Elijah had won a resounding victory earlier, but in this chapter, we see the prophet's weakness. A prophet is not God, nor are pastors in the church, or leaders in small groups. Everyone has moments of weakness. The key is how to regain strength from weakness! Here, you will find the answer.
Reflection Questions:
Does a Christian performing many miracles mean he will never be weak? Have you ever had moments of weak faith?
Why did the anointed Elijah lose faith in God?
How did God restore Elijah's strength? What should you do when you are discouraged?
When reading the Bible, constantly ponder: What am I reading in this chapter? What does the author of the Bible want to tell us? And the theme of this chapter is The Prophet Regaining Strength.
The Prophet's Weakness
Everyone Has Moments of Weakness
Even a prophet needs to regain strength. Although a prophet serves God so much, even a prophet has moments of weakness. A prophet is not God; he is just a man. So are pastors in the church and leaders in small groups. Everyone has moments of weakness. How we can regain strength in weakness is what God wants to tell us in this chapter.
Elijah had just performed great miracles, and at this moment, a simple statement from Jezebel, the queen of Ahab, completely changed Elijah's mind, plunging him into great dejection and extreme distress. The statement was: So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. Just such a simple sentence.
The Words People Speak
The words people speak are actually very powerful. I strongly advise church brothers and sisters to avoid associating with people who have no control over their mouths. Why? Because words are spiritual. God's words are spirit, the Holy Spirit. If we speak by the Holy Spirit, we can build up people's lives. But the words the devil speaks through people are evil spirits, which corrupt lives. People who have no control over their mouths, the devil will speak through them; talking to them can easily make you distressed and corrupt your life.
Sometimes, some brothers and sisters, after hearing such people speak, start to feel distressed and have to pray for half a day in church to be released and no longer distressed. Instead of going through so much trouble, it's better not to continue talking to these people, because what they say is releasing evil spirits. What would Jezebel do after saying that? She would desperately pray to the dark powers she trusted. She would also offer sacrifices and perform many witchcraft practices. In this way, the dark powers would begin to operate, releasing evil forces. If many people are worshiping evil spirits, the dark powers will become even stronger.
Brothers and sisters, do not have the illusion that those who trust in the Lord Jesus will not be disturbed by dark powers in their lives. Evil spirits will not easily let you go just because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Victory is not achieved by doing nothing; you cannot win without fighting against evil spirits. Therefore, we must hold on to a belief throughout our lives: I will fight against the dark powers of the devil to the end!
The Devil's Lies
After Elijah heard Jezebel's words, the thought in his mind was: I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life. (1 Kings 19:10, 14) Is there truth in this? Yes. Are there lies? Yes, too. Which statement? I alone am left.
The reason for Elijah's dejection was that he accepted the lie from the devil, and he stubbornly believed this statement. God asked him twice, and he gave the same answer both times. This thought leads to discouragement. If there is information constantly circulating in our minds, each cycle causes distress, and the degree of distress becomes heavier and heavier, even to the point of having the thought, Better to die. At this point, we must realize that there is a problem with this thought!
How does the devil manipulate our minds? First, it tells us some facts. Then we make a conclusion based on these facts, but this conclusion may not be correct. Elijah thought: Now I am the only one left. What am I doing? My God, are you still God? Are you still the Lord God of hosts? Don't you know they killed your priests, and now I am the last one left, and they still want to take my life! Doubting thoughts arose. If you read Elijah's words carefully, you will find that he had begun to feel completely hopeless about God. Why hopeless? Because this generation seems to have no hope at all. This thought made Elijah forget all the miracles he had just performed. Human memory is really interesting: such great miracles, forgotten in the blink of an eye.
Regaining Strength
Releasing Pressure
So how did God resolve Elijah's confusion? God first gave him something to eat. God is really interesting. Doesn't the Scripture say, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God? (See Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4) Why give him food at this time?
God's actions are like this; we can never fully understand them with our wisdom. After eating, God had him start exercising, running a marathon, running hundreds of kilometers for forty days and nights. In fact, these are all stress-reducing methods. Never use human logic to limit God's actions. If doing some things can reduce your stress, for example, some brothers use running to reduce stress, and some sisters use shopping to reduce stress, you should thank God. We can do these things. Of course, if you want to pray, then pray.
We can make a reasonable conjecture that Elijah may have had a habit of long-distance running. In the previous chapter, wasn't he running in front of Ahab's chariot, flying after being filled with the Holy Spirit! People often experience a lot of pressure. But methods of releasing pressure are not limited to prayer. It can also be eating or running. These are all possible. It doesn't have to be something that looks spiritual. Everything God created was originally beautiful. Many things can be used as ways to reduce stress.
Drawing Near to God
But, ultimately, we must return to God's presence and draw near to God. God knew that Elijah had been deceived, so God asked him, What are you doing here? Elijah's first answer was: I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.
How did God enable him to discern the lies that deceived him? God unleashed a powerful wind, shattered mountains and rocks, triggered an earthquake, and manifested fire. What was God doing? God was displaying His power. When people witness the power of God, even a non-believer's heart will be profoundly shaken.
Rediscovering Our Noble Identity
Then God asked Elijah, What are you doing here? Elijah replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.
In reality, Elijah was deeply entrenched in this lie and deception at this moment. Even after witnessing such great acts of God, the lies and deception still lingered in his mind. God did not directly respond, such as, Well done, you have been very zealous for me. I will avenge my prophets. They will not be able to take your life...
However, God indirectly answered his question. The Lord said to him, Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:15-18)
How does this indirectly answer Elijah's question? God's meaning is actually: You are a priest of the Lord God. Your identity is more precious than those kings. They must be anointed by you before they can reign. God is restoring Elijah's self-esteem: Do you not know that you are a priest of the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth? Those kings come from you and are established by your anointing. What you say and do matters; when you anoint him, he becomes king. When people are entangled and extremely discouraged, they lose their original self-esteem and noble image. The key to regaining strength is to rediscover our noble identity and image.
Do not think that your identity is just an employee in a company. Never think that way. You, as Christians, are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession (see 1 Peter 2:9). According to earthly authority, we should respect our superiors and submit to their authority. However, because you stand there, God's power will be manifested through you; because of you, God decides who will be the supervisor in that place. What grace this is!
Elijah clearly understood what God wanted to express: I am the priest of the one true God, Jehovah. It turns out that the kings of Israel are anointed by me! If I anoint him, he will become king. Why should I be afraid of the queen of Israel trying to kill me?
Then, secondly, those who are now seeking your life will be killed in the future. It is not you who will be killed, but those who seek your life will be killed. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. So Elisha is the greatest of them. And who is Elisha? He is Elijah's disciple. So Elijah is still the greatest! Because he is the prophet of the Lord God, the priest of the Lord God. His authority is the greatest in this world!
Discerning Lies
God has already denied the lie that you are the only one in this world who is faithful to Jehovah: Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18) There were about two to three million Israelites, and only seven thousand were reserved, so the number of those who were saved was not the majority. It is not that God cannot save them, but because they rebelled against God and worshiped Baal. For example, when some of our brothers and sisters share the gospel with their families, the parents of the brothers and sisters will ask, How big is your church? How many people are there? This concept needs to be changed. More is not necessarily good, and less is not necessarily bad.
As Christians, we must know that what is in our hearts is bigger than the whole world. The Chinese like bigness very much, and think that big is good. However, from this chapter in the Bible, we can see that refined is good. We don't need tons of waste soil. No matter how much waste soil there is, it is still waste soil. What we need most is a few kilograms of gold.
Building a church must be done with a firm resolve: it is not about building a church with many people, but about building a holy, unified church filled with God's glory. The church must have God's presence. Without God's presence, no matter how big it is, it is useless. The church must be unified. The church must bring the grace from God to the brothers and sisters. Today we have received this grace, not because our church is big, but because our church is a holy, unified, and glorious church, not a place overgrown with weeds. In the past, we begged others to come to church, but now, if you do not require yourself according to the church's standards, then we don't want you. We will examine: Will this person be one of the seven thousand? Or one of those who worship Baal? If we have many people, but the church as a whole does not have holiness and unity, and does not have God's glory, then what is the point of building such a church?
In fact, the number of people is not the key. Wasn't it only Elijah who performed miracles and fought against the four hundred and fifty priests of Baal? The important thing is to have God's presence. God is telling Elijah: Jezebel's words don't count, Ahab's words don't count, and the king of Aram's words don't count; but you, my noble prophet, your words count. You represent me to reign in this world. And there are seven thousand others like you, you are definitely not alone. And you will also find Elisha to inherit your spiritual power.
Next, we see that after Elijah anointed Elisha, he killed the oxen, burned the plowing tools, and was determined to follow Elijah. Elisha's determination was actually very unexpected. God is proving one thing: I have prepared a prophet to succeed you. There are others like you, you are not the only one. He will be determined to walk this path with you, to walk the path of serving God, serving this generation.
The key to regaining strength is to rediscover our noble identity and image.