1 Kings 19
As we have seen, the Word of God that Elijah was called to deliver was a challenging message. It took great faith and courage to declare condemnation on Ahab and Judah and conviction was necessary for Elijah to stand before the over 400 prophets of Baal declaring the exclusivity and identity of the One True God. Indeed, standing for the truth of the Word can be challenging and sometimes it becomes more than we can bear. All of us, like Elijah, are called to be heralds of the Word. Certainly there are differences in our situations. Elijah, as a prophet, was given a new and direct revelation from God. We do not believe that God speaks in these authoritative and universal ways to His messengers anymore. Instead, we believe that our call is to boldly and accurately teach and proclaim the truth God has given us in the Scripture. Whereas Elijah lived in a day in which God’s redemptive plan was still unfolding, we now live looking back to Christ as the foundation of our faith.
However, we do share many commonalities with Elijah. We live in a world and a culture that is increasingly hostile to biblical Christianity. We are called to communicate a message of biblical truth and light to a world that that treasures deception and darkness. In this way, perhaps we can understand Elijah’s reaction in 1 Kings 19. In this text, Elijah learns of Jezebel’s anger towards him and flees all the while despairing of his very life. In the process, Elijah begins to feel isolated and alone. In the process of his discussion with God, he reiterates his belief that he is the only believer left.
The beauty of this text is not in Elijah’s attitude but in God’s response. While God could have rightly condemned Elijah outright, in His mercy and grace the Lord chooses to simply remind Elijah of truth. Whereas Elijah was assuming that He was isolated, God’s Word served to comfort and encourage. God encourages Elijah by reminding him of truth. God shares that there are thousands of men and women who would be followers of the Lord. Simply stated, God took what Elijah was feeling and gently but totally dismantled his logic through the Word. One of the great benefits of Scripture is that it so often speaks truth into our disoriented emotions!
Like Elijah, we are prone to give into unbiblical thinking because of our fallen minds and emotionally unstable hearts. However, this text demonstrates the reality that truth can reorient and allow us to see what is truly happening. It is our responsibility to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5) and we do that through examining each of our thoughts through the lens of the truth as revealed by God!