1 Kings 19:1 Ach'av told Izevel everything Eliyahu had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword.
2 Then Izevel sent a messenger to say to Eliyahu, "May the gods do terrible things to me and worse ones besides if by this time tomorrow I haven't taken your life, just as you took theirs!" 3 On seeing that, he got up and fled for his life.
When he arrived in Be'er-Sheva, in Y'hudah, he left his servant there; 4 but he himself went a day farther into the desert, until he came to a broom tree. He sat down under it and prayed for his own death. "Enough!" he said. "Now, Yahovah , take my life. I'm no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and went to sleep.
Suddenly, an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat!" 6 He looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on the hot stones and a jug of water. He ate and drank, then lay down again. 7 The angel came again, a second time, touched him and said, "Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you." 8 He got up, ate and drank, and, on the strength of that meal, traveled forty days and nights until he reached Horev the mountain of God.
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. Then the word of Yahovah came to him; he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" 10 He answered, "I have been very jealous for Yahovah the God of armies, because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're coming after me to kill me too." 11 He said, "Go outside, and stand on the mountain before Yahovah "; and right then and there, Yahovah went past. A mighty blast of wind tore the mountains apart and broke the cliffs in pieces before Yahovah , but Yahovah was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake, but Yahovah was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, fire broke out; but Yahovah was not in the fire. And after the fire came a quiet, subdued voice. 13 When Eliyahu heard it, he covered his face with his cloak, stepped out and stood at the entrance to the cave. Then a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" 14 He answered, "I have been very jealous for Yahovah the God of armies; because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're after me to kill me too."
15 Yahovah said to him, "Go back by way of the Dammesek Desert. When you get there, anoint Haza'el to be king over Aram. 16 Also anoint Yehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Isra'el, and anoint Elisha the son of Shafat of Avel-M'cholah to be prophet after you. 17 Yehu will kill whoever escapes the sword of Haza'el, and Elisha will kill whoever escapes the sword of Yehu. 18 Still, I will spare seven thousand in Isra'el, every knee that hasn't bent down before Ba'al and every mouth that has not kissed him."
19 So he left and found Elisha the son of Shafat. He was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen; he himself was behind the twelfth. Eliyahu went over to him and threw his cloak on him. 20 He left the oxen, ran after Eliyahu and said, "Please let me kiss my father and mother; then I will follow you." He answered, "Go; but return, because of what I did to you." 21 Elisha stopped following him. Then he took the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them, cooked their meat over the wooden yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people to eat. Then he got up, went after Eliyahu and became his servant.
1. Although Eliyahu was in a very weak emotional condition, Yahovah told him to go to anoint a man to be king of Israel. Has Yahovah ever used you to do his work when you were going through a time of emotional weakness? What scriptures in the Brit Chadasha does this bring to mind?
2. Eliyahu sat down under a tree and prayed for his own death. "Enough!" he said. "Now, Yahovah , take my life. I'm no better than my ancestors." Then he laid down and went to sleep. After seeing Yahovah work so supernaturally against the enemies of Yahovah, Eliyahu was ready to give up his life. In fact he prayed for Yahovah to take it. Have you ever seen Yahovah work mightily for you and within 24 hours you fall into a depression over some situation or circumstance in your life? How can you remain victorious when your mind, your genuine personal battlefield, becomes under attack by your own thoughts or the fiery dart thoughts from evil spirits?
3. Suddenly, an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat!" He looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on the hot stones and a jug of water. He ate and drank, then lay down again. Can you imagine that? Although an angel appeared to Eliyahu, he was so used to the supernatural realm, that the angel didn't have to say, "Don't be afraid," or anything similar. He looked, saw the cake and water, ate and drank and laid down again! Would you like to have the supernatural realm be that close to your life? As I mentioned before, we are not to seek supernatural signs and wonders, but to seek the one who controls them. How has your life changed since you began these lessons? How can you seek Yahovah more? Are there some hours that you spend on the computer or watching TV or doing other leisure activities that you could use to spend more time in G-d's word or in prayer?
4. Eliyahu was going through a challenging period in his life. In fact, he told G-d about it as if G-d didn't have all knowledge. Eliyahu imagined the possibility of being killed. He said, "I have been very jealous for Yahovah the God of armies; because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're after me to kill me too." He had no idea that he would be going up to heaven in a whirlwind. Have there been times in your life when you thought about possible unpleasant outcomes of certain situations? List three current issues concerning you and three possible positive outcomes. G-d is love. Without faith it is impossible to please him.
5. Ach'av told Izevel everything Eliyahu had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword. Then Izevel sent a messenger to say to Eliyahu, "May the gods do terrible things to me and worse ones besides if by this time tomorrow I haven't taken your life, just as you took theirs!" As we will see in a later chapter, according to her own words, Izevel, was thrown down. When they went to bury her, they found no more of her than her skull, feet and hands. Yahovah said through Eliyahu that dogs would eat the flesh of Izevel. We have to watch what we say. The Jewish Holy Scriptures tell us that life and death are in the hand of the tongue. The Hebrew word for "hand", is also sometimes translated as power, but the literal translation is "hand". It is as if what we say can hand life or death to our circumstances.
6. Fleeing from Izevel, Eliyahu traveled forty days and nights until he reached Horev the mountain of God, the place where G-d spoke to Moshe from the burning bush and where Moshe received the Ten Commandments. There Eliyahu went into a cave and spent the night. Then the word of Yahovah came to him; he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" Eliyahu answered, "I have been very jealous for Yahovah, the God of armies, because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're coming after me to kill me too." Eliyahu was fleeing to a physical location. It was a location which was renowned for being a holy place. Could he have made the place where he originally was "a place of Yahovah's presence"? How can we learn to be aware of Yahovah's presence anywhere? It is Jewish tradition to pray three times a day. Could this give us a new awareness? I know an anointed man of G-d that has his watch set to ring every hour so he can "Praise the Lord." Would you be willing to set an alarm in your cell phone, watch, clock, etc., to ring three times a day to remind you to be walking in the spirit and not in the flesh, thereby being more aware of the Spirit of Yahovah being present with you?
7. Eliyahu tells Yahovah that the people of Isra'el have abandoned Yahovah's covenant, broken down Yahovah's altars and killed Yahovah's prophets with the sword. He then makes the statement that he, Eliyahu is the only one left. But Yahovah corrects him stating that there are seven thousand in Isra'el who have not bent their knee to Ba'al. Yeshua once asked, "Who are you to judge another man's servant." We need to be careful not to judge but to pray in private for those people. Have you ever compared your spirituality with the spirituality of other people? Has Yahovah ever shown you that you were wrong?
8. Eliyahu was in Yizre'el when Izevel's messenger brought him Izevel's threat. He then fled south approximately 100 miles over mountainous terrain until he reached Be'er-Sheva where he left his servant. He then proceeded south over another 200 miles which took him 40 days to reach Mt Horev. There Yahovah told him to go to the Dammesek Desert. To do that he had to go north of Mt. Horev, north of Be'er-Sheva, and north of Yizre'el. The trip would have been over 400 miles. A 400 mile trip in a car is no thrill! Can you image going that distance without modern transportation? If he had not run off, intimidated by Izevel's words, when Yahovah told him to go to the Dammesek Desert he would have been in Yizre'el and saved himself from what was over a 700 mile trip. Have you ever made a trip which was proven to be a waste of time, effort and money? What motivated you to go on that trip? Was it a trip across the sea or across the street? It doesn't matter. We need to be motivated by the fruits and gifts of the spirit and Yahovah's gentle or not so gentle nudge or voice. How can you learn to wait upon the Ruach Hakodesh's leading more and relax as your strength is renewed like an eagle's?
9. Yahovah asked Eliyahu a question and Eliyahu answered him in an emotionally charged way, filled with with pride and fear. He even reminded Yahovah that Yahovah was the Yahovah of war. Then Yahovah told him to go outside and stand on a mountain. Yahovah brought a mighty wind, tore mountains apart, broke cliffs in pieces, brought an earthquake and then a fire. Hmm, breaking of mountains, earthquake and fire. Those things should have really gotten Eliyahu's attention. So what change did those things make in his emotional state? Yahovah asked him the same question and even after all those "acts of G-d", there was no change in Eliyahu's mood. Eliyahu, displaying no mood change, answers him in exactly the same way. Has Yahovah done something physically or naturally unexplainable for you? Has he answered a prayer for you in a very strong and real way? Do you ever allow yourself to get prideful or fearful because you forget that he can intervene in your life? List a few things here that fit the unexplainable or strong answer to prayer that Yahovah has done for you. Practice remembering those testimonies to his love and power the next time you find yourself in a challenging situation.
10. Eliyahu found Elisha plowing and threw his cloak on him. We are not told how, but obviously Elisha knew he was being chosen for a specific position within the nation of Israel. Elisha then went to kiss his parents and slaughter his twenty four oxen. He not only destroyed his valuable property, but he also destroyed important tools of his trade. He was surrendering all. He was giving up and abandoning all possessions and all of the control of his life. How much are you willing to surrender? Perhaps you say I will gladly surrender this, but oh, not that. Perhaps you say I will surrender this part of my trade, but not everything! I surrender all, leaves no fragments, no secret stashes, no secret agendas, no secret plans of return. Yeshua once said, "They will say to me, 'Adonai, Adonai (Lord, Lord).'" Do you say that to him? Do you say that he is your Lord? Why? Perhaps you are born-again and have applied Yeshua's shed blood as the atonement for your sins. In this case, he is certainly your savior, but for him to be Lord, you must surrender your will to his. What would be the three most difficult things or situations for you to surrender to Yahovah? Will you surrender them now?
Spend a few minutes now meditating and praying about any issues that the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) brought to your heart while taking this first Yeshua Connection study.
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