mh_parser/vol_split/11 - 1Kings/Chapter 19.xml

<div2 id="iKi.xx" n="xx" next="iKi.xxi" prev="iKi.xix" progress="59.53%" title="Chapter XIX">
<h2 id="iKi.xx-p0.1">F I R S T   K I N G S</h2>
<h3 id="iKi.xx-p0.2">CHAP. XIX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iKi.xx-p1">We left Elijah at the entrance of Jezreel, still
appearing publicly, and all the people's eyes upon him. In this
chapter we have him again absconding, and driven into obscurity, at
a time when he could ill be spared; but we are to look upon it as a
punishment to Israel for the insincerity and inconstancy of their
reformation. When people will not learn it is just with God to
remove their teachers into corners. Now observe, I. How he was
driven into banishment by the malice of Jezebel his sworn enemy,
<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.1-1Kgs.19.3" parsed="|1Kgs|19|1|19|3" passage="1Ki 19:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. How he was
met, in his banishment, by the favour of God, his covenant-friend.
1. How God fed him, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.4-1Kgs.19.8" parsed="|1Kgs|19|4|19|8" passage="1Ki 19:4-8">ver.
4-8</scripRef>. 2. How he conversed with him, and manifested
himself to him (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.9 Bible:1Kgs.19.11-1Kgs.19.13" parsed="|1Kgs|19|9|0|0;|1Kgs|19|11|19|13" passage="1Ki 19:9,11-13">ver. 9,
11-13</scripRef>), heard his complaint (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.10-1Kgs.19.14" parsed="|1Kgs|19|10|19|14" passage="1Ki 19:10-14">ver. 10-14</scripRef>), directed him what to do
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.15-1Kgs.19.17" parsed="|1Kgs|19|15|19|17" passage="1Ki 19:15-17">ver. 15-17</scripRef>), and
encouraged him, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.18" parsed="|1Kgs|19|18|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:18">ver. 18</scripRef>.
III. How his hands were strengthened, at his return out of
banishment, by the joining of Elisha with him, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.19-1Kgs.19.21" parsed="|1Kgs|19|19|19|21" passage="1Ki 19:19-21">ver. 19-21</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="iKi.xx-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19" parsed="|1Kgs|19|0|0|0" passage="1Ki 19" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iKi.xx-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.1-1Kgs.19.8" parsed="|1Kgs|19|1|19|8" passage="1Ki 19:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.19.1-1Kgs.19.8">
<h4 id="iKi.xx-p1.10">Elijah's Flight from
Jezebel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p1.11">b. c.</span> 906.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xx-p2">1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had
done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
  2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let
the gods do <i>to me,</i> and more also, if I make not thy life as
the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.   3 And
when he saw <i>that,</i> he arose, and went for his life, and came
to Beer-sheba, which <i>belongeth</i> 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 juniper tree: and he
requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough;
now, <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p2.1">O Lord</span>, take away my life; for
I <i>am</i> not better than my fathers.   5 And as he lay and
slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and
said unto him, Arise <i>and</i> eat.   6 And he looked, and,
behold, <i>there was</i> a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of
water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down
again.   7 And the angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p2.2">Lord</span> came again the second time, and touched
him, and said, Arise <i>and</i> eat; because the journey <i>is</i>
too great for thee.   8 And he arose, and did eat and drink,
and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights
unto Horeb the mount of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p3">One would have expected, after such a
public and sensible manifestation of the glory of God and such a
clear decision of the controversy depending between him and Baal,
to the honour of Elijah, the confusion of Baal's prophets, and the
universal satisfaction of the people—after they had seen both fire
and water come from heaven at the prayer of Elijah, and both in
mercy to them, the one as it signified the acceptance of their
offering, the other as it <i>refreshed their inheritance, which was
weary</i>—that now they would all, as one man, return to the
worship of the God of Israel and take Elijah for their guide and
oracle, that he would thenceforward be prime-minister of state, and
his directions would be as laws both to king and kingdom. But it is
quite otherwise; he is neglected whom God honoured; no respect is
paid to him, nor care taken of him, nor any use made of him, but,
on the contrary, the land of Israel, to which he had been, and
might have been, so great a blessing, is now made too hot for him.
1. Ahab incensed Jezebel against him. That queen-consort, it seems,
was in effect queen-regent, as she was afterwards when she was
queen-dowager, an imperious woman that managed king and kingdom and
did what she would. Ahab's conscience would not let him persecute
Elijah (some remains he had in him of the blood and spirit of an
Israelite, which tied his hands), but he told Jezebel all that
Elijah had done (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.1" parsed="|1Kgs|19|1|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>), not to convince, but to exasperate her. It is not
said he told her what <i>God</i> had done, but what <i>Elijah</i>
had done, as if he, by some spell or charm, had brought fire from
heaven, and the hand of the Lord had not been in it. Especially he
represented to her, as that which would make her outrageous against
him, that he had slain the prophets; the prophets of Baal he calls
<i>the prophets,</i> as if none but they were worthy of the name.
His heart was set upon them, and he aggravated the slaying of them
as Elijah's crime, without taking notice that it was a just
reprisal upon Jezebel for killing God's prophets, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.4" parsed="|1Kgs|18|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:4"><i>ch.</i> xviii. 4</scripRef>. Those who, when
they cannot for shame or fear do mischief themselves, yet stir up
others to do it, will have it laid to their charge as if they had
themselves done it. 2. Jezebel sent him a threatening message
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.2" parsed="|1Kgs|19|2|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), that she had
vowed and sworn to be the death of him within twenty-four hours.
Something prevents her from doing it just now, but she resolves it
shall not be long undone. Note, Carnal hearts are hardened and
enraged against God by that which should convince and conquer them
and bring them into subjection to him. She swears by her gods, and,
raging like one distracted, curseth herself if she slay not him,
without any proviso of a divine permission. Cruelty and confidence
often meet in persecutors. <i>I will pursue, I will overtake,</i>
<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.9" parsed="|Exod|15|9|0|0" passage="Ex 15:9">Exod. xv. 9</scripRef>. But how came
she to send him word of her design, and so to give him an
opportunity of making his escape? Did she think him so daring that
he would not flee, or herself so formidable that she could prevent
him? Or was there a special providence in it, that she should be
thus infatuated by her own fury? I am apt to think that though she
desired nothing more than his blood, yet, at this time, she durst
not meddle with him <i>for fear of the people, all counting him a
prophet,</i> a great prophet, and therefore sent this message to
him merely to frighten him and get him out of the way, for the
present, that he might not carry on what he had begun. The backing
of her threats with an oath and imprecation does not at all prove
that she really intended to slay him, but only that she intended to
make him believe so. The gods she swore by could do her no harm. 3.
Elijah, hereupon, in a great fright, fled for his life, it is
likely by night, and came to Beer-sheba, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.3" parsed="|1Kgs|19|3|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Shall we praise him for this? We
praise him not. Where was the courage with which he had lately
confronted Ahab and all the prophets of Baal? Nay, which kept him
by his sacrifice when the fire of God fell upon it? He that stood
undaunted in the midst of the terrors both of heaven and earth
trembles at the impotent menaces of a proud passionate woman.
<i>Lord, what is man!</i> Great faith is not always alike strong.
He could not but know that he might be very serviceable to Israel
at this juncture, and had all the reason in the world to depend
upon God's protection while he was doing God's work; yet he fled.
In his former danger God had bidden him hide himself (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.17.3" parsed="|1Kgs|17|3|0|0" passage="1Ki 17:3"><i>ch.</i> xvii. 3</scripRef>), therefore he
supposed he might do so now. 4. From Beer-sheba he went forward
into the wilderness, that vast howling wilderness in which the
Israelites wandered. Beer-sheba was so far distant from Jezreel,
and within the dominion of so good a king as Jehoshaphat, that he
could not but be safe there; yet, as if his fears haunted him even
when he was out of the reach of danger, he could not rest there,
but went a day's journey into the desert. Yet perhaps he retired
thither not so much for his safety as that he might be wholly
retired from the world, in order to a more free and intimate
communion with God. <i>He left his servant at Beer-sheba</i> that
he might be private in the wilderness, as Abraham left his servants
at the bottom of the hill when he went up into the mount to worship
God, and as Christ in the garden was <i>withdrawn from his
disciples,</i> or perhaps it was because he would not expose his
servant, who was young and tender, to the hardships of the
wilderness, which would have been putting new wine into old
bottles. We ought thus to consider the frame of those who are under
our charge, for God considers ours. 5. Being wearied with his
journey, he grew cross (like children when they are sleepy) and
<i>wished he might die,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.4" parsed="|1Kgs|19|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. He <i>requested for his life</i> (so it is in the
margin), <i>that he might die;</i> for death is life to a good man;
the death of the body is the life of the soul. Yet that was not the
reason why he wished to die; it was not the deliberate desire of
grace, as Paul's, to <i>depart and be with Christ,</i> but the
passionate wish of his corruption, as Job's. Those that are, in
this manner, forward to die are not in the fittest frame for dying.
Jezebel has sworn his death, and therefore he, in a fret, prays for
it, runs from death to death, yet with this difference, he wishes
to die by the hand of the Lord, whose tender mercies are great, and
not to fall into the hands of man, whose tender mercies are cruel.
He would rather die in the wilderness than as Baal's prophet died,
according to Jezebel's threatening (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.2" parsed="|1Kgs|19|2|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), lest the worshippers of Baal
should triumph and blaspheme the God of Israel, whom they will
think themselves too hard for, if they can run down his advocate.
He pleads, "It is enough. I have done enough, and suffered enough.
I am weary of living." Those that have secured a happiness in the
other world will soon have enough of this world. He pleads, "<i>I
am not better than my fathers,</i> not better able to bear those
fatigues, and therefore why should I be longer burdened with them
than they were?" But is this <i>that my lord Elijah?</i> Can that
great and gallant spirit shrink thus? God thus left him to himself,
to show that when he was bold and strong it was <i>in the Lord and
the power of his might,</i> but of himself he was <i>no better than
his fathers</i> or brethren. 6. God, by an angel, fed him in that
wilderness, into the wants and perils of which he had wilfully
thrown himself, and in which, if God had not graciously succoured
him, he would have perished. How much better does God deal with his
froward children than they deserve! Elijah, in a pet, wished to
die; God needed him not, yet he designed further to employ and
honour him, and therefore sent an angel to <i>keep him alive.</i>
Our case would be bad sometimes if God should take us at our word
and grant us our foolish passionate requests. Having prayed that he
might die, he <i>laid down and slept</i> (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.5" parsed="|1Kgs|19|5|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), wishing it may be to die in his
sleep, and not to awake again; but he is awakened out of his sleep,
and finds himself not only well provided for with bread and water
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.6" parsed="|1Kgs|19|6|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), but, which
was more, attended by an angle, who guarded him when he slept, and
twice called him to his food when it was ready for him, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.5 Bible:1Kgs.19.7" parsed="|1Kgs|19|5|0|0;|1Kgs|19|7|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:5,7"><i>v.</i> 5, 7</scripRef>. He needed not to
complain of the unkindness of men when it was thus made up by the
ministration of angels. Thus provided for, he had reason to think
he had fared better than the <i>prophets of the groves,</i> that
<i>did eat at Jezebel's table.</i> Wherever God's children are, as
they are still upon their Father's ground, so they are still under
their Father's eye and care. They may lose themselves in a
wilderness, but God has not lost them; there they may <i>look at
him that lives and sees them, as Hagar,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Gen.16.13" parsed="|Gen|16|13|0|0" passage="Ge 16:13">Gen. xvi. 13</scripRef>. 7. He was carried, in the
strength of this meat, to Horeb, <i>the mount of God,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.8" parsed="|1Kgs|19|8|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Thither the Spirit of
the Lord led him, probably beyond his own intention, that he might
have communion with God in the same place where Moses had, the law
that was given by Moses being revived by him. The angel bade him
eat the second time, because of the greatness <i>of the journey</i>
that was <i>before him,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p3.14" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.7" parsed="|1Kgs|19|7|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. Note God knows what he designs us for, though we do
not, what service, what trials, and will take care for us when we,
for want of foresight, cannot for ourselves, that we be furnished
for them with <i>grace sufficient.</i> He that appoints what the
voyage shall be will victual the ship accordingly. See how many
different ways God took to keep Elijah alive; he fed him by ravens,
with multiplied meals—then by an angel—and now, to show that
<i>man lives not by bread alone,</i> he kept him alive forty days
without meat, not resting and sleeping, which might make him the
less to crave sustenance, but continually traversing the mazes of
the desert, a day for a year of Israel's wanderings; yet he neither
needs food nor desires it. The place, no doubt, reminds him of the
manna, and encourages him to hope that God will sustain him here,
and in due time bring him hence, as he did Israel, though, like
him, fretful and distrustful.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iKi.xx-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.9-1Kgs.19.18" parsed="|1Kgs|19|9|19|18" passage="1Ki 19:9-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.19.9-1Kgs.19.18">
<h4 id="iKi.xx-p3.16">Elijah's Converse with God. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p3.17">b. c.</span> 906.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xx-p4">9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged
there; and, behold, the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.1">Lord</span> <i>came</i> to him, and he said unto him,
What doest thou here, Elijah?   10 And he said, I have been
very jealous for the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.2">Lord</span> 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, <i>even</i> I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take
it away.   11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount
before the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.3">Lord</span>. And, behold, the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.4">Lord</span> passed by, and a great and
strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks
before the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.5">Lord</span>; <i>but</i> the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.6">Lord</span> <i>was</i> not in the wind: and
after the wind an earthquake; <i>but</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.7">Lord</span> <i>was</i> not in the earthquake:   12
And after the earthquake a fire; <i>but</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.8">Lord</span> <i>was</i> not in the fire: and after the
fire a still small voice.   13 And it was <i>so,</i> when
Elijah heard <i>it</i>, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and
went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold,
<i>there came</i> a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here,
Elijah?   14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.9">Lord</span> 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, <i>even</i> I
only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.   15
And the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p4.10">Lord</span> said unto him, Go,
return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou
comest, anoint Hazael <i>to be</i> king over Syria:   16 And
Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint <i>to be</i> king over
Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou
anoint <i>to be</i> prophet in thy room.   17 And it shall
come to pass, <i>that</i> him that escapeth the sword of Hazael
shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall
Elisha slay.   18 Yet I have left <i>me</i> seven thousand in
Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every
mouth which hath not kissed him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p5">Here is, I. Elijah housed in a cave at
Mount Horeb, which is called <i>the mount of God,</i> because on it
God had formerly manifested his glory. And perhaps this was the
same cave, or cleft of a rock, in which Moses was hidden when the
Lord <i>passed by before him and proclaimed his name,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.33.22" parsed="|Exod|33|22|0|0" passage="Ex 33:22">Exod. xxxiii. 22</scripRef>. What Elijah
proposed to himself in coming to lodge here, I cannot conceive,
unless it was to indulge his melancholy, or to satisfy his
curiosity and assist his faith and devotion with the sight of that
famous place where the law was given and where so many great things
were done, and hoping to meet with God himself there, where Moses
met with him, or in token of his abandoning his people Israel, who
hated to be reformed (in the latter case, it agrees with Jeremiah's
wish, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.9.2" parsed="|Jer|9|2|0|0" passage="Jer 9:2">Jer. ix. 2</scripRef>, <i>O that
I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I
might leave my people, and go from them, for they are all
adulterers</i>) and so it was a bad omen of God's forsaking them;
or it was because he thought he could not be safe any where else,
and to this instance of the hardships this good man was reduced to
the apostle refers, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.38" parsed="|Heb|11|38|0|0" passage="Heb 11:38">Heb. xi.
38</scripRef>. <i>They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in
dens and caves of the earth.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p6">II. The visit God paid to him there and the
enquiry he made concerning him: <i>The word of the Lord came to
him.</i> We cannot go any where to be out of the reach of God's
eye, his arm, and his word. <i>Whither can I flee from thy
Spirit?</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.139.7-Ps.139.10" parsed="|Ps|139|7|139|10" passage="Ps 139:7-10">Ps. cxxxix.
7</scripRef>, &amp;c. God will take care of his out-casts; and
those who, for his sake, are driven out from among men, he will
find, and own, and gather with everlasting loving-kindnesses. John
saw the visions of the Almighty when he was in banishment in the
isle of Patmos, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.9" parsed="|Rev|1|9|0|0" passage="Re 1:9">Rev. i. 9</scripRef>.
The question God puts to the prophet it, <i>What doest</i> thou
<i>here, Elijah?</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.9" parsed="|1Kgs|19|9|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>, and again <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.13" parsed="|1Kgs|19|13|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. This is a reproof, 1. For his fleeing hither. "What
brings thee so far from home? Dost thou flee from Jezebel? Couldst
thou not depend upon almighty power for thy protection?" Lay the
emphasis upon the pronoun <i>thou.</i> "What <i>thou!</i> So great
a man, so great a prophet, so famed for resolution—dost thou flee
thy country, forsake thy colours thus?" This cowardice would have
been more excusable in another, and not so bad an example.
<i>Should such a man as I flee?</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Neh.6.11" parsed="|Neh|6|11|0|0" passage="Ne 6:11">Neh. vi. 11</scripRef>. <i>Howl, fir-trees, if the cedars
be</i> thus <i>shaken.</i> 2. For his fixing here. "What doest thou
here, in this cave? Is this a place for a prophet of the Lord to
lodge in? Is this a time for such men to retreat, when the public
has such need of them?" In the retirement to which God sent Elijah
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.17.1-1Kgs.17.24" parsed="|1Kgs|17|1|17|24" passage="1Ki 17:1-24"><i>ch.</i> xvii.</scripRef>) he
was a blessing to a poor widow at Sarepta, but here he had no
opportunity of doing good. Note, It concerns us often to enquire
whether we be in our place and in the way of our duty. "Am I where
I should be, whither God calls me, where my business lies, and
where I may be useful?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p7">III. The account he gives of himself, in
answer to the question put to him (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.10" parsed="|1Kgs|19|10|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), and repeated, in answer to
the same question, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.14" parsed="|1Kgs|19|14|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p8">1. He excuses his retreat, and desires it
may not be imputed to his want of zeal for reformation, but to his
despair of success. For God knew, and his own conscience witnessed
for him, that as long as there was any hope of doing good he had
been <i>very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts;</i> but now that he
had <i>laboured in vain,</i> and all his endeavours were to no
purpose, he thought it was time to give up the cause, and mourn for
what he could not mend. <i>Abi in cellam, et dic, Miserere
mei—"Away to thy cell, and cry, Have compassion on me.</i>"</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p9">2. He complains of the people, their
obstinacy in sin, and the height of impiety to which they had
arrived: "<i>The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant,</i>
and that is the reason I have forsaken them; who can stay among
them, to see every thing that is sacred ruined and run down?" This
the apostle calls his <i>making intercession against Israel,</i>
<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.2-Rom.11.3" parsed="|Rom|11|2|11|3" passage="Ro 11:2,3">Rom. xi. 2, 3</scripRef>. He had
often been, of choice, their advocate, but now he is necessitated
to be their accuser, before God. Thus <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:John.5.45" parsed="|John|5|45|0|0" passage="Joh 5:45">John v. 45</scripRef>, <i>There is one that accuseth
you, even Moses, whom you trust.</i> Those are truly miserable that
have the testimony and prayers of God's prophets against them. (1.)
He charges them with having forsaken God's covenant; though they
retained circumcision, that sign and seal of it, yet they had
quitted his worship and service, which was the intention of it.
Those who neglect God's ordinances, and let fall their communion
with him, do really forsake his covenant, and break their league
with him. (2.) With having <i>thrown down his altars,</i> not only
deserted them and suffered them to go to decay, but, in their zeal
for the worship of Baal, wilfully demolished them. This alludes to
the private altars which the prophets of the Lord had, and which
good people attended, who could not go up to Jerusalem and would
not worship the calves nor Baal. These separate altars, though
breaking in upon the unity of the church, yet, being erected and
attended by those that sincerely aimed at the glory of God and
served him faithfully, the seeming schism was excused. God owned
them for his altars, as well as that at Jerusalem, and the putting
of them down is charged upon Israel as a crying sin. But this was
not all. (3.) <i>They have slain thy prophets with the sword,</i>
who, it is probable, ministered at those altars. Jezebel, a
foreigner, slew them (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.4" parsed="|1Kgs|18|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:4"><i>ch.</i>
xviii. 4</scripRef>), but the crime is charged upon the body of the
people because the generality of them were <i>consenting to their
death,</i> and pleased with it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p10">3. He gives the reasons why he retired into
this desert and took up his residence in this cave. (1.) It was
because he could not appear to any purpose: "<i>I only am left,</i>
and have none to second or support me in any good design. They all
said, <i>The Lord he is God,</i> but none of them would stand by me
nor offer to shelter me. That point then gained was presently lost
again, and Jezebel can do more to debauch them than I can to reform
them. What can one do against thousands?" Despair of success
hinders many a good enterprise. No one is willing to venture alone,
forgetting that those are not alone who have God with them. (2.) It
was because he could not appear with any safety: "<i>They seek my
life to take it away;</i> and I had better spend my life in a
useless solitude than lose my life in a fruitless endeavour to
reform those that hate to be reformed."</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p11">IV. God's manifestation of himself to him.
Did he come hither to meet with God? He shall find that God will
not fail to give him the meeting. Moses was put into the cave when
God's glory passed before him; but Elijah was called out of it:
<i>Stand upon the mount before the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.11" parsed="|1Kgs|19|11|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. He <i>saw no manner of
similitude,</i> any more than Israel did when God <i>talked to them
in Horeb.</i> But, 1. He heard a strong wind, and saw the terrible
effects of it, for it rent the mountains and tore the rocks. Thus
was the trumpet sounded before the Judge of heaven and earth, by
his angels, whom he makes <i>spirits,</i> or <i>winds</i>
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.4" parsed="|Ps|104|4|0|0" passage="Ps 104:4">Ps. civ. 4</scripRef>), sounded so
loud that the earth not only rang, but rent again. 2. He felt the
shock of an earthquake. 3. He saw an eruption of fire, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.12" parsed="|1Kgs|19|12|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. These were to usher in
the designed manifestation of the divine glory, angels being
employed in them, whom he <i>maketh a flame of fire,</i> and who,
as his ministers, march before him, to <i>prepare in this desert a
highway for our God.</i> But, 4. At last he perceived a <i>still
small voice,</i> in which <i>the Lord was,</i> that is, by which he
spoke to him, and not out of the wind, or the earthquake, or the
fire. Those struck an awe upon him, awakened his attention, and
inspired humility and reverence; but God chose to make known his
mind to him in whispers soft, not in those dreadful sounds. When he
perceived this, (1.) <i>He wrapped hi face in his mantle,</i> as
one afraid to look upon the glory of God, and apprehensive that it
would dazzle his eyes and overcome him. The angels <i>cover their
faces</i> before God in token of reverence, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.2" parsed="|Isa|6|2|0|0" passage="Isa 6:2">Isa. vi. 2</scripRef>. Elijah hid his face in token of
shame for having been such a coward as to flee from his duty when
he had such a God of power to stand by him in it. The wind, and
earthquake, and fire, did not make him cover his face, but the
still voice did. Gracious souls are more affected by the tender
mercies of the Lord than by his terrors. (2.) He stood at the
entrance of the cave, ready to hear what God had to say to him.
This method of God's manifesting himself here at Mount Horeb seems
to refer to the discoveries God formerly made of himself at this
place to Moses. [1.] Then there was a tempest, an earthquake, and
fire (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.18" parsed="|Heb|12|18|0|0" passage="Heb 12:18">Heb. xii. 18</scripRef>); but,
when God would show Moses his glory, he <i>proclaimed his
goodness;</i> and so here: <i>He was, the Word</i> was, in the
<i>still small voice.</i> [2.] Then the law was thus given to
Israel, with the appearances of terror first and then with a voice
of words; and Elijah being now called to revive that law,
especially the first two commandments of it, is here taught how to
manage it; he must not only awaken and terrify the people with
amazing signs, like the earthquake and fire, but he must endeavour,
with a still small voice, to convince and persuade them, and not
forsake them when he should be addressing them. Faith comes by
hearing the word of God; miracles do but make way for it. [3.] Then
God spoke to his people with terror; but in the gospel of Christ,
which was to be introduced by the spirit and power of Elias, he
would speak by a still small voice, the dread of which should not
make us afraid; see <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.18-Heb.12.24" parsed="|Heb|12|18|12|24" passage="Heb 12:18-24">Heb. xii.
18</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p12">V. The orders God gives him to execute. He
repeats the question he had put to him before, "<i>What doest thou
here?</i> This is not a place for thee now." Elijah gives the same
answer (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.14" parsed="|1Kgs|19|14|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>),
complaining of Israel's apostasy from God and the ruin of religion
among them. To this God gives him a reply. When he wished <i>he
might die</i> (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.4" parsed="|1Kgs|19|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>)
God answered him not according to his folly, but was so far from
letting him die that he not only kept him alive then but provided
that he should never die, but be translated. But when he complained
of his discouragement (and whither should God's prophets go with
their complaints of that kind but to their Master?) God gave him an
answer. He sends him back with directions to appoint Hazael king of
Syria (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.15" parsed="|1Kgs|19|15|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), Jehu
king of Israel, and Elisha his successor in the eminency of the
prophetical office (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.16" parsed="|1Kgs|19|16|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>), which is intended as a prediction that by these God
would chastise the degenerate Israelites, plead his own cause among
them, and <i>avenge the quarrel of his covenant,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.17" parsed="|1Kgs|19|17|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Elijah complained that
the wickedness of Israel was unpunished. The judgment of famine was
too gentle, and had not reclaimed them; it was removed before they
were reformed: "<i>I have been jealous,</i>" says he, "for God's
name, but he himself has not appeared jealous for it." "Well," says
God, "be content; it is all in good time; <i>judgments are prepared
for those scorners,</i> though they are not yet inflicted; the
persons are pitched upon, and shall now be nominated, for they are
now in being, who shall do the business." 1. "When Hazael comes to
be king of Syria, he shall make bloody work among the people
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.8.12" parsed="|2Kgs|8|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 8:12">2 Kings viii. 12</scripRef>) and so
correct them for their idolatry." 2. "When Jehu comes to be king of
Israel he shall make bloody work with the royal family, and shall
utterly destroy the house of Ahab, that set up and maintained
idolatry." 3. "Elisha, while thou art on earth, shall strengthen
thy hands; and, when thou art gone, shall carry on thy work, and be
a remaining witness against the apostasy of Israel, and even he
shall slay the children of Bethel, that idolatrous city." Note, The
wicked are reserved to judgment. <i>Evil pursues sinners,</i> and
there is no escaping it; to attempt an escape is but to run from
one sword's point upon another. See <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.48.44" parsed="|Jer|48|44|0|0" passage="Jer 48:44">Jer. xlviii. 44</scripRef>, <i>He that flees from the
fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit
shall be taken in the snare.</i> Elisha, with the <i>sword of the
Spirit,</i> shall terrify and wound the consciences of those who
escape Hazael's sword of war and Jehu's sword of justice. <i>With
the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p12.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.4 Bible:2Thess.2.8 Bible:Hos.6.5" parsed="|Isa|11|4|0|0;|2Thess|2|8|0|0;|Hos|6|5|0|0" passage="Isa 11:4,2Th 2:8,Ho 6:5">Isa. xi. 4; 2 Thess. ii. 8; Hos.
vi. 5</scripRef>. It is a great comfort to good men and good
ministers to think that God will never want instruments to do his
work in his time, but, when they are gone, others shall be raised
up to carry it on.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p13">VI. The comfortable information God gives
him of the number of Israelites who retained their integrity,
though he thought he was left alone (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.18" parsed="|1Kgs|19|18|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>I have left 7000 in
Israel</i> (besides Judea) <i>who have not bowed the knee to
Baal.</i> Note, 1. In times of the greatest degeneracy and apostasy
God has always had, and will have, a remnant faithful to him, some
that keep their integrity and do not go down the stream. The
apostle mentions this answer of God to Elijah (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.4" parsed="|Rom|11|4|0|0" passage="Ro 11:4">Rom. xi. 4</scripRef>) and applies it to his own day,
when the Jews generally rejected the gospel. <i>Yet,</i> says he,
<i>at this time also there is a remnant,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.5" parsed="|Rom|11|5|0|0" passage="Ro 11:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. 2. It is God's work to preserve
that remnant, and distinguish them from the rest, for without his
grace they could not have distinguished themselves: <i>I have left
me;</i> it is therefore said to be a remnant <i>according to the
election of grace.</i> 3. It is but a little remnant, in comparison
with the degenerate race; what are 7000 to the thousands of Israel?
Yet, when those of every age come together, they will be found many
more, 12,000 <i>sealed out of each tribe,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.7.4" parsed="|Rev|7|4|0|0" passage="Re 7:4">Rev. vii. 4</scripRef>. 4. God's faithful ones are often
his hidden ones (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.3" parsed="|Ps|83|3|0|0" passage="Ps 83:3">Ps. lxxxiii.
3</scripRef>), and the visible church is scarcely visible, the
wheat lost in the chaff and the gold in the dross, till the
sifting, refining, separating day comes. 5. <i>The Lord knows those
that are his,</i> though we do not; he sees in secret. 6. There are
more good people in the world than some wise and holy men think
there are. Their jealousy of themselves, and for God, makes them
think the corruption is universal; but God sees not as they do.
When we come to heaven, as we shall miss a great many whom we
thought to meet there, so we shall meet a great many whom we little
thought to find there. God's love often proves larger than man's
charity and more extensive.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iKi.xx-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.19-1Kgs.19.21" parsed="|1Kgs|19|19|19|21" passage="1Ki 19:19-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.19.19-1Kgs.19.21">
<h4 id="iKi.xx-p13.7">The Call of Elisha. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xx-p13.8">b. c.</span> 901.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xx-p14">19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the
son of Shaphat, who <i>was</i> plowing <i>with</i> twelve yoke
<i>of oxen</i> before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah
passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.   20 And he left
the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss
my father and my mother, and <i>then</i> I will follow thee. And he
said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?  
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew
them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and
gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went
after Elijah, and ministered unto him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xx-p15">Elisha was named last in the orders God
gave to Elijah, but he was first called, for by him the other two
were to be called. He must come in Elijah's room; yet Elijah is
forward to raise him, and is far from being jealous of his
successor, but rejoices to think that he shall leave the work of
God in such good hands. Concerning the call of Elisha observe, 1.
That it was an unexpected surprising call. Elijah found him by
divine direction, or perhaps he was before acquainted with him and
knew where to find him. He found him, not in the schools of the
prophets, but <i>in the field,</i> not reading, nor praying, nor
sacrificing, but <i>ploughing,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.19" parsed="|1Kgs|19|19|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Though a great man (as appears
by his feast, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.21" parsed="|1Kgs|19|21|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>), master of the ground, and oxen, and servants, yet
he did not think it any disparagement to him to follow his business
himself, and not only to inspect his servants, but himself to lay
his hand to the plough. Idleness is no man's honour, nor is
husbandry any man's disgrace. An honest calling in the world does
not at all put us out of the way of our heavenly calling, any more
than it did Elisha, who was taken from following the plough the
feed Israel and to sow the <i>seed of the word,</i> as the apostles
were taken from fishing to catch men. Elisha enquired not after
Elijah, but was anticipated with this call. We love God, and choose
him, because he chose us, and loved us, first. 2. That it was a
powerful call. Elijah did but <i>cast his mantle upon him.</i>
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.19" parsed="|1Kgs|19|19|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), in token
of friendship, that he would take him under his care and tuition as
he did under his mantle, and to be one with him in the same
clothes, or in token of his being clothed with the spirit of Elijah
(now he put some of his honour upon him, as Moses on Joshua,
<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.27.20" parsed="|Num|27|20|0|0" passage="Nu 27:20">Num. xxvii. 20</scripRef>); but, when
Elijah went to heaven, he had the mantle entire, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.2.13" parsed="|2Kgs|2|13|0|0" passage="2Ki 2:13">2 Kings ii. 13</scripRef>. And immediately he <i>left
the oxen</i> to go as they would, and <i>ran after Elijah,</i> and
assured him that he would follow him presently, <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.20" parsed="|1Kgs|19|20|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. An invisible hand touched his
heart, and unaccountably inclined him by a secret power, without
any external persuasions, to quit his husbandry and give himself to
the ministry. It is in a day of power that Christ's subjects are
made willing (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.110.3" parsed="|Ps|110|3|0|0" passage="Ps 110:3">Ps. cx. 3</scripRef>),
nor would any come to Christ unless they were thus drawn. Elisha
came to a resolution presently, but begged a little time, not to
<i>ask</i> leave, but only to <i>take</i> leave, of his parents.
This was not an excuse for delay, like his (<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Luke.9.61" parsed="|Luke|9|61|0|0" passage="Lu 9:61">Luke ix. 61</scripRef>) that desired he might <i>bid
those farewell that were at home,</i> but only a reservation of the
respect and duty he owed to his father and mother. Elijah bade him
to back and do it, he would not hinder him; nay, if he would, he
might go back, and not return, for any thing he had done to him. He
will not force him, nor take him against his will; let him sit down
and count the cost, and make it his own act. The efficacy of God's
grace preserves the native liberty of man's will, so that those who
are good are good of choice and not by constraint, not pressed men,
but volunteers. 3. That it was a pleasant and acceptable call to
him, which appears by the farewell-feast he made for his family
(<scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.9" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.21" parsed="|1Kgs|19|21|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), though he
not only quitted all the comforts of his father's house, but
exposed himself to the malignity of Jezebel and her party. It was a
discouraging time for prophets to set out in. A man that had
consulted with flesh and blood would not be fond of Elijah's
mantle, nor willing to wear his coat; yet Elisha cheerfully, and
with a great deal of satisfaction, leaves all to accompany him.
Thus Matthew made a great fast when he left the receipt of custom
to follow Christ. 4. That it was an effectual call. Elijah did not
stay for him, lest he should seem to compel him, but left him to
his own choice, and he soon arose, went after him, and not only
associated with him, but <i>ministered to him</i> as his servitor,
<i>poured water on his hands,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xx-p15.10" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.3.11" parsed="|2Kgs|3|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 3:11">2
Kings iii. 11</scripRef>. It is of great advantage to young
ministers to spend some time under the direction of those that are
aged and experienced, whose years teach wisdom, and not to think
much, if occasion be, to minister to them. Those that would be fit
to teach must have time to learn; and those that hope hereafter to
rise and rule must be willing at first to stoop and serve.</p>
</div></div2>