I Kings 19, Whisper

Elijah and YHWH have defeated the prophets of Baal and then rain has returned to the land.

1 Kings 19: 1-2, Jezebel's anger

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 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."

Elijah's defeat of the prophets of Baal infuriates the queen.  She has introduced Baal to the land and her religion and authority have been challenged by this usurper. The queen promises to kill Elijah.

1 Kings 19: 3-4, Flee

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 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."

Elijah flees from the angry queen. He is completely devastated by her threat and flees to Beersheba, ninety miles away. (In modern Israel, the city of Beersheba is 110 miles due south of Mount Carmel on the Yitzhak Rabin Highway, Highway 6.) After reaching Beersheba, Elijah then continues deeper into the desert, calling on YHWH to take his life. His devastation, after such a dramatic victory, is remarkable (but very human.) Some suggest that Elijah's distress is not due to Jezebel's threats as much as due to the persistent devotion of the people to Baal, despite all that they have seen. What more can Elijah do?

1 Kings 19: 5-8, Sustenance

Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 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.

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." 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.

The angel of YHWH intervenes and provides food to Elijah. Fueled by this food, Elijah goes deep into the Arabian peninsula, to Horeb/Sinai.

1 Kings 19: 9-10, "Only me"

There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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."

Elijah finds a cave on Mount Horeb, in which he spends the night. The Hebrew in verse 19 has Elijah staying in "the cave" (say Patterson and Austel) as if this were a special, known cave. Some commentators argue that this then is the cave of Exodus 33: 18-23. 

When YHWH confronts him, Elijah repeats his despair that only he is left of all the followers of God. This is a prayer of lament -- that everything is wrong and God does not understand.

1 Kings 19: 11-12a, Wind, earthquake, fire

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." 

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. 

After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. 

Elijah is instructed to stand on the mountain and wait for YHWH to pass by.  Three dramatic events occur, heralds of the approach of the King: a powerful wind, an earthquake, then fire. But YHWH does not arrive with any of these.

1 Kings 19: 12b-14, Gentle whisper

And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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 the cave, Elijah hears a gentle whisper and recognizes it as the presence of God.  He repeats his complaint that he has been completely abandoned.

1 Kings 19: 15-18, Seven thousand

The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi 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 all whose mouths have not kissed him."

Elijah is told to return to society and make a number of appointments.  Hazael is to be king of Aram-Damascus and Jehu king of Israel.  A man named Elisha will be Elijah's successor as prophet of God. And Elijah is to understand that seven thousand men in Israel have remained committed to YHWH and have refused to follow Ahab and Jezebel in the worship of Baal.

1 Kings 19: 19-21, Elisha

So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. 

Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you." 

"Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"

So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

Elijah obeys the instructions given by God and finds Elisha. He puts his cloak around Elisha, a symbol that Elisha understands.  Elisha asks to say goodbye to his parents and then destroys his oxen and plowing equipment, giving the meat from the oxen to the local people.  He then follows Elijah as Elijah's disciple and servant.