The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
(1 Kings 19:11-12)
When looking at all the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, we see that all of them were bad kings. They all led the people to worship idols and do evil in the sight of the Lord. However, the most evil among them were King Ahab and his wife Queen Jezebel.
During the reign of King Ahab, God commanded a prophet, Elijah, to go against Ahab’s 850 false prophets alone on Mount Carmel. When Elijah had relied on God to secure a great victory, he thought that King Ahab and the people, who had seen this great miracle of fire coming down from heaven, would have changed their ways, gotten rid of their idols, and returned to the Lord. However, under the coercion of the queen, they had no ability to change even after seeing the miracle. Even Queen Jezebel had no fear of the miracle on Mount Carmel. Instead, she issued an order to have Elijah killed.
As a result, Elijah lost all hope and began to run for his life, even begging God to let him die. Fortunately, God took care of his weaknesses and his needs, sending angels twice to provide him with bread and water, which gave him the strength to walk 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, where he lived in a cave. Today, when we work for the Lord and encounter setbacks or blame, we often lose heart like Elijah did, thinking that we have already tried our best and things just did not work out. Fortunately, God always comforts and supports us, and accompanies us through our low points, so we should not give up our heart to work for the Lord.
When Elijah was in the cave, God asked him, “What are you doing here?” Elijah didn’t understand the reason why God asked this question, so he responded: “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:10).
After hearing this, God commanded Elijah to come out and stand on the mountain to face Him. God passed through that place and before Elijah, there was a strong wind which broke the rocks into pieces. It was very terrifying, but God was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but God was not in it. After the earthquake there was a fire, but God was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still, small voice that spoke to Elijah. When Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak, and stood at the entrance of the cave. God then asked him once again, “What are you doing here?” However, he still did not understand the reason why God asked him this question, so he answered God in the same way again.
The Bible says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6). This verse lets us know that the heavens and the hosts are a part of God’s creation, but no matter how amazing they are, they are not God. Today, many people do not worship the true God; rather, they worship the sun, moon, stars, wind, wood, and stone that have been created by God. This is very wrong and very shameful. Elijah was shown thrilling phenomena like strong winds, rocks collapsing, earthquakes, and fire coming from the sky to once again experience the unchanging greatness and power of God in his time of despair. However, God was not in these things. Rather, God only spoke to Elijah in the still, small voice.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind, who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. You who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be moved forever” (Psalm 104:1-5).
God can use the wind as His messenger and the fire as His servant to bring the people back, but He sent Elijah so that he could participate in this work. God did not want him to lose heart in comparing himself to the great faith of his forefathers. God is all powerful and when serving Him, there is no option of giving up.
After Elijah had taken charge and completed the work for God on Mount Carmel, he forgot that before God, he was the servant and God was the master of all the holy work. That is why he felt that he was the only one remaining in Israel who could turn the tide. He may also have thought that at that moment, God would immediately change the situation and correct the faith of the people. However, this was not the case and God even allowed Queen Jezebel to send people to pursue him and kill him. As a result, Elijah was extremely disappointed in himself and wished for death. It turns out that no matter how great a prophet is, he is still flesh and blood with the same emotions as other people (James 5:17). So, when they encounter setbacks or difficulties, they also begin to lose heart.
Fortunately, God shook Elijah’s heart with a great phenomenon, and then spoke to Elijah in the still, small voice. This allowed Elijah to understand that although great miracles are awesome, what changes people’s hearts are the gentle words of God. Today, the Holy Spirit speaks to us all the time, just like how God spoke to Elijah back then. Even though the voice is gentle and small, it is full of the power of love and will turn and change our stubborn hearts from time to time.
From the ancient times until now, the world has always been filled with all kinds of voices that rebel against the true God. What is sad is that people would rather listen to the voices of this world rather than the pure and holy voice of God. God’s words are like the gentle rain. It once came to Elijah in a still, small voice following the fire. Today, God is sending out this still, small voice around us to comfort and watch over us. Do we hear it?
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