Life in The Land of False Idols

We're gonna have a a reading now from 1 kings. So if if you have a bible to hand or it'll be on the screen as well, we're in chapter 19 now. And Tom will be continuing our series and preaching that in just a moment. So we're reading 1 Kings 19 and verses 1 to 9a. Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done.

And how he had killed all the prophets with the swords. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, may the gods deal with me? Be it ever so severely. If by this time tomorrow, I do not make your life like that 1 of them. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.

When he came to bathsheba in Judah, he left his servant there while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it, and prayed he that he might die. I've had enough lord, he said, take my life. I am no better than my ancestors, Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once, an angel touched him and said, get up and eat.

He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, get up and eat for the journey is too much for you. So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by the food.

He chatted for 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horib the mountain of God. There, he went into the cave and spent the night. Good morning from me. My name is Tom Sweitman. I'm the assistant pastor here at the church, and it's great to have you with us this morning.

And if you're joining on the live stream, then you're very welcome. With us today as well. And it's been a day it's been a day of first services for new babies today. In the 9 o'clock, we had Martha Penelope Lion. With us, and we had Kesia with us today, and I guess it's gone to the creche.

Is she now? Probably? Great. And I was thinking, what a first service to come to and to see that video? It's like your introduction to Cornerstone Church.

So there is no better way to adjust to the coal is there, of the church than to see something like that. So it's been wonderful to welcome them and their moms to church this morning. Let's pray together and then we'll turn back into 1 kings 19. Heavenly father, we do thank you so much for your life giving word and we pray that you would help us now. We we pray that the Holy Spirit who who caused these words to be written, would would speak to us afresh, and that this ancient story of this weary prophet would speak into our culture and into our hearts, and we pray lord that you would give us.

What we truly need this morning, which is a a fresh vision of Jesus and a fresh vision of you that we can be strengthened for the road ahead. And we ask that all in his name. Ah, men. Men. Will they ever believe I wonder if you've ever asked that question, will they ever believe?

Perhaps you can think of a friend of yours, and they've come to an event or maybe 2 events 3 events, and they've heard the gospel presented very clearly to them. But when you've tried to follow-up and to see how it landed, There doesn't seem to have been any change at all in their thinking about Jesus. Or maybe you can think of a family member who has gone through suffering. And when you've spoken to them about that, it has made them think about what's important to them, But it's disheartening, isn't it? When they don't go further than that and ask the deeper question about their lives and their mortality in God and what comes what comes next.

And you wonder, Lord, what is it gonna take? I mean, how many more events? How many more difficult circumstances? Must they endure before they maybe wake up to the reality of who you who you are. John tells us in chapter 12 verse 27 of his gospel that Jesus may have tasted exactly the same frustration.

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence. They still would not believe in him. And so this is something we know from world history from bible history, from our evangelism, and and perhaps most of all from our own hearts. That just because we get the right information doesn't mean that we come to the right conclusions. We can hear and see true things and still choose wrong paths.

Right information doesn't always lead to right conclusions. And with that, we come to Jezebel. Now, Queen Jezebel, in the last few weeks, would have heard some of the things that were going on, perhaps before Ahab even reported to her. And we've seen that together, haven't we? On Mount Carmel, we've been up there the last couple of weeks, where Yahweh, in the most dramatic way imaginable, proved that he was God.

He proved verse 39, and there was no doubt about it, that the Lord, he is God. Chapter 18 verse 39, the Lord, He is God. And then after that, we then went down the mountain into the valley where verse 40 of chapter 18, Elijah had the prophets of Baal slaughtered. So that is what we have seen together in the last couple of weeks. The reality of bail is evaporating in Israel.

He is being seen to be a creature of the mind, a lie. And we've seen his prophets have paid the price for their idolatry, and we now know that all who worship baal will perish with baal. That is the information that we've been learning. And therefore, in chapter 19, when all of this gets back to Jezebel, we might expect some movement. We might expect her to begin to shift in the right direction.

Away from her idolatrous ways. I mean, you can imagine Ahab reporting this to her, you know, going there and saying, at my queen. Look, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, it was incredible up there. The fire came, but it it came for Elijah, my queen.

Fire fire fell for yahweh and our prophets, they were worshiping all day. They were crying out. They were even cutting themselves, but Bale was nowhere. He didn't show up. No 1 responded, there was no answer.

And then all the prophets, my queen, were taken down into the valley and slaughtered. And she just looks back at him through painted eyes and says, so. Right information doesn't always mean right conclusions. In fact, it can just intensify the hatred of the truth. And that is what we see, isn't it in verse 2 of chapter 19.

Look how she responds. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely? If by this time tomorrow, I do not make your life like that of 1 of them. And so the first point this morning is this. And I've called it an angel of death.

And the reason I've called it that is because in this story, there are 2 messengers. There's this 1 in verse 2 the messenger of death, and then there's 1 that comes from Yahweh in verse 7, and the word for messenger and angel is the same. It's the same word. So this story hangs on the appearance of messengers. There's the 1 in verse 2, death, and there's the 1 in verse 7 from Yahweh.

Life. And as I say, you can see that Jezebel means business. May the gods deal with me be it ever so severely? If by this time tomorrow, I do not make your life like that of 1 of them. And now perhaps the author is wanting us to see a bit of irony here, because we now know, since the events of Mount Carmel, that the gods of Jezebel don't pose much of a threat.

Yeah? So even if she doesn't manage to do this, she's not in much personal danger because they seem to be fairly impotent. On the whole. But nonetheless, it's designed to highlight the intensity of her unrepentance. The focus is now moving to Jezebel, and she is a very different kind of monster than Ahab.

Ahab is a pretty limp character. He's fairly pathetic. And on Mount Carmel, it was Elijah who was giving him orders about what to do, but Jezebel means business. She has not been put off in any way by the event the events of Mount Carmel. She is riled up and she's gunning for Elijah.

In her mind, that man has 24 hours left on planet earth and then he's finished. And so she sends this angel of death. Now, how does Elijah respond? Well, that's the second point. The profit falls down in despair.

Have a look at verse 3. Elijah was afraid and he ran for his life. Literally, he he was afraid and he got up and he ran for his life. And where does he go this time? Well, this time, he doesn't just go to a local brook to await the Lord's provision.

And he doesn't just go to a nearby nation, he goes 100 miles in the polar opposite direction. 100 miles. He knows the difference between Ahab and Jezebel. The angel of death comes to him, He stands up and he runs and he runs and he runs and he runs a hundred miles for his life. And then verse 3, when he arrives in, I guess, what he considers to be a place far enough away, It says, when he came to beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went another day's journey into the wilderness.

He came to a broom bush, sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. I have had enough lord, he said. Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors, then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. And for readers such as ourselves, we're supposed to be asking what has happened to our profit now? I mean, we might wonder if this is the same man from the mountain.

When you count up the amount of commands Elijah gives in chapter 18, it's somewhere around the 20 mark. He gives 20 commands on the mountain to everyone, including Ahab, he he owned that scene. By all accounts. He he was the boss of that scene. But where is he now?

1 commentator says that Elijah was exhibiting signs of manic depression. Another 1 says, What a contrast. Elijah, the hero on Carmel, victorious over Balism, Now we're larger the coward of unbelief at Horeb. And look, obviously, there is a contrast here, isn't there? On Carmel, Elijah didn't look afraid.

Now, he does. On Mount Carmel, he didn't look very frail and weak. Now, he does. On Carmel, we met a man in his spiritual prime But now it would be fair to say he's at the end of his tether. But manically depressed, a coward of unbelief is a strong phrase, isn't it?

A coward of unbelief. I'm not persuaded that's true. Here is a man who is worn down by opposition. I mean, you imagine it, If anything was going to change the mind of the House of Ahab, Mount Carmel should have done it. But they are showing no evidence at all.

That they are budging in their thinking. It must have been wearisome for him after the spiritually draining events of that mountain to find that the house of Jezebel and Ahab is still just as blasphemous, just as committed to Yairway extinction. It's weary. Later in the chapter, he says to the lord, I am the only 1 left. And now they are trying to kill me too.

Not only is the opposition constant, but he feels like he's the only 1 left. So this is like climbing a mountain Thinking you're at the top, and then in front of you concealed by the clouds is another enormous peak and you discover that you are nowhere near the summit after all. The battle in Israel for the glory of God is relentless. And so at this point, He is wiped out and he is worn down and he is ready to die. But the question is, from this pit of despair.

What does he do? He goes out to seek the lord. Even though he prays that the end of his life would come, He still wants us to know that if he's gonna die, Jezebel will have nothing to do with it. It's not gonna be Jezebel's decision. It's not gonna be her who wins the day.

And so here is a man in despair. And he throws his life and his times into the hands of God. To me, that fits the context of this whole story better. He is a broken man, that is true. He is totally worn out, that is true.

He prays for death, but as we see here and in many of the psalms, A servant of God can be broken without being a coward of unbelief. A servant of God can be broken without being a coward of unbelief. And what confirms that, I think, is the gracious way the Lord treats him in this moment. 1 writer says, I would rather fall into the hands of Elijah's God than into the hands of His commentators. I think that's really good.

I'd rather fall into the hands of God than into the hands of these critical commentators. I think that's right. Let's look let's look together at how graciously God deals with him. This is the third point, an angel of life. First 5, all at once an angel touched him and said, get up and eat.

He looked around and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals in a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. And in verse 7, we find out that this angel is an angel of the lord. So you remember that the word for angel and messenger is the same. We've got the messenger of death verse 2.

We've got the of life verse 7. And in this particular sentence, it's worth knowing that the word the word in the original, the word behold is used twice. There are 2 attention grabbing words here. In verse 5, It literally reads behold an angel, and in verse 6, behold some food. The angel of the Lord is here verse 5.

Take note. God is providing again. Take note. There are these 2 sirens telling us that the angel of the lord appeared and that provision has come. And isn't that just so typical of what we've seen in this series?

In supernatural ways, the Lord comes to provide for his servants. Raven's at the Brook. Chapter 17. Food for the widow, chapter 17. Resurrection for the dead son, chapter 17.

Obadiah feeding the prophets in the cave chapter 18. Whether it's in a famine, or in a foreign land or in the face of opposition, Yahweh provides for his servants. He supernaturally comes to their aid. And in verse 7, we find out the purpose of this particular provision. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, get up and eat for the journey is too much for you.

Elijah needs this food because the journey the Lord has in store for him is greater than him. And we're gonna see in a moment that he's about to travel 250 miles by the most direct route but probably more like 300 miles, which is like traveling from here to New Castle on foot. Which would be brave even if you had a full stomach. But if you had an empty stomach, then it would be foolish. The Lord comes to provide through this angel of life, and then fourthly, the prophet rises up in strength.

He fell down in despair, and now he rises up in strength. Have a look at verse 8. So he got up and ate and drank, strengthened by that food. He traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There, he went into a cave and spent the night.

Now, it's worth knowing that Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. And as you may know, Mount Sinai is a really significant place in bible history. It is the place where the Lord reveals his glory to Moses, But more than that, it stands for a place of covenant. It stands for faithfulness, of God's glory and God's word, of God's commitment to himself and to his people. It speaks of the eternal rock, the faithfulness of God, the covenant that God has made with his people.

And so it's interesting, isn't it? What does What does the Lord want for Elijah? Not to go north and to deal with Jezebel, but to go south and to deal with Yairway. To go south and to remember the nature of his God and the truthfulness of God's promises. Elijah, he's saying, if you are wondering what has happened to my glory, go back to the place of revelation.

So verse 8, he rises up, in the strength of that food, and he and he goes. So That's something of where we are in the story. The angel of death comes. He falls down in despair. The angel of life comes, he rises up in strength.

He's got 300 miles before he gets to the mountain, and we're gonna see the dramatic moment of him reaching that mountain next week. But what are we to make just of these few verses this morning? Well, firstly, in order to understand them properly, we need to see that there are tentacles stretching into all other parts of bible history from this section. In fact, the links between Elijah and Moses and Moses and Moses and Elijah and Elijah and Christ, and Moses and Christ are just everywhere in this passage. You think about Moses, He went up the mountain, and he saw the glory of God.

When he came down, hardness of hearts in the valley. A golden calf. Glory up, idolatry down. For 40 years, Yahway through Moses provided for his people in the wilderness. Elijah needs food for 40 days and 40 nights.

In numbers 11, Moses prays I cannot carry all these people by myself. The burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, Go ahead and kill me. In 1 kings 19, Elijah reaches the end of the line too. In other words, at key points in history, this same covenant God, is coming to his servants in the wilderness in times of opposition, and he is revealing himself to them.

Elijah is a prophet like Moses. And that is before we even get to Christ himself. There are only 2 times in the New Testament when an angel of the Lord comes to serve Jesus. There may be more than that but there are 2 times where we're told that an angel comes to minister to him just like happened with Elijah. The first, is in Matthew 4.

Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, Elijah. Was in the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil, a time of opposition. Elijah was in a time of opposition. After 4 fast 40 days and 40 nights. There's the 40 number.

He was hungry, Elijah needed food. Verse 11, then the then the then the devil Oh, it's not coming up. Somebody Sorry about that. Verse verse 11, then the devil left him and angels came and attended to him. Hungry, worn out, under attack, wilderness, an angel comes.

An angel comes. The second time and you had a perhaps a a slight preview there in the verse. The second time is in gethsemane. As the son of God is preparing for his road. Have a look at Luke 22 verse 43.

An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. When he was in that wilderness time, When he was facing opposition, when he was weary, even perhaps praying a bit like Elijah. Let this cup be passed from me, it is enough for me. The angel comes and strengthens him so he can leave that wilderness place in the strength of the lord and to go to the cross and to pay the penalty for our idolatry and in doing so to break the teeth of every jezebel to destroy the power of evil and the power of Satan. This story is a window into Moses and then onto the greater Moses.

To Christ himself. Yairway provides for the servants of the lord, and for the greatest servant of the Lord of them all, the Lord Jesus. And with that in mind, just think of how encouraging This word is for our day. The spiritual climate that we live in can be exhausting, can't it? We have believed this lie as a nation that if we just give people what we think is right information, they will come to right conclusions.

If we just educate people about everything, if we educate them, then we will be a better, more prosperous kinder generation. We just need to give them the right information. But as we know, right information doesn't always lead to right conclusions. And then when it comes to the gospel I mean, it does feel like sometimes, doesn't it? That even if we had a Mount Carmel episode every week in this country, it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.

We could have 1 in every we could have a demonstration of God's glory like that in every major city up and down the country, and we wouldn't shift a millimeter. And that can make us say, Lord, what is the plan here? I mean, look, there's nothing special about us. In verse 4, Elijah says, I'm no better than my ancestors. I'm not anything special.

I'm not better or stronger or more godly than them. But look, we do preach the word of God and we pray, and we try to hold out the word of life, but does anything change laws? It can be can be wearisome, can't it? And then what about our own hearts? Do I change Lord?

Or truth be told, am I sometimes a bit more like Jezebel? I get the right information and every week, but when it comes to my decisions and my habits, I make the wrong conclusions. Or less connected to Elijah, but still true. Which of us isn't isn't feeling weary at the moment. I mean, we just about got used to the new rules, hadn't we?

And it felt like our social lives were experiencing something of a resurrection, know, we were able to have people in the house again, and now down with winter coming. Have you not prayed or at least thought? This is enough lord. Spiritually and physically, it's easy to get to the end of our tether. But this passage says to us that in the face of opposition and when we are feeling weary, The Lord loves to come alongside his servants and to provide for them.

Now that doesn't mean he will change everything that makes us weary. So Jezebel is still on the throne here, and she will be for a little while. But the Lord is gracious to us, and he comes alongside us to provide for us in the wilderness, so that we can carry on. And it might be that you're here this morning. And for whatever reason you do feel like a broken servant.

You feel elijah like in the wilderness. Well, here is an encouragement to get alone with the Lord Because a bruised reeds, he will not break. And a flickering candle, he will not put out He's kind. He's kind. And he will provide for his servants.

And that leads us in some ways to the last and the main point of application which is this. In order to keep going forward with Christ, we must learn like Elijah learnt that we need to go back. In order to go forward in the strength of the lord, we must go back. Not to mount Sinai, but to a different mountain. Have a look at these verses from Mark chapter 9.

After 6 days, Jesus took Peter James and John with him and led them up a high mountain where they were all alone. There, he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them, and there appeared before them Elijah and Moses who were talking with Jesus. Number 7, then a cloud appeared and covered them. And a voice came from the cloud.

This is my son whom I love. Listen to him. Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. Jesus Christ is the place of revelation. He is the son of God who is loved by the father.

He is the word of God who became flesh. He is the prophet greater than Moses greater than Elijah. He is the new covenant king. That is what he shows himself to be on this mountain. And so when disciples like us, are feeling worn out at the end of our tether, we must go back to Christ.

It is as we get a fresh vision of Christ in the Scriptures, as we come to Christ, the place of Revelation, we will find the bread of God feeding us, who is Christ. We will find the water of life sustaining us, who is Christ. We will find ourselves strengthened for the road ahead because in Christ is all of our strength. When weary servants need strength, They come back not to Sinai but to the new covenant place, to Christ himself. And there we find strength to carry on.

I can't believe that I'm the only 1 who's ever asked Will they ever believe? Will they ever believe? Will this nation ever turn around. Will this physical crisis ever end? And then what about my own heart?

Will that ever change? Can I keep going? Well, look very often, the encouragement we need is not a new sign but an old road. Back to God himself. Not a new sign that God is still with us and he still cares.

But to get back on the old road and to go back to Christ and to see his faithfulness and his covenant and his love. And from him to find the strength we need. Yes to face opposition, but to keep going then in every weary time as well. So let's bow our heads and have an opportunity to do that together. Perhaps you'd like to spend time just as it were going back to the mountain Remembering Christ and his mercy and his kindness and asking for strength wherever you need it to keep going in the lord service.

Father God, we do give you thanks for Jesus Christ, who is that promised servant of the Lord. And we thank you Lord that he was not like other servants who had to prove their strength and beat their chest and shout out loud and prove that they were strong. But that Jesus was a tender servant who comes alongside the bruised reed and does not crush it, who comes to the flickering candle and refuses to blow it out. But instead shelters it and makes it strong again. We thank you lord for your kindness to Elijah and for the way that you drew alongside him when he was right at the end of the line and that you provided what he needed in that moment, but also you showed him the way back to your faithfulness.

You showed him the way back to your nature and he went on in your strength. And lord in these days when we can feel weary by the opposition to Christ and to his gospel when we despair at how terribly your word is treated in the public domain. When we feel worried by perhaps the opposition that we face in our own lives or just feel weary because of the conditions that we're in at the moment. We pray lord that you would strengthen us for the road ahead. And father we know that that strength will come as we see Christ again in the Scriptures, as we go back and are reminded of your faithfulness to us in him.

And so lord, we pray for each 1 of us today whether we're feeling relatively strong, relatively encouraged, or whether we're feeling downhearted and weary. That Jesus would be our bread and our water and our strength so that we can live another week in your service. And we ask it in Jesus' name. Oh, man.