A Still Small Voice In I Kings 18:46 Elijah was running ahead of King Ahab. This wasn’t a race and Elijah was just the fastest runner. There was a purpose, a reason and a meaning behind Elijah being in this position. We get an understanding of that purpose, reason and meaning in the verses prior to verse (46). Starting in I Kings 18:19 Israel was to be gathered on Mt. Carmel along with four-hundred-fifty of Baal’s prophets and four-hundred of Jezebel’s prophets. Elijah spoke to the people in verses (21)-(22) it says: [And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? if Yahweh be Elohim, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.] (22) [Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of Yahweh; but Baals prophets are four hundred and fifty men.] In the following verses it tells how all the prophets of Baal had the opportunity to present their offering to their god and Elijah the prophet of Yahweh would also present an offering and the God that answered by fire would show who is God. As Baal’s prophets offering was made, nothing happened so the prophets would step in and do a variety of wild and crazy things trying to get their god to accept. Nothing happened. Then Elijah made his offering and……………well we know Who showed up and who got showed up! What had taken place had not only once again confirmed Yahweh as the Israelites God/King, it also revealed beyond a shadow of doubt to all that were there that the prophet Elijah had a connection with the Israelites King! Baal’s prophets were then all slain. Afterwards, Elijah spoke to king Ahab in verse (41) [Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.] This scripture seems to show somewhat of a rapport Elijah had now established with Ahab. Ahab did as Elijah said to do and Elijah himself then went upon Mt. Carmel. Then in the following verses it shows this taking place along with other developments. (42) [So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, (43) And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. (44) And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a mans hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. (45) And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. (46) And the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.] Like I had said earlier, Elijah wasn’t running before Ahab because he was just a fast runner or this was a race and he was trying to beat Ahab to a destination. Elijah was in the position of showing that he was an attendant to an important person, in this case king Ahab. Elijah wasn’t Ahab’s prophet (messenger); he was Yahweh’s prophet (messenger). Prophets (messengers) played a very important role, as an example we see in the book of II Samuel where Nathan the prophet was sent to king David several times by Yahweh to advise David. Even though it would have had the appearance that Elijah was a representative of Ahab, everyone, including king Ahab, knew he really represented the King of the Israelites due to what had just taken place on Mt. Carmel between Elijah and all the prophets of Baal. By Elijah running ahead of Ahab, it was sending all the people a message. It was a common practice then and still is today that anytime someone of high importance would travel, there would be an entourage of persons going ahead of them with one being the messenger. We can relate to this as anytime our president goes somewhere, there is always an entourage of persons that goes ahead of him with one being the messenger. So when Ahab was traveling, everyone would have understood that the one running before Ahab was the messenger (prophet) and in this case it was Elijah. So as we read 1Ki 18:46 [And the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.] you are getting an understanding of how all those who were present looked upon Elijah. In this verse where it says [the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah] it’s establishing ‘THE AUTHORITY OF YAHWEH’ was on Elijah! The people seeing Elijah running before Ahab and knowing he is a prophet (messenger) of Yahweh and by he running before king Ahab revealed to them in appearance, Ahab had accepted Elijah so the people accepted Elijah being in that position. Ahab then went to Jezebel and filled her in on everything that had taken place by announcing what Elijah had done. Jezebel then sends her messenger to Elijah with a message. 1Ki 19:2 [Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the god do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.] In the next verse (3) it says, [And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.] Elijah had a discernment over what was about to unfold causing him to fear for his life so he fled. In verse (9) he receives a message from Yahweh; [And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?] Elijah gives his reasoning for why, in verse (10); [And he said, I have been very jealous for Yahweh Elohim 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.] In verse (11-12) Yahewh tells Elijah to stand on the mountain before Yahweh with several things taking place; [And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Yahweh. And, behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but Yahweh was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.] I want to point out in the last part of verse (12) where the King James Version says ‘a still small voice’. In the Hebrew it states it this way; ‘voice of stillness’. Wow factor! You’ll see! In verses (11) and (12) several things passed by Elijah and it would have been understood in those times that all these actions that took place would have been the ways a divine presence would have presented itself. For instance the nations would have looked upon the thunder and lightening, earthquakes and the strong winds as actions taken by their warrior god. They would have understood this as their warrior god showing judgment against their enemies. Yahweh knows how man has placed allegiance to many gods and Yahweh continually showed that His power and might and Kingship were above them all. Here Yahweh was letting Elijah know that He is MUCH MORE than what Elijah had just observed on the mountain. As I had just pointed out, ‘voice of stillness’ at the end of verse (12). What is happening here? We understand that the other nations around the children of Israel had gods that they claimed supported them. However their gods never appeared to have a plan in place. Generally they just were destructive gods with no compassion and gave no second chances. In verses (11) & (12) after Yahweh has done all those things, then there was ‘voice of stillness’ showing that Yahweh wasn’t just a Warrior God. After all Yahweh has a plan in place! Yahweh isn’t out to destroy, as many feel when so many makes the comment; “Why did God let this happen?” Yahweh’s plan is not to bring destruction but to bring restoration of His Kingdom! In verse (12) after all that took place, ‘voice of stillness’ came. NEWS FLASH! There had just been deafening noises created by all that had taken place upon that mountain! The strong winds would have created noise, the breaking of the rocks would have created noise, the fires burning would have created noise, the breaking of the limbs and falling trees from the strong winds would have created noise and the earthquake would have created noise. Then! All of a sudden! ‘Voice of stillness’! Is suddenly Yahweh just barely whispering so that He is barely heard? I don’t think so! This scripture is not describing how Yahweh speaks, a wimpy voice that is small and can barely be heard. What has taken place by ‘voice of stillness’ here is that all of a sudden, all things are silenced of all the events that were taking place that was causing all those noises. Suddenly there was silence hanging in the air. There had to be a silence. Why? So that Yahweh’s voice may be heard by Elijah! The following verse verifies this. (13) [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. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?] The ‘voice of stillness’ came over the mountain. There was complete silence! So in verse (13) after Elijah hearing the ‘voice of stillness’ is when the voice of Yahweh came unto Elijah. The ‘voice of stillness’ allowed him to hear because of ‘the stillness, the silence’ that was over the mountain. Wow factor! Who created the noises? Yahweh did! Who created the ‘voice of stillness’? Yahweh did! We know we will go through times of spiritual earthquakes and the likes which create spiritual noises seeming to drown out us hearing from Yahweh. Yes our adversary creates many noises in various forms in trying to disrupt our walk with Yahweh. The only thing is our adversary doesn’t care about us to the point where he will create ‘voice of stillness’ so that we may hear instructions from him that will lead us into a fulfilled relationship with Yahweh. To the contrary, our adversary’s goal is to kill, steal and destroy us! But Yahweh, right in the middle of everything that may be going on in our lives, can cause ‘voice of stillness’ to come in the middle of whatever may be raging around us so that we can hear from Him as He will be again be willing to show us that He is Yahweh as He has done over and over through time and He will lead and guide us back into His Kingdom and restore what was broken. Don’t you think it’s time we get the message? Just how long do you think Yahweh will continue before He says it is time? Shalom Aleichem Har’el
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 10:54:40 +0000
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