There he went into a cave and spent the night. Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah. He asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:9
We see in the preceding verse that Elijah is basically hiding in a cave, and God asks him, “What are you doing here?” It’s somewhat of a rhetorical question, but we need to understand why Elijah is hiding. Earlier in 1 Kings, Elijah is a boss, a rock star prophet of God. He challenges Ahab and Jezebel, who rule Israel at the time, to bring the prophets of the false gods to Mount Carmel. There, he challenges the false prophets. He tells them to sacrifice a bull and call on their gods to answer with fire. As the false prophets are failing, Elijah makes fun of them. He says, “Shout louder, since he is a god. Maybe he’s thinking, relieving himself, or traveling! Maybe he’s sleeping, and you have to wake him!”
After making fun, Elijah made an altar with stones. Then he placed his bull on the wood. Then he poured water on it three times. He finally asked God to answer him. God sent down a fire that consumed not only the bull, but also the wood and the altar. Then, with the help of the people in attendance, he slaughtered 850 false prophets. It must have looked like something out of a Marvel comic movie…..except it really happened.
After the slaughter, Ahab ran away and told wife, Jezebel, because he didn’t have enough courage to deal with Elijah on his own. Jezebel sent a message to Elijah saying, “May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don’t take your life the way you took the lives of Baal’s prophets.”. And amazingly, it worked. Elijah got scared, ran away, and we now find him hiding in a cave.
So, what happened? One minute Elijah is poking fun at 850 false prophets, prophets who would probably torture and kill him cheerfully. The next minute he is hiding in a cave because of the idle threat of one person. How could he forget how powerful God had been and how faithful God had been to him?
Well, Elijah forgot the same way I forget sometimes. At one time, I suffered with anxiety. There’s no other way to say it, but God has given me victory over anxiety for over 10 years now. However, every now and then, I can feel those anxious thoughts trying to creep back into my mind. And just the other day, I heard God say, “It’s been 10 years. Remember the 850 prophets? We’ve conquered this over and over. What are you doing here?” In other words, he was telling me to remember how powerful He is AND how faithful He has been to me.
I’m ending all my posts with an invitation to accept Jesus. If you would like to accept Jesus, simply pray the following prayer or one like it: “Dear Lord, I’m a sinner. I acknowledge that You sent Your son, Jesus, to die for my sins. I humbly accept Your son, Jesus, and I now further acknowledge that I am forgiven of my past sins, my present sins, and my future sins.” If you prayed that simple prayer, you are saved. Now, you need to follow Jesus. Start reading your Bible. I would suggest starting with Matthew, reading all of the New Testament, then reading the Old Testament. Also, find a good church. Christianity was never meant to be done alone. You need to be in community with other believers.