#3 QUESTION: WHAT’S THE PROBLEM IN THE CAVE? (What are you doing here?)

Have you ever ventured into somewhere that you knew you were not supposed to be? like in the school hall when you should have been in the classroom? or in the kitchen with your hand reaching toward the cookie jar when your Mom came in? or in the garage when your Dad had said ‘stay out’?

Even as a teenager or adult, we can sometimes find ourselves in the wrong place.

This kind of thing happened to Elijah the prophet. When Jezebel threatened his life, he ran away in fear and hid in a cave. God knew where he was and asked him a rhetorical question to bring him to his senses, 1 Kings 19:9:

“What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah had had a tough three years. He had been given the dangerous task of telling King Ahab that there would be no rain unless commissioned by God. Then, God fed Elijah miraculously during the drought. After three years, God sent him again to Ahab to forecast the end of the drought. When Elijah found Ahab, he arranged a contest between the prophets of Baal and the Lord on Mount Carmel. In this contest, two altars were constructed—one for Baal, one for the Lord—but no fire was put to either. Baal was called upon by his prophets to send fire. Nothing happened. But when Elijah prayed to the Lord, a miraculous fire was sent, 1 Kings 18:38-39:

“Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”

Afterward, Elijah and the people killed the prophets of Baal. Then Elijah told Ahab that rain was coming.

When Ahab told his wife, wicked Jezebel, about the resulting slaughter of her prophets, she sent word to Elijah that she would kill him. In fear, he ran south for his life ultimately ending up in a cave on Mount Horeb. There, God asked and Elijah answered, 1 Kings 19:9-10:

“What are you doing here, Elijah?”

He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Elijah apparently thought he was justified in running away.

God caused Elijah to experience three powerful phenomena: a very strong wind, a strong earthquake, and a great fire. But Elijah realized that God was not in either of the three.

Then the quiet voice of God repeated His question of “What are you doing here?” Elijah repeated his lame excuse.

Then God spoke, 1 Kings 19:15-16:

“And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.”

Note that God did not even discuss Elijah’s lame excuse. God just said, “Go.”

When there is work for the Lord to be done, God will not accept excuses. He had cared for Elijah during the drought and hid him from Ahab. During the contest on Mount Carmel, God had taken care of Elijah and sent fire. He could continue to care for him, come what may. But when Jezebel threatened his life, Elijah’s faith in God’s care seemed to melt, and in fear he ran for his life.

What we can learn from this incident?

  1. When God’s work needs to be done, God does not accept excuses. He just told Elijah to “Go” and gave him three things to do.
  2. Fear can make us forgetful. Elijah should have remembered from his recent experiences that God would provide for him. When we are fearful, we should pray and trust in God.
  3. God knows where we are and why we are there. Twice He asked Elijah a rhetorical question to bring Elijah to his senses. Elijah had run away from where he should have remained to do the work of God. Likewise, we need to think about where we are and what work for the Lord we need to be doing.

Apparently, Elijah learned his lesson and did the important work that God required because at the end of his life, God took Elijah up to heaven in a flaming chariot, 2 Kings 2:11:

“And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

God must have forgiven his moment of weakness because Elijah appeared with Moses on the mount of transfiguration, Matthew 17:2-3:

“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.”

Elijah’s fear, his forgetfulness about God’s ability to take care of him, and running away teaches us to watch where we are and be conscious of what work God has for us to do.

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