1 Kings 19:9-18

B. ELIJAH'S REASSURANCE FROM GOD 19:9-18

TRANSLATION

(9) And he came there unto the cave, and lodged there. And behold the word of the LORD came unto him, and He said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? (10) And he said, I am very zealous for the LORD God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant. Your altars they have overthrown, and Your prophets they have slain with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it. (11) And He said, Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, and behold the LORD will pass by. And a great and strong wind ripped the mountains and brake the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. (12) And after the earthquake, a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire a still small voice. (13) And it came to pass when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold a voice came unto him and said, What are you doing here Elijah? (14) And he said, I am very zealous for the LORD God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant. Your altars they have torn down, and Your prophets they have slam with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it. (15) And the LORD said unto him, Go, return to your way, to the wilderness of Damascus; and you shall go and anoint Hazael king over Aram. (16) Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. (17) And it shall come to pass that the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall slay; and the one who escapes the sword of Hazael, Elisha shall slay. (18) And I have left in Israel seven thousand, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and whose mouths have not kissed him.

COMMENTS

At Horeb Elijah took up residence in a cave.[444] There the word of the Lord came to him in the form of a question designed at once to reprove Elijah and to make him analyze his situation. The prophet had been strengthened by God's grace to be brought to this mountain to learn some very important spiritual lessons. At every other point in the ministry of this man, the Lord had been sending him to his destinations. But Elijah had left Jezreel without such a word, had left in fear and distrust of God, and thus the question, What are you doing here? implies that he had deserted the post of duty and had no right to be there.

[444] The Hebrew reads the cave. Montgomery (ICC, p. 317) takes this to be a generic article (i.e., the cave region). Gray (OTL, p. 409) feels the article points to a particular cave, possibly that from which Moses saw the back of Yahweh (Exodus 33:21 ff.).

Elijah did not accept censure without some self-justification. In the face of the terrible apostasy in Israel, Elijah had been very zealous[445] for the Lord God of hosts.[446] The children of Israel had broken the covenant with God, thrown down His altars (like the one repaired by Elijah on Carmel), and had slain His prophets. Yet Elijah had stood firm and, so it seemed to his despondent mind, had stood alone. Now Elijah's own life was in jeopardy even though he had won a mighty victory on Carmel. In the words of 1 Kings 19:10, there is tacit reproof of God. Why had God looked upon the deterioration in the Northern Kingdom for so long without divine intervention? Elijah resented the growing corruption of the age and the frustration of his efforts to reverse it. Here is the old cry found throughout the Old Testament, the complaint that God is silent and indifferent, that the righteous are persecuted while the wicked prosper.

[445] The Hebrew word qana is used of the enthusiasm of exclusive devotion; fanatical intolerance. See Gray, OTL, p. 409.

[446] This title for God, here used for the first time by Elijah, is very appropriate in view of the deification of the heavenly hosts in Canaanite religion.

If Elijah thought his depression and his desertion of the field of battle was justified, he was mistaken. He was about to experience a theophany, a manifestation of the power and presence of God, through which he would learn a very important lesson. The voice of God instructed the prophet to stand at the entrance of the cave. Though the text is not explicit at this point, it would appear that Elijah obeyed those instructions. As soon as he stepped from the cave, the prophet was confronted with a veritable tempest which ripped rocks loose from the mountain and sent them crashing down the side of the mountain. But the Lord was not in the wind. Then on the heels of the tempest came a fearsome earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake either (1 Kings 19:11). After the earthquake came fireperhaps a thunderstorm with bolts of lightning the likes of which the prophet never had seen before. But the Lord was not in the fire.[447] Then came the still small voice (lit., a sound of gentle silence), and the prophet knew he was standing in the presence of God (1 Kings 19:12). Wrapping his sheepskin mantle about his face lest he look upon God, Elijah stepped forth from his cave into which apparently he retreated during the manifestations of divine power.[448]

[447] Yahweh's spectacular and supernatural interventions into history are celebrated in many Psalms. These interventions were often accompanied by storm, earthquake and fire (e.g., Psalms 18:12; Psalms 68:8).

[448] Others think that Elijah did not obey the instructions to go forth from the cave (1 Kings 19:11) until he heard the still small voice. The tempest, earthquake and fire came immediately after the instruction to go forth and thus prevented Elijah from complying with that command.

What was the purpose of the succession of signs on Horeb? God was showing the prophet of deeds that while the spectacular and dramatic have their place in God's order of things, most often the divine program is carried out through the still small voice which speaks to the hearts of men. While God is the God of judgment, He is also the God of mercy and grace. Elijah needed to be reminded of that fact. He needed to see that the time of fire, sword and slaughter had passed, and it was now time to proclaim the word of the Lord in gentle silence. The still small voice of protest would become in the course of time a powerful force; it must not be allowed to die! A successor must be chosen to carry on the work.

Again the prophet heard the voice of God raising the same embarrassing question which was asked in 1 Kings 19:9: What are you doing here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19:13). Elijah's answer was the same at least as far as the words are concerned, for he repeated verbatim the answer he had given God in 1 Kings 19:10. But it is possible and indeed probable that the tone of his answer changed in 1 Kings 19:14. Formerly defiant, loud and belligerent, he now spoke with the still small voice, the voice of self-abasement. The facts had not changed. He knew of no other way to respond to the divine query. But perhaps now he had reservations about his course of conduct. Elijah had thought that he knew best how God's work should be done. The theophany taught him that he had a faulty understanding of God's goals and methods. That Elijah had indeed repented is indicated by the fact that he was given a new commission.

God's commission for Elijah involved three actions. First, he was told to go to the desert region which stretches south and east of Damascus and there anoint Hazael king of Aram (1 Kings 19:15). Since Israel was at that time at war with Aram (chap. 20), the Syrian desert would serve as a refuge from hostilities. Also he would be near Hazael the Aramean officer he was instructed to anoint. Secondly, he was to anoint Jehu king of Israel. Finally, he was to anoint his own successor, Elisha[449] of Abel-meholah, a town of the Jordan valley a short distance from Beth-shean (1 Kings 19:16). The fact that Elisha's hometown is mentioned suggests that Elijah had not heretofore known the man. Elijah's work had not been fruitless; nor had it come to an end, for here provision was being made for his successor.

[449] The name Elisha (God is salvation) has been found on a seal found in Amman dating from about the seventh century B.C. See Gray, OTL, p. 412.

The commission given to Elijah has long been a crux interpretum, for neither Hazael nor Jehu nor Elisha, so far as the records go, was ever anointed by Elijah. Elisha was called by Elijah, but the Scriptures are silent about any anointing. Jehu was anointed, but by one of the sons of the prophets under orders from Elisha. Hazael was called in an indirect way by Elisha (2 Kings 8:12-15), but again no anointing is mentioned. Two problems, then, exist in reference to the instructions given to Elijah: (1) In two cases no anointing, it would appear, took place; and (2) in only one case was Elijah personally involved.

In regard to the problem of the lack of anointing of Elisha and Hazael, the following might be said: The word anoint (mashach) may have in this passage the more general sense of appoint. That the basic idea of anointing was setting apart can be seen in the anointing of Aaron (Exodus 29:7) and the Tabernacle (Exodus 30:26 ff.).[450] Perhaps later, because of the association of anointing and coronation, the word came to signify any act which would lead directly or indirectly to the induction into office.[451] The term anoint in Elijah's commission may simply mean that he was to make the three individualsElisha, Jehu, Hazaelaware of their divinely appointed destiny so that they might take appropriate action to fulfill that destiny.

[450] Cf. Judges 9:8 and Isaiah 61:1.

[451] Honor, JCBR, p. 277.

But why did Elijah himself fail to carry out the commission to anoint Jehu and Hazael? Two suggestions can be made. (1) Since Elisha was the official successor of Elijah, the you of the commission, though singular, might include both men. The work assigned to the one might legitimately be carried out by his official successor. (2) But it is also possible that the key to the problem is to be found in the repentance of Ahab recorded in 1 Kings 21:29. God honored the repentance of Ahab by temporarily postponing the judgment against his house (which would be executed by Jehu) and the judgment against Israel (which would be executed by Hazael). Elijah was translated before the divinely authorized grace period came to an end. Of necessity, then, the commission had to be carried out by Elisha.

Hazael, Jehu and Elisha would be God's agents of judgment upon apostate Israel.[452] Jehu would slay those who escaped the sword of Hazael; Elisha, by the sword of the spirit, would slay those who escaped the physical judgment of Jehu (1 Kings 19:17). Hazael and Jehu were destined to create in Israel tumultuous upheavals not unlike that created by the tempest, earthquake and fire outside Elijah's Horeb hideaway. But it would be the preaching and teaching of Elishathe sword of the word of Godthat would constrain men to humble themselves before the Lord. Rightly understood, the commission to Elijah is a concrete application of the great spiritual lesson which he learned through the theophany at Horeb.

[452] The notion that God would use the armies of a foreign power, Aram, to chastise His people is a concept which characterizes all the later prophets of God.

In 1 Kings 19:15-18 God answers the complaint which Elijah had twice raised before Him (cf. 1 Kings 19:10; 1 Kings 19:14). The sword of Hazael would punish the children of Israel who had forsaken the covenant (cf. 2 Kings 8:12); the king and queen who had thrown down the altars and slain the prophets would be killed, one by Hazael on the field of battle, the other at the command of Jehu. Sword of Hazael, sword of Jehu, and shall Elisha slay are to be taken largely as symbolic expressions implying that bold action would be taken against the ruling house and the religion which it fostered. Civil war appears to be the only means by which Baalism could be obliterated in the North. Elijah's allegation that he alone had remained faithful to the Lord is partially countered by the command to anoint Elisha as his successor, and totally countered by the revelation that there were seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. This figure is not only a round number, but a symbolic one as well. The still small voice had been at work in Israel; a faithful remnant was still to be found (cf. Romans 11:5) which had not bowed the knee nor kissed the image of Baal[453] (cf. Job 31:26-27; Hosea 13:2).

[453] Perhaps the reference is to kissing the hand toward the idol which was a widespread custom in the ancient world. See Honor, BCJR, p. 279.