We have read of Elijah’s mountain top experience at Mount Carmel, but now we see Elijah down in the valley under a broom tree. Before he was ministering to others, but now he is focused upon himself. Elijah confronted Ahab and the false prophets courageously, but here we find him running from a single lady cowardly. Previously, Elijah moved at God’s Word, but now we see him fleeing apart from God’s Word. In the previous chapters we see him praying for rain and fire, but now he we find praying for God to God to take his life. Elijah’s faith and prayer life have challenged us, but now Elijah’s spiritual collapse serves as a warning to us, and provides some wise counsel to us.
The main point for us to glean from this passage is to see and know that the Lord is God and that we are to follow Him as our Eternal King. He is the true, perfect, and powerful Sovereign who loves and leads his people with mercy and justice forever. We are not to be like Ahab and Israel following and worshiping substitutes and idols that are fake and futile and will fail.
If you are like me, you will admit that you could and should be spending more time in prayer. What most of us need is not this reminder, but inspiration. That is what we have in Elijah. Elijah’s example inspires me in the exercises of faith and prayer. In the Kings narrative, we find some wonderful examples of Elijah’s courage and his “insane” prayer life. Yes, Elijah prayed. Yes, we should have an insane prayer life like Elijah. But what saves us and sustains is that God visited us in Jesus! It is Jesus’ insane work, and his insane prayer life that brings us eternal hope and peace. May the life of Elijah inspire us to pray biblically and faithfully, and may his life point us to our great source of hope: the true and better prophet, the ultimate mediator; the King of Kings, Jesus.
Occasionally you hear truth in strange places. In an episode of The Simpson’s, Homer said of the Bible, “All these people are a mess …. except this one guy.” This reminds us that God can save and use anyone. This also reminds us to not put our ultimate hope in mere mortals. People will disappoint you. We all have feet of clay. Yes, Homer Simpson got it right, “All these people are a mess … except this one guy” and that guy is Jesus. In the book of Kings, we see this reality lived out. Many of the individuals in Kings are quite literally “a mess.” But a promised King is coming, who will keep God’s law perfectly. What makes Kings from being a depressing book is the promise that God is going to preserve a remnant, and this ultimate Son of David will come and reign forever. God will preserve “a lamp in Jerusalem” (11:36; 15:4). In this passage of Scripture, we are reminded of this promise.
Solomon has died and his son is to become King in his place, but as we will see this is the beginning of the split of the nation. Jeroboam is initially seen as a new Moses, however, quickly he goes from being the Moses figure to being an Aaron Figure who leads people out of slavery into idolatry! The book of Kings is training us to be disappointed in these kings they start with expectancy, but they end terribly. The Nation needs an Obedient, Wise King who comes a Servant to Lighten the Yoke of His people and leads them in to True Worship. This King is Jesus, the Obedient Son of David, who will take the punishment for disobedient kings and our punishment.
