Elijah suffered the classic “failure after success” syndrome. Reflect a moment on the colossal adrenaline rush he experienced when God not only proved HIMSELF Sovereign in Israel but equally proved Elijah his spokesman. Himself by answering with a stunning lightning bolt—remember that Baal supposedly had such power—destructive enough to:
Elijah luxuriated in God’s astonishing answer to his direct, simple prayer. Then...understanding the meaning of a fist-sized cloud rising from the Sea, flew in super-charged energy down the road ahead of Ahab’s chariot. God and his Prophet stood apart from everyone in Israel, God Supreme, Elijah supremely confident. Ahab recited breathlessly, and step by step, to Jezebel all he had witnessed on Carmel. Only to see her rage defiantly. Interrupting him with her uninterrupted fanaticism for Baal, she called in a scribe and had scribbled on parchment, then sealed with her seal, a death threat to the man who dared attack her through her priests. Elijah soon read the letter and his adrenalin rush as instantly evaporated into stunned silence. Only she could remain unrepentant before God’s fearsome display of authority! A sudden sense of vulnerability seized him, followed by an erosion of euphoria into despair, delight into dread, faith into fear, fear into panic and panic into flight. Note: Elijah had previously gone only where God directed: to Kerith Ravine, I Kings 17:2-3; to Zarephath, I Kings 17:8-9; to confront Ahab, I Kings 18:1. On reading her letter, however, courage failed, cowardice grew and this suddenly-wasted man of God disappeared from public view, a wicked, woman symbolically shaking her fist at his departure. Sorry to say, it represents America today: the wicked vocal, the righteous acquiescent; the wicked demanding their rights, the righteous slow in defending God’s! It’s Proverbs 28:12, 28 all over again. End Part IV
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|