Elijah's retreat on Mount Horeb, though hidden from man, was known to God; and the weary and discouraged prophet was not left to struggle alone with the powers of darkness that were pressing upon him. At the entrance to the cave wherein Elijah had taken refuge, God met with him, through a mighty angel sent to inquire into his needs and to make plain the divine purpose for Israel.
Not until Elijah had learned
to trust wholly in God could he complete his work for those who
had been seduced into Baal worship. The signal triumph on the
heights of Carmel had opened the way for still greater victories;
yet from the wonderful opportunities opening before him, Elijah
had been turned away by the threat of Jezebel. The man of God
must be made to understand the weakness of his present position
as compared with the vantage ground the Lord would have him occupy.
God met His tried servant with the inquiry, "What doest thou here, Elijah? I sent you to the brook Cherith and afterward to the widow of Sarepta. I commissioned you to return to Israel and to stand before the idolatrous priests on Carmel, and I girded you with strength to guide the chariot of the king to the gate of Jezreel. But who sent you on this hasty flight into the wilderness? What errand have you here?
In bitterness of soul Elijah mourned out his complaint: "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
Calling upon the prophet to leave the cave, the angel bade him stand before the Lord on the mount, and listen to His word. "And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave."
Not in mighty manifestations
of divine power, but by "a still small voice," did God
choose to reveal Himself to His servant. He desired to teach Elijah
that it is not always the work that makes the greatest demonstration
that is most successful in accomplishing His purpose. While Elijah
waited for the revelation of the Lord, a tempest rolled, the lightnings
flashed, and a devouring fire swept by; but God was not in all
this. Then there came a still, small voice, and the prophet covered
his head before the presence of the Lord. His petulance was silenced,
his spirit softened and subdued. He now knew that a quiet trust,
a firm reliance on God, would ever find for him a present help
in time of need.
It is not always the most learned presentation of God's truth that convicts and converts the soul. Not by eloquence or logic are men's hearts reached, but by the sweet influences of the Holy Spirit, which operate quietly yet surely in transforming and developing character. It is the still, small voice of the Spirit of God that has power to change the heart.
"What doest thou here, Elijah?" the voice inquired; and again the prophet answered, "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
The Lord answered Elijah that the wrongdoers in Israel should not go unpunished. Men were to be especially chosen to fulfill the divine purpose in the punishment of the idolatrous kingdom. There was stern work to be done, that all might be given opportunity to take their position on the side of the true God. Elijah himself was to return to Israel, and share with others the burden of bringing about a reformation.
"Go," the Lord
commanded Elijah, "return on thy way to the wilderness of
Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over
Syria: and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king
over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt
thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass,
that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and
him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay."
Elijah had thought that he alone in Israel was a worshiper of the true God. But He who reads the hearts of all revealed to the prophet that there were many others who, through the long years of apostasy, had remained true to Him. "I have left Me," God said, "seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."
From Elijah's experience
during those days of discouragement and apparent defeat there
are many lessons to be drawn, lessons invaluable to the servants
of God in this age, marked as it is by general departure from
right. The apostasy prevailing today is similar to that which
in the prophet's day overspread Israel. In the exaltation of the
human above the divine, in the praise of popular leaders, in the
worship of mammon, and in the placing of the teachings of science
above the truths of revelation, multitudes today are following
after Baal. Doubt and unbelief are exercising their baleful influence
over mind and heart, and many are substituting for the oracles
of God the theories of men. It is publicly taught that we have
reached a time when human reason should be exalted above the teachings
of the Word. The law of God, the divine standard of righteousness,
is declared to be of no effect. The enemy of all truth is working
with deceptive power to cause men and women to place human institutions
where God should be, and to forget that which was ordained for
the happiness and salvation of mankind.
Yet this apostasy, widespread as it has come to be, is not universal. Not all in the world are lawless and sinful; not all have taken sides with the enemy. God has many thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal, many who long to understand more fully in regard to Christ and the law, many who are hoping against hope that Jesus will come soon to end the reign of sin and death. And there are many who have been worshiping Baal ignorantly, but with whom the Spirit of God is still striving.
These need the personal help of those who have learned to know God and the power of His word. In such a time as this, every child of God should be actively engaged in helping others. As those who have an understanding of Bible truth try to seek out the men and women who are longing for light, angels of God will attend them. And where angels go, none need fear to move forward. As a result of the faithful efforts of consecrated workers, many will be turned from idolatry to the worship of the living God. Many will cease to pay homage to man-made institutions and will take their stand fearlessly on the side of God and His law.
Much depends on the unceasing activity of those who are true and loyal, and for this reason Satan puts forth every possible effort to thwart the divine purpose to be wrought out through the obedient. He causes some to lose sight of their high and holy mission, and to become satisfied with the pleasures of this life. He leads them to settle down at ease, or, for the sake of greater worldly advantages, to remove from places where they might be a power for good. Others he causes to flee in discouragement from duty, because of opposition or persecution. But all such are regarded by Heaven with tenderest pity. To every child of God whose voice the enemy of souls had succeeded in silencing, the question is addressed, "What doest thou here?" I commissioned you to go into all the world and preach the gospel, to prepare a people for the day of God. Why are you here? Who sent you?
The joy set before Christ, the joy that sustained Him through sacrifice and suffering, was the joy of seeing sinners saved. This should be the joy of every follower of His, the spur to his ambition. Those who realize, even in a limited degree, what redemption means to them and to their fellow men, will comprehend in some measure the vast needs of humanity. Their hearts will be moved to compassion as they see the moral and spiritual destitution of thousands who are under the shadow of a terrible doom, in comparison with which physical suffering fades into nothingness.
Of families, as of individuals,
the question is asked, "What doest thou here?" In many
churches there are families well instructed in the truths of God's
word, who might widen the sphere of their influence by moving
to places in need of the ministry they are capable of giving.
God calls for Christian families to go into the dark places of
the earth and work wisely and perseveringly for those who are
enshrouded in spiritual gloom. To answer this call requires self-sacrifice.
While many are waiting to have every obstacle removed, souls are
dying, without hope and without God. For the sake of worldly advantage,
for the sake of acquiring scientific knowledge, men are willing
to venture into pestilential regions and to endure hardship and
privation. Where are those who are willing to do as much for the
sake of telling others of the Saviour?
If, under trying circumstances, men of spiritual power, pressed beyond measure, become discouraged and desponding, if at times they see nothing desirable in life, that they should choose it, this is nothing strange or new. Let all such remember that one of the mightiest of the prophets fled for his life before the rage of an infuriated woman. A fugitive, weary and travel-worn, bitter disappointment crushing his spirits, he asked that he might die. But it was when hope was gone and his lifework seemed threatened with defeat, that he learned one of the most precious lessons of his life. In the hour of his greatest weakness he learned the need and the possibility of trusting God under circumstances the most forbidding.
Those who, while spending
their life energies in self-sacrificing labor, are tempted to
give way to despondency and distrust, may gather courage from
the experience of Elijah. God's watchful care, His love, His power,
are especially manifest in behalf of His servants whose zeal is
misunderstood or unappreciated, whose counsels and reproofs are
slighted, and whose efforts toward reform are repaid with hatred
and opposition.
It is at the time of greatest
weakness that Satan assails the soul with the fiercest temptations.
It was thus that he hoped to prevail over the Son of God; for
by this policy he had gained many victories over man. When the
will power weakened and faith failed, then those who had stood
long and valiantly for the right yielded to temptation. Moses,
wearied with forty years of wandering and unbelief, lost for a
moment his hold on Infinite Power. He failed just on the borders
of the Promised Land. So with Elijah. He who had maintained his
trust in Jehovah during the years of drought and famine, he who
had stood undaunted before Ahab, he who throughout that trying
day on Carmel had stood before the whole nation of Israel the
sole witness to the true God, in a moment of weariness allowed
the fear of death to overcome his faith in God.
And so it is today. When we are encompassed with doubt, perplexed by circumstances, or afflicted by poverty or distress, Satan seeks to shake our confidence in Jehovah. It is then that he arrays before us our mistakes and tempts us to distrust God, to question His love. He hopes to discourage the soul and break our hold on God.
Those who, standing in the
forefront of the conflict, are impelled by the Holy Spirit to
do a special work, will frequently feel a reaction when the pressure
is removed. Despondency may shake the most heroic faith and weaken
the most steadfast will. But God understands, and He still pities
and loves. He reads the motives and the purposes of the heart.
To wait patiently, to trust when everything looks dark, is the
lesson that the leaders in God's work need to learn. Heaven will
not fail them in their day of adversity.
Nothing is apparently more
helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels
its nothingness and relies wholly on God.
Not alone for men in positions of large responsibility is the lesson of Elijah's experience in learning anew how to trust God in the hour of trial. He who was Elijah's strength is strong to uphold every struggling child of His, no matter how weak. Of everyone He expects loyalty, and to everyone He grants power according to the need. In his own strength man is strengthless; but in the might of God he may be strong to overcome evil and to help others to overcome. Satan can never gain advantage of him who makes God his defense. "Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength." Isaiah 45:24.
Fellow Christian, Satan knows your weakness; therefore cling to Jesus. Abiding in God's love, you may stand every test. The righteousness of Christ alone can give you power to stem the tide of evil that is sweeping over the world. Bring faith into your experience. Faith lightens every burden, relieves every weariness. Providences that are now mysterious you may solve by continued trust in God. Walk by faith in the path He marks out. Trials will come, but go forward. This will strengthen your faith and fit you for service. The records of sacred history are written, not merely that we may read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God's servants of old may work in us. In no less marked manner will the Lord work now, wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power.
To us, as to Peter, the
word is spoken, "Satan hath desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not." Luke 22:31, 32. Christ will never abandon those
for whom He has died. We may leave Him and be overwhelmed with
temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has
paid the ransom of His own life. Could our spiritual vision be
quickened, we should see souls bowed under oppression and burdened
with grief, pressed as a cart beneath sheaves, and ready to die
in discouragement. We should see angels flying quickly to the
aid of these tempted ones, forcing back the hosts of evil that
encompass them, and placing their feet on the sure foundation.
The battles waging between the two armies are as real as those
fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of the spiritual
conflict eternal destinies depend.
In the vision of the prophet Ezekiel there was the appearance of a hand beneath the wings of the cherubim. This is to teach God's servants that it is divine power that gives success. Those whom God employs as His messengers are not to feel that His work is dependent on them. Finite beings are not left to carry this burden of responsibility. He who slumbers not, who is continually at work for the accomplishment of His designs, will carry forward His work. He will thwart the purposes of wicked men and will bring to confusion the counsels of those who plot mischief against His people. He who is the King, the Lord of hosts, sitteth between the cherubim, and amidst the strife and tumult of nations. He guards His children still. When the strongholds of kings shall be overthrown, when the arrows of wrath shall strike through the hearts of His enemies, His people will be safe in His hands.
