What Are You Doing Here?
Part Four

I Kings 19:13
(I Kings 17-19)

In the last studies (See Archives) we saw the failure of the prophets of Baal as they called upon a god who could not see them, hear them, nor understand them, much less, meet their needs. Now we will look at the victory the true and living God of this universe gives His faithful servant.

At the time of the evening sacrifice the man of God stepped forward. He stood with righteous boldness because he lived for the glory of the Creator. He commanded the people to gather twelve stones from a previous altar of the Lord which was in disrepair. Each stone represented a tribe of the united family of Israel. He then dug a trench around the base of the altar, arranged the wood upon it, cut the bull into pieces, and then laid the bull on the wood. Three times he had the people pour water over the bull, the wood, and the stone until the trench was filled with water and the altar and animal upon it were soaked.

The Lord, He is God! Elijah called upon the God of this universe giving Him praise. Elijah called upon the merciful God of Israel praying that the people would recognize Him and turn their hearts to Him. The Lord, He is God! “Then 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” (I Kings 18:38). The Lord, He is God! “And when the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord – He is God! The Lord – He is God!’” (I Kings 18:39).

Elijah commanded the people to seize the false prophets, bring them to the Kishon Valley, and execute them. And they did. Elijah, hearing the sound of heavy rain, directed Arab to eat something. He knew Ahab would need strength for the journey before him. From the top of Mt. Carmel, Elijah prayed and commanded his servant to watch over the sea. After seven times, the servant saw a small cloud, about the size of a man’s hand.

The Lord, He is God! The God who had caused the drought had brought the rain. Elijah directed Ahab to hitch up his chariot and take off before the rain stopped him. Ahab headed to Jezreel and Elijah, by the power of the Lord, ran before him.

But… Elijah was not done running. After the glorious victory at Carmel, Elijah heard the message of Jezebel; Jezebel who had received the account of the events on Mt. Carmel; Jezebel who should have been brought to her knees in fear before God; Jezebel who sent
the message to Elijah, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of [the prophets]” (I Kings 19:2).

And… Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. He had stood before the people. He had stood before hundreds of false prophets. He had stood before King Ahab. He had stood with God. But now, he ran from the woman, Jezebel. Terrified and exhausted this giant of God ran.

I think most of us have been there. Beyond every mountaintop we see a valley. Beyond every victory is the fear of defeat. In times of trouble how easily we forget the number of times the Lord took care of us in the past. He told Israel, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Is His promise any less today to His people who are in Christ?

In our next Studies we will see how God lifted Elijah from despair.