SEPTEMBER 28, 2024 – ALONE

READ: 1 Pet. 4:12-19

… “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, … for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant … I alone am left; and they seek to take my life. – 1 Kin. 19:9,10

The LORD calls Elijah to account. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” This highlights that Elijah is so far removed from his work in Israel. Not only has he fled, but he has also abandoned God’s people. Horeb is the place where another great prophet, Moses, met with God when the people were practicing sinful idolatry and risking God’s crushing wrath.

At that time, Moses pleaded for God’s mercy. He was even willing to give his own life in place of the unfaithful people. The LORD could not agree to that . Moses also had too little regard for God’s justice.

Now Elijah comes to this same mountain, Horeb, before the LORD. Elijah comes with a devastating accusation. The Israelites have abandoned Your covenant. They have ended the service of atonement by overthrowing the altars. They have stopped the proclamation of Your Word by killing the prophets.

Elijah now seeks confirmation of his judgment from the LORD. Divine justice must be declared here. But in Elijah’s words, there is no room for grace, as with Moses. There is no appeal to God’s mercy. Whereas Moses had too little regard for God’s justice and emphasized grace, it is the opposite with Elijah. Elijah stands up for the LORD’s name, for His justice, and rightly so, but like Moses, he is incomplete. Their service calls for the coming of Christ, who will uphold God’s righteous judgment while also demonstrating His great mercy.

Furthermore, Elijah’s response contains much self-pity, essentially a complaint against the LORD. In this, Christ surpasses him. The prophet Elijah finds himself alone, facing death. But only Christ, as a prophet, was truly abandoned, even by His Father, and endured eternal death without any complaint to save His people.

Is joy amidst tribulation superhuman?                           

Sing: Ps. 71:5,6