It should have been my moment
of triumph… God’s moment of triumph… But it quickly turned into the worst days
of my life… I couldn’t understand it… why God would let it happen.
After years of warning Ahab and
his pagan wife Jezebel that it would not rain unless they honoured the Lord God
of Israel, I had defeated over 450 of the hateful priests of Baal and 400 of
Jezebel’s tame prophets of Asherah on top of Mount Carmel… We set up a
competition to see it they could get their gods, to send down fire and consume
the sacrifices they offered. Thousands had gathered to watch, and for hours
these charlatans pleaded with their deaf gods… they cut themselves as a sign of
their dedication… They danced and wept and wailed at the tops of their voices… And I stood and
laughed… I shouted “What’s wrong?” Is your god indisposed? Is he on the toilet
and unable to answer your call right now? Or has he gone on holiday? That only
drove them into greater frenzy… until eventually the dropped to the ground.
Exhausted.
So then it was my turn. I had
them set up another altar. And not only did I have them put the sacrifice on
it, I goot them to douse it in water… Then I prayed with the eyes of the
watching crowd staring at me. I didn’t dance around or make a big song and
dance about it. I simply said “Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will
know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back to you again.’
Then the fire
of the Lord fell
and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and sucked up
all the water around the altar.
Well with that
the people went wild… and I commanded them to kill the pagan priests and
prophets…
And when the
slaughter had abated I told the King… now that God has re-asserted his
authority in this land it will rain… And a tiny cloud formed on the horizon…
and started to fill the sky… And before you knew it rain was teeming down…
But I didn’t
have long to enjoy my victory, because King Ahab fled back to his scheming
wife, and the next I knew she sent a messenger to me saying ‘May my gods deal
with me severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not slaughter you the way that
you slaughtered the priests of Baal and the prophets of Asherah.’
And I was
afraid… The gods she served may have been idols, but Jezebel wasn’t one for
idle promises... she had been shaped by her bloodthirsty gods… So I ran for my
life. I went a full day’s journey into the wilderness beyond Beersheba, and I
collapsed exhausted beneath a broom bush.
“O God let me die.”
I prayed. “I’ve had enough, Lord… I’ve done enough for you. Take
my life… let me go the way of my ancestors.” And I fell asleep not expecting to
wake up again, and hoping I wouldn’t…
But the next
morning I felt a touch on my shoulder… there was no-one there… But I heard a
definite voice saying “Get up and eat.” And just there beside me was some stone
baked bread and a jar of cool clear water. I have no idea where they came from
but I was so thirsty I gulped down some water and had a few morsels of bread,
before lying down again.
But again I
felt a touch on my shoulder and again I heard a disembodied voice saying “Get
up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So I got up. Ate the rest of
the bread and finished off the water, and strengthened by the food and drink I
set off on a journey deeper into the wilderness. Forty days and forty nights I
travelled until I reached Horeb, the mountain where God had met with Moses… And
I found a cave and crawled into it totally spent.
But yet again
I heard a voice speaking to me saying “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
And at that I
just cracked… I said “Lord, if you are all knowing then you will know that I
have been I have been dedicated to your service O Lord God Almighty. Your people
rejected your covenant… But I didn’t… They tore down your altars… But I
sacrificed everything for you…. They put all your other prophets to the sword
and I am the only one left… Now they are trying to kill me too.’
The voice said,
“Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for I AM about to pass by.”
And a whirlwind
tore across the mountainside scattering and shattering the rocks around me. But
I had no sense of the Lord in the wind.
Then the earth
began to shake and quake. The cave in which I had lain seemed like it might
collapse and become my tomb. But again I had no sense of the Almighty in the
earthquake.
After the
earthquake a fire came raging up throught e trees that fringed the mountain… I
could feel the hairs singe on my head, but I had no sense of the Lord in that fire.
But after the
fire came sheer silence. Cutting through everything. And in it I heard the
voice of God.
“What are you
doing here, Elijah?” the voice asked again, and I repeated my complaints, but I
heard them for what they were this time… self-pity.
And in
response, God ignored them…
Instead he
said… “It’s time to go back and get back to work… I have kings for you to
anoint and a successor for you to appoint.”
And I did…
To serve the God who speaks, not in the spectacular…
but in silence.
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