One of the most fascinating stories in the Bible is one that has a bunch of “greatests” in it, including Elijah’s greatest moment of triumph, immediately followed by his greatest moment of despair and self-centeredness.
Israel was battling one of the greatest lies of its day, but it was losing the battle and had gotten deeply caught up in it. Isaiah 44:20 equates the idol to a “lie” and that was certainly true of Baal, the false god that was sweeping the land, just as we have many sweeping ours today.
God directed Elijah to speak to the king and warn him that judgment was coming—a drought of three years. I have a tendency to equate drought in the Bible with a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord. Yes, there was a physical drought in Israel, but God also pulled Elijah, and it appears as if no Word was spoken to the nation during those years. When that time was over, just as the brook the Lord had graciously provided for Elijah dried up, God called him to stand again before the king. And, as one might expect, the king immediately accused Elijah of being the “troubler of Israel” rather than recognizing that it was his sin and the sin of the nation that had brought the discipline of the Lord. Elijah called for the king to assemble all the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, where the greatest and most amazing “contest” between God and Baal occurred. It was here that Elijah cried out to the people, saying,
“How long will you limp back and forth between these two opinions? If the LORD, the “I AM”, is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21
The people said nothing. But God sure did…in a big way. The contest ended up being no contest at all. The “I AM” showed Himself in a fire ball that brought them all to their knees. They seized the prophets of Baal and Elijah put them all to death. And when this had been done, the Lord brought refreshing rain upon the land.
But Jezebel, the original wicked queen of the East, got mad and threatened the life of Elijah. And, in one of the greatest “head shakers” of the Bible, Elijah, who had just seen the Lord show Himself in a mighty way and had slain hundreds of the prophets of Baal…fled like a scared rabbit. He ended up on another mountain, Horeb, and God confronted him.
What are you doing here, Elijah?
Elijah’s response is the greatest “poor me” of Scripture as he began to blubber before the Lord about how he, Elijah, had done all of these great things, how he had been so jealous for the Lord, how the people of the nation had been so rebellious, and how he was now the only one left (dab a tear for Elijah here), and now they were trying to kill poor ol’ me, blah, blah, blah.
Bam! All of a sudden, a tornado-like wind rips at the mountain, breaking off rocks, followed by an earthquake, that, no doubt, also rattled Elijah’s teeth, followed by a fire, possibly a raging forest fire that surely must have buckled his knees. The Lord then whispered and Elijah hid his face. But God spoke to him again, asking the same question. When the Lord asks you the same question twice, it may be because you didn't quite understand what He meant the first time and He didn't quite care for your initial answer.
What are you doing here, Elijah?
And, unbelievably…I mean, really, really, unbelievably…Elijah blubbers out the same “poor me” once again, loosely translated, “I’ve been faithful, the people are wicked and rebellious, I’m the only one left, they’re trying to kill poor o’ me…blah, blah, blah.”
The Lord’s response was actually quite gracious, because He could have opened up His mouth in a roar and blown Elijah into the nether-nether world. Instead, the Lord gave Elijah a little bop on the nose…a truth lesson about the reality of the situation:
“…I have reserved 7,000 in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal…” 1 Kings 19:18
Elijah had whined about being “the only one left”, and God made it clear that he was not.
God had kept a remnant in the land.
(Note: the Lord also told Elijah to anoint his successor. It is a serious thing to complain and puff oneself up before God and point a finger at others and declare you are the only one left who really “gets it”.)
Now, before we get too hard on Elijah here, we must confess that many of us have been at this exact same place, if not right at this very moment. We look around and see the world appearing to have the upper hand; all the while it is sinking into a bottomless pit. The media is against us. Academia is against us. Government is against us. Judges are against us. Hollywood hates us…
It appears to us as if our entire culture has gone insane.
And we stand before the Lord, filled with hopelessness, and blubber something deeply negative and despairing and cry that we are the only one left…the only one who “gets it”.
We have gotten a serious case of the “poor me’s”. We think we are all alone...and losing.
Wrong.
Look back at The Victory and then look around. God has kept for Himself a huge remnant in the land and across the globe. You are not alone and we are more than conquerors through Christ.
This may actually be our finest hour.
Don’t let the enemy snatch it from you.
(We have set up a Group that we are simply calling “The Remnant”. If you are so led, please join us there. We will be posting short notes of encouragement, perspectives, thoughts, items for prayer, etc. for discussion.)
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