Elijah at Horeb
1 Kings 18:46-19:18
21st Sep 2025

Introduction

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Where were you … when you heard Charlie Kirk had been shot?  Now I know it was only last week … but some are claiming this is our generation’s JFK moment.  I was sitting at my desk … working … when my son came in and said ‘did you hear Charlie Kirk has been assassinated?’  And I looked at him incredulously and said ‘pf … you’re joking right?’  He said ‘no … he was shot at an event.’  And I said ‘you’re JOKING right!’  Yet when I opened up YouTube … there it was.

Now when Charlie Kirk first rose to prominence … he was a self-professed secularist.  In 2018 he told YouTuber Dave Rubin that politics should be advanced through a secular worldview … and that it was wrong to impose Christian morals through government policy.  Yet by 2020 … Charlie had become a strong Christian.  And he went on to become one of THE most outspoken Christians on the planet.  He wrote a book … that is going to be released posthumously in December … encouraging people to follow the Bible’s mandate for Sabbath rest.

Now as a political commentator … Charlie Kirk was of course divisive.  You cannot say ANYTHING political in the current culture without ticking off half the audience.  But as a Christian … we have lost one of our loudest and most effective voices.  And that will lead many of us to ask ‘what are you doing God?’  You’ve taken a young … humble … successful … Godly … family man … who spoke boldly about Jesus … and you’ve allowed Satan to cut him down in his prime … leaving his Christian wife and 2 young children behind.  What are you doing God?

Well this is the same question the prophet Elijah asks God in our passage today.  So we’re wrapping up our sermon series in the book of 1 Kings.  And what a series it has been … looking at some of the most famous events in the whole OT.  We’ve looked at:

1. Solomon’s wisdom … with the ‘cut the baby in 2’ scene

2. The opening of the temple

3. The splitting of the kingdom

4. The sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat

5. The widow of Zarephath

6. Elijah on Mount Carmel

And today we’re wrapping up this series with the equally as famous ‘still, small voice’.  And the context of this episode is that Elijah has just won a great victory for the Lord.  As Drew showed us last week … Elijah organised ‘The fight of the century’ … between himself … the prophet of Yahweh … and 850 prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth.  And he won … thanks to God sending down fire from heaven.  And the reader is left thinking ‘Game Over man’ … right?  Surely Ahab will now admit that Yahweh is the one true God … and call Israel to repent.  Yet that’s not what happens.  And Elijah is left thinking the same thing many Christians today are thinking about Charlie Kirk.  ‘What are you doing God?’

Now the BAD news is … God rarely explains his plans.  The REASON for this is partly because God’s plans involve a chess board with hundreds of billions of pieces on it.  Our feeble minds simply cannot fathom what is going on in the mind of God.  The GOOD news … is that although God doesn’t explain his plans to Elijah either … what he DOES say helps Elijah get back up … and keep putting one foot in front of the other.  And this is what we’re looking at today.  God’s message to those who may be feeling really down or confused over God’s plans.

And I’ve got 3 points today to help us unpack this famous passage … as your sermon outline shows.  So we’re going to begin by seeing Elijah sink into a type of depression over his situation … and THEN how God responds to Elijah’s depression.  And I’ve titled this first point (i) What Elijah is feeling.  We’ll then look at why Elijah goes to Horeb … i.e. what he’s LOOKING for … AND how God responds to THIS … which I’ve titled (ii) What Elijah is seeking.  We’ll then conclude with God’s words of encouragement … that empower Elijah keep going … which I’ve titled (iii) What Elijah is needing.  So let’s dive in … and look at what God says when the prophet Elijah asks ‘what are you going God?’.

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What Elijah is feeling (v. 1-8)

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And we pick up the narrative straight after last week’s passage.  Unlike Mohammed Ali … Elijah WON the ‘fight of the century’ … after which he had the 850 false prophets executed for idolatry.  Elijah then proclaimed the drought to be over … and a short time later the rains come.  We then read this:

1 Kings 18:46 (NIV) The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Now according to Google … Carmel to Jezreel is about 50 kms.  So WHY is Elijah SO keen to get to the capital … that he runs a marathon … plus some change … at a faster pace than a horse and chariot?  The reason is … he’s been in hiding for 3 ½ years now … and he wants to see God’s honour restored in Israel.  He wants to step out on the balcony of the palace … alongside the KING … and declare that Israel is going to tear down the temple to Baal … and return to the Lord.

Well Ahab then returns home to Jezreel in v. 1 of chapter 19 … and breaks the bad news to Jezebel.  He no doubt tells her that the prophets of Baal had TRIED to get Baal to call down fire from heaven … but he must have been on the toilet … literally what we think ‘busy’ means in v. 27.  And so Elijah … who SUCCEEDED in getting fire from heaven … had them ALL executed.  Then Jezebel says ‘well … Yahweh must be the one true God.  So let’s tear down the temple to Baal and worship the Lord’.  At least that’s what you’d THINK would happen.  But that’s not what our Bibles say … is it?

1 Kings 19:2 (NIV) So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

The wicked Jezebel sends Elijah a death threat.  So how does Elijah … the GREATEST OT prophet … who just called holy fire to come down from heaven in front of a sell-out crowd … how does this great prophet respond?

1 Kings 19:3 (NIV) Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.  When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there

Commentators have long debated v. 3 … because they don’t think it fits.  They think it’s poor editing.  How can this great prophet go from outrunning a horse in a marathon … to being afraid for his life … in the space of just 2 verses?  In fact, he’s SO distraught that he quits being a prophet.  Leaving his servant means he’s let his staff go … let his employees go.  He’s given up … and he’s ready to die … v. 4.  And many commentators think this doesn’t fit.

It's very much like the Star Wars sequels … which you all enjoy me talking about.  Well in Star Wars Episode 7 … everyone is looking for Luke Skywalker … because he disappeared 6 years earlier.  In Episode 8 … we learn Luke was in a self-imposed exile … because he’d given up being a Jedi Master … due to a mistake he’d made.  And this SPLIT Star Wars fans … including Mark Hamel himself … who said this is not what Jedi do.  Luke Skywalker is the greatest superhero of my generation.  And he’s just given UP?  Now I was one of those who didn’t mind that.  I didn’t LOVE it … but I didn’t HATE it either … because it humanised Luke.  It made him a more 3-dimensional character.  The fact is … to be human is to experience emotional highs and lows.  The great Elijah … is still a man.  And as a man … he will experience fear and depression just like the rest of us.

Well notice how God responds to Elijah’s feelings.  He cooks him a meal … v. 6 … and lets him sleep.  What this suggests … is that sometimes we just need rest.  God doesn’t rebuke Elijah for his depression here … claiming he’s done something wrong.  There are SOME Christians today who claim mental illness is ALL spiritual … and all a depressed person has to do is (i) confess their sins, or (ii) pray in faith, or (iii) rebuke the Devil, or (iv) claim God’s promises.  Yet that ignores a very important fact that humans don’t just have a spirit … we have a body and a mind as well.

What this means is … some of our problems in life MIGHT be spiritual.  Maybe we DO need to confess, or pray, or rebuke, or claims God’s promises at times.  But sometimes our issues are physical or mental.  And if they are physical or mental … you don’t need a lecture or a sermon.  You may just need a quiet walk along the beach … or a nice meal … or a good sleep.  Now if that doesn’t help … then maybe you DO need to see a health or mental-health specialist.  But the point here is … Elijah is experiencing a REAL low.  And God treats him gently … and wholistically.

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What Elijah is seeking (v. 9-14)

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Well … the REASON the angel of the Lord feeds Elijah is because Elijah is on his way to Horeb … a.k.a. the mountain of the Lord … v. 8.  But Horeb has another name in the Bible … which is Mt Sinai.  And Mt Sinai is 500 kms from Beersheba.  So WHY would Elijah be embarking on a 500 km journey … across a desert?  It’s because he wants to see the Lord.  He doesn’t understand what the Lord is doing.  We SEE this when he arrives at Sinai.  God says to him ‘what are you doing here Elijah’.  And he replies in v. 10:

1 Kings 19:10 (NIV) … “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

What he’s basically saying is ‘what are you doing God?’  But here’s the question; WHY go to Mt Sinai to ask that?  It’s because he doesn’t just want to know what God is doing … he wants to know who God is.  ‘Who are you God … that you would carry out your plans in this crazy way?’  And because Elijah knows his OT … he knows THAT’S where God once revealed himself to Moses.  We see this in v. 9.  Read it with me … from halfway through v. 8:

1 Kings 19:8-9 (NIV) … he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Now in the original Hebrew … the word ‘cave’ has the definite article.  It literally reads ‘he went into THE cave’.  Now what is THE cave?  It’s the cave where Moses hid … when God passed before him in all his glory.  So in Exodus 33 … straight after the Golden Calf … Moses asks to see God’s glory.  He says ‘Look Lord … you’ve asked me to lead this people … who are so stiff-necked that they’ve just made a Golden Calf!  So please teach me your ways … so I can DO this job.  BUT’ … he says … ‘I don’t just want to HEAR from you … I want to SEE your glory’.  For if I can SEE your infinite beauty and splendour … that will be all the fuel I will need to lead your people.  Yet God says to him ‘you CAN’T see my glory … for it will kill you.’  BUT’ … God says … ‘what I WILL do … is I’ll hide you in a cave … while ALL my gory passes by.  And after it’s passed by … you can come out and see my BACK.  And that’s what happens.  So ‘THE cave’ of v. 9 is the same cave that Moses hid in when God’s glory passed by him on My Sinai.

And a similar thing happens to Elijah.  Notice God tells Elijah to ‘go stand on the mountain’ in v. 11 … but he doesn’t go and stand on the mountain till v. 13.  Why?  Because in v. 12 a hurricane and an earthquake and a fireball sweep on by.  So THE cave was giving Elijah the same protection it gave Moses.  The mountain was torn apart … v. 11 … but Elijah was not harmed.  The only DIFFERENCE between Moses and Elijah … is Elijah isn’t being protected from God’s glory here … because we’re told God was NOT in the hurricane or the earthquake or the fire.  God shows up in a ‘gentle whisper’ … v. 12 … or as the King James Version translates it … ‘a still, small voice’.  And the voice asks again:

1 Kings 19:13 (NIV) … “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

And Elijah gives the same explanation.  ‘I’ve been very zealous for you Lord.’  What he’s saying is ‘I’ve put time and effort into my ministry.  And it went off flawlessly!  So why haven’t you got on board God?’  Mt Carmel was supposed to be the turning point.  (i) You’d shown your glory, (ii) your enemies were defeated, and (iii) Ahab and Jezebel were either supposed to (a) repent, or (b) be overthrown.  Yet nothing happened … and now they’re trying to kill me … the last true believer in Israel.

What Elijah is saying in all of this … is ‘what kind of a God carries out his plans in this crazy way?’  I’m not just seeking an explanation.  I’m seeking a better vision of who you are God.  Like Moses before me … I need to see your glory … if I’m going to continue.

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What Elijah is needing (v. 15-18)

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Well … like Moses before him … Elijah did NOT get what he was seeking.  Instead … God GAVE Elijah was he was needing.  And Elijah was in need of 3 things:

- Judgment is not God’s primary work

The FIRST was to understand that God’s plans are NOT primarily about judgment.  You see Elijah wanted God’s enemies brought down to the grave.  So God brings forward 3 symbols of judgment.  Yet each time we’re told God was NOT in the hurricane … and not in the earthquake … and not in the fire.  What he’s saying is … judgment is not my primary work.  I WILL judge people … as v. 15-17 outline.  But as Luther put it … judgment is God’s strange work.

And we see this in the ministry of Jesus.  John the Baptist … whom the NT says came in the spirit of Elijah … sends some disciples to Jesus in Matthew chapter 11 … to ask Jesus:

Matthew 11:3 (NIV) “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Now WHY was John the Baptist confused over Jesus?  It’s because he didn’t bring judgment upon Israel’s enemies.  Why?  Because that’s not Jesus primary work.  Jesus said ‘I haven’t come to BRING God’s judgment.  I’ve come to BEAR it.  You see if I BROUGHT God’s judgment this first time … then no one could stand.  My FIRST coming is to BEAR God’s judgment … so that my people CAN stand at my return.  Judgment IS coming.  But my MAIN work is to save people FROM that judgment … through bearing it myself on the cross.

- Do God’s will

So that’s the FIRST thing Elijah needed; to see that judgment is not God’s primary work.  The SECOND … is to do God’s will.

1 Kings 19:15-16 (NIV) The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.

Elijah wanted to understand God’s plans.  Yet it would take a million lifetimes … to explain that to a mortal.  God’s plans are beyond us.  This is actually what Charlie Kirk’s wife Erika said … in her message last week.  She said God’s plans are beyond us.  Our job … when things look horrible … is to get on with serving God.  Go back to Israel … and do what I’ve told you.  So God’s second message to Elijah is … even though my plans are beyond your wildest dreams … you are safe if you are living according to my will.

- Seek God’s glory in his word

So … (i) judgment is not my main work, and (ii) don’t try to fathom my plans, just follow my will.  The third and final thing Elijah needed … was to see God’s glory.  And this is what we ALL need.  If you haven’t memorised the meaning of life yet … get a pen out and write this down.  The meaning of life … is ‘to bring glory to God and enjoy him forever’.  The only logical reason that a self-sufficient God would create people … is to SHARE his glory with us.  What this means is … we have been made to NEED God’s glory.

But HOW do we do this?  Both Moses and Elijah were not permitted to see God’s glory on Mt Sinai.  They were told ‘it will kill you’.  But did you know that many centuries later … God called both Moses and Elijah back to another mountain.  We don’t know the name of this mountain … but Christians call it the mount of transfiguration.    And on the Mount of Transfiguration … both Moses and Elijah saw the full glory of God.  Let me read for you:

Matthew 17:1-3 (NIV) After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

The Transfiguration was Jesus appearing in his full radiant glory.  The problem is … you and I were not there.  So does that mean we miss out?  Well WHEN they were ON the mount of transfiguration … Peter, James and John heard a voice from heaven.  It said this:

Matthew 17:5 (NIV) “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

Peter, James and John got to see God’s full radiant glory … with their eyes.  Yet God’s message to them was NOT ‘LOOK at him’.  It was ‘listen to him’.  Friends … the way we see God’s glory today … is NOT through the miraculous.  It’s through his word.  God was not in the hurricane or the earthquake or the fire.  He was in the still small voice.

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Conclusion

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So here’s our application for today … as we close.  Don’t sit around waiting for God to reveal himself in some spectacular way.  Mt Carmel is NOT how God usually works.  As 1 Kings shows … holy fire from heaven did almost nothing to change the hearts of Israel.  What changes people’s hearts is listening to the still small voice … listening to God’s word.

And so if we want to see people come to the Lord … we need to invite them to church … where they can hear the WORD of the Lord.

And if we want to grow as Christians … we need to immerse ourselves in the word of the Lord.  I recently heard of a survey from the US that measured Christian maturity against how many times a week a Christian spent with the Lord.  The survey showed that if a Christian spends 2-3 times a week with the Lord … that’s church, Bible study and 1 other time … it had minimal impact on their Christian maturity; things like (i) giving, (ii) serving and (iii) resisting sin.  Yet as soon as that clicked over to 4 times a week … that’s at least 2 quiet times a week … their Christian maturity grew exponentially.  Immerse yourself in God’s word.

So friends … whether life is good … or we’re crying out ‘what are you doing God?’ … the path ahead is to seek God’s glory.  That is what will keep us moving.  Yet we don’t need to go to Mt Sinai to find God’s glory.  It’s not in the miraculous … it’s through listening to the still small voice.