1 Kings 19

The prophet Elijah's work was closely tied to his spiritual growth. Elijah challenged Israel's interest in Baal, the Canaanite storm god. During this conflict, Elijah saw God's power and support, unlike Baal's weakness. This was shown in Elijah's contest with Baal's prophets on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:1–46). After fleeing from Jezebel, God renewed Elijah's mission at Mount Sinai (1 Kings 19:1–18). Elijah's mission was finished by his successor, Elisha (1 Kings 19:19–21).

Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah within a day by speaking a curse. Solomon had made a similar threat against his half-brother Adonijah (1 Kings 2:23), and the king of Aram later used the same approach against Elisha (2 Kings 6:31). Jezebel was determined and ruthless in achieving her goals (1 Kings 21:5–15).

• Elijah was scared: The New Living Translation, the Berean Standard Bible, and many scholars translate Elijah’s reaction as fear, using the Hebrew word wayyira’ (“he feared”). The Hebrew text we have says, “he saw it” (wayyare’), meaning he saw the danger in Jezebel’s threat. Instead of a warm welcome after his great victory and hoping for the royal family to repent, Elijah faced a death threat.

• Beersheba was at the southern end of the country. A common phrase described the land's boundaries as “from Dan to Beersheba” (1 Kings 4:25; 2 Samuel 24:2).

• Although technically a shrub, the broom tree can grow up to ten feet tall. Its small leaves still offer enough shade for a tired traveler in the wilderness. Like Jonah (Jonah 4:3), Elijah completed his mission but felt disappointed with the outcome.

• no better: God's prophet, seeking refuge, felt he achieved little and thought he would be better off dead.

The angel of the Lord gave Elijah exactly what he needed at that time (1 Kings 17:2–6, 10–12). God often sent an angel to help one of his servants (Psalm 34:7; Hebrews 1:14).

Elijah was determined to reach Mount Sinai, a journey of about 200 miles. This trip did not need to take forty days and nights. Elijah might have traveled at a symbolic pace, reflecting Israel's history. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai, and Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years (Numbers 14:33–34; Deuteronomy 1:2–3). The number forty sometimes symbolized a complete period of testing (Genesis 7:4; Psalm 95:10; Jonah 3:4; Matthew 4:1–2).

• a cave (literally the cave): Some suggest Elijah came to the same place where God appeared to Moses (Exodus 33:21–23).

• What are you doing here, Elijah?: The Lord's question might mean two things:

  1. Why had Elijah come?

  2. And did he grasp the importance of the place where he stood?

  Elijah answered the first part of the question. He had bravely declared he was alone in his commitment to the Lord (1 Kings 18:22). Now, that feeling had turned into self-pity.

Powerful natural events sometimes show God's presence (Exodus 3:2; 19:18; Psalms 68:7–8; 114:4; Hebrews 3:6–7). However, this time, Elijah felt God's presence through a gentle whisper.

What are you doing here, Elijah?: The Lord asks the question again (see 1 Kings 19:9), and Elijah responds the same way as before. Elijah's answer shows he did not understand how God was working through the events. Paul refers to this exchange in Romans 11:3–4.

• Go back … and go: With loving patience, God renewed his prophet's mission (see John 21:15–19). God told Elijah to return to where he had left God's mission; from there, he could move forward.

• Hazael and Jehu became instruments of God's judgment (2 Kings 8:7–15; 9:14–37).

• Elisha, who succeeded Elijah, would bring spiritual insight and further judgment to Israel (2 Kings 3:10–19; 8:7–15; 9:1–10:31; 13:3, 15–19).

• Abel-meholah was south of Beth-shan, where the Jezreel Valley and the Jordan Valley meet (see 1 Kings 4:12; Judges 7:22).

• The Lord corrected Elijah's thinking. The prophet was not alone. Earlier, he forgot about the 100 prophets protected by Obadiah (1 Kings 18:4, 13). Now he learned that 7,000 others stayed faithful to the Lord.

• bowed … kissed him: These were common ways to show submission in the ancient Near East (2 Kings 21:3; Isaiah 46:6; 60:14; Hosea 13:2). They are often mentioned in the records of victorious kings or ancient stories. Ashurbanipal reported that during his sixth campaign, an Elamite king kissed his royal feet and cleaned the ground with his beard. In the Mesopotamian creation story (Enuma Elish, V 86), even the great gods bowed down and kissed the feet of Marduk, the victorious leader of the gods.

• Twelve teams of oxen suggest that Elisha's family was rich.

• Elisha knew that Elijah's power from God would pass to him with the prophet's cloak.

The anointing of Elisha concludes the Lord’s instructions to Elijah. Elisha performed the other two anointings that God had originally assigned to Elijah (1 Kings 19:15–16), as recorded in (2 Kings 8:7–15; 9:1–10).

• Elisha burned his plow and slaughtered his oxen to show he was leaving his old life behind. From then on, he would serve the Lord. His meal with family and friends might have been a thanksgiving sacrifice to God, ending with a joyful meal celebrating God's call on Elisha's life.

• Elisha would first serve as the assistant of Elijah. Great leaders often start as good learners. Joshua was the assistant of Moses (Exodus 24:13) before becoming his successor (Numbers 27:18–23; Deuteronomy 34:9) and leading the forces of Israel (Joshua 1:1–9). Later, Elisha had an assistant named Gehazi (2 Kings 4:12).