom, however, not an Elijah, not a prophet, but the Lord of glory calls—Follow me!—Lange.
1Ki_19:20. A good home.
1. A privilege to be improved.
2. An opportunity to prepare for public life.
3. A centre of peace, sympathy, and affection.
4. Never too good to be left at the call of duty.
1Ki_19:21. Obedience to the Divine call.
1. Should be prompt: “He returned back from him.”
2. Should be thorough and complete: “Took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen.”
3. Should be cheerful: “And gave unto the people, and they did eat.”
4. Should be apparent: “Then he arose and went after Elijah.”
—Self-sacrifice for God is here plainly inculcated. In the case of Elisha we read of no struggle between duty and convenience, between personal interest and obedience to the unmistakable will of heaven. There was compliance at once, hearty and unreserved; and of his surrender to Elijah it may be said, as of the disciples with reference to a higher master, he “left all and followed him.” The example is lofty, and the invitation becomes us all. We are not asked to relinquish our homes, and our friends, and our substance to anything like the same extent; but if the sacrifice in our case be easier, it should be all the more willingly and cheerfully made. Why speak of unreasonable demands in relation to Him who gave what even He could never exceed in gift—“that whosoever believeth should not perish, but have everlasting life”?—Howat.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v9 1 Samuel - 1 Kings
1 Samuel - 1 Kings
ELIJAH’S WEAKNESS, AND ITS CUBE
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WHAT DOEST THOU HERE?
1Sa 29:3. - 1Ki 19:9.
I have put these two verses together, not only because of their identity in form, though that is striking, but because they bear upon one and the same subject, as will appear, if, in a word or two, I set each of them in its setting. David was almost at the lowest point of his fortunes when he fled into foreign territory, and for awhile took service under one of the kings of the Philistines. He served him faithfully, and so, when the last great fight, in which Saul lost his life, was about to be waged between Philistia and Israel, David and his men came as a contingent to the army of the former. The Philistine commanders, very naturally, were suspicious of these allies, just as Englishmen would have been if, on the night before Waterloo, a brigade of Frenchmen had deserted and offered their help to fight Napoleon. So the question ‘What do these Hebrews here?’-amongst our ranks-was an extremely natural one, and it was answered in the only possible way, by the subsequent departure of David and his men from the unnatural and ill-omened alliance.
Now, that suggests to us that Christian people are out of their places, even in the eyes of worldly people, when they are fighting shoulder to shoulder with them in certain causes; and it suggests the propriety of keeping apart. ‘Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord’ ‘What do these Hebrews here?’ is a question that Philistia often asks. But now turn to the other question. Elijah had fallen into the mood of depression which so often follows great nervous tension. He had just offered the sacrifice on Carmel, and brought all Israel back to the Lord, and Jezebel had flamed out and threatened his life. The usually undaunted prophet, in the reaction after his great effort, was fearful for his life and deserted his work, flung himself into solitude and shook the dust off his feet against Israel. Was that not just doing what I have been saying that Christian people ought to do-separating himself from the world? In a sense, yes, but the voice came, ‘What dost thou here, Elijah?’ ‘Go back to your work; to Ahab, to Jezebel. Go back to death if need be. Do not shirk your duty on the pretence of separating yourself from the world.’
So we put the two questions together. They limit one another, and they suggest the via media, the course between, and lead me to say one or two plain things about that duty of Christian separation from an evil world.
I. The first thing that I would suggest to you is the inevitable intermingling, which is the law of God, and therefore can never be broken with impunity.
Christ’s parable about the Kingdom of Heaven in the world being like a man that sowed good seed in his field, which sprung up intermingled with tares, contains the lesson, not so much of the purity or nonpurity of the Church as of the inseparable intertwining in the world of Christian people with others. The roots are matted together, and you cannot pull up a tare without danger of pulling up a wheat-stalk that has got interlaced with it. That is but to say that Society at present, and the earthly form of the Kingdom of God, are not organised on the basis of religious affinity, but upon a great many other things, such as family, kindred, business, a thousand ties of all sorts which mat men together, and make it undesirable, impossible, contrary to God’s intention, that the good people should club themselves together, and leave the bad ones to rot and stink. The two are meant to be in close contact. ‘Let both grow together till the harvest.’ If any Christian man were to do as the monks of old did, fly into solitude to look after his own soul, then the question which came to Elijah would be suitable to him, ‘What doest thou here?’ Is there not work enough for you out there, in that wicked world? Is that not the place for you? Where is the place for the ‘salt’? Where the meat is in danger of putrefaction. Rub it in! That is what it was meant for. ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ That suggests the picture of a lamp upon a pedestal that it may send out its rays, but itself remains apart. But the companion metaphor suggests the closest possible contact, and such contact is duty for us Christian people. Elijah ran away from his work. There are types of Christian life to-day unwholesomely self-engrossed, and too much occupied with their own spiritual condition, to realise and discharge the duty of witnessing in the world. Wherever you find a Christian man -whether he is a monk with bare foot, and a rope round his brown robe, and shaven head, or whether he is in the garb of modern Protestantism- that tries more to keep himself apart, in the enjoyment and cultivation of his own religious life, than to fling himself into the midst of the world’s worst evil, in order to fight and to cure it, you get a man who is sharing in Elijah’s transgression, and needs Elijah’s rebuke. The intermingling is inevitable in the present state of things; and family, kindred, business, social and political movements, all require that Christian people should work side by side with men who are not possessors of ‘like precious faith.’ If ever there have been individuals or communities that have tried to traverse that law, they have developed narrowness and bitterness and stunted growth, and a hundred evils that we all know.
II. And now let me say a word about the second thing, and that is-the imperative separation.
‘What do these Israelites here?’ is the question. Much of all our lives lies outside these necessary connections with the world, of which I have been speaking. And the question for each of us is, What do we do when we are left to do as we like? Where do we go? When the iron weight fastened by the bit of string is taken off the sapling, it starts back to its original uprightness. Is that what your Christianity does for you? When you are left to yourself, when you have done all the work that is required, and you are free, where do you turn naturally? It is of no use to lay down special regulations. There has been far too much regulation and red-tape in our Christianity all along. Do not let us put so much stress upon individual acts. Let us look at the spirit. Whither do I turn? What do I like to do? Who are my chosen companions? What are my recreations? Is my life of such a sort as that the world will point to me, and say, ‘What! you here I a professing Christian; what are you doing here?’
I remember that in the autobiography of Mr. Spurgeon, there is a story told about what he did when a child, and living with his grandfather, the pastor of a little country church. There was a very prominent member of that church who was in the habit of going into the public-house occasionally; and the small boy stepped into the sanded parlour where this inconsistent man was sitting, walked up to him, and said, ‘What doest thou here, Elijah?’ It was the turning-point of the man’s life. That is the question that I desire us all to ask ourselves-where do we go, and what sort of lives do we live in the moments when our own voluntary choice determines our action?
‘A man is known by the company he keeps,’ says an old Latin proverb, and I am bound to say that I do not think that it is a good sign of the depth of a Christian professor’s religion if he feels himself more at home in the company of people who do not share his religion than in the company of those that do. I do not wish to be strait-laced and narrow, but I do not wish, either, to be so broad as to obliterate altogether the distinction between Christian people and others. The fact of the case is this, dear friends; if we are Christ’s servants we have more in common with the most uncongenial Christians than we have with the most congenial man who is not a Christian. And if we were nearer our Master we should feel that it was so. ‘Being let go they went to their own company.’ Where do you go when you can make your choice?
I am not going to speak in detail about occupations or recreations. I can quite believe that the theatre might be made an instrument of morality. I can quite believe that a race-course might be a perfectly innocent place. I can quite believe that there may be no harm in a dance. All that I say is that there are two questions which every Christian professor ought to ask himself about such subjects. One is, Can I ask God to bless this thing, and my doing it? And the other is, Does this help or hinder my religion? If we will take these two questions with us as tests of conduct and companionship, I do not think that we shall go far wrong, either in the choice of our companions, or in the choice of our surroundings of any kind, or in the choice of our recreations and our occupations. But if we do not, then I am quite sure that we shall go wrong in them all. ‘What communion hath light with darkness?’ ‘What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.’
The main question is, do I grasp the aim of life with clearness and decision as being to make myself by God’s help such a character as God has pleasure in? If I do I shall regulate all these things thereby.
III. Now there is one last suggestion that I wish to make, and that is the double questioning that we shall have to stand.
The lords of the Philistines said, ‘What do these Hebrews here?’ They saw the inconsistency, if David and his men did not. They were sharp to detect it, and David and his band did not rise in their opinion, but decidedly went down, when they saw them marching there, in such an unnatural place as ‘behind Achish,’ and ready to flesh their swords in the blood of their brethren. So let me tell you, you will neither recommend your religion nor yourselves to men of the world, by inconsistently trying to identify yourselves with them. There are a great many professing Christians nowadays whose mouths are full of the word ‘liberality,’ and who seem to try to show how absolutely identical with a godless man’s a God-fearing one’s life may be made. Do you think that the world respects that type of Christian, or regards his religion as the kind of thing to be admired? No; the question that they fling at such people is the question which David was humiliated by having pitched at his head-’What do these Hebrews here?’ ‘Let them go back to their mountains. This is no place for them.’ The world respects an out-and-out Christian; but neither God nor the world respects an inconsistent one.
But there is another question, and another Questioner-’What doest thou here, Elijah?’ God did not ask Elijah the question because he did not know the answer; but because he wished to make Elijah put his mood into words, since then Elijah would understand it a little better, and, when he found the tremendous difficulty of making a decent excuse, would begin to suspect that the conduct that wanted so much glozing was not exactly the conduct fit for a prophet. And so let us think that God is looking down upon us, in all our occupation of our free time, and that He is wishing us to put into words what we are about, and why we are where we are.
What do you think you would say if, in some of these moments of unnecessary intermingling with questionable things and doubtful people, you were brought suddenly to this, that you had to formulate into some kind of plausibility your reason for being there? I am afraid it would be a very lame and ragged set of reasons that many of us would have to give. Well! better that we should now have to answer the question ‘What doest thou here?’ than that we should have to fail in answering the future question, after we have done with the world: ‘What didst thou there?’
Dear brethren, let us cleave to Christ, and that will separate us from the world. If we cleave to the world, that will separate us from Christ. I do not insist on details of conduct, but I do beseech you, professing Christians, to recognise that you are set in the world in order to grow like your Master, and that their tendency to help you to that likeness is the one test of all occupations, recreations, and companionships, by which we may know whether we are in or out of the place that pleases Him. And if we are in it, that blessed hope which is held forth in the parable to which I have already referred, will come full of sweetness and of strength to us, that, yonder, men will be grouped according to their moral and religious character; that the tares will be taken away from the wheat, and, that as Christ says, ‘Then shall the righteous flame as the sun in their heavenly Father’s Kingdom.’
1 Kings
ELIJAH’S WEAKNESS, AND ITS CUBE
1Ki 19:1 - 1Ki 19:18.
The miracle on Carmel cowed, if it did not convince, Ahab, so that he did not oppose the slaughter of the Baal prophets; but Jezebel was made of sterner stuff, and her passionate idolatry was proof against even a sign from heaven. Obstinacy in error is often a rebuke to tremulous faith in God. She fiercely puts her back to the wall, and defies Elijah and his God. Her threat to the prophet has a certain audacity of frankness almost approaching generosity. She will give her victim fair play. This woman is ‘magnificent in sin.’ The Septuagint prefixes to her oath, ‘As surely as thou art Elijah and I Jezebel,’ which adds force to it. It also reads, by a very slight change in the Hebrew, in 1Ki 19:3, ‘he was afraid,’ for ‘he saw,’-which is possibly right, as giving his motive for escape more distinctly.
I. We may note, first, the prophet’s flight {1Ki 19:3 - 1Ki 19:8}. Beersheba, on the southern border of the kingdom of Judah, was eloquent of memories of the patriarchs, but though it was nearly a hundred miles from Jezreel, Jezebel’s arm was long enough to reach the fugitive there, and therefore he plunged deeper into the dreary southern desert. He left behind him his servant, his ‘young man,’ as the original has it, whom Rabbinical tradition identified with the miraculously resuscitated son of the widow of Zarephath, and supposed to become afterwards the prophet Jonah. Thus alone but for the company of his own gloomy thoughts, and wearied with toilsome travel in the sun-smitten waste, he took shelter under the shadow of a solitary shrub {the Hebrew emphatically calls it ‘one juniper,’ or rather ‘broom-plant’}, and there the waves of depression went over him.
His complaint is not to be wondered at, though it was wrong. The very overstrain of the scene on Carmel brought reaction. The height of the crest of one wave measures the depth of the trough of the next, and no mortal spirit can keep itself at the sublime elevation reached by Elijah when alone he fronted and converted a nation. The supposed necessity for flight, coming so immediately after apparent victory, showed him how hollow the change in the people was. What had become of all the fervency of their shout, ‘The Lord, He is the God!’ if they could leave Jezebel the power to carry out her threat? Solitude and the awful desert increased his gloom. The strong man had become weak, and it was ebb-tide with him. His prayer was petulant, impatient, presumptuous. What right had he to settle what was ‘enough’? If he really wished to die, he could have found death at Jezreel, and had no need to travel a hundred miles to seek a grave. He was weary of his work, and profoundly disappointed by what he hastily concluded was its failure, and in a fit of faithless despondency he forgot reverence, submission, and obedience.
If Elijah can become weak, and his courage die out, and his zeal become torpid apathy and cowardly wish to shuffle off responsibility and shirk work, who shall stand? The lessons of self-distrust, of the nearness to one another of the most opposite emotions in our weak natures, of the depth of gloom into which the boldest and brightest servant of God may fall as soon as he loses hold of God’s hand, never had a more striking instance to point them than that mighty prophet, sitting huddled together in utter despondency below the solitary retem bush, praying his foolish prayer for death.
The meal to which an angel twice waked him was God’s answer to his prayer, telling him both that his life was still needful and that God cared for him. Perhaps one of Elijah’s reasons for taking to the desert was the thought that he might starve there, and so find death. At all events, God for the third time miraculously provides his food. The ravens, the widow of Zarephath, an angel, were his caterers; and, instead of taking away his life, God Himself sends the bread and water to preserve it. The revelation of a watchful, tender Providence often rebukes gloomy unbelief and shames us back to faith. We are not told whether the journey to Horeb was commanded, or, like the flight from Jezreel, was Elijah’s own doing; but, in any case, he must have wandered in the desert, to have taken forty days to reach it.
II. The second stage is the vision at Horeb {1Ki 19:9 - 1Ki 19:14}. The history of Israel has never touched Horeb since Moses left it, and it is not without significance that we are once more on that sacred ground. The parallel between Moses and Elijah is very real. These two names stand out above all others in the history of the theocracy, the one as its founder, the other as its restorer; both distinguished by special revelations, both endowed with exceptional force of character and power of the Spirit; the one the lawgiver, the other the head of the prophetic order; both having something peculiar in their departure, and both standing together, in witness of their supremacy in the past, and of their inferiority in the future, by Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. The associations of the place are marked by the use of the definite article, which is missed in the Authorised Version,-’the cave,’ that same cleft in the rock where Moses had stood. Note, too, that the word rendered ‘lodged’ is literally ‘passed the night,’ and that therefore we may suppose that the vision came to Elijah in the darkness.
That question, ‘What doest thou here?’ can scarcely be freed from a tone of rebuke; but, like Christ’s to the travellers to Emmaus, and many another interrogation from God, it is also put in order to allow of the loaded heart’s relieving itself by pouring out all its griefs. God’s questions are the assurance of His listening ear and sympathising heart. This one is like a little key which opens a great sluice. Out gushes a full stream. His forty days’ solitude have done little for him. A true answer would have been, ‘I was afraid of Jezebel.’ He takes credit for zeal, and seems to insinuate that he had been more zealous for God than God had been for Himself. He forgets the national acknowledgment of Jehovah at Carmel, and the hundred prophets protected by good Obadiah. Despondency has the knack of picking its facts. It is colour-blind, and can only see dark tints. He accuses his countrymen, as if he would stir up God to take vengeance.
How different this weak and sinful wail over his solitude from the heroic mention of it on Carmel, when it only nerved his courage I {verse 22}. The divine manifestation which followed is evidently meant to recall that granted to Moses on the same spot. ‘The Lord passed by’ is all but verbally quoted from Exo 34:6, and the truth that had been proclaimed in words to Moses was enforced by symbol to Elijah. If the vision was in the night, as 1Ki 19:9 suggests, it becomes still more impressive. The fierce wind that roared among the savage peaks, the shock that made the mountains reel, and the flashing flames that lighted up the wild landscape, were all phenomena of one kind, and at once expressed God’s lordship over all destructive agencies of nature, and symbolised the more vehement and disturbing forms of energy, used by Him for the furtherance of His purposes in the field of history or of revelation. Elijah’s ministry was of such a sort, and he had now to learn the limitations of his work, and the superiority of another type, represented by the ‘sound of gentle stillness.’
It is the same lesson which Moses learned there, when he heard that the Lord is ‘a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth.’ It was exemplified in the gentle Elisha, the successor of Elijah. It reached far beyond the time then present, and was indeed a Messianic prophecy, declaring the inmost character of Him in whom ‘the Lord is,’ in an altogether special sense. Elijah as a prophet brought no new knowledge, and uttered no far-reaching predictions; but he received one of the deepest and clearest prophecies of the gentleness of God’s highest Messenger, and on Horeb saw afar off what he saw fulfilled on the Mountain of Transfiguration. Nor is his vision exhausted by its Messianic reference. It contains an eternal truth for all God’s servants. Storm, earthquake, and fire may be God’s precursors, and needed sometimes to prepare His way; but gentleness is ‘the habitation of His throne,’ and they serve Him best, and are nearest Him whom they serve, who are meek in heart and gentle among enemies, ‘as a nurse cherisheth her children.’ Love is the victor, and the sharpest weapons of the Christian are love and lowliness.
The lesson was not at first grasped by Elijah, as his repetition of his complaint, word for word, with almost dogged obstinacy, shows. The best of us are slow to learn God’s lessons, and a habit of faithless gloom is not soon overcome. It is much easier to get down into the pit than to struggle out of it.
III. The commission for further service, which closes the scene, is a further rebuke to the prophet. He is bidden to retrace his way and to take refuge in the desert lying to the south and east of Damascus, where he would be safe from Jezebel, and still not far from the scene of his activity. The instructions given to anoint a king of Syria and one of Israel were not fulfilled by Elijah, but by his successor; and we have to suppose that further commands were given to him on that subject. The third injunction, to anoint his successor, was obeyed at once on his journey, though Ahelmeholah, on Gilboa, was dangerously near Jezreel. The designation of these future instruments of God’s purpose was at once a sign to Elijah that his own task was drawing to a close {having reached its climax on Carmel}, and that God had great designs beyond him and his service. The true conception of our work is that we sire only links in a chain, and that we can be done without. ‘God removes the workers and carries on the work.’ To anoint our successor is often a bitter pill; but self-importance needs to be taken down, and it is blessed to lose ourselves in gazing into the future of God’s work, when we are gone from the field.
Further, the commissions met Elijah’s despondency in another way; for they assured him of the divine judgments on the house of Ahab, and of the use of the Syrian king as a rod to chastise Israel. He had thought God too slow in avenging His dishonoured name, and had been taught the might of gentleness; but now he also learns the certainty of punishment, while the enigmatical promise that Elisha should ‘slay’ those who escaped the swords of Hazael and Jehu dimly points to the merciful energy of that prophet’s word, his only sword, which shall slay but to revive, and wound to heal. ‘I have hewed them by the . . . words of my mouth.’
Finally, the revelation of the seven thousand-a round number, which expresses the sacredness as well as the numerousness of the elect, hidden ones-rebukes the hasty assumption of his being left alone, ‘faithful among the faithless.’ God has more servants than we know of. Let us beware of feeding either our self-righteousness or our narrowness or our faint-heartedness with the fancy that we have a monopoly of faithfulness, or are left alone to witness for God.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v9 Elijah Receives the Lord’s Commission
Elijah Receives the Lord’s Commission
v. 9. And he came thither, to Horeb, unto a cave and lodged there, probably in the same cleft from which Moses saw the glory of the Lord, Exo 33:21-23. And, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? God wanted a frank expression of all his hopes and fears.
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v. 10. And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, defending His honor with all energy; for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, fallen away from the covenant-relation, thrown down Thine altars, thus signifying their utter rejection of Jehovah and His Word and worship, and slain Thy prophets with the sword, another proof of their utter contempt for Jehovah; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away. Such being the situation, he wondered what might yet be done, how a change in the conditions might be brought about, implying, at the same time, that Jehovah alone would be able to help and to save.
v. 11. And He, the Lord, said, Go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord, as Moses had done before him, Exo 24:12. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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;
v. 12. and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a. still, small voice. The first terrible phenomena were signs of the approaching judgment; they reminded Elijah of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. But Elijah was to learn that, while the thunders of the Law have their value in the kingdom of God, to prepare the hearts for the message of salvation, yet the still, small voice, the gentle teaching of the Gospel, the joyful announcement of the grace of God in the work of the Messiah, alone is able to convert the hearts to the Lord. A jealous zeal for Jehovah, unless tempered with the proper Gospel attitude, will not win hearts for Christ; but God’s voice is in the Word of the Gospel and creates hearts anew.
v. 13. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, for even the angels stand with covered faces before the throne of the Holy One, and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, for the second time, and with a hint of reproach, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? He should have returned to his post immediately.
v. 14. And he said, repeating his lament, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts because the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away.
v. 15. And the Lord said unto him, in bidding him take up the work of his calling once more, Go, return on thy way to the Wilderness of Damascus, in the land of Syria; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;
v. 16. and Jehu, the son of Nimshl, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. There is absolutely no reason to suppose, as some commentators do, that this command was not carried out by Elijah, although we may assume that the anointing; in the first two cases, was done in secret.
v. 17. And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. In other words, the Lord would take care of the punishment of His enemies in due time. And He adds a little statement intended to reprove Elijah for his small faith.
v. 18. Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him; for it was customary to kiss the statues of the idols. So Elijah was by no means the only true believer left, as the Lord, who knows those who are His, assured him. In the midst of a godless world He has His small crew, a small flock, indeed, but nevertheless loyal to Him.
v. 19. So he, Elijah, departed thence, and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he, as the master, a man in comfortable circumstances, with the twelfth. And Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
v. 20. And he, understanding the significance of this act, left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, in saying farewell to them,and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, in granting this request, Go back again; for what have I done to thee? He wanted Elisha’s acceptance of the prophetic calling to be one of his own free will.
v. 21. And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, the one with which he had been plowing, and slew them, for a farewell feast, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, the yoke and the wooden parts of the plow, and gave unto the people, his people, who had been busy with him in the field, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. Thus the servants of the Lord must not consult with flesh and blood, but gladly follow the call of the Lord, no matter where this may take them
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 to a cave there
to a cave there
Here the word "there" refers to Mount Horeb. A cave is an opening in a mountainside that leads to a natural room or rooms underground.
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the word of Yahweh came to him and said to him, "What
The idiom "The word of Yahweh came to," is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated this in 1 Kings 6:11. AT: "Yahweh gave a message to him. He said, 'What" or "Yahweh spoke this message to him: 'What" (See: Idiom)
What are you doing here, Elijah?
Yahweh asks this question to rebuke Elijah and to remind him of his duty. AT: "This is not where you should be, Elijah." (See: Rhetorical Question)
I, only I, am left
Here the word "I" is repeated for emphasis.
translationWords
word of God
Elijah
zeal
Yahweh
Yahweh of hosts
people group
kingdom of Israel
forsake
covenant
altar
prophet
sword
life
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 19, 21 19:9-10 a cave (literally the cave): Some have suggested…
19:9-10 a cave (literally the cave): Some have suggested that Elijah came to the very place where God appeared to Moses (Exod 33:21-23). • What are you doing here, Elijah? The Lord’s question may have a double implication: Why had Elijah come, and did he understand the significance of the spot where he stood? Elijah replied to the former part of the question. Elijah had boldly announced that he was alone in his stand for the Lord (1 Kgs 18:22); now, that feeling turned to self-pity.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.