What Are You Doing Here, Elijah?

This question, asked twice by YHWH of his prophet - of Israel’s prophet apparently - comes while Elijah is hiding from Jezebel in a mountain cave somewhere in southern Judah. He has come after a number of significant events as a prophet of YHWH. Before we get to those though, let’s rehearse the political situation in Israel.

If you’ve read the history of Israel in the book of Kings, you will have been struck by the repeated descriptions of both Israel’s and Judah’s kings. They are to say the least, a mixed bag of faithfulness to YHWH, with Israel’s kings being roundly bad - evil even. We are introduced to Ahab in chapter 16 and find that he is worse than any king that had come before him. He has married a non-Jew from Sidon who is a worshiper of Ba’al, the infamous Jezebel who will end up being eaten by dogs before her story is done. Jezebel influences Ahab to worship Ba’al and Asherah. He erects a temple for Ba’al and he sets up asherah poles around Israel. To emphasize the evil of Ahab’s reign, we are told that it is during his time that Jericho is rebuilt with the tragic consequences of the eldest and youngest sons of the man who rebuilds it, as Joshua had predicted. It is this characterization of Ahab’s reign as the background that we are introduced to Elijah and his exploits as the prophet of Israel. First, in chapter Elijah prophecies a drought and it is during this drought that we read the story of the widow of Zarephath and the raising of her son. This story is significant in that it will be recalled as a judgment on Israel that the prophet went outside of Israel to work the work of God, rather than within Israel. This story is followed by Elijah’s conflict with the prophets of Ba’al to end the drought. This story involves the building of altars by both groups. The prophets of Ba’al go first and simply can’t get their god to respond and Elijah jeers at them with questions concerning whether or not Ba’al can hear them. Who knows, maybe their god is asleep. The it’s Elijah’s turn and he soaks his altar with so much water that a trough dug around its base fills with water. Then Elijah prays to YHWH and not only is the offering burned up, but all the water in the trough is licked up; Elijah is victorious in this contest. He has the prophets of Ba’al rounded up, taken to the brook, and killed - hundreds of them. The next story follows immediately and involves Elijah praying for rain and sending his servant to look for clouds. When a small cloud, the size of one’s fist is seen, Elijah sends to Ahab and says, get off the mountain because it’s going to rain and you don’t want to get stuck, so everyone takes off down the mountain and it rains cats and dogs.

Let’s review a bit. Elijah has prophesied a drought, has caused a widow’s oil not to run out during the drought and raises her son, wins a spectacular contest against the prophets of Ba’al, and has witnessed the power of YHWH in consuming his offering, followed by praying for an end to the drought just to have the rain pour down. Elijah has been personally involved in all of these demonstrations of YHWH’s power.

The execution of the hundreds of Ba’al’s prophets has made an impression on Ahab and he tells his wife all that Elijah has done. As a worshiper of Ba’al, she can’t let this affront pass and she sends a message to Elijah that by this time tomorrow, the exact same thing will be done to Elijah. So he takes off with his servant and this is how he ends up waiting under a broom tree to die. God isn’t ready for Elijah to die and so he sends an angel to wake Elijah up and provide him nourishment for his future journey. Elijah ends up in a cave and experiences the power of YHWH in a great wind that causes landslides, an earthquake, and even fire. Each time, Elijah goes to the mouth of the cave to see if YHWH has arrived in power, but no, YHWH isn’t in any of those signs. Then finally, he hears a low voice, a whisper so he goes back to the cave entrance and hears the voice say, “what are you doing here, Elijah?” This happens twice and both times  Elijah laments that he is the only one left who is loyal to YHWH, that Jezebel and company have killed all the prophets so that he is the only one left, and they’re looking to kill him. YHWH finally says, nope, Elijah, I have a job for you to do. I am sending you to anoint the new king of Syria, a new king of Israel, and your own replacement. Not only that these three will take vengeance on Israel. Those not killed by the king of Syria will be killed by the king of Israel, and those not killed by either of those two will be killed by the new prophet. And by the way, there are 7000 faithful followers of YHWH; you’re not the only one left. We might be able to insert an unspoken, “so get up, quit hiding down here, and go do the work I’v set you to do.”

Before we go any further, let’s remember who Elijah was and is. Elijah is no slouch. He has confronted the king of Israel and witnessed the power of YHWH in a drought, endless oil, raising a son, being victorious against other prophets, and ending the same drought he introduced. He is now communing with YHWH, will be a king maker, and will not die. He will be translated in the famous story of the fiery chariot and his mantel descending on Elisha. He is also referred by Jesus as the forerunner of the Messiah and his name is applied to John the Baptist, and he is one of three manifested at the transfiguration of Jesus. Even today, Jews have a seat at the Passover table for Elijah. The guy is no minor character in the story of Messiah and the work of YHWH among his people.

With that reminder, let’s see what we might apply to ourselves. First, despite having been involved with and witnessing the power of YHWH, we find Elijah hiding from Jezebel in a cave in the middle of nowhere. How strong is Elijah’s faith, really? Having witnessed all those manifestations of YHWH, does he now cower from Jezebel whose god has been so thoroughly embarrassed, and prophets massacred? Or does he now lament in defeat and despair that he is the only faithful one left and just wants to die under a tree? Where is Elijah’s faith? Where is your faith? Do you ever feel like Elijah - you and God are so tight that you feel like nothing can get in the way or disrupt your Christian walk? And then, and  then, someone says something, or something doesn’t work the way you want it to work, or it just doesn’t seem like God is there. What happens to your faith? Do you react like Elijah did - an apparently normal human response? Elijah is not only faithful to YHWH but he is also human, not superhuman. The work of Elijah was through YHWH and Elijah’s security and succor was in Elijah even when Elijah didn’t remember those truths. How about you? Do you take on responsibility in your humanness, or do you rely on YHWH even when the flash-bang excitement isn’t present, and those around you question the existence of God or his goodness, or his faithfulness?

While we often find it too easy to forget, let’s encourage each other in the midst of insecurity and isolation, that YHWH has kept 7000 faithful and that we aren’t the only ones; that YHWH who has demonstrated his power in our lives remains faithful and near us. We like Elijah have jobs to do even in our faithfulness to God. What would you say to God if he asked you in a small voice, “what are you doing here?”

That’s the big question posed by these stories but there are other details which present themselves. Perhaps the most important consideration is YHWH’s attention to non-Jews. We see in both the widow of Zarephath and this commissioning of Elijah to anoint the king of Syria of YHWH’s care for and authority over people and nations outside of Israel. YHWH is not just the God of Abraham’s descendants, but of the whole world. YHWH doesn’t have care for only residents of Israel, but suffering people wherever they are. We are called to live with that awareness. Our God is the God of the entire world and seeks to bless all peoples and all people in the midst of their suffering, and we are called as his images to have the same care, extending the kingdom of God throughout the world.

Can you do that in the face of persecution, oppression, and seeming aloneness? Will you?