Chapter 19

1 Elijah, threatened by Jezebel, fleeth to Beersheba. 4 In the wilderness, being weary of his life, he is comforted by an angel. 9 At Horeb God appeareth unto him, sending him to anoint Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. 19 Elisha, taking leave of his friends, followeth Elijah.

1. Told Jezebel. It was a wonderful tale of what Elijah had done through the might and power of God. But it had no effect in touching Jezebel’s heart and bringing about a desire to mend her evil ways. A hearing of truth simply hardens where it does not save.

2. Thy life. Here was a man of God who had done a valiant service for his master, and now he was threatened with death for his noble efforts. It is not in this world that the righteous receive their just awards for service performed in the name of the Lord. One of the apparent tragedies of life is that those who do the most in the cause of righteousness are those who also suffer the most. The reason may not always be understood. But there is comfort in the thought that Jesus, the sinless One, suffered more than any child of humanity will be called upon to suffer. The servant is not greater than his lord.

3. Went for his life. After so complete a triumph over the prophets of Baal, and after so great a display of courage, it would seem that God’s prophet would be ready to meet any trial of faith. One might assume that Elijah, having had so marked an evidence of the presence and blessing of God, would never let his courage fail. But he was suffering from the reaction that so frequently follows marked success. He had hoped that the glorious victory on Carmel would break the spell of Jezebel upon the king. When the prophet was informed of the queen’s stubborn resistance to the new appeal for reformation, it was more than he could bear. He was unprepared for the cool, calculated, determined hatred of this wicked queen. He could think only of how to escape the clutches of so embittered and relentless a foe. Without thinking of the consequences of his course he fled for his life.

Elijah did not do right in forsaking his post of duty. His work was not yet over. The battle had only begun. Had he stayed courageously by, and had he sent back a message to the queen reminding her that the God who had given him victory over the prophets of Baal would not forsake him now, he would have found angels ready to protect his life. God’s judgments in signal fashion would have fallen upon Jezebel, a tremendous impression would have been made, and a mighty reformation would have swept over the land (see PK 160). By fleeing for his life Elijah played into the hands of the enemy. The flight to Beersheba went far toward nullifying the victory on Carmel.

Beer-sheba. The city was on the southern frontier of Judah, about 95 mi. (152 km.) from Jezreel. It belonged to the southern kingdom of Judah, which was at this time so closely associated with Israel that Elijah would not have been safe there.

4. A day’s journey. Elijah did not stop in Judah. His fear drove him on. Not until he had gone a day’s journey into the wild country of the south did he stop for rest. It seems that up to this point Elijah kept going by night as well as day, finding his strength in the fear that had so completely overwhelmed him. When he did sit down under a juniper tree he was completely exhausted.

He might die. The prophet’s depression here reaches its lowest point. At the hour of victory on Mt. Carmel he had been exalted to the skies. Now, as he recalls the experience of only a few days before, his spirits sink to their lowest ebb. He wishes himself dead. His suffering is a reaction of overstrained feeling; it is the kind of experience that sometimes follows the lifting of a soul to heights of glory and victory; the aftermath of a great religious revival, when the soul gives way to the discouragements and depressions induced by the trials of everyday life. It is well to remember that no one in this world can abide forever on the mountaintop. The path of life at times descends into the valley, where hardships and disappointments are the unavoidable facts of life. It is easy to be happy and courageous when we are at the very top of the world, but it is not nearly so easy when spirits are low and all the world seems determined to bring one down. It is then that man needs most to keep his hold on God, that he may not give way to doubt and despair. When down, look up, and climb to the heights again.

5. Touched him. As Elijah slept, a hand touched his side and a pleasant voice greeted him. It was an angel sent from God with a message of life and hope. First of all there was food to supply the wants of his body and to assist in restoring courage to his soul. It is wonderful what food can do to revive man’s drooping spirits and bring back strength and courage that have fled. There was divine wisdom in God’s simple treatment of the weary and exhausted prophet.

7. The second time. At the moment Elijah’s need was for food and rest, and God again graciously provided these for him. It was an angel from God who prepared his meal.

Too great. The journey back would have been shorter than the journey ahead. But God did not remonstrate with the prophet, nor did He order him to retrace his steps. This journey was of Elijah’s, not the Lord’s, devising, yet angels of God did not forsake the prophet but rather assisted him on his way. The provision of food served to encourage him and supplied him with strength for the difficult days ahead. Although Elijah had made a mistake, the Lord did not cast him off, but sought to restore his confidence so that he would again be able to carry on his valiant work for God.

8. Unto Horeb. His journey took him through the wilderness where Israel had spent 40 years. The journey across the barren wastes was not long, but it was hard. Only about 200 mi. (328 km.) were involved, but he did not need to hurry. He was now safe from pursuit, and could take time to think things through as he made his leisurely way to the mount of God. On the same rugged hills where Moses had held communion with his Lord, there Elijah was to hold special communion with God.

9. Unto a cave. It was from a “clift of the rock” on Sinai that Moses had been given a view of God (Ex. 33:22), and it may have been the same cave where Elijah now took up his lonely abode.

What doest thou here? The question must have cut Elijah to the quick. But it was precisely the question that he needed to consider. Why, after all, was he there? Who had called him there? Was it duty? What was there now to do? Why was he not in Israel, instructing and encouraging those who had so recently turned their backs on Baal? There was great need for his ministry at home, but now Elijah found himself alone in a foreign land. However, this was no time for remorse, but rather for earnest searching of heart. Not until Elijah had regained control of himself, until he had learned to take courage in God and to undertake Heaven’s tasks in Heaven’s ways, would he be ready to return to his homeland to carry on the work from which he had run away. There were many lessons for him to learn. The cave would be his schoolroom, and the Lord, his teacher (see PK 168).

10. Very jealous. Elijah could not get over the fact that he had been very earnest in his work for the Lord, and yet people were seeking to take his life. This world is the enemy’s land, and many men and women are in the enemy’s service. God’s children must realize that in the great controversy Satan’s way must not be entirely hedged, lest the warfare be unfairly waged, and Satan be able to say that he was not given a fair opportunity. To be irritated and ill at ease because things are not according to his liking is hardly the wise attitude for a saint or the proper attitude for a prophet.

11. The Lord passed by. What Elijah needed most was a new vision of God’s strength and of his own weakness. It was at Sinai that the Lord had passed by before Moses, and revealed Himself as “the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6). Here too Elijah was to receive a new conception of God.

Strong wind. As Elijah stepped out of the cave a storm swept across the mountain and an earthquake shook the ground. All seemed to be in commotion, with the heavens on fire and the earth convulsed by forces that seemed about to rend it asunder. All this was in tune with the convulsive spirit of the prophet. What he needed to learn was that, mighty and moving though these forces be, they do not of themselves portray a true picture of the Spirit of God. It is not always the man who creates the greatest commotion who accomplishes the most for God.

12. Still small voice. After the wind and earthquake and fire came silence, and the still small voice of God. Here at length was the Lord as He chose to reveal Himself to His servant.

13. Wrapped his face. Elijah instinctively covered his face before the presence of God. His ruffled spirit was calmed, his impatience subdued. The high-strung, impetuous prophet became meek and submissive, ready to listen to the voice of the Lord. “In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isa. 30:15). Not by bringing down fire from heaven, not by putting to death the prophets of Baal, but by a quiet work in which the Spirit of God would soften and subdue the hardened hearts of sinners, would Elijah see his greatest results secured in service for God, but by the quiet working of the Holy Spirit.

14. Very jealous. The answer is in the same words as before, but with a different spirit. The prophet is now calm and subdued. He is stating the facts, but he no longer holds the same attitude toward them. Men may seek his life, but he is willing now to go on with his work for God. It was a new Elijah who would go forth, not as fire or storm to produce great convulsions to be witnessed by multitudes of men, but in a more quiet manner, speaking to individuals here and there, to produce lasting results in the hearts and lives of men.

15. Go, return. These words teach that the withdrawal of Elijah from his work was wrong, that his mission was not yet over, and that God still had a work for him to do.

Anoint. See on v. 16.

Hazael. See on 1Kings 8:7, 8.

16. Son of Nimshi. Jehu was really the grandson of Nimshi, being the son of Jehoshaphat, who was the son of Nimshi (2 Kings 9:2, 14). But he is commonly known as the son of Nimshi (2 Kings 9:20; 2 Chron. 22:7). The Hebrew word for “son” may be used to designate grandsons or even more distant descendants.

Elisha the son of Shaphat. There is no record that prophets were ever anointed in the literal sense of the term, though such may have been the case here. Certain priests (Ex. 40:15; Num. 3:3) and kings (1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1; 16:3, 13; 2 Kings 9:3, 6; Ps. 89:20) were anointed when first set apart for their specific missions. Inanimate objects were also at times anointed, such as articles associated with the sanctuary (Ex. 29:36; 30:26; 40:9; Lev. 8:10, 11; Num. 7:1), and even stones (Gen. 28:18). Some suggest that the word “anoint” should here be understood in a wider significance, meaning simply to set apart some individual or thing for the accomplishment of some service for God without involving an actual outward and formal anointing (see Judges 9:8). All three, Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha, were to serve for the execution of God’s will and purpose, yet each in a different way. By Hazael, the king of Syria, Israel was continually hard pressed from without (2 Kings 8:12, 29; 10:32; 13:3, 7), this heathen king being employed by the Lord as His instrument for the meting out of punishment (PK 254, 255; cf. Isa. 10:5). By Jehu the kingdom of Israel was shaken within. He was the tool in the hands of the Lord for putting an end to the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal (2 Kings 9:24, 33; 10:1–28).

17. The sword of Hazael. A work of judgment was to be wrought on Israel, and Hazael and Jehu were the instruments chosen to perform this work.

Shall Elisha slay. Elisha’s work was certainly not in the same category with that of Hazael and Jehu. There is no record that Elisha ever used the sword literally to slay anyone. Perhaps Elisha’s work of slaying was to be done in a figurative sense: “I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth” (Hosea 6:5); or in the sense in which Jeremiah’s work was described: “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down” (Jer. 1:10). It is with the Word of God, which is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Heb. 4:12), that prophets do their work of smiting and slaying. Elisha’s mission was one not of physical war but spiritual (2 Cor. 10:3–6); sin was the enemy, and it was wickedness that was to be rooted out of the land, not men.

18. Seven thousand. It does not pay even for a prophet of God to endeavor to number the faithful in Israel. Elijah had twice expressed himself to the effect that he alone was left of the devout in Israel (vs. 10, 14).

Kissed him. Idolaters frequently kissed the hand as a part of their worship (Job 31:26, 27), or the object itself (Hosea 13:2). Idols in heathen temples are still kissed.

19. Plowing. Elisha belonged to a family of some means, as may be indicated by the 12 teams of oxen. We must not assume that the 12 yoke of oxen were all hitched to one plow. Elisha had servants in the field with him, each with his plow, and the oxen were probably distributed to provide one pair for each plow (see PK 218). Elisha was called directly from the plow to prophetic ministry for God.

Mantle. The mantle, made of camel’s hair, was the characteristic robe of the prophets (see Mark 1:6; DA 102). The casting of Elijah’s mantle on Elisha constituted his call.

20. Left the oxen. Elisha’s response was immediate. Though he had followed the oxen and tilled the soil, God saw in him qualifications that would make him a powerful preacher in the cause of righteousness.

Kiss my father. Elisha, recognizing the significance of his call, asked only that before his departure he be allowed to kiss his loved ones farewell.

Go back again. Elisha was being tested, not repulsed. Would he go with Elijah, or would he choose to remain at home? He was making the greatest choice of his life.

21. A yoke of oxen. Elisha took the pair of oxen with which he had been plowing, slew them, and boiled their flesh on a fire kindled with the plow and yoke, thus signifying that he would never need them again. He was turning his back on the past, and entering the service of God.

Ministered unto him. The older prophet was in need of a younger companion and helper. The two were henceforth as one in their work for the Lord. The association reminds us of that of Moses and Joshua, and of Paul and Silas. The two men had different personalities, and the younger, calmer man would be of great help to his older more impetuous associate.

Ellen G. White comments

1–21PK 159–176, 217–220; 1–14 3T 288–292

1     3T 288

1–43T 261

2     PK 159; 3T 289

3     EW 162

3, 4 PK 162

3–93T 289

4     DA 301; Ed 151; PK 160, 228; 3T 290

5–8PK 166

5–93T 291

9     PK 172

9–13PK 168

10–143T 291

11, 12  DA 217; MH 36

13–17PK 169

14   K 189

15   PK 254; 5T 77

16   Ed 151; PK 217

17   PK 254

18   Ev 559; PK 170, 188, 189, 225, 259; 5T 81; 7T 38; 9T 110, 142

19   GW 333; MH 148; PK 218, 219

19–21Ed 58; 5T 82

20, 21  PK 220