Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal is one of my favorite Old Testament accounts. It’s also my favorite Bible story to tell. Many years ago, I volunteered for a week at Woodland Christian Camp and taught that story five or six times and had a blast every time.
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What happened after that account is also remarkable. The wicked queen Jezebel vowed to have Elijah killed, so the prophet gave up and fled.
“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers’” (1 Kings 19:4, ESV).
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Elijah wasn’t even able to celebrate God’s victory because the despair of the threat on his life hit him so hard. But God didn’t allow Elijah to wallow in that misery — He intervened.
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
1 Kings 19:5-7 (ESV)
Thomas Brewer recently wrote at Tabletalk about the echoes we see of Elijah’s story in the New Testament:
It’s a shadow of Jesus in the wilderness, where angels came to minister to Him after His trial (Matt. 4:11). Perhaps even more significant, it’s a shadow of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, where He seemed to be at the end of His human strength in carrying out His mission, and an angel appeared to Him to minister to Him (Luke 22:43).
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What lessons and encouragement can we take from Elijah’s story? Brewer found multiple applications that can help us when we feel like giving up.
“Well, for one, God does strengthen His servants,” Brewer pointed out. “It doesn’t mean an angel is going to show up, but when we’re following the Lord, He exercises a special grace toward us in building us up through His Spirit.”
He cited Romans 8:26 to remind readers that the Holy Spirit is a better encourager than any angel: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Brewer also admitted that we shouldn’t be surprised at the curveballs that life throws us. It’s part of living in a fallen world.
“Knowing that, we can admit that this world is often too much for us. We can tell God what’s happening and ask Him for help,” he wrote. “It’s only through trusting the Lord and giving our lives to Him that we find any peace. And if we do give up, God won’t give up on us (John 6:39; Phil. 1:6).”
God showed Elijah His glory after the prophet traveled to Mt. Horeb:
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?” 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.” 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. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
1 Kings 19:9-13 (ESV)
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“He told Elijah he was not alone, that He had saved thousands who still follow the true God,” Brewer elaborated. “By saying this, God reminded Elijah that He wasn’t working only in Elijah’s life; He was working in other people’s lives. He had a plan; Elijah just didn’t know it. So basically, He’s saying: ‘I’m in control. I’ve got this covered.’”
Life can suck, and we all have our share of hard times. But trust god. He’s in control, and that means that He’s looking out for us even when we feel like giving up.
