FWD: Morning Manna (Aug. 7); BP: I Kings 19:1-18; RBTTY: Rom. 9:1-18;

 
Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 16:40:23 -0500
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Aug. 7); BP: I Kings 19:1-18; RBTTY: Rom. 9:1-18;
 

August 7                                                                                                           “After the Sound and the Fury”

 

“And He said, ‘Go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord.’  And, behold, the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord wasn’t in the wind.  And, after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake, a fire; but, the Lord wasn’t in the fire.  And, after the fire, a still small Voice.”

                                                                                                                                                I Kings 19:11-12

     When we serve the Lord God Almighty, we’ll have highs and lows, but one thing constant will always be His Presence and love for us.

     Elijah.

     Quite an interesting character study is this prophet, who lived during the 9^th century B.C. under the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah in the northern kingdom of Israel.  During his prophetic ministry he stressed unconditional loyalty to God and his strangeness of dress (II Kings 1:8), fleetness of foot (I Kings 18:46), rugged constitution (I Kings 19:8) and cave-dwelling habits (I Kings 17:3; 19:9) all suggest he was a robust, outdoors-type individual.

 

     The context for today’s Manna includes a challenge to King Ahab see whose god—Baal (Ahab’s) or the God of Abraham (Elijah’s)—was the one true-and-living God (18:15-19).  So, Ahab’s 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asheroth (18:19) gathered atop Mt. Carmel, which stretched for 13 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea and averaged over 1,000 feet in height for the distance.

 

     During this epoch spiritual battle Ahab’s false prophets could get no response from their god (18:20-30).  Finally, after their futile attempts to call down fire from heaven, Elijah—whose name means “The Lord is my God”—built an altar, cut up a bullock in pieces, laid it on the altar, poured four barrels of water on it and then called fire down from Heaven (18:31-39).  He then led the false prophets “down to the brook Kishon and slew them every one” (v.40).

 

     What’s interesting is that shortly thereafter he was running for his life from the wicked queen, Jezebel (19:1-3) and sat down under a juniper tree, depressed and wishing to die (19:4-6).  The Lord then led him on a 40-day journey to Mt. Horeb (vv.7-8) where Elijah ended up moving into a cave (v.9). 

 

     Should we be surprised the Lord asked him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” (v.10).  No, not at all—for His questions are always for our benefit, not His (e.g., Gen. 3:9; Ex. 4:2; Ez. 37:3; Lk. 9:18-20; Acts 9:4).  But, what He was trying to get Elijah to see is the danger of focusing on the miracle rather than the One Who performed it.  Calling down fire from Heaven can be pretty heady stuff unless we remember it’s the God of all power—not the “sound and fury”—that should captivate our thoughts.

 

     Oh, dear Pilgrim, ups-and-downs are just a part of life.  There’ll be times we feel so close to Heaven that we can almost touch it.  And, there’ll be times when we, like Elijah, feel totally alone and possibly abandoned.  But remember:  The Lord Jesus is “a very present Help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1) and always speaks softly.  Be still—and listen.