So we're going to 1 Kings chapter 19 and we're going to read from verse 1 down to verse 8. This is the word of the Lord. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself, that is Elijah, went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake baking on the coals, and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word. As the clouds broke across the region, according to God's promise, the evidence of God's bounty and his grace and Elijah's intervention in prayer was apparent. Ahab at Elijah's instigation, hurried home trying to beat the rain back to the city of Jezreel. And we learn from the beginning of our chapter today that when he arrived there, he spoke to Jezebel, his wife, his queen. He himself, Ahab, was doubtless grateful for the rain. That's what he had wanted. He was grateful for the ending of the drought. I imagine he was in awe of Elijah's power with God. We might even imagine that he was admonished, that he was intimidated somewhat by the execution of the 450 false prophets of Baal. However, what we don't hear about Ahab was that he in any way repented of his sin. or in any way seek the Lord, despite the evident power that he had witnessed, so that neither the fear of the fire that fell from heaven nor the mercy of the Lord in the rain that descended reached Ahab's soul. Such is the hardness of man's sinful heart. The reaction of Jezebel, his queen, was quite different. If Ahab was cowed and unsettled by what he had witnessed, Jezebel was explosive. Ahab told her all that had occurred. He spoke of Elijah's challenge to the prophets of Baal. He spoke about the stone altars and the sacrificed bullocks. He told how the Baalite prophets couldn't get their sacrifice to light up, to ignite, despite pleading with Baal all day and jumping all over their sacrifice. And then he told her how Elijah had drenched his altar with water and called down fire from heaven, which consumed the sacrifice and the stones and the dust and licked up all the water. I imagine that he also spoke of not being able to arrest Elijah because the people were convinced and on his side. but especially he related the death of all the prophets of Baal. And remember, Baal was Jezebel's idol god. And I suspect that Jezebel had been working hard and long to embed these false teachers in the cities and towns throughout Israel. so that this one afternoon's judgment by Elijah likely set back her project of converting Israel to Baal worship significantly. And she was livid. She vowed to have Elijah slain and she threatened to do it within 24 hours. And actually, that open ferocity of Jezebel's anger was her own undoing. By publicising her intentions, she allowed the prophet opportunity to escape. And Elijah at once left the city and fled across the border to Judah. And once again, Elijah was a refugee chased out of his own land. You remember, we've talked about the fact that now Judah and Israel, the two tribes and the 12 tribes and the 10 tribes were separate one from another with two royal families and two kings. So he travelled from Israel into Judah and there he hoped to find some refuge. We might wonder about that. It's kind of puzzling that Elijah should so readily flee from Jezebel upon receiving this threat. With no mention of the fact that his escape was condoned by the Lord, Elijah had faced Ahab He had challenged and defeated 450 prophets of Baal. He'd won the admiration of the people of Israel. And yet as soon as this woman opens her mouth in anger against Elijah, he bolts nearly a hundred miles to save his life from her ranting temper. her deadly threat. And it goes to show that the prophet's previous boldness was not a natural bravery, but God-given courage. And that left without God's strength, he was as anxious for his own life as any timid soul might be. And furthermore, in some ways, Elijah's actions are aggravated because had he stayed, had he faced down Jezebel, this appears to have been a fine opportunity for Elijah to reassert the worship of the true God. More than half of Baal's prophets were dead in a single blow. And the people in general had respect for Elijah following the incident at Mount Carmel. Now should have been the time to press his advantage. But that wasn't to be. Now, when he had great cause to trust the Lord, the prophet's courage failed him. And in the absence of direction from the Lord or even praying for advice, the prophet simply fled. Let none of us imagine that we would do any differently. It simply was all too much for Elijah. He was overwhelmed. He left his servant at Beersheba, probably to ease the servant's trouble and protect him from any assailants, any assassins who might be in pursuit from Jezebel. And then, having reached Beersheba, the Prophet travelled on a day's journey into the wilderness, and he laid down, we're told, under a juniper tree, ready to give up life altogether. And now he prays. We might think he should have been praying before this, but now he prays. But he doesn't pray for help, and he doesn't pray for wisdom. He prays rather that the Lord will take away his life Not so that he would be with the Lord or not so that he would be with Christ as the Apostle Paul wished to be with the Lord, which is far better. But rather Elijah like Job or like Jonah before them. Wait a minute, was Jonah before? No, Jonah was after, sorry. Like Job before or Jonah after, wished rather to be rid of the troubles of his life. That was why he prayed that his life would be taken away, so that he could unburden himself with all the problems, all the troubles that he felt weighed him down. Elijah thought he'd done all that was required of him. He said, it's enough. He said, I'm tired. I'm hopeless. I'm dejected. He laid down to sleep in the shade of a juniper bush and he wished that he wouldn't waken up again. He had fled for his life from Jezebel and now he wanted to give his life up. But that wasn't the Lord's will. Elijah's work was not yet done. Yet the Lord, despite the prophet's attitude, despite the prophet's request, pitied his servant in this depressed state in which he was in. And we read that, behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, arise and eat. Not only did the Lord not grant Elijah his wish, but he sent an angel to preserve his life, to bring him food and to bring him water. He gave the angel instructions to prepare food for Elijah and then waken him to eat that food. Such was the deep sleep of the prophet that the angel making the fire and baking the bread did not arouse the prophet until he was poked, until he was prodded awake. Water, too, was provided for the prophet's refreshment in that wilderness place. So that the Lord, who had sent ravens to feed Elijah at the brook Cherith, and a widow woman to feed him at Sarepta, now sends an angel to the wilderness of Paran. And Elijah ate, and then he slept again, and then the angel woke him again, and told him that Elijah must eat because he was to travel to Mount Horeb. This meal that the angel had prepared was to sustain him for 40 days and 40 nights. This passage then teaches us a lot about faith. And here are a couple of applications that I want to leave with you today. It is good for us to understand what the Bible teaches about faith in the lives of these old men and women in Scripture. Faith is what we are called to give to the Lord. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. And so we should be eager to know all that we can know about faith in the lives of these old men and women. And we learn this concerning Elijah. First of all, that faith is God's gift. For example, look at the response of Ahab and Jezebel. I think this reinforces the truth Unless the Lord God gives the gift of faith, no person can make or produce it for themselves. Ahab and Jezebel experienced God's judgment for their wickedness. But that judgment, that hardship, did not soften their hearts towards God. it just hardened it more. And then they experienced God's goodness and mercy, but God's mercy did not make their hearts soft. It just hardened it more. And that is the case with those who do not have the gift of God's faith given to them. Whether it is judgment or whether it is mercy, they cannot respond positively to the Lord. Faith is much more than a decision of the will. It's not a choice that we make. It isn't even being convinced that the Bible stories and doctrines that you hear are true and that the Lord Jesus did all that is said of him. Neither judgment nor mercy nor miracles Convinced Ahab. It takes the Lord to change a person's heart. It takes the Lord to make them one of his own people. Faith is God's gift by which we are brought to personally trust that the Lord Jesus Christ has done everything needful for our salvation. and it is the means by which we confess Him as Lord and Ruler of our lives. We stop when we have faith, trying to please God by the things that we do, and we rather acknowledge that all our acceptance with God must be found in Christ alone. Faith teaches us that our sins are forgiven and removed and changes us from seeking our own way in life to seeking the Lord's will for our life. Another application that we can make from this account is that we learn here that faith is not a fixed and constant experience. Elijah was a man of faith. He trusted the Lord and he did mighty things in the service of God. And yet Elijah had low times of anxiety, self-pity and depression when his faith was weak. During our lives, even as believers, we too will have periods like this. They come to us all. Believers are not immune to heartaches, headaches, or soul aches. I can't tell you to trust the Lord and everything will be great. I would be telling you lies if I did that. But I can tell you that the Lord will always look after us through those highs and lows of life. We can laugh and trust the Lord. We can cry and trust the Lord. We will know peace and trouble. We will know success and disappointment. but every way the Lord will never let us down, never leave us alone, and he always cares for us, body and soul. The third thing that we might learn is that the Lord fed Elijah. Here in the wilderness, the wilderness of Paran, That was the wilderness near this place, Beersheba. But he was to travel, he was to go to this place called Mount Horeb. So the Lord gave him food in order to enable him to make that journey. And we read this, that Elijah went in the strength of that meat, or that food, 40 days and 40 nights unto Horeb, the mount of God. Now that suggests that Elijah fasted for these 40 days and 40 nights. This angel food, this bread and water, this cake and water that the Lord supplied, was to do him for 40 days and 40 nights. Now, such an extended fast is recorded of only three men in the whole of Scripture. Moses, Elijah, and the Lord Jesus Christ. And interestingly, the three who met on the Mount of Transfiguration were these three who had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, Moses, Elijah, and the Lord Jesus. Moses represents the law in the Bible. Elijah represents the prophets. And the Lord Jesus Christ represents the supreme revelation of God in the gospel. During the Lord Jesus Christ's fast, when he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness, the Saviour withstood the temptation of the devil during three distinct attacks. When we speak of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are speaking about believing, trusting and relying upon the one who has fulfilled all the demands of the law of Moses, fulfilled all the promises in the preaching of the prophets, and overcome the power of sin, Satan, death, and hell as the sinner's substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ, above Moses and above Elijah, is our worthy saviour. He is our fit representative and he is our able deliverer. May the Lord give us all faith to trust in him. Amen.