What Are You Doing Here?


1 Kings 19:9-18
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces 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 the sound of a low whisper.
13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

There are sections of the Scriptures that I relish every single time I read them. They include (but are not limited to) Psalm 27, the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Revelation 4-5, and these 10 verses from 1 Kings. There is never a time I haven’t learned something new from these verses. And today is no different.

I empathize with Elijah up on that mountain hiding out from his enemies and seeking to hear from God. He’s scared; he’s angry; he’s lonely. This is a desperate place to be and we all try and avoid it. But in his desperation God does not leave him to his own devices. No, God comes to Elijah and speaks with him. Sadly, Elijah isn’t listening, but he does get the point – eventually. I take great comfort from Elijah’s rather obstinate stance in this conversation. He wants God to go after his enemies and end his problems. Ironically, just 40 days earlier he had asked God to end his life. At least he’s got a new goal now. He want’s God to end the life of his enemies instead!

There’s nothing like a great object lesson and God is really good at them. He sends three calamitous events just for Elijah; a storm, an earthquake and a fire. After asking Elijah rather pointedly “what are you doing here?” God knows by Elijah’s answer that Elijah is looking for revenge on his enemies. God shows Elijah exactly what His wrath can look like and it is terrifying. (In actuality, God still wanted to show the people mercy and grace, as He desires deeply the repentance of His people and gives them every chance to pursue that.) When God finally comes to Elijah, it is in silence or a whisper. It is at that point that Elijah is truly humbled and covers his face before an almighty God. And yet, when asked the same questions “what are you doing here?” Elijah gives the exact same answer. He isn’t getting God’s point. And here’s the big revelation – that’s okay! God doesn’t need Elijah’s perfect understanding to get His work done! All He wants is obedience.

There seems to be three things that God points out for me today.
  1. Elijah’s perception of the situation did not quite match up to reality. He wasn’t alone! He had God and was about to have an apprentice (plus there actually were still other believers in Israel).
  2. Elijah was fairly slow to learn, but he was obedient.
  3. And even though Elijah didn’t understand, God still leads.
I’m sure that if I read the text again tomorrow, there will be more gold to mine, but for today, that seems like a great deal to ponder!

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