Sermon Tone Analysis

Isaac Jogues was a passionate Jesuit missionary to the Native Americans in the area around the Great Lakes of Quebec.

When he arrived first, he ministered to the Hurons.

But, shortly after his arrival, a sickness broke out.

Jogues himself became ill, yet he, along with his fellow missionaries, cared for the sick and dying.

The tribal leaders, however, debated amongst themselves as to the cause of this epidemic.

Eventually, they decided that the missionaries were responsible.

They concluded that the missionaries were to be put to death.

Jogues had two options: he could either continue in his calling and care for the sick, or he could run and take his chances in the wilderness.

This story leads us into our text today.

\\ Our text today is 1 Kings 19:1-9, so after you find this passage in your Bibles, I will read it from the NIV.

*1 Kings 19:1-9 * Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."  3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.

When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,  4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert.

He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die.

"I have had enough, LORD," he said.

"Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."

5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat."  6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water.

He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you."  8 So he got up and ate and drank.

Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Prayer

 

Today’s message is one that applies to all of us.

It is wrapped up in this story of Elijah.

Though Elijah is recognized as one of the greatest prophets of the Lord, this story pictures him at his lowest point.

Elijah fails to trust in the Lord.

He quits.

What has happened to Elijah?

Why has he run scared?

This will take some explaining…

Throughout this message, I will first give background information necessary for the text, then I will develop two points that combine into the main idea you should remember, then I will give two applications.

Now I will share the background you need to know.

At this time Ahab was king over Israel.

Ahab was known to have been one of the worst kings of Israel.

Turn with me, if you will, to 1 Kings 16:30:

*1 Kings 16:30-33 * 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.

31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.

32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria.

33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.

So, Ahab, the king of Israel, disobeyed the law of God.

He erected places of worship for false gods.

Perhaps influential in Ahab’s demise was his marriage to Jezebel, a foreign woman who was an idolater.

According to 1 Kings 18:18, Jezebel supported 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.

Perhaps even more important to understand for our passage today is another point.

According to 1 Kings 18:13, Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord.

She was capable of and sought to kill anyone who attempted to get in her way.

She desired to worship her own gods, and Ahab went along with her desires.

In our passage today, the first verse gives us a clue as to the more immediate background information.

Ahab has told Jezebel everything that Elijah did at Mount Carmel.

At Mount Carmel, Elijah prompted a showdown between himself and the prophets of Baal and Asherah that Jezebel supported.

The false gods fail to answer the prophets of Baal, but the Lord answers Elijah’s call and consumes the offering upon the altar with fire from heave.

An offering saturated in water.

After this awesome experience, Elijah orders that the prophets of Baal and Asherah are to be put to death.

And, because the people have seen who the true God is, they comply.

Jezebel hears of this and is enraged.

This now begins the first point I want to develop concerning our passage.

Jezebel threatens Elijah.

This is no ordinary threat.

This is a promise.

She promises retaliation for the killing her beloved false prophets.

This threat is akin to someone staring at you from a distance and slicing their neck with a finger to show that they seek your death.

It is a strong threat, and one that is made with an oath to her gods that if she does not follow through, her life will be required of her.

Elijah hears this message and he runs scared.

You may ask, “Elijah why do you run in fear?

Hasn’t the Lord shown his power?”

But, as I stated before, Jezebel has proven that she can kill, the Lord didn’t stop her then, how does Elijah know the Lord will stop her now?

There is probable cause for Elijah to run scared, and he does.

He runs for his life from Jezreel in the northern nation of Israel to Beersheba, one of the southernmost cities in the southern nation of Judah.

All in all, Elijah flees over 100 miles from Jezreel to Beersheba.

This is not a pleasant journey, he must pass through hills and valleys under the hot sun, it is a difficult journey.

It is a journey made in fear, not one made after preparation and planning.

Elijah runs as far away as he can from Jezebel.

Elijah reaches Beersheba and leaves his servant in the city.

But he walks out into the wilderness, alone.

Please realize this—this is not a spiritual retreat.

He doesn’t bring his tent and his bible out into the woods to enjoy quality time with the Lord.

This is something different, something darker.

The wilderness here is a sparse land.

The land of Israel and the region surrounding Beersheba is not like the land most of us are familiar with.

What we may call wilderness here, does not even come close to resembling the wilderness of Israel.

While we think of mountains, forests, streams, and lakes, an Israelite would think of an open, hilly, dry land, where the sun is your enemy.

This is a place that takes life; it does not give it easily.

It is here that Elijah isolates himself apart from everyone.

Elijah is exhausted.

He has fled over a 100 miles, he’s scared, and he walks alone out into the wilderness.

He sees a broom tree and collapses beside it.

The only shade he could find is that offered by a mere shrub with few, small leaves—a tree is a generous term here.

Then, Elijah cries out to the Lord, “It is too much, now, O Lord.”

The weight of all that has happened to him has overcome Elijah.

The threat, and most likely, pursuit of Jezebel has gotten the best of him.

Elijah will run no more, he has spent his strength.

And he asks to die.

He says, “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

Elijah at this point sees his actions as similar to the actions of his forefathers.

His forefathers were  unfaithful to the Lord: they made the golden calf, they failed originally to enter the promised land, and they succombed to the worship of other gods, Essentially, they abandon their trust in the Lord.

Elijah puts himself in this category.

He lost his trust in God.

His life was threatened and he ran, he did not trust in the Lord’s protection.

And now he realizes this, and asks the Lord to take his life.

Then, he lays down and falls asleep in the scant shade of the broom tree.

Elijah, a prophet of the Lord, calls it quits.