December 3, 2023 - Fear As A Means
Notes
Transcript
For the past couple of weeks - we’ve taken a close look at - Elijah - the prophet of God.
We’ve seen him as a Man of Prayer...
That BEING a man in constant COMMUNION with God - he was connected to...
God’s Posture in the World
God’s Providence
God’s Preparation
God’s Power
We’ve also seen him as a Man of Conviction
That BEING a man of CONVICTION - his conviction...
Was Contagious (he convinced Obadiah to Trust God) - Elijah’s conviction became Obadiah’s conviction.
Corrected the Culture
Was Without Compromise (Pick a Side - the side of Truth)
Elijah was SO convicted in his obedience to God...
SO convicted about WHO GOD WAS...
That he was - - OVERTLY CONFIDENT!
Borderline - cocky…and we’ll see that again - in a bit.
But today - we’re going to walk through something I know each of us has experienced...
SOMETHING that - is another MEANS of God - that He uses for His purposes...
YET - something that we distort - and IN DISTORTING - get off track.
FEAR - Fear, like Conviction - can be AIMED at the RIGHT thing - or the WRONG thing.
We mentioned last week that the apostle Paul was a VERY CONVICTED follower of Jesus...
He wouldn’t be stopped…in proclaiming the name of Christ.
Paul CHANGED his priorities
He wouldn’t let tiredness, bad weather, suffering, or anything stop him
He was CONVICTED!!
But he was ALSO convicted - BEFORE he believed!
His conviction - PRIOR to conversion - was AIMED at the wrong thing - yet it was ACTIVE and REAL!
Fear can be the same way…as we’ll see.
As i mentioned before - Elijah - was OVERTLY confident in God - and it was due to his CONVICTION about who God was.
SOO confident - he said this - last week...
27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
Elijah here - telling the Prophets of Baal that their god is useless… worthless - non-existent.
Mocking them - as he does it.
And so he puts a CHALLENGE out before the people…**
The prophets of Baal put their bull on the altar - but nothing happens - HENCE - the MOCKING we just read.
AND THEN - he puts his own bull on the altar - and tells them to DUMP water all over it - 3 times...
WHY?
To show them that the God of Israel - would cause it to BURN regardless - because He is the TRUE God!!
THAT’S conviction!!
And if you remember - Of course - God sends fire to consume the offering - and the people cry out that the LORD IS GOD.
Elijah then captures all of the prophets of Baal - and executes them.
AND SO - based on last week - we SAW Elijah - on a HIGH!!
a VICTORIOUS High!!
God came through for him.
And NOW - this week?
1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
ALRIGHT!
WOW - feels like the Cleveland Browns? no?
We’re SOO HAPPY one minute - WE WON!!
And then the NEXT minute - He’s OUT for the season?
UGH!!!
Elijah had just MOCKED the 450 prophets of Baal - before God displayed His AWESOME power!
He was just on the MOUNTAIN-TOP of victory!
BUT.... a THREAT came his way… AND
3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
SLIDE: Fear Misplaced: Brings Spiritual Amnesia
Fear Misplaced
Fear Misplaced
Elijah was literally standing on the mountain of victory...
God had just spoken to him...
AND IN A MOMENT - like a breeze in the wind...
FEAR came.
Ahab’s wife - Jezebel - makes a threat to KILL Elijah...
and to clarify - Jezebel was GOOD at doing that very thing!
She had already taken out MANY prophets of God...
Obadiah REMINDED Elijah about this when they spoke...
13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water?
So Elijah KNEW that Jezebel had the ability to KILL him...
BUT - even after experiencing the HIGH of God’s Victory over the prophets of Baal...
FEAR caused him to - FORGET it even happened.
Fear - misplaced - can bring Spiritual amnesia!
Where have we seen this kind of thing before??
How about David?
15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God.
17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.”
Remember this?
Saul was AFTER David at this point - Which MEANS....
David had already experienced - MANY miracles of God in his life...
AND YET - with Saul trying to kill him - he became FEARFUL...
NOW - It’s a natural reaction right?
It is - BUT - that doesn’t mean we have to BOW to it.
How about the other incident we’ve been talking about lately…?
PETER
On the water - walking toward Christ!… IN FAITH...
But then - the WIND picked up!
The WAVES began to CRASH...
And - FEAR kicked in.
Once FEAR kicked in - his faith began to - SINK!
And SO did HE!
Fear CAUSED him to forget his prior steps of FAITH...
It caused him to forget his prior - GOD-POWERED steps of faith!
Here’s how I think we can look at Fear in this world...
It’s a natural reaction to life...
BUT...
The Bible also tells us not to be Anxious…about anything!
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
NOW - we may think - WELL - WHOEVER WROTE this - has NO IDEA what life is all about - NO IDEA what suffering can do to a person… (Uhh…Paul wrote this - - from prison).
Well what does that require?
It requires a CONSTANT trust in - God.
It requires us to CONSTANTLY live - and stand - in the victory of Christ.
Because doing THAT - allows us to - NOT FORGET - God’s...
prior work in our lives
help
guidance
victory - in our lives.
NOW - Up to this point - I know we all can RELATE to what Elijah is going through - here… He’s afraid.
We’ve all dealt with Fear...
Fear of tomorrow...
Fear of loneliness
Fear of speaking for Christ…living for Christ
Fear of the UNKNOWN...
But - let’s look at how this story plays out - and we’re gonna see how God can help us in this...
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
Now - what we see here is - Elijah - getting to the point where he’s ready to end it all.
“Take away my life” - he says to God.
NOW - the fear that caused him to RUN AWAY to try to STAY ALIVE…- has now caused him to want to end it all and end his life.
His service to the Lord has brought him to - a place of - “it’s over”
“I can’t do this anymore”
The WEIGHT of ‘the mission’ - had broken him.
He was at - the bottom.
But what happens?
Remember when the Ravens came and fed him?
Remember when the widow fed him?
Well - NOW - who feeds him?
5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
As you can see in v7 here - it says - THE ANGEL of the LORD came a second time...
If you were to study that phrase - “the Angel of the Lord” - you would come to find out that this here - REFERS to the preincarnate - Christ.
This is Christ Himself - coming and feeding Elijah.
And so what can we pull from this?
**FRIDAY - connection in text - hidden in the translation (i’ll get to that in a bit)
But let’s read thru the rest of the text - and see what the theme is - that we’ll finish with today...
7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 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.”
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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.
12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 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.”
15 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.
16 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.
17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
OK - so what do we see here - in this exchange between Elijah - and God?
We see - a man who was BROKEN...
A man who was at the end of his rope...
RESTORED
Restoration is what we see here...
AND YET - there’s an interesting connection (I THINK) in this passage - to another story in Scripture.
I didn’t find this in some commentary - and so maybe I shouldn’t have made the connection - but I think it exists for a reason, and so we’ll go with it.
When I read this passage initially - and I read in v8 - this - -
8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
When I read this - I glanced right over it.
But then I did some research on Mount Horeb...
Come to find out - maybe you all knew this already - but Mount Horeb - is by all accounts -
Mount Sinai
And so - when I found that out - My mind right away - went to the Israelites in the wilderness.
And I started to see some connections between the Wilderness - The Israelites ON THEIR WAY to Sinai...
And - Elijah - ON HIS WAY - to Sinai.
And the first thing I want us to see - IN THIS CONNECTION - that we’ll walk through - is...
SLIDE: God Restores: Preparing Us for His Restoration
God Restores
God Restores
And we see this - in BOTH accounts here.
In the account of the Wilderness - What do we see?
The people of God are ON THEIR WAY - to Mt. Sinai
• We remember that right after the miracle at the Red Sea, and right after the Israelites finished singing praises to God...
• ...that they begin complaining about being thirsty.
• And it's at this point that God begins to reveal Himself to His people.
• In Exodus 15:26, God begins by revealing Himself to the Israelites as Yahweh Rapha. (Hebrew)
26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
• "I AM, Healer"..."I AM, heals"
• ...and in context..."heals you".
• "I AM heals you"
• "I AM heals you of your complaining, judgmental, bitter, self-centered heart"
I AM HEALS you of your - FEAR
• And AGAIN - this is on the way to Mt. Sinai... They’re not there yet…
God is – PREPARING THEM…
• In Chapter 16 of Exodus, they're still on their way to Mt. Sinai, and if you recall, the people begin complaining now about food.
• They're hungry.
• So God says - Alright, i'll just drop some quail on them. (heavenly quail)
• AND, every morning, i'll put this flaky substance on the ground...
• ...It will look like dew, but when it dries it will be edible.
• And so the first time the Israelites come out and they look at this stuff on the ground they say - Man-hu
• In Hebrew it's - "What is it?" - Manna
GOD - FEEDS THEM!!
• in chapter 17 of Exodus? What do we see??
• The first battle of Israel.
• Where Joshua and his army are fighting in the valley...
• ...and Moses, Aaron, and Hur go up to the top of a hill.
• On that hill, whenever Moses would hold up his hand, Joshua would prevail.
• And so on their way to Mt. Sinai in chapter 17 verse 15, God reveals Himself to Israel as Yahweh Nissi.
What does this mean?
15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,
• "I AM, your banner...banner of victory"
• And so we're not even at Mt. Sinai yet and God is revealing Himself to His people...
SLIDE:
Israelites in the Wilderness:
I AM heals you
I AM your victory
NOW - Back to ELIJAH - What happened?
God fed Elijah
by way of the RAVENS
by way of the Widow
God Sustained him / provided for him
And even as we read in our text today - BEFORE Elijah made the journey to Mt. Horeb (Sinai)...
God HIMSELF - came to him and - FED HIM!
Just PRIOR to feeding Elijah…under the BROOM tree...
God ALSO revealed Himself to Elijah - and to the people of Israel - as - their BANNER -
Their VICTORY!!
Remember last WEEK - WHO WON between God - and Baal?
God DID! Of Course
And He - GOD - revealed Himself - AGAIN - as their VICTORY
And ALL of THIS - DONE on Elijah’s WAY to - Mt. Sinai.
God EMPOWERS - our pursuit of Restoration!
Lest we think we do ANY PART of this - in our own power.
He PREPARES us - for Restoration…and THINK about how that truth plays itself out throughout Scripture!
With the Israelites coming out of Egypt...
God prepared the people
He provided the lamb - as Healer
He was Victorious over the Egyptian Gods
We talked about - The Israelites in the Wilderness
God PREPARED the people
He would guard them from disease...
He provided food and drink
He was their Victory in battle
And all of it - leading to Mt. Sinai...
WHERE - in both cases, we see this...
SLIDE: God Restores: Through the Power of His Word
God Restores
God Restores
Regarding the Israelites in the wilderness...
What happened?
God was Victorious against the Egyptian gods...
He brought the people out -
YET EVEN SO - Moses goes up the mountain - and - the people - they begin worshiping a false idol.
Moses - brings down - God’s Word… God’s Law...
And it’s God’s Law that restores the people
NOT ULTIMATELY...
But it POINTS to the Restoration found in the coming Messiah!
Regarding our text today - Elijah comes to Mt. Horeb (Sinai)...
And this happens...
1 Kings 19:9–14 (ESV)
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 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.”
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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.
12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 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.”
The text tells us that the WORD OF THE LORD came to Elijah!
NOW - at this point - Restoration hasn’t occurred...
But we’ll get to that in the text.
See Elijah believes that HE is the ONLY prophet left...
Jezebel has killed MANY of the prophets...
BUT so have the people as well!
AND so it seems that Elijah’s under the impression that God’s MISSION is sunk...
OR AT THE VERY LEAST - that Elijah himself is done trying to redeem mankind on his own.
But I think it’s important to know that God here - prior to RESTORING....
Asks Elijah what he is doing there.
It seems that God wants HONESTY...
God knows that Restoration can only occur when I embrace the TRUTH about where I’m at before the Lord!
When God asked Elijah why he was there...
Did God already know the answer?
YES
But He asked… because He wants Elijah to HONESTLY assess where he is, WHY he’s there...
And ONLY THEN - can restoration occur.
We need to know this!
RESTORATION can’t OCCUR for US - if we’re not honest with God about WHERE WE’RE at!!
Remember what God told the woman at the well?
He told her to go bring her husband to the well!
What did she say?
She responded - I have NO husband!
Jesus’ reply -
17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;
See - Jesus already knew the ANSWER...
Yet He wanted the woman - to get to a place of honesty!
So that she could RECEIVE restoration from His word!
If I can’t be honest with myself about where I’m at...
What sins I struggle with...
The depth of my struggle...
THEN will i EVER be able to be restored by God’s WORD?
Will I ever APPLY God’s word - to my life?
No.
So there must be TRUTH - honesty!
And if God is merciful - He will prepare us by getting us to a place of honesty.
So that His word can have its EFFECT!
Something else I think we should see here is what God said to Elijah - WHILE IN THE CAVE...
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
So Elijah is in this cave...
God asks him what he’s doing there...
Elijah responds - tells God why he’s there - BUT THEN God says this...
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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.
Elijah was in the cave...
And God said - Go out and STAND BEFORE THE LORD! THEN ask your question.
And so - this may seem strange - but it’s something we see elsewhere in scripture...
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
God told Moses to - COME UP to Me
SO THAT THERE - I can give you My - - Word
2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.
God says - COME UP and present yourself to Me
And he said the same thing to Elijah...
What could this point to??
I think - it points to God teaching mankind that we come to God on HIS TERMS!
And AS we know - His terms are - Jesus Christ!
We come to God by way of Jesus Christ - ALONE!
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We can ONLY come to God on His terms!
And WHEN we DO that - He will RESTORE us!
His WORD will restore!!
What ends up happening with Elijah?
Elijah was concerned that he himself was the ONLY prophet LEFT - and that he was about to be killed!
God responds...
15 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.
16 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.
17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
God’s WORD - tells Elijah -
Listen - I know you’ve been through a lot.
BUT - What YOU think - isn’t reality!
You think that my plan is about to fall apart - and that all of this will be for naught!
You ASSUMED - and probably desired - that the victory over the prophets of Baal would be the end of all of this!
That’s not the case...
You are NOT the only prophet left.
I am in control - and I am keeping 7000 as a remnant!
This word of the Lord - brought COMFORT to Elijah!
it emboldened him - to not give up on his Ministry!
God said ...
1 Kings 19:15 (ESV)
15 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.
God said - I’m not DONE with you!
There’s still WORK to do!
“Return - Go back the way you came”...
In a sense - LOOK that FEAR in the eyes - that FEAR that brought you here...
AND preach to it -
My God - is my HEALER
My God - is my Victory!
SUMMARY
SLIDE: Fear Misplaced: Brings Spiritual Amnesia
Fear Misplaced
Fear Misplaced
But FEAR as a means of GOD - fearing the Lord… is used by God to bring us to a place of Restoration!
SLIDE:
God Restores...
Preparing Us for His Restoration
Through the Power of His Word