Author Archives: Phillip

Sat 1^st August  –  Read 1 Kings 19:7-8

V7:  Now we learn something even more amazing. This is no “mere angel” – if we dare say that – but ” the angel of the Lord”, that mysterious figure who came to chosen servants of the Lord in the OT and left them somehow aware that they had met with God Himself, so that as narratives developed this person is called at times simply ” the Lord” ( See for example, Genesis 22:15-17; Exodus 3:2-6: Judges 6:12.) This person, meeting whom is meeting God, and would be devastating but for His grace, is regarded by most Bible scholars as a “pre-incarnation” appearance of Jesus Himself – eternally the Son of God – many think appearing in the form that would be His in His earthly life. So, we may say it is Jesus Himself who comes to minister to Elijah in his low condition, even to feed and sustain his body. He tells Elijah he needs this food to sustain him for a journey. Remember, he had no intention of making a journey – just wanted to die. God is still dealing with his servant  in His great mercy and tenderness.

V8:  And that ( miraculous?) food sustains him for a 40 day journey to Horeb, the mount of God, another name for Sinai, where God met with Moses to give him the law, and in the desert far below the southern border of Judah. God has his servant in His hand, and is preparing him for the revelation he needs, in his low state.

Fri 31^st July  –  Read 1 Kings 19:4-6

V4:  Fleeing alone into the desert, it seems that all Elijah wants is, as we might say, to curl up and die, pleading with God to take his life. This is not the positive longing of faith expressed by Paul in Philippians 1:23 – this is sheer despair. He feels a failure, his life and ministry have achieved nothing – he is no better than his ancestors. To his eyes, nothing has really changed after Carmel, Jezebel still exercises her cruel power, he wants to give up. Do we ever feel like this?

V5-6:  But God begins to deal with his overwrought servant. As he sleeps the sleep of sheer exhaustion, we read “an angel touched him”, telling him to eat, to sustain himself – and there beside him is a basic meal for his immediate physical need. How wise and caring God is for His people in need – often our physical state needs to be dealt with before our spiritual condition can be.

Thurs 30^th July  –  Read 1 Kings 19:1-3

V1:  Sadly, nothing has truly touched or changed Ahab. He returns home only to report to Jezebel – increasingly seen to be the “power behind the throne” who dominates her husband – what Elijah has done, including executing the prophets who were her proteges.

V2:  She immediately sends a threat against Elijah’s life – he will be like them – dead – or let her god’s do the same to her. Her gods are, of course, nothing, and the true and living god will in His own time deal with Jezebel.

V3: At first reading, we are surely amazed to see the effect on Elijah. He is afraid for his life and flees to the city of Beersheba, deep in the southern kingdom of Judah, and some 80 miles from Jezreel. But only to leave his servant there. Is this the man who has just stood so fearless for God on Mount Carmel? Then we recall the words of James 5:17, and say – yes, he is a man ” just like us”. How often we may let our guard down after a time of great blessing, and be at our most vulnerable spiritually.

Wed 29^th July  –   Read 1 Kings 18:42-46

V42: As Ahab goes, Elijah seeks God’s face in humble prayer, as shown by the posture he adopts. Here surely is an intercessor praying for and identifying with his people. Compare Moses, in Exodus 33:30-32. Note also, that though Elijah is confident in what God will do, he still prays for it in humble faith ( See James 5:18.) This is a balance God’s word sets before us. May it mark our praying.

V43: He sends his servant to look out over the sea. ( Carmel is on a high promontory that looks over the Mediteranean. ) But no sign of rain yet appears – Elijah sends him back to look again – 7 times! Faith waits in humble patience yet confident trust, for God’s time to answer.

V44: On that 7th time – Biblically the number of fullness or completion, remember –  the servant reports a small cloud, in the distance so far it seems no bigger than a man’s hand. This is enough for Elijah – he sends the servant to tell Ahab to get in his chariot and drive home quickly, for the rain will soon be so torrential it would stop him doing so.

V45: So it is – soon clouds darken the sky and the rain pours down. This is God’s mercy, after bringing Israel to the measure of repentance seen in v39, even though that will prove less than complete. God is still the same God of mercy and grace – do we pray in real anticipation of the “showers of blessing” of which we sometimes sing?

V46: God’s spirit so comes upon Elijah that he can outrun Ahab’s chariot, returning to Jezreel – the city where Ahab has his palace. God will always equip and enable His servants for what He calls them to do.

Tues 28^th July  –   Read 1 Kings 18:39-41

V39: At such a revelation of God’s power, the people who have been “sitting on the fence” back in v21, now fall on their faces before the Lord they have disobeyed, and cry out that He is indeed the ( only ) true and living God.

V40: Elijah now commands the false prophets to be seized and put to death. Such OT verses may make us uneasy in our very different age and culture, but what we see here is a Holy ruthlessness to see sin and defiance of God for what it is, and to deal with it completely. Surely, we need something of this Holy ruthlessness today, above all in recognising and dealing with sin – first, our own sin before a Holy God. Too often we tolerate what we should abominate and deal with – see Christ’s own words in Matthew 5:29-30.

V41: Now Elijah turns to Ahab – who it seems has stayed silent ( and as we later learn, sadly unmoved ) through all that has taken place, and tells him to ( go home? ) and eat and drink, for “there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” The next verses make clear that as yet there is no sound, no visible sign of coming rain, but Elijah speaks in confident faith – let Ahab be ready for what God will surely do in the mercy He has promised. Do we have such assurance in God’s unchanging plan and purposes?

Mon 27^th July  –  Read 1 Kings 18:36-38

V36: After the utter failure of the prophets of Baal and their so-called god, Elijah, at the designated time of the evening sacrifice to the Lord, calls on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel and became the name of the nation – God’s chosen people, but now in this tragic state of apostasy. He asks the Lord to vindicate His own Name, and prove that he, Elijah, is truly God’s servant who has done all that he has done in obedience to God’s revealed word.

V37: His prayer is that God will not only show that He is the living God, but that in doing so He will turn His people’s hearts back to Him. In effect, he is praying for God’s mercy and grace to restore His people. How often do we pray for God’s mercy upon our undeserving nation, even in salvation blessing?

V38: And the Lord hears and answers – His fire falls from heaven, consuming not only the sacrifice and wood, but the very stones and the water from the trench! What a demonstration of God’s almighty and incomparable power, where the “fire god” Baal has so signally failed. Let us never forget that this God is our God still today.