When Elijah arrived at Horeb he went into a cave and lodged there. The Lord, who had followed the erring footsteps of His servant, came to him there, and said, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” What thoughts a question like this arouses in our hearts! The unbeliever runs away from God because he does not know His heart, but what a sad thing it is when a true child of God has so lost sight of the grace of God as to seek refuge away from His face. Yet when we are in a state like this we, like Elijah, are quick to justify ourselves and to condemn others. As a servant of the Lord he ought to have interceded for the people and not against them; but alas, his reply shows that he had failed of the grace of God, and so could not lift up the hands in Israel that were hanging down. (See Hebrews 12:12-15.) He would rather see judgment come upon them, than have the Lord deal with them in grace. He said: “I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
The Lord told him to go forth and stand upon the mount before Him. Then He passed by and a mighty wind rent the mountains, but the Lord was not in the wind. After this there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Next there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Then there was a still small voice, and when Elijah heard the voice he covered his face with his mantle while the Lord spoke to him. He had delighted in the evidences of divine power, such as when the fire consumed the sacrifice, but all these things did not reveal God Himself, for though He is holy and must judge sin, yet He delights in mercy and grace, This Elijah had failed to realize, but the still small voice awakened his heart; however, instead of judging himself, as he ought to have done, he covered his face with his mantle. It seemed that his service would come between himself and the Lord, for he repeated his old complaint about the people. He boasted of his own faithfulness, and could not see any good in Israel, the people of God. He thought he was above them, even speaking of himself as though he were not part of “Israel” at all, yet boasting of his own faithfulness. When we come to this point, when self is bore us in our service and we are thus unable to bring Christ to others, which alone is true service for Him, then God must set us aside and use another. Yet even in this, His grace never fails, and how tender and patient He was with His erring servant.
Elijah was then told to go and anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat to be a prophet in his place. This must have been a difficult thing for Elijah to do if he loved the people, for instead of bringing them back to the Lord, the only source of blessing to them, he was called upon to mark out the messengers of judgment. The Lord then told him that there were seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal, and poor Elijah, occupied with his own service and faithfulness, did not know one of them! If Elijah could not lay hold of the grace that preserved a remnant among the people of God, then the Lord must tell him of it, before sending him to anoint a prophet in his stead who could do so.
ML 06/17/1956