Kristi Burchfiel

You are not alone. God finally deals with Elijah’s original complaint. Elijah feels that he alone is left worshipping God. Yet what does God tell Him in 1 Kings 19:17-18. It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.” 1 Kings 19:17‭-‬18 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.19.17-18.NASB There are 7,000 others. Elijah is not alone. He’s never been alone, but he had lost sight of…

Go back. God has come and met with Elijah and he doesn’t directly answer his concerns at first. Instead, he tells him to go back. Read 1 Kings 19:15-16. The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 1 Kings 19:15‭-‬16 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.19.15-16.NASB God gives him a job to do and sends him back to where he should be. God specifically wants him to…

Same sad song, second verse. Elijah meets with God. God again asks what he is doing and Elijah gives him the same answer. Read 1 Kings 19:13-14. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord , the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life,…

Would you recognize the sound of God? Elijah had to figure that out. Read 1 Kings 19:11-12. So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord .” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking 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. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 1 Kings 19:11‭-‬12 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.19.11-12.NASB There were…

Despair. Elijah had done everything that God had asked him to do and yet he still felt alone. He was honest with God about how he felt. Read 1 Kings 19:10. He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord , the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” 1 Kings 19:10 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.19.10.NASB Elijah knows that he has done everything that God asked him and yet he is still feeling worn down and beaten up. He tells God…

Hiding. In 40 days, Elijah ran straight through from Jezreel in the north of Israel to Horeb, which is extremely south and in present day Jordan. Why? Well, God wants to know that. Read 1 Kings 19:9. Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:9 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.19.9.NASB Throughout all that we read yesterday, and even in the midst of God helping him and strengthening him, never once did it say that God directed him to run. He ran because he was afraid and now…

“You can’t do it.” Many of us have used these words as inspiration to push us and drive us to do better. However, we are human and there are things that we can’t do, and God knows it. He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat,…

Afraid and hopeless. Yesterday we saw Jezebel threaten Elijah and today we see that Elijah is afraid. Read 1 Kings 19:3-4. And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord , take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.” 1 Kings 19:3‭-‬4 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.19.3-4.NASB He ran for his life. Terrified, he then left his servant and…

Not impressed. While Ahab may have been impressed and in awe of all that Elijaha was doing, Ahab’s wife Jezebel was not. Read 1 Kings 19:1-2. Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 1 Kings 19:1‭-‬2 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.19.1-2.NASB Well, Jezebel wasn’t impressed with Elijah. In fact, she wanted to kill him. She let him know that she was going to…

Elijah, the sprinter. He gave Ahab the advice to get going and out run the storm. Then he takes his own advice and begins to out run the storm. However, Ahab had a chariot and Elijah didn’t. Read 1 Kings 18:45-46. In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel. 1 Kings 18:45‭-‬46 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.18.45-46.NASB Elijah runs. And because God is with him, Elijah runs faster than Ahab’s chariot. If Ahab had any doubt…