Title: Elijah's Solitude and His Victory
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“The angel of the Lord came again, and touched him, saying, “Arise, eat, lest you overcome the road.”
1. Text Background
The background of the text begins with 1 Kings 18:1.
Israel was divided into northern and southern dynasties from around 933 BC after Solomon's death. The southern dynasty established the kingdom of Judah with two tribes of Israel centered on King Rehoboam, the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin.
Ahab in the text was the 7th king of Israel in the northern dynasty and ruled the country for 22 years from 875 to 854 B.C. (1 Kings 16:29-22:40). Ahab was a wicked king, and he was the worst of all the kings of Israel. He married a foreign woman, “Jezebel,” the princess of Sidon. The foreign woman Jezebel was, as we all know, an arrogant, wicked, vicious and stubborn demonic incarnation. She was a worshiper of the pagan idol Baal, who served as “the god of plenty.” After she married Ahab and became queen, she built temples of Baal throughout Israel, the kingdom of God, and appointed 450 Baal prophets, 400 Asherah prophets, and 850 total, and gave them the rust of the nation to serve idols throughout Israel commanded (1 Kings 18:19). Moreover, the wicked Jezebel arrested and executed the prophets of Jehovah God at random (1 Kings 18:3,13).
Because of the sins of Ahab and Jezebel, God caused a severe drought for three and a half years through Elijah, the man of God. Knowing this, Ahab went to Elijah to arrest him (1 Kings 18:16-18).
“Are you the one who troubles Israel when Ahab goes to see Elijah and sees Elijah? He answered, "I did not afflict Israel, but you and your father's house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and you have followed the Baals."
After that, Elijah challenged Ahab on Mount Carmel, and Ahab sent 450 Baal prophets and 400 Asherah prophets to Mount Carmel. At this time, Elijah rebuked all the people, “How long will you hesitate between two days?” and shouted that if the Lord is the true God, serve the Lord; if Baal is the true God, serve the Lord.
In the end, as Elijah suggested, he placed a calf on the wood, and the fire came down from heaven, and the one who answered is the true God. They cut themselves with swords and spears until they bled, but heaven remained silent.
However, when Elijah, the messenger of fire, prayed, fire came down from heaven, dug a ditch beside the wood, and the water overflowed three times, but the wood caught fire and burned the calf. In the end, the victory belonged to Elijah.
As promised, Elijah executed 450 prophets of Baal and 400 murderers of Asherah in the city of Kishon.
Ahab informed Jezebel of this, and Jezebel declared that she would kill Elijah. Hearing this, Elijah crossed the border and went to Beersheba, the land of Judah, leaving a servant there, and he went a day's journey into the wilderness, and sat down under a broom tree, praying for death.
2. Elijah's Moment of Solitude
“He went into the wilderness on his own and walked about a day’s journey, and sat down under a broom tree, begging him to die, saying, “It is enough, O LORD; take my life now. I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4).
Elijah, man of God! Elijah the miracle man! Elijah saved Israel's spiritual crisis! Elijah, who boldly appeared before the tyrant Ahab, who seeks his own blood, and pronounced God's judgment! Elijah who created the history of victory on Mount Carmel! This man of faith is now wishing to die under the rosemary tree. No, can this be? Because he is also a human being, he had no choice but to taste the loneliness of a human being that was pushed out of his body.
During the lifetime of a human being in this world, no matter how short or long, there is a moment of solitude for everyone. The loss of a loved one, the death of a parent, the death of a child, spouse, or friend, job loss, severe business failure, war, or in the midst of unmanageable difficulties in life, we can experience this solitude. Not only that, but when I am faced with the weakness of my own body and the moment of death, I myself as a body alone will feel Elijah's loneliness.
Romanian novelist Constantin Virgil Cheorghiu once said, “Solitude is the scariest and most painful thing in the world. No matter what terrible things come, as long as you are not alone, you will be able to endure it, but in this case, a lonely person will be the same as death.” said. In fact, loneliness is like poison. After all, loneliness leads to death. We must deal with this death-like loneliness.
3. Elijah's Motives for Solitude
In fact, the motive of solitude is not the environment. It is your inner problem of seeing the environment. If the loneliness of Elijah's wish to die was a matter of circumstances, he would have already wished to die with this loneliness in more cases than this. That is, when Jezebel seized and executed the prophets of the Lord.
Why did Elijah face such a crisis of loneliness?
First, he was afraid.
He was afraid of the circumstances unfolding before him. “When he saw these things” (19:3) “For the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant and torn down your altars, and have slain your prophets with the sword” (19:10).
He was afraid of death. “Flee for His Life” (19:3) “They Will Take My Life” (19:20)
He was afraid of people. He was afraid of the human Jezebel. (19:2)
That's right. Fear of all kinds is the raw material of solitude.
Why did Elijah face such a crisis of loneliness?
Second, because he did not depend on the living God.
“Only I am left” (19:10). Elijah was making a very dangerous definition. I thought that there was no one to help me now, and I was the only one left alone under the sky. But the truth is that even at the moment he thought so, there were 7,000 men of God left in the land of Israel who did not kneel to Baal or kiss Baal. But even without those 7,000 people, Elijah was not alone. Because the living God who answered with fire on Mount Carmel was with him. Elijah was not relying on God at all. Even in his prayer under the rosemary tree, there is no prayer to ask God for help other than the prayer for death, and no prayer to rely on God to solve the problem of his loneliness. You can see that it comes from intrinsic motivation.
4. Victory over loneliness
Elijah triumphed over solitude. (19:19) The victory can be seen from the fact that Elijah did not die in the Jezebel case. What made him triumph over solitude? It was “the word of God.”
When we read the text, we see the most touching part. “The word of the Lord came to him, saying, Elijah, why are you here? (19:9)
Jehovah God didn't know why Elijah was there, so he didn't ask that question.
To Adam, “Where are you?” God asks Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” God asks Elijah with “the word”. “Elijah, why are you here?” This question is a rebuke of God's love for Elijah. God does not want His children to be in solitude. This verse is telling you to know your current address. This verse is telling you to calm down. This is not a time when you are deeply immersed in loneliness and cannot get out of that important time. This verse is not to be afraid. That is to say, do not be afraid of your environment. This is not to be afraid of physical death. Do not be afraid of the blade of Jezebel. “Elijah, why are you here?” These words are Elijah, you are not alone. I, the LORD, live and be with you. This is a message to trust in the living Jehovah.
That's right. Only “the word of the Lord” gives us victory over the same sufferings that we face in death. It can never be done by human power. It is only through the word of God. You cannot live on bread alone. We need the Word of God. The Word of God is the cure for the sick soul.
Souls living in this lonely age today, sit under the rosemary tree in the wilderness and do not wish to die as a slave to solitude, but receive the word of God. Come to the word of God. The Word of God is able to solve the loneliness of your life. When you receive the Word of God, you will not become a slave to solitude, but you will become a victor over solitude.