“Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress; I will not be shaken” (Psalm 62:6).

Last week we learned about God’s provision for Elijah, a famous Old Testament prophet. Elijah lived through an especially difficult time–during the reign of Ahab, the most wicked king of Israel. We do not know anything about Elijah except that he was from Tishbe (I know, I have never heard of it either). And we know that God called him to be his mouthpiece to Ahab. His first assignment was to tell Ahab that there would be no dew nor rain for the next few years. That was not a good assignment. Then God sent him into hiding as we read about last week (1 Kings 17).

While in hiding, God miraculously provided for him, first by being fed by ravens (yuck) and then by a pagan widow woman who herself would have starved had not God used her to sustain Elijah through the miraculous jar of flour and jug of oil that did not run dry for about three years. During that time, the woman’s son died, and Elijah brought him back to life, the first instance in the Bible of someone brought back to life. There was no precedence for this; there was no way that Elijah could fail to see God’s miraculous power.

Then, God told Elijah to go to Ahab to tell him that rain was coming; so, Elijah went, only to be greeted by Ahab as “the troubler of Israel” (this being Elijah, not Ahab). 1 Kings 18 is where we find the fantastic showdown on Mt. Carmel where Elijah, prophet of God, challenges the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to see who had the power to bring fire to consume their sacrifice. Elijah even sabotaged his own altar by flooding it with water before calling down fire from God. The pagan prophets did everything including cutting themselves, to no avail. However, when Elijah called upon his God, “the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench” (v. 38). And guess what: rain came!!! Elijah was so excited that he ran all the way to Jezreel (about 31 miles) to tell Queen Jezebel (Ahab had been at the showdown and had seen it for himself). Elijah told Jezebel what had happened, and she threated him with his life. Unbelievable!

Elijah then told wicked Queen Jezebel exactly what he thought of her death threat. NOT. No, Elijah, who had been encouraged by God to confront the most wicked King Ahab, who had experienced multiple life-giving miracles, and who had been empowered to show up 950 pagan prophets at Mt. Carmel, “was afraid and ran for his life.” He ran all the way to Beersheba (more than 100 miles) and sat under a broom tree praying to God to take his life (1 Kings 19:3-4). And what did God do? God again met him in his need. God sent him food and water, allowed him to sleep, then brought him to Mt. Horeb. And there, Elijah went into a cave and spent the night (v.9).

Here is where we see beautiful threads that weave throughout the Bible, showing God at work with his people. Mt. Horeb is another name for Mt. Sinai, where God brought Moses after he led the Israelites out of Egypt heading toward the Promised Land. Moses had already been to the top and had received the Law, only to go down and find that the people had given up and were worshipping a golden calf. Moses was extremely frustrated and told God that they could not journey on without the LORD’s presence.

God called Moses and Elijah to meet him on the top of the mountain to reveal to them his glory.

Here is the passage from Exodus 33:19-23; 34:5-9 – ^“And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ^‘Lord,’ he said, ‘if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.’ Then the Lord said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.’”

Here is the passage from 1 Kings 18:11-13 – “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.”

Moses was hidden in the cleft of the Rock. Elijah was hidden in the cave, hewn out of Rock. Is it any wonder then, that Jesus, the Rock of our salvation, at his Transfiguration, “…took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.” (Matthew 17:1-3).

Moses and Elijah were great men, but they were only men, with fears and frustrations just like you and me. Mountaintop experiences followed by the gutter. But, just like Moses and Elijah, when we seek His face, when we call on His name, He will be found by us, He is faithful to provide for us and sustain us and is gracious to show us His glory and allow us to join with Him in His work.

“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul” Deuteronomy 4:29).

In Christ,

Judy