Now, we're looking at 1 Kings
19. And I'm always looking for a
title when I read and try to prepare a message, and I kind
of struggle with the title for the message. But what caught
my attention was two times it says here in verse 9, What doest
thou hear, Elijah? The question from God to his
prophet. And then again, down in verse 13. Behold, there came
a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou hear, Elijah? So that's the title of the message.
What doest thou hear, Elijah? Now we find in this chapter,
the prophet of God. And no doubt, he's God's special
servant, raised up, anointed, and blessed of God. Elijah is
held forth in the scripture as a mighty prophet of God. We find
in this chapter Elijah, the prophet of God, who just faced down and
defeated 450 prophets of Baal. Now, he's on the run. He's on the run from the threats
of a wicked woman, Ahab's wife named Jezebel. And he's on the
run because he's fearing for his life. She put out a death
warrant on him and he's running for his life. Now look at verse
1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that
Elijah had done with all how he had slain all the prophets
with the sword. You remember after God answered
by fire. He took those 450 prophets of
Baal down to the brook, what's the name of that brook, Kishon,
and he executed every one of them. What Elijah had done, how he
slain the prophets, of course it's the prophets of Baal with
the sword. We see the continued rebellion of Ahab. Ahab told
Jezebel, You might think after seeing the miracle of the true
and living God answering by fire, he lifted up the water, the altar,
the stones, the dust, and consumed the sacrifice. God answered by
fire. Ahab is watching this. But when
he gets back home, he tells Jezebel all that Elijah had done. And you would think after seeing
the miracle of a true and living God answering by fire and the
miracle of God sending rain. You remember there was a drought
for three and a half years. God sent rain. You would think
and one would think that Ahab would have returned to Jezebel
and proclaimed how great the true and living God is. And all
of Israel you would think would have cast away their idolatry
but That's not the case. Neither judgment nor mercy. Mercy in the rain, judgment in
God sending the fire and the prophets being slain. Neither
judgment nor mercy. changed his wicked heart, his
wicked mind. Which teaches us a great lesson
that God must grant and give repentance to the heart. That
God must give faith to the heart or we'll never be changed. God
must change the heart and turn us or we'll never be turned. You can see the fire fly. You
can hear the earthquake and the thunder and the lightning. But
if God doesn't speak to our heart and turn us by his grace and
make us new creatures in Christ Jesus, we'll perish in our sin. God must do it. God must change
us. God must give us faith and life
in Christ Jesus or we'll never, ever believe the gospel. Never. Men love darkness, not
light. Thanks be unto the Lord that
he does give mercy, that he does give mercy to undeserving sinners. And the reason for mercy is never
found in you. The reason for mercy is never
found in the sinner. We can say with Jacob, Lord,
I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies and of thy truth.
The Lord does delight to show mercy. As it says in Micah 7,
18, the Lord delights to show mercy. But not because we're
deserving. We can't merit mercy. It's because
the Lord is gracious. And that He delights to show
mercy unto His people. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Sinners. Now look at verse 2. Then Jezebel sent messengers,
sent a messenger unto Elijah. saying, So let the God do to
me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one
of them by tomorrow about this time." You tell Elijah in 24
hours he's going to be dead. That's what she's saying here. Jezebel was not moved by the
slaughter of all of her prophets. by the defeat of her prophets
to cast away her idols. She only seeks to destroy God's
prophet. She seeks revenge, doesn't she? I can just see her. Oh, she's so angry when she hears
her prophets are gone. She's so angry. She seeks revenge
and she puts Elijah under a death threat. I'm going to kill you. about this time tomorrow. You're
not going to be around. We see something, don't we, of
the true nature of our sinful flesh revealed, not only in Ahab,
but in Jezebel. We see the wickedness of the
carnal mind, and that's all of us by nature. The carnal mind
is enmity against God. The natural man, the carnal mind,
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, they're foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they're spiritually
discerned. Now, look at verse 3 and verse
4. When Elijah heard that message, and he saw it, he arose and went for his life. Now, he's in Jezreel. He ran ahead of Ahab. Maybe he
was intending to deliver a message right to Jezebel's doorstep. But instead, she sends a message
to him, and when he hears it and sees it, he went for his
life. Came to Beersheba, which belonged to Judah. That is, he
fled directly south. He headed south. away from Jezebel,
away from Israel, the northern ten tribes. And he left his servant
there. He left so fast he didn't take
his servant with him. He skied idle, didn't he? But
he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came
and sat down under a juniper tree and requested for himself
that he might die. and said, it's enough. Lord,
it's enough. Just let me die. Let me die,
oh Lord. Take away my life. I'm not better
than my dad. My dad's dead. I deserve to die. I'm not any better. Now, what
struck me is this. Is this the same man that just
took on 450 prophets of Baal, the 400 prophets of the grove,
and went toe-to-toe fearlessly, who prayed to the Lord, Lord,
rain down fire. And the Lord heard him. Elijah
prayed that the rain might stop, and the rain stopped. The Lord answered by fire and
the rain didn't come down. Now this same man runs from the
threats of one woman. One woman. One woman. He's full of fear. He's full
of fear. He has faith. But it seems like
his fear overcomes his faith, doesn't it? Let us learn from
this. How frail is our flesh. You say, well, I wouldn't have
done that, Elijah. Yeah, you would have. I know I would. Learn never to lean upon the
arm of the flesh. It'll always get us in trouble.
Every time. Remember Jeremiah 17? Cursed
is the man that trusteth in the flesh and the arm of the flesh.
That's what Elijah's doing. He's no longer looking unto the
Lord. He hides under juniper tree,
afraid the snakes are going to get him, instead of looking to
the Lord to protect him. And then he runs from this woman.
As I've said over the years, the best of men are only men
at best, sinners saved by the grace of God. Let us learn, Robert
Hawker had this statement, let us learn great faith and unbelief
are near neighbors in the same heart. Think about that. Let us learn great faith and
unbelief are near neighbors in the same heart. You remember
the man in Scripture who said, Lord, I believe, help thou my
unbelief? Verse 3, when he saw that his
life was in danger, it says there, he went for his life. He went for his life. He went
for his life. He despaired of life, didn't
he? He went for his life. He didn't look toward God. All he's thinking about is himself. He went for his life. He started
walking by sight rather than by faith. He's looking not to
the Lord. He's looking in here and he's
full of doubt and full of fear. He takes his eyes off his God
and focuses on himself and Jezebel. He focuses on the problem rather
than the remedy. We see that all through Scripture
in many of the Lord's dear saints, don't we? Many of His prominent
faithful men. Abraham. Abraham, take your son
up on a mountain and kill him. Abraham did so. He took the knife
in his hand and in his heart he killed that boy. And then
we read of the same Abraham who lied about his wife to save his
own hide. She's my sister. Moses. He smoked the rock once God told
him, and God told him the second time he spoke to the rock, he
got angry, he got mad, and he smoked the rock again. God chastised
him for it. David, Peter, Paul. Peter said, Lord, I'll never
forsake you. He said, you're all going to forsake me. Oh,
not me. Yes, you will. Three times he denied. He knew
the Lord to a little girl. I don't know the man. See how
frail we are? How weak we are? The Lord does
not seek to hide the frailties of our flesh to show us that
our salvation is dependent upon His faithfulness. Not us. Salvation is always dependent
upon the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we believe
not, it says in 2 Timothy 2, when we believe not, yet He abided
faithful, He cannot deny Himself. Turn to Galatians chapter 2 for
just a moment. Hold your place there in 1 Kings,
but find Galatians chapter 2. You see, salvation is always
determined, dependent, and accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. You
remember we read last week in James 5.17 that Elijah was a
man subject to like passions as we are. He was a man. A sinner saved by the grace of
God. And His salvation didn't depend
upon Him, it depended upon His Savior. Galatians 2, look at
verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. By the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. Not by
the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified." By the works of the law, no flesh shall be
justified. One of the first times I went
through and studied the book of Galatians, there was a couple
here that attended this ministry for a good number of years. And
when I got through with the book of Galatians, they were through
with me. They left. Never did come back,
not to stay. You see, they were depending
upon their faithfulness, what they did. And when their refuge
was exposed by the Word of God, they said, that's not for me.
And they skedaddled out of here. We can never trust ourselves,
we can never trust ourselves too little, nor trust our Lord
Jesus Christ too much. Can we? You see, without Him, we can
do nothing. Proverbs 3, "...Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
and lean not unto thy own understanding." At all times, trust in me, people.
God is a refuge for us. Pour out your heart before Him.
Psalm 62. Trust Him at all times. Why does
the Lord keep telling us to trust Him? To trust Him, not to look
to the flesh. Trust Him. Because we're so prone
to unbelief, doubt, and pride. Notice verse 4 too in our text.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came
and sat down under a juniper tree, where he requested for
himself. All he's thinking about is himself.
What about those others, Elijah, that you've ministered unto?
He's not thinking about them, is he? He's thinking about himself. That's a big problem for all
of us, that he might die. And he said, it's enough, it's
enough. I've had it. He said, I've had
it up to here. I've had it. Now, oh Lord, take away my life,
for I'm not better than my father. Notice here some confusion. Don't you see some confusion
in his heart? He becomes confused. He runs from Jezebel to preserve
his life, and now he asks God to take his life. That's a little
bit puzzling, isn't it? That is, he ran from Jezebel
that he might not die, and now he prays to die. Lord, it's enough. Take my life away. See how we
can get ourselves in such trouble? Now listen to this statement,
unbelievers, unbelievers who pray to die are only interested
in being free from the burdens of this life. Unbelievers. Believers
pray this way like Paul, I have a desire to depart and be with
the Lord, which is far better. It's just not that we're trying
to get out of the heartache of this life, and I know it's a
heartache. But our desire is to be with the Lord, not just
to be through with this. In this life you shall have tribulation. I've experienced that. You want
to hear my experience? Trouble. Trouble. With a capital
T. Trouble. Trouble. Trouble. Trouble. In this life you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome. I have
overcome. Now, we see in these verses Elijah's
weakness and fear, don't we? Doubt and unbelief. Now we see
the Lord's tender mercy. What's God going to do? Kick
him to the curb and be done with him? He's not done with him.
We see the Lord's tender mercy. He's loving kindness and providing
grace for the trial. The Lord said He would. Not forsaking
His servant, but giving Elijah blessings that he did not deserve. I mean, this prophet's on the
run. He's quit the ministry. He's ran away from his responsibility. And yet, the Lord doesn't run
from him. You see, it's all of mercy, isn't
it? We see the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Sheep
providing for him again. David said, "'The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want.'" You remember the Lord to the
raven fed him every morning and every evening? And then when
that brook dried up, he was sent to a certain city, and a widow
woman there had a small portion of cornmeal, and the barrel never
failed for two years. They ate. And now we see here,
As he lay," verse 5, "...as he lay and slept under the 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 coals. And a cruiser watered his head,
and he did eat and drink, and lay down to sleep again." And
the angel of the Lord, now this may be the angel messenger of
the covenant, may be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, came again
the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat because
the journey is too great for you. You're not going to make
it. And he rose and did eat and drink and went in the strength
of that meat forty days and forty nights on the journey down the Horeb,
the mountain of God. The Lord provided for him through
a raven, through a widow woman, and now an angel of the Lord
gave him food to eat. And it was a special meal because
it lasted 40 days. My God shall supply all your
needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4.19. The Lord will not forsake His
people. He said, I will not, I will not,
I never will leave you nor forsake you. He said, lo, I'm with you
always, even to the end of the earth. Elijah was on the run
down in the wilderness, but the Lord didn't forsake him. He couldn't run far enough from
the Lord. Behold, the Lord is there. Turn
over here to Psalm 103. I was thinking of this. You can read about, what did I tell you, Psalm 103. If I take, you find Psalm 103. It just came to my mind. If I
take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right
hand shall guide me. Psalm 139. If I say surely darkness
shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea,
the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as
day, the darkness as a light. Darkness and the light are both
alike unto thee. For thou hast possessed my reign,
thou hast covered me with my mother's womb, I will praise
thee, for I am fearfully, wonderfully made, marvelous are thy works,
and that my soul knoweth right well." You see, you can't run
from God. He is everywhere present. But
the Lord knows our frame. I thought about this. Psalm 103. Look at verse 10. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins. He didn't deal with Elijah that
way, did he? Showed him mercy. nor rewarded according to our
iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities them that fear Him. He knoweth our frame,
He remembers that we are but dust." He knows us through and
through. Elijah ate angel's food and went
in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights on
his way to Mount Horeb. Now I thought about this. The
manna that rained from heaven for forty years in the same wilderness. And you know what the psalmist
called that manna that fell from heaven? Psalm 78, 25. He said,
man did eat angel's food. That's the true angel food cake
right there. We read in Hebrews 1, angels
do minister to those that are the heirs of grace. The angels
do minister unto his people. Now, Elijah went to the place
where the law of God was given. That is the place where God met
with Moses, and it's also the place where the Lord was pleased
to show him His glory. Remember, Moses prayed in Exodus
33, Lord, show me Your glory. He said, I'll cause all my goodness
to pass before Thee, and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord
unto Thee. I, the Lord, will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. Now, he went to the place where
the law of God was revealed. And I'll get back to that in
just a minute. But look at verse 9 down through verse 18. And he came thither unto a cave,
and lodged there in this cave in Mount Horeb, or Mount Sinai. And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him. And said unto him, What doest
thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very
jealous for the Lord God of hosts, the children of Israel, have
forsaken thy covenants, thrown down thine altars, slain thy
prophets with a sword, and I, even I, only am left, and they
seek to take away my life. Now the Lord is going to rebuke
him, confronts him. and rebukes him. What are you
doing here, Elijah? You see, whom the Lord loveth,
he rebukes, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. The word
of the Lord came unto him like fallen Adam in the garden. Adam,
where art thou? God knew where he was, but he
wanted to hear it from Adam, to reveal, so Adam could see
the revelation of his own heart. What doest thou hear, Elijah,
in a cave, hiding from the people? And the Lord asked this question
again. It was so, when Elijah heard it, verse 13, he wrapped
his face in a mantle, went out and stood at entering in the
cave, and behold, there came a voice unto him, the voice of
the Lord, and said, What doest thou hear? What is he doing here? In a cave. Hiding from God. Hiding from the people. Now, I know
this, the Lord never asks a question for information, but rather to
reveal what is in our own heart. I'm thinking of John 21. Peter,
do you love me? Well, the Lord knew that Peter
loved him, but he wanted to hear it from Peter's own heart. Yeah,
Lord, you know I love you. You knoweth all things, Lord.
You know that I love you. Elijah gives his sorry excuse
not once but twice. Look at verse 14. And he said
the second time, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. I
have been. Where are you now, Elijah? What
are you doing here? You've been jealous for the Lord,
but what are you doing hiding out in this cave? Because the
children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine
altars, slain thine prophets, and I, even I, only am left,
and they seek to take away my life. And they seek my life to
take it away." Elijah gives a sorry reason to
the Lord, doesn't he? Elijah, like many others, seems
to excuse himself and blame others. They have done this. They have
done that. They have done that. He doesn't
point to himself and say, I'm the guilty one. Such is the way
of our fallen flesh. He said, I've been jealous for
your glory. I'm the only believer left in Israel. These rebels
seek to take away my life. I can just imagine his mind,
can't you? He feels alone. He feels betrayed, he feels deserted,
and he feels cast down. He's just going to quit the ministry
and walk away. Ever felt that way? Oh, I have. We're never alone. God won't
leave us alone. His eyes of understanding are
very short-sighted. He views his present circumstances
and defends and excuses his unbelief for fleeing his post. They have a term for that in
the army. What do they call that? AWOL. Absent without leave. Elijah, what doest thou hear,
Elijah? You get back north. You get back
north. Look at verse 12, 11 and 12. Verse 11, and he said, Go forth
and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord
passed by, and a great and strong wind ripped the mountains in
two. It must have been a tornado.
It must have been some powerful wind. Break in pieces the rocks
before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.
There was no message in the wind. And the Lord was not in the wind.
And after the wind, the earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.
Now, the Lord sent the wind, and He sent the earthquake. And
after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire.
The Lord didn't speak to Elijah's heart. In the fire, and after
the fire, a still, small voice. Speak to the heart. of Elijah. The Lord sends a great wind,
a great earthquake, and a rushing fire. And afterward, he speaks
to the heart of Elijah in an intimate way, an intimate voice. The Lord is demonstrating to
Elijah his power to destroy all opposition against the law of
the Lord. These Ahab and Jezebel, they're nothing. I can break
the rocks in two. I can send fire down. I can make
the earth quake. The Lord can easily condemn and
destroy the wicked. Elijah, you don't need to worry
about those folks. I'm going to take care of them. But also the Lord is showing
us the gospel of Christ. Remember, Elijah here is on Mount
Horeb. where God gave the law unto Moses. And you remember what happened?
Turn over here to Exodus 19. Let me show you this, Exodus
19. When the law of God was given, you remember what happened on
that same mountain? Thundering and lightning and fire and a
great earthquake. Exodus 19, verse 16. It came
to pass, Exodus 19, 16, the third day in the morning, that there
were thunders and lightnings. a thick cloud upon the mountain,
and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people
that was in the camp trembled. Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the nether
part of the mountain And the mountain Sinai was altogether
on smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. And the smoke
thereof ascended as the smoke of the furnace, and the whole
mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet
sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and
God answered him by a voice." A still, small voice. Could be. Now here's the point. Here's the point. We've not come
unto Mount Sinai, but we've come to Mount Calvary. The Lord our
God does not deal with His covenant people on the ground and thunderings
of the law of God, but rather on the ground of saving mercy
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The still small voice of love,
mercy, and grace revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the
good news of the Gospel. that draws us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The gospel of Christ is a gentle
voice of love, a gentle voice of grace, and of mercy, and of
peace, and of pardon, and righteousness, and salvation through the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord said, come unto me. and I'll give you rest." You
see the difference in that? In the thundering and the lightning
and the quaking and the fire? The Lord speaks to His people
in mercy and peace to the Lord Jesus. Come unto Me all you that
labor heavy laden. I'll give you rest. My yoke is
easy and my burden is light. What a blessing the gospel of
Christ is! Now think about this, when the
law thunders against us, and what does the law say when it
thunders against us? Guilty! Stop your mouth! Guilty before God! When the law
thunders against us as guilty sinners, we have Christ to plead,
Christ to intercede, and Christ to justify us before the law
of God. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? who can lay anything
to the charge of God the elect. It is God that justifies. Who
is He that condemned us? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, He has risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also..." You need more? "...also He makes intercession
for us." A still, small voice. Now, in closing, let me give
you this. The Lord said, verse 15, the
Lord said unto him, return on thy way to the wilderness of
Damascus." Go, return. He didn't ask him, now Elijah,
I think maybe you ought to do this. Go, return on thy way to
the wilderness of Damascus. And when you come, you anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria. This was the pagan king. And
Jehu, the son of Nimshah, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel. And Elijah, the son of Shaphat,
shalt thou anoint to be a prophet in thy room." The Lord had more
for Elijah to do. To anoint Haziel, Jehu, and then
to choose his successor and to bless him in Elijah. The Lord will always raise up
a man to serve his purpose. To serve his purpose. When Elijah
desired to have his ministry over, he raised up Elisha to
take his place. The Lord our God will not leave
himself without a witness. His kingdom must prevail. Now,
in closing, verse 18. Yet, it shall come to pass him
that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, and him that
escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha God's going to execute
His purpose. And He'll use whom He will, when
He will, for His own purpose. Yet, verse 18, "...have I left
me seven thousand in Israel, all knees which have not bowed
unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." They've
kissed the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Lord's doing
to choose, call, and save, and preserve those that are His. The Lord said, you didn't choose
me, I've chosen you. There will always be a remnant
according to the election of grace. In the worst of times, the Lord
will have a people to worship Him. wherever they may be, to
serve Him, to own Him, and to honor Him. He said, all that
the Father had given to me, they will come to me. And those that
come to me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the will of Him that sent me, with everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, has everlasting life. And I'll raise Him up at the
last day. Elijah, God did take him to glory. Remember, later
on, we're going to see it over in 2 Kings, it came to pass,
as they still went on and talked, behold, there appeared a chariot
of fire, and horses of fire, and part of them asunder, and
Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Our days are determined of the
Lord. When Elijah's ministry was over, according to God's
timetable, He took him to glory. Took him to glory. Well, I pray
the Lord to bless that.