It Came to Pass...

Below is a languid but lovely rumination on the phrase "it came to pass" from 2 Chronicles.  Worth pondering at length...

It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. - 2 Chronicles 20:1

“It came to pass.” The phrase occurs again and again in the Old Testament. “It came to pass after four hundred and thirty years that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt,” and, “It came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp and played with his hand,” and so on. But has it ever occurred to you that the phrase is a very suitable one as describing the different events of earthly history and the varied phases of earthly experience? It hints not only that they happen, but that they are so soon over; they come, but they “come to pass.” We do not always realise that, but it is always true. We are not conscious that the earth is moving round the sun, or that it is revolving daily on its axis, yet it is true. Summer and winter, day and night, do not cease, there is perpetual movement.

I. All that comes to us here “comes to pass,” nothing lasts very long, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” It is true a Christian has an abiding joy, it is joy that springs from an inward life, but joys that are ours through happy circumstances, through successes, recoveries, attainments, meetings, of these it is as true as of their opposites that give us trouble, they “come to pass.” 

Each period of life comes to pass. Childhood, how swiftly gone! Soon the soft limbs grow robust, the hair loses its flaxen tint; and youth, with its gaiety, novelty, and romance, it comes so quickly, but it “comes to pass.” And, of course, this is equally true of all that we mean by the word “opportunity.” Thomas a Kempis says, “The wealth of both Indies cannot redeem one single opportunity which you have once let slip.” 

Every day as it passes takes with it in its hand the opportunities that we have slighted and refused to take. The feeling of irritation that you have under trying circumstances. Things have not gone as you wish. Things do go strangely sometimes. So much disappointment and trouble are caused by one screw being loose somewhere. Well, the thing has come, but remember, like everything else, it has “come to pass.” 

Or it may be something much more serious than that. A reversal of fortune, the failure or death of one who, if not the sharer in your heart’s affections was one whose presence and favour were of great value to you. That great crisis of yours came, but it “came to pass.” God guided you into the wilderness that He might speak comfortably to you. The stormy night full of terrors brought the vision and the morning. 

But some may be reminding the speaker in the silence of their own thought, there are sorrows in life that come to stay. Yes, you may say, it is the greater griefs, the darker dispensations, that come but do not “come to pass.” In proportion to the depth of the wound is its permanency. 

And yet, even in regard to the greater sorrows that come to us in life there is an example of that which the text expresses. Wounds heal, though the marks of them abide, and though in some cases, like Jacob after the night of wrestling, we halt upon our thigh, there is an assuaging influence in time; the intense grief, the sense of despair, the feeling that all has gone, that life has no recuperative power, and that there is nothing worth living for—of these feelings it is true they come, but they “come to pass.” 

Is not this equally true of very opposite experiences? Though successes and the honours of the world may remain, yet the first feeling of elation and pride of attainment, these “come to pass.” We get accustomed to success, it ceases to exhilarate, it no longer gives us satisfaction.

II. Now having given, I trust, sufficient illustrations of this phase of life, of the constant flux of transitory things—they come, but they “come to pass”—let us consider its religious significance. 

What does it teach us, how should it affect us?


1. What an emphasis it lends to the fact of our own continuance, the continuity of the personal life through all the changes of time! How much has come to pass! Youth, marriage, parentage, maturity, the successive seasons and steps in life, have come to pass. Friends, and even the nearest and dearest of all, have come to pass. We ourselves have changed. There is not a physical atom of our bodies that belonged to us ten years ago; the gait, the expression, all have changed. But all that makes the continuity of the I, the fundamental elements of our humanity, the more striking. I am the same being that long years ago first spoke God’s name at my mother’s knee; the same being as when health gave vigour to the limbs and youth fresh beauty to the cheek; the same being who, once a prodigal son far from God, rioting in pleasure, then miserable in the consciousness of spiritual pauperism, came back unto the Father. The essence, the very constitution of man, is within, it is hidden, it is that which abides. Surely then there is nothing unreasonable in the faith that I may survive the last change of all? “The world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

2. Then should not the fact that most, if not all, things only “come to pass” have a moderating influence on passion? The things in life which we most regret are moments when we lose control of ourselves. Said Johnson to Boswell, when something had intensely irritated that inimitable biographer, “Consider, sir, how insignificant this will appear six months hence.” Boswell’s comment on relating it is, “Were this consideration applied to most of the little vexations of life by which one’s quiet is too often disturbed, it would prevent many painful sensations.” Exactly. There is a great argument for temperance in this text. “It came to pass.”

3. Surely, too, this should affect our judgment as well as our feelings. Permanency must be a factor in judgment. Should it not guide us to choose and cherish the good that abides, the better part that cannot be taken away from us? Character is an abiding thing; the evil effects as well as the good effects are lasting, but the pleasure only comes to pass; no one can enjoy the pleasures of sin more than for a season, but “he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” Surely, too, this should affect our judgment of movements of thought and taste, schemes that men devise for benefiting the race, will they last? Are they only a passing phase, a fashionable craze, a novelty, attractive because it is new? Here they are, they have come; wait a little, and you will see that they have only “come to pass.” The Word of God abides, the Christ the Sun of Righteousness is still the sun of the moral world. The Bible has been attacked ever since there was a Bible.                    
-Excerpted from the Biblical Illustrator--a collection of Bible commentary from various authors.  This passage is by R. Baldwin Brindley.

An exploration of Feelings & Emotion

In progress---just want to put a stake in the sand and say I'd like to explore this topic.

Guiding Questions:

How are we to interpret and manage our feelings?

What exactly are "feelings"---is this the exclusive territory of the soul?  What part is flesh? What part spirit?

When should we "listen" to our feelings?

When are our feelings an accurate indication of God and His Spirit?  How do we discern/determine this?

When are our feelings to be ignored or pressed through for a better aim?

How do hormones affect feelings?  Any research on this?

Discernment of feelings and spirits seems key here.

Keeping Tracks of the Kings--Part II: Ahab & Jehoshaphat

Timeline of kings and prophets

larger view of this timeline

Chart of Hebrew Kings & Prophets

I7 Ahab

Began reign in 38th year of Asa, reigned 22 years in Samaria. Was more evil than the kings before him, married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Sidians (Phoenicians, capital of Tyre) and bowed down to Baal. He built an Asherah pole, a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria.

Ahab fought the king of Aram. When Israel was given victory in that battle (by God, who explained that He was granting victory so that the Arameans would know that God was not just God of the mountains), Ahab failed to follow through and kill Benhadad.  Instead he granted him amnesty as long as he gave back Ramoth-Gilead.  He didn't and later they fought again (with Jehoshaphat's help) over this city.  Upon this occasion, Ahab died, even though he took pains to disguise himself in battle.  Jehoshaphat, who was undisguised, lived.  Great encouragement there---God's justice will prevail!

Jehoshaphat, King of Israel  and Ahab, King of Judah forge an alliance against the King of Aram.  Ahab's reign was mid 9th century, circa 870 to 850 BC.  In ancient times, Aram was a kingdom east of Phoenicia, above Israel's territory.  Today this area is Syria.

"...In the third year (853 b.c.), shortly after Ahab and Ben-Hadad had fought Shalmaneser at the Battle of Qarqar, Ahab decided that he needed to retake the important city of Ramoth in Gilead from the Arameans who had taken it from Israel earlier. Ramoth was one of the chief cities of the tribe of Gad, 28 miles east of the Jordan and 15 miles south of the Sea of Kinnereth, almost directly east of Jezreel." -BKC

On the map below, which I couldn't find a date for, Ramoth-Gilead is close to the border of these territories:

"Certainly Ahab should have been the very last person to think of rousing and provoking the very foe who, by the Divine sentence and by his own compromise, had gained so sad and signal an advantage over him. But instead of following so wise a course, Ahab blindly rushes into the opposite extreme from his former fault; and because before he has been blamed for not going far enough, with God on his side, he is provoked to go too far now, though God has declared against him. He is not without his reasons, and they are very plausible reasons, to justify the step proposed.

1. In the first place, it is in itself an act of patriotism and of piety; at least it looks very like it, and may easily be so represented.

2. Secondly, it has received the countenance of a friend (verse 4). And that friend is not a wicked man, but one fearing God, and acknowledged by God as righteous.
3. And, thirdly, it has obtained the sanction of four hundred prophets (verse 6). And these are not prophets of Baal. Looking, then, at the act itself as an act of patriotic and pious zeal, encouraged by the consent of his friend and the concurrence of the prophets, Ahab, we may think, might well be misled. And we might pity and excuse him too, as one misled, did we not see him so willing to be so. Is he n
ot all the while deceiving himself, and that too almost wilfully and consciously? O beware, ye pilgrims in an evil world, ye soldiers in an arduous fight, beware of your own rash wilfulness, of the weakness of compliant friends, and of the flattering counsels of evil men and seducers, who in the last times—in the last and critical stage of individual experience, as well as of the world’s history—are sure to wax worse and worse! There is no design, no device, no desire of your hearts, which you may not find some specious arguments to justify, some friends to countenance, ay, and some prophets, too, to sanction." --Source?
BI?

Another application---Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Ahab, perhaps in an effort to continue the peace and prosperity of their era among kingdoms. Was this love of comfort and profit a weakness of Jehoshaphat's? Thinking it through, Jehoshaphat had no business making an alliance with Ahab, even though they were divided parts of a once unified nation. Their motivation for unity was self-interested and not God-interested. If is only after pressing that Jehoshaphat gets his wish---to consult a prophet of the Lord's about this battle and clearly Jehoshaphat gets the short end of the relationship:

"To please Jehoshaphat by speaking to him of Jehovah was no more than decency required; but it was all that Ahab did for Jehoshaphat, except that he unwillingly sent for Micaiah. Jehoshaphat helped Ahab against Syria; he helped Jehoram against Moab; but neither Ahab nor his son helped Jehoshaphat in any one thing, except to be unfaithful to Jehovah." -Darby
The application for me is to be careful what alliances I make in my own life. Are they motivated by a desire to glorify the Lord or to prosper and pamper my own kingdom? Big difference.  We make these kinds of informal alliances all the time in our personal lives. They happen quickly---in real time--often without a lot of thought or prayer on the front end.  It speaks of our need to slow down and present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6-7) so that we might have a true peace and divine guidance in both small and big matters.

Sadly, Jehoshaphat had the sense to consult the Lord, but it was after the fact of choosing to ally himself with Ahab through the marriage of his son to Ahab's daughter.  One has to wonder if he consulted the Lord about this decision too which got him into the manipulative situation with Ahab.  Sometimes it is the decision before the decision that sets us up for trouble that could have been prevented.  It speaks of our need to walk circumspectly (Ephesians 5:15-16)

"Such is the history of the alliances of believers, not only with unbelievers, but with the unfaithful. The latter are very willing that we should go with them; but to walk in the ways of truth is another thing." -Darby

One further application:


"Beware of the deceitfulness of sin. The wiles of the devil are not unknown to you. In a doubtful case, where you are hesitating, it is easy for him to insinuate and suggest reasons enough to make the worse appear the better cause. Generally you may detect his sophistry by its complex character. Truth is simple; the word of God is plain." R.S. Candlish, BI

James TIssot, Ahab Pierced by an Arrow, Jewish Museum, New York

J4-Jehoshaphat

Asa's son, strengthened Judah from attack by Israel.  He followed God and was like his father Asa in his early years.  He fortified Judah and people brought him gifts, so he became wealthy. He removed shines and Asherah poles from Judah.

In the 3rd year of his reign, he sent priests, Levites, and officials out to all the towns of Judah to teach  them the law.  Then the fear of the Lord fell on surrounding nations and they brought him tribute.  So Jehoshaphat continued to prosper and fortify.  He built places to store grain, reinforced fortresses and kept a standing army at Jerusalem.

Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Israel by having his son marry one of Ahab's daughters.  Then, he was talked into helping Israel get Ramoth-Gilead back from Aram, despite the dire warning of the prophet Micaiah.  

Matthew Henry notes:

"That the king of Israel, who hated God's prophet, should so far disbelieve his admonition as to persist in his resolution, notwithstanding, is not strange; but that Jehoshaphat, that pious prince, who had desired to enquire by a prophet of the Lord, as disrelishing and discrediting Ahab's prophets, should yet proceed, after so fair a warning, is matter of astonishment."

When Jehoshaphat returned to his kingdom after the war, the prophet Jehu chastised him for his involvement with Ahab.   Jehoshaphat also had wise word for the  judges of the land:

"Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD. He is with you in giving judgment." -2 Chronicles 19:6


He also appointed some Levites to help, and left the biggest cases ultimately up to the high priest. I imagine this was the same principle as applied when Jesus appeared before the high priest?
"Take courage as you fulfill your duties, and may the Lord be with those who do what is right.” 2 Chronicles 19:11

Michelangelo's Asa-Jehoshaphat-Joram. The man on the left is generally considered to be Jehoshaphat

From the BKC: "Part of Jehoshaphat’s program of reform was his personally traveling through Judah to encourage people to turn back to the Lord. He also appointed godly judges throughout the land, arbiters whose task it was to judge without partiality or bribery (cf. Deu_16:18-20). He did the same in Jerusalem with a kind of supreme court charged with hearing the matters referred to them from outlying districts. Over this court he selected Amariah the chief priest to oversee religious cases and Zebadiah (not the same Zebadiah as in 2Ch_17:8, who was a Levite) to be over civil cases. The Levites would serve as officers to implement the work of the judges as a whole."

"The answer involves character: “the good.” God identifies Himself with all that is good in thought as well as in act; in purpose as well as in service. Even when the godly man ceaseth God will maintain the cause that is “good.” This promise, like all the promises of God, is designated not as a sedative, but a stimulant. Deal courageously! See how the text might have read: The Lord shall be with the good, therefore sit still; the Lord shall be with the good, therefore let wickedness have its own way in the world; the Lord shall be with the good, therefore pay no attention to self-discipline. The text reads contrariwise. The Lord is with the good, therefore deal courageously. Goodness is not to be merely passive—it is to be aggressive, defiant of all evil. (J. Parker, D. D.)"

Jehoshaphat is our everyman here.  He's mostly trying to do the right thing, but has occasional lapses of bad judgment that keep him from excellence and higher commendation.  He removes the idols but can't seem to shake alliances with Ahab and later his son Joram.  It's hard to turn people down--especially when they were once part of a larger united nation.  Jehoshaphat has enough sense to consult prophets, but he fails to heed their advice at times.  We are guilty of the same---call upon the Lord, or we seek Him through His word, but fail to apply His direction and Word to the specifics of our daily lives.  Across centuries and cultures, the flaw seems obvious--but, the flaw is woven through our daily lives yet remains mostly undetected.  Yes, Jehoshaphat shows us the Lord's patience and mercy against man's uneven flesh.

The Lord's mercy is evident when He spares Jehoshaphat's life after going into battle with Ahab against Aram.  Later, he allows the alliance of Israel, Judah & Edom success against Moab and provides water in the desert (2 Kings 3).  However, even then, it results in their retreat after the Moabite King offers his oldest son on the wall of the city as a sacrifice. Jehoshaphat's united endeavor to work with Ahaziah  to send ships from Tarsish to get gold from Ophir also went awry.  Nothing good came from the alliance at any point, so what was the lure for Jehoshaphat?  Money?  Security?  The feel-good unity of the Kingdom?  

Elijah--prophet to Ahab.  Elijah told Ahab there would be no dew or rain for the next few years until Elijah gave word.  The Lord tells him to go hide by Kerith Brook in the east, near where it meets the Jordan.  The ravens bring him bread and meat each evening, and he drank from the brook.  Eventually the brook dried up.

Micaiah's Vision & the Politics of Heaven--1 Kings 22

A threshing floor---the location of this meeting

Although Jehoshaphat was open to the alliance with Ahab against Aram, he insisted that they inquire of the Lord first via a prophet.  Ahab rolls out 400 false prophets who are all in favor of the campaign, but Jehoshaphat presses to hear from one of the Lord's prophets.  Reluctantly, Ahab summons the prophet Micaiah, and reluctantly, Michaiah engages truthfully with the two kings.

After initially replying with sarcasm, Micaiah warns the pair against battling with Aram.  He relays a very specific vision.  I supposed it's part of prophetic conventions, but the first verse reminds me of the way Isaiah began his beautiful vision in Isaiah 6:

Then Micaiah continued, "Listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on His throne with all the armies of heaven around Him, on His right and on His left.

And the LORD said, 'Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?' "There were many suggestions, and finally a spirit approached the LORD and said, 'I can do it!'

"'How will you do this?' the LORD asked. "And the spirit replied, 'I will go out and inspire all of Ahab's prophets to speak lies.' "'You will succeed,' said the LORD. 'Go ahead and do it.'

"So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets. For the LORD has pronounced your doom."

Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah walked up to Micaiah and slapped him
 across the face. "Since when did the Spirit of the LORD leave me to speak to you?" he demanded.
And Micaiah replied, "You will find out soon enough when you are trying to hide in some secret room!"  -1 Kings 19:19-25

This passage also has whisps of the conversation between God and Satan at the beginning of the book of Job. Both convey the idea that there is a court of sorts above where the details of men's character and actions are debated. Both suggest that evil spirits are permitted to influence humans. It would make a good study to compare the two passages, and I'm sure someone has trod this ground and laid out the specific points of comparison and contrast.

Add caption

The bulk of the commentators agree that Micaiah's vision is not to be interpreted literally, but as a parable.  Yes, we can use it to extrapolate general principles about the spiritual world and God's relationship to us, but we shouldn't push the details too far.  Clarke, Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Gill, Barnes, and Matthew Henry all fall into this camp. 

Here's a sampling of their thoughts:

"...all which are represented as in a vision, in which things are brought down to the capacities of men, and not as really transacted." -Gill 

"But it may be doubted whether we ought to take literally, and seek to interpret exactly, each statement of the present narrative. Visions of the invisible world can only be a sort of parables; revelations, not of the truth as it actually is, but of so much of the truth as can be shown through such a medium. The details of a vision, therefore, cannot safely be pressed, anymore than the details of a parable." -Barnes

Darby believes it reveals the politics of heaven with regard to kings which he differentiates from the common man

"That which is here in question is the government of God Now the principles of this government are laid open to us in the revelation made to Moses, when he went up the second time to Mount Sinai (Ex. 33). There was, first of all, goodness and mercy; then the declaration that the guilty shall not be held innocent; and, thirdly, a principle of public government, which caused the effects of misconduct to be felt, namely, that their children should bear its consequences (a principle which could not be applied where the soul is in question); but this principle important and salutary in the outward government of the world is verified daily in that of providence. This government of God was in exercise in the case of the kings; but the condition of Israel depended on the conduct of the kings." 

Leave it to Matthew Henry to extract every possible lesson from this vision:

"This matter is here represented after the manner of men. We are not to imagine that God is ever put upon new counsels, or is ever at a loss for means whereby to effect his purposes, nor that he needs to consult with angels, or any creature, about the methods he should take, nor that he is the author of sin or the cause of any man's either telling or believing a lie; but, besides what was intended by this with reference to Ahab himself, it is to teach us..."

What does Henry say it teaches us?  In short:

1)God is a great King above with a throne

2)God has many angels attending Him

3)That He not only knows about but intervenes in the affairs of men below

4)That God has many ways to bring about the fall of wicked men

5)That evil spirits are real and they wander around looking for men to devour

6)Under His watch, God allows these evil spirits to influence men, and sometimes for His own purposes 

7)Beware of false prophets

The commentators are somewhat divided upon whether this spirit is Satan or a representative of Satan.  This seems more tangential to me--interesting to ponder, but not critical in our understanding of the workings of God and man.  Satan or representative of Satan, we learn here (and elsewhere) that there are evil spirits looking for victims.   This should give us all a check in our spirits and prompt us to walk circumspectly.

The more pivotal question for me is---how to determine the difference between  when we are to interpret the Bible literally and when we are disrespecting the characteristics of the genre when doing so (for instance with figurative language in the psalms or when interpreting this parables)?  Prophecy seems to be a particularly muddy genre to interpret, and I would be curious to learn more about its conventions.

The book The Art of Biblical Narrative has given me cause to be more thoughtful about the genres of Biblical writings.   After reading this work, I realized that you can believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, yet, still have a whole host of legitimate interpretative questions which remain unresolved.  This parable is an excellent example---if pushed too far, I believe, as do most of the commentators, that we distort the text.  Yet, I also agree with them that certain general principles can be gleaned from the parable without manhandling it.    The most accurate interpretation is not as easy as we'd wish!

Elisha's call, 1 Kings 19

The Calling of Elisha, Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, c 1430, North Netherlands

"He found him, not in the schools of the prophets, but in the field, not reading, nor praying, nor sacrificing, but ploughing...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 seed of the word, as the apostles were taken from fishing to catch men."  -Matthew Henry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The voice in the cave of Horeb said many things; but it said one thing which, to my mind, was specially helpful to the future development of Elijah—it directed him where to find a human friend. If there was one thing Elijah needed to mellow him it was that. He seems never to have felt the influence of home ties. His life throughout had been one of war, of public commotion, of political and religious strife. Superiors he had, inferiors he had, but he had hitherto possessed no equal. There had been none to take his hand and say, “We are brothers.” A man in such a position is in want of one half of life’s music. When the voice sent him to Elisha, it sent him to a new school. --George Matheson, BI

~~~~~~~~~

"Of all subjects none can be more important than that everyone who ministers in holy things should see to it that his call is clear. Most awful it is to rush into the ministry unsent; and most awful in the end will be that solemn question, Who hath required this at your hands?"  -Robert Hawker

"The Lord gives grace to follow his call, notwithstanding both the unexpectedness of the call, and our unpreparedness to receive it; and yet more, all our undeservings; and though the whole life of grace as much exceeds all we can ask or think, as his thoughts exceed our thoughts, or his ways our ways."  -Robert Hawker

Elijah's Depression 1 Kings 19

"II. What lessons should this subject teach us?

1. That great men are subject to sudden changes in their mental moods.

2. That these seasons of depression do not unchristianise a man.

John Bunyan tells us that the pilgrims were as surely progressing towards the Celestial City, when climbing the hill Difficulty, passing through the valley of Humiliation, and engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter with Apollyon, as when transported with the visions of the Delectable Mountains, fanned with the balmy breezes, and regaled with the fragrant odours of the land of Beulah, where the sun always shines. “If needs be,” says Peter, “ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations."  H Woodcock

~~~~~

"That Christian work is needful to spiritual health. Elijah was commanded to return to the wilderness of Damascus, and to do the work assigned him. He obeyed, and we never read of him wandering away again. Many Christians get low-spirited, and wander into forbidden paths, because of inactivity. Earnest work for God would restore and preserve them." (The Study and the Pulpit.)

1 Kings 19: Elijah and the Wind, Earthquake, Fire, and Whisper...

"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?" 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." 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. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 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?""-1 Kings 19:9-13

Elijah in the Desert of Horeb,
William Brassy Hole, 1846-1917

I've always loved this imagery of God speaking through the quiet instead of the loud and obvious. It's the way He mostly speaks to me as well. I look for Him in the others, but He finds me in the everyday meanwhile.

This morning, I'm intrigued with trying to physically place Elijah during the signs, and I do think his location makes a difference in how one interprets the scene. The BBC believes that Elijah is inside the cave for the series of signs. The BKC thinks he's on the mountainside. Did Elijah obey God, go out on the mountain for the miraculous signs but not hear from him then return? or did he cower inside and emerge as a result of the tender whisper?

Sweet commentary here on seeing God in the simple:

"The truest revelation of God to man is a simple one. Whirlwind, earthquake, and fire did not seem to greatly move the prophet. The solitary voice, still and small, with nothing bewildering about it, invited attention to the speaker and the message. It is a mistake which men often make that they look more confidently for revelations of God in large things than in small. For illustrations of the workings of the Divine Providence, they take whole epochs of history. They use a system of numeration in which dynasties and nations are the digits. They trace the slow processes by which some monstrous wrong is at last brought to extinction, or some great truth is finally established in sovereignty, and they say, see how evidently God directs the affairs of the world. To our Lord, a dead sparrow by the roadside meant quite as milch, for He said: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them falleth to the ground without your Father.” It is not possible for all men to be profound students; but all men profoundly need that God should stand revealed to them, not after protracted investigation, and once or twice in a lifetime, but every day, and in each new emergency of experience; and just that is possible to them, because, to right seeing men, God is discernible in items as well as aggregates." Monday Club, BI

A distinguished naturalist wrote over his study door: “Be reverent, for God is here.”
There is an Eastern proverb: “God comes to us without bell.” The deepest Divine impressions are those which are made silently upon the heart, not by wind, nor earthquake, nor fire, but by the “still small voice” of His spirit." -Homiletic Review, BI

Mount Carmel: "Garden Place"

Wikipedia: "a coastal mountain range inn northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast.The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a number of towns are located there, most notably the city of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, located on the northern slope."

Notes from video:
35 miles long
creates a border from north to south
Meggido is best passage from north to sort
astoundingly green...Song of Solomon 7 "your head crowns you like Mount Carmel"
Jeremiah 50:19  "I will bring Israel back to his own pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan"
Amos 9  hills are limestone, full of caves, 2,000 estimated  "thou they hide themselves on the top of Mount Carmel..."
1 Kings 18  Elijah & prophets of Baal face off on Mount Carmel



"The Jezreel Valley lies to the immediate northeast. The range forms a natural barrier in the landscape, just as the Jezreel Valley forms a natural passageway, and consequently the mountain range and the valley have had a large impact on migration and invasions through the Levant over time. The mountain formation is an admixture of limestone and flint, containing many caves, and covered in several volcanic rocks. The sloped side of the mountain is covered with luxuriant vegetation, including oak, pine, olive, and laurel trees."

Courtesy of Luke Chandler's blog:
"The Jezreel Valley from Mount Carmel, probably near the location of Elijah's contest with the Baal prophets. The Kishon River is the visible green line slightly left of center in the valley floor."

Historically, a place of refuge:

"Due to the lush vegetation on the sloped hillside, and many caves on the steeper side, Carmel became the haunt of criminals; Carmel was seen as a place offering an escape from Yahweh, as implied by the Book of Amos. According to the Books of Kings, Elisha travelled to Carmel straight after cursing a group of young men because they had mocked him and the ascension of Elijah by jeering, "Go on up, bald man!" After this, bears came out of the forest and mauled 42 of them. This does not necessarily imply that Elisha had sought asylum there from any potential backlash,  although the description in the Book of Amos, of the location being a refuge, is dated by textual scholars to be earlier than the accounts of Elisha in the Book of Kings, and according to Strabo it had continued to be a place of refuge until at least the first century." -Wikipedia

During World War I, Mount Carmel played a significant strategic role. The (20th century) Battle of Megiddo took place at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the south. General Allenby led the British in the battle, which was the turning point in the war against the Ottoman Empire. The Jezreel Valley had played host to many battles before, including the very historically significant Battle of Megiddo between the Egyptians and Canaanites, but it was only in the 20th century battle that the Carmel Ridge itself played a significant part, due to the developments in munitions.

Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel. -Wikipedia

According to the Books of Kings, there was an altar to God on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time of Ahab, but Elijah built a new one. Iamblichus describes Pythagoras visiting the mountain on account of its reputation for sacredness, stating that it was the most holy of all mountains, and access was forbidden to many, while Tacitus states that there was an oracle situated there, which Vespasian visited for a consultation; Tacitus states that there was an altar there, but without any image upon it, and without a temple around it. -Wikipedia

It's interesting to read through the reviews of the traditional location of Elijah's cave from Trip Advisor. It seems that the cave is close to the Mediterranean and within the city of Haifa. Looking at the map, Haifa is due west of the Sea of Gailee and is on a piece of coast that juts out into the Mediterranean.  Apparently there was a forest fire in Mount Carmel in 2010.

*****

From Gill:

Carmel, a mountain ridge “with many peaks, intersected by hundreds of larger and smaller ravines,” which stands out as a promontory running in a north-westerly direction into the Mediterranean (see at Jos_19:26), and some of the loftiest peaks of which rise to the height of 1800 feet above the level of the sea, when seen from the northern or outer side shows only “bald, monotonous rocky ridges, scantily covered with short and thorny bushes;” but in the interior it still preserves its ancient glory, which has procured for it the name of “fruit-field,” the valleys being covered with the most beautiful flowers of every description, and the heights adorned with myrtles, laurels, oaks, and firs (cf. V. de Velde, R. i. p. 292ff.). At the north-western extremity of the mountain there is a celebrated Carmelite monastery, dedicated to Elijah, whom tradition represents as having lived in a grotto under the monastery;

Elijah and the False Prophets of Ahab, 1 Kings 18

Notes from my first reading:

1. A significant amount of time had passed from the prior miracles.  God's timing is wholly His.

2. The Lord provides a bit of a buffer with Obadiah.

3. Even Obadiah's first reaction is "how did I sin" to deserve this task.

4. I think this is Obadiah, the prophet?  If so, interesting that God put him in charge of Ahab's

Ba'al with raised arm, 14th-12th century BC,
found at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit),Louvre

palace.  Godly people work for ungodly people.  They are sometimes key instruments in God's plan there.

4. Elijah doesn't take any junk.  When Ahab greets Elijah with the question:  "Is that you, destroyer of Israel,"  Elijah corrects and points to Ahab's own sin quite directly.

5. 1 Kings 18:21 is worth some consideration.  How much easier it is to sit between a truth and a lie than to decidedly chose the truth.

6. Clearly, God does not delight in self-abuse or the dark kind of notions about hurting ourselves to prove our devotion to Him.

7. Dramatic signs are not always immediate--they had to look 7 times for the cloud before they saw it.

8. What a picture!  Elijah girds up his garment and beats Ahab back to the city.  Although interesting, I'm not entirely sure of the significance.

love this from the Biblical Illustrator--encourages me that we all have possibilities despite our areas of struggle:

"In the same character may be met great faith and great doubt. Obadiah risked his life to save fifty of the prophets of the Lord, yet dare not risk it, without first receiving an oath, for the greatest prophet of all! This mixture we find in every human character. “How abject, how august is man!” In Ahab, Obadiah, Elijah, and Jezebel, we see a fourfold type of human society; there is the speculator, the godly servant, the far-seeing prophet, the cruel persecutor. Society has got no further than this to-day. O wondrous combination! So checked, so controlled, by invisible but benignant power. Speculative error has its counterpart in actual cruelty, and patient worship has its counterpart in daring service. Application.
(1) Be the servant of the Lord.
(2) To-day, Christ calls for faithful testimony;

(3) If we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with Him." (J. Parker, D. D.)

Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer, wrote an oratorio centered around the life of Elijah in 1846.   The music reflects a mix of Baroque and Romantic influences:

Regarding Baal and False Gods:

Elijah on Mt. Carmel, Dura Europas synagogue, c 245

"Baal-worship was popular because it was gay, festal, splendid, while the Mosaic ritual was calm, earnest, self-controlled, chaste. Under the first, men could do what they liked best, and yet pass for religious. It dignified self-indulgence, and deified strength and lust. Love of God is the source and crown of all delights; but, to a multitude of meaner impulses in us, the world appeals with more flattery and promise than heaven. Let us hold fast to the Bible, in which speaks the only living and true God. If we turn from Jehovah, the deity we make ourselves will prove a Baal. Earth-born religions are dishonourable to the conscience, false to the intellect, and cruel to the heart. And if we acknowledge Jehovah to be God, let us follow Him."  -Monday Club Sermons, BI

On Truth

For Grace, who struggles with the idea of truth and justice not being the norm in this present world.  Truth is often the prerogative of the minority:

"1. We are reminded of the great disparity between these opposing forces. Now, as then, Truth is in the minority. It was one man against four hundred and fifty. But so it is always. The world has never seen a popular majority for the truth. Only eight souls were saved in the ark; Abraham was alone in his faith; Israel was but a handful; and the “peculiar peoples” in every age have been “a remnant.” Even the Son of God did not restore the equilibrium. The Reformation effected but a partial equalisation. The present age of missions, with all its conquests, finds the Church outnumbered in every region by its foes. Not only so, but in respect to earthly rank, power, prestige, the advantage has always been on the side of error. If at intervals the tide seems to turn, as when David, Solomon, Constantine give to religious truth political pre-eminence, such episodes are transient, and soon the old disproportion returns.

Truth for ever on the scaffold,

Wrong for ever on the throne,

abides as the rule obtaining in every age for the fortunes of the kingdom of heaven on earth."

-CJ Baldwin, BI

The Rival Sacrifices of Elijah and the Priests of Ba'al, Lucas the Younger Cranach, 1645
German Renaissance artist

Ecclesiastes

All taken from the Biblical Illustrator:

The great debate
This book has been called the sphinx of the Bible, a not unapt name, for the book is grave, majestic, mysterious. Whatever its meaning be, it contradicts itself in the most flagrant way, looked at from every standpoint bug one. The book is clearly the record of a debate either between two men—one of them smitten with unbelief and despair, the other filled with conviction and hope; or more probably between two men in some one man—two parts of the same soul. In this great debate three things are discussed.

But perhaps, we say, your experience was exceptionally unhappy, No, he answers, I have looked over the whole of life and find it everywhere the same. There is, for instance, he goes on, a season, a marked fixed time for everything and to every purpose under the heavens, and he enumerates some twenty-eight of these seasons, and the activities for which they are propitious. Looked at from one point of view it is very beautiful, no doubt, but under such a fatalism, in a world where everything is arranged beforehand, what room is there for man to will or act? Fate! Fate! everywhere fate and vanity.

Doth any man lie the softer because his bed-posts are gilt? Doth his meat and drink relish the better, because served up in gold? Is his house more convenient, because better carved or painted? It is nothing but conceit that makes the difference between the richest and the meanest, if both enjoy necessaries: for what are all their superfluous riches, but a load that men’s covetousness lays upon them?

2) Whether they get them or no, yet still they are disappointed in their hopes. The truth is, the world is much better in show than substance; and those very things we admire before we enjoy them, yet afterward we find much less in them than we expected.

"Three views of human life are given in this remarkable chapter.
I. The theatrical view of life (Ecc_2:1-11). The writer seeks to prove his heart with mirth and laughter; he treats his flesh with wine; he gathers peculiar treasure; he is enamored of greatness, magnificence, and abundance; he delights in architecture, scenery, literature, music, song. Everything is spectacular, dazzling, wonderful. This is a very misleading idea of the world in which we find ourselves.
1. It is partial. Nothing whatever is said here of the problems which challenge us—of duty, enterprise, discipline, work, sacrifice, suffering; nothing about character or conduct. It really leaves out two-thirds of life, and the noblest two-thirds.
2. It is exaggerated. It contemplates great works, great possessions, and great fame. Life is largely made up of commonplace tasks, homely faces, uneventful days, monotonous experiences.
3. It is selfish. You see throughout how prominent the individual is. It is all “I.” The writer never thinks of other people except as they may enhance his pleasure, or be spectators of his glory.
4. It is superficial. There is not a word about conscience, righteousness, responsibility. Now beware of the theatrical view of life—of the great, the gaudy, the glistering. True life, as a rule, is simple, sober, and severe. Beware of companions who would represent life to you in a gay and voluptuous light. Beware also of your reading, and see that it does not give a false and delusive idea of the life that awaits you. The world is not a theatre, not a magician’s cave, not a carnival; it is a temple where all things are serious and sacred."  -Biblical Illustrator

Private Living and Contentment

Just love this commentary from Frederick Brotherton Meyer on God's work in our lives.  Although the comments were written in reference to Elijah in 1 Kings 17, his words speak beyond the passages to life in general:

On home and our character in the more private parts of our lives:

"It is one thing to commune with God in the solitudes of nature, and to perform splendid acts of devotion and zeal for Him in the presence of thousands; but it is quite another to walk with Him day by day in the midst of a home, with its many calls for the constant forgetfulness of self...

There is a constant need for the exercise of gentleness, patience, self-sacrifice, self-restraint...

Thy home-life was chosen for thee by the unerring skill of One who knows thee better than thou knowest thyself, and who could not mistake. It has been selected as the best school of grace for thee." 

On daily contentment:

"Elijah teaches us contentment. God’s rule is—day by day. The manna fell on the desert sands day by day. Our bread is promised to us for the day. As our day, so will our strength be. And they who live like this are constantly reminded of their blessed dependence on their Father’s love. If God guarantees, as He does, our support, does it much matter whether we can see the sources from which He will obtain it? It might gratify our curiosity; but it would not make them more sure."

Elijah and the Widow's Son

Elijah and the Widow's Son, James Tissot

Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again.

And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.   1 Kings 17:21-22

From the BKC:

This is the first recorded instance in Scripture of restoration to life of one who had died.

*****

"He is very particular in his prayer: I pray thee let this child's soul come into him again, which plainly supposes the existence of the soul in a state of separation from the body, and consequently its immortality, which Grotius thinks God designed by this miracle to give intimation and evidence of, for the encouragement of his suffering people." -Matthew Henry

*****

"listened" shâma‛
shaw-mah'

A primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively to tell, etc.): -  X attentively, call (gather) together, X carefully, X certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, X diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear (-ken, tell)

*****

"Persistence in prayer is a fundamental requisite for obtaining one’s petitions (cf. Matthew 7:7-8; Luke11:5-13). It proved effective in this case."  -BKC

Lovely commentary from Frederick Meyer on this scene:

"1. Lonely wrestlings. “He took him out of her bosom,” etc. We are not specific enough in prayer; and we do not spend enough time in intercession, dwelling with holy ardour on each beloved name, and on each heart-rending case. What wonder that we achieve so little!

2. Humility. “He measured himself upon the child.” How wonderful that so great a man should spend so much time and thought on that slender frame, and be content to bring himself into direct contact with that which might be thought to defile! It is a touching spectacle.

3. Perseverance. “He measured himself three times, and cried unto the Lord.” He was not soon daunted. It is thus that God tests the genuineness of our desire. These deferred answers lead us to lengths of holy boldness and pertinacity of which we should not otherwise have dreamed, but from which we shall never go back. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” 

*********

Hard mirror to gaze into here---do I persist in prayer?  Often, I wrestle not only with the request, but with getting the prayer out of my heart with any degree of rigor and depth.  I feel that the Lord has already made up His mind, and the prayer is more for me--to acquiesce.  It feels like it's something to muster up on my "on my own."  It feels aimless at times--inefficient use of time,  without gratification or reply.   

Yes, He answers.  I feel those answers in quiet moments or equally often when I am busy with other things.  His answers to me are not typically straightforward or clean cut.   

There is a piece of me that longs for the physical, tangible kind of reply we see here with Elijah. Elijah wrestled, but still, in that same effort, the boy came back to life.  Immediate clean cut reply.  Nice.   

Does God work the same way most of the time? these days?  From my experience?  Most of the time: no.  These days: rarely   From my experience: God has worked in powerful and miraculous ways in our lives---I dare not deny it--yet, I've never seen a person raised from the dead. 

Out of the scope of my life, I earnestly petitioned the Lord for children.  He did honor that request--blessed!  Briggs had an accident and should have died from the resulting pulmonary embolism, but he didn't!   Praise God. I prayed also that He spare my father's life---a situation much like this widow.  My father also endured heartbreak and difficulty--in his case with the degeneration of his bride, changing jobs often, watching his children work out their adult lives with strife at times.  God chose not to heal my father physically, though I do believe He chose to heal him spiritually.  He confessed faith in the Lord before he left us.  So, sometimes I wonder why is that such a short end of the stick in my heart.  A partially fulfilled prayer?  The Lord honored the nobler and more significant part, though I didn't get the whole answer to prayer I craved.

Why does He chose to heal or not heal on this earth?  Better minds have wrestled with that question for centuries.  I view it as one of the "great mysteries" of our faith, no getting to the bottom of it anytime soon...

Early 16th century, South Netherlands, probably Brussels

Another curious piece of this story is the way that the widow suspects her son's death is a byproduct of her sin:


"And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!"" 1 Kings 17:18

It's remarkable that she goes right to her point of weakness under duress.  Culturally, we so resent any indication of sin or our own culpability that we wave our angry finger the other way.  Our initial response (and often sustained reflection) on any tragedy in our lives is "How dare God subject me to this?"  Not, "What mistake did I make that might justify such an event." 

Redeeming Elijah

Elijah is one of the many Bible figures that I didn't meet until I was in my mid-twenties. My Catholic education strongly emphasized the gospels, but to the neglect of the entire rest of the Bible. Outside of Adam, Eve and Noah with whom I had a passing acquaintance, the bulk of the Bible outside the gospels, including Paul's letters, were virgin territory to my Catholic mind.

Significantly, Elijah, along with Moses, is on the mountain during Christ's transfiguration. He made the short short list.  He's also a harbinger to the Christ .  Malachi proclaimed "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." (Malachi 4:5). Jesus  told the crowds that John the Baptist "is the Elijah who was to come." (Matthew 11:14).  Why was Elijah selected for such a distinction?  Knowing the Lord, it wasn't anything specifically exceptional about the man himself but more that he was a willing student of His greater plan.  Willing clay.

I think it's best that I start with the Elijah of Kings and Chronicles--to anchor myself in the flesh and blood details of these accounts and work my way forward.   

Elijah appears out of nowhere, fully armed with bold prophetic authority.  He announces to King Ahab, perhaps the worst of the entire line of Israel kings, that his kingdom will suffer famine and drought until he says the word.   Clearly Elijah is fully deluded or fully confident in the power of his Master.

Elijah and Ahab, Harold Copping (1863-1932), lithograph 1908

Elijah is identified as "a Tishbe from Gilead."  

"Elijah came from Tishbe in Gilead, east of the Jordan River, and was thus called a Tishbite. His history is recorded only in Kings. We are told nothing about his background, family, or call to the prophetic ministry." -Believer's Bible Commentary

As is often the case in my studies, someone has gone before me, pondered the scene more deeply and summarized it all much more succinctly and powerfully.  I'm never sad that I wasn't the first to tread this path of though, only thankful for such excellence company on my pilgramage.  It's one of the great priveleges of the Christian faith, to have such sturdy stock behind us, lifting us up on our current travels.

Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847-1929) was an English Bapist pastor, lifelong friend of D.L. Moody, and active in community missionary work throughout his lifetime. Before we explore his commentary on 1 King Here is his commentary on 1 Kings 17, it's work relaying some of his final words to a friend:

"I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the palace. Don’t trouble to write. We shall meet in the morning."
Isn't that lovely? His commentary on Elijah is below:

"This chapter begins with the conjunction “And”: it is, therefore, an addition to what has gone before; and it is God’s addition. When we have read to the end of the previous chapter—which tells the melancholy story of the rapid spread, and universal prevalence, of idolatry, in the favoured land of the Ten Tribes—we might suppose that that was the end of all; and that the worship of Jehovah would never again acquire its lost prestige and power. And, no doubt, the principal actors in the story thought so too. But they had made an unfortunate omission in their calculations—they had left out Jehovah Himself. He must have something to say at such a crisis. When men have done their worst, and finished, it is the time for God to begin. The whole land seemed apostate. Of all the thousands of Israel, only seven thousand remained Who had not bowed the knee or kissed the hand to Baal. But they were paralysed with fear; and kept so still, that their very existence was unknown by Elijah in the hour of his greatest loneliness. 

Egg tempera and gold leaf on sculpted panel, 11 x 14 inches, 2002
Based on an icon in the Byzantine Museum, Athens

Such times have often come, fraught with woe: false religions have gained the upper hand; iniquity has abounded; and the love of many has waxed cold. So was it when the Turk swept over the Christian communities of Asia Minor, and replaced the Cross by the crescent. So was it when, over Europe, Roman Catholicism spread as a pall of darkness that grew denser as the dawn of the Reformation was on the point of breaking. So was it in the last century, when Moderatism reigned in Scotland, and apathy in England. But God is never at a loss. 

The land may be overrun with sin; the lamps of witness may seem all extinguished; the whole force of the popular current may run counter to His truth; and the plot may threaten to be within a hair s breadth of entire success; but, all the time, He will be preparing a weak man in some obscure highland village; and in the moment of greatest need will send him forth, as His all-sufficient answer to the worst plottings of His foes. 

Elijah grew up like the other lads of his age. In his early years he would probably do the work of a shepherd on those wild hills. As he grew in years, he became characterised by an intense religious earnestness. He was “very jealous for the Lord God of hosts.” But the question was, How should he act? What could he do, a wild, untutored child of the desert? 

There was only one thing he could do—the resource of all much-tried souls—he could pray; and he did: “he prayed earnestly” (Jas_5:17). “He prayed earnestly that it might not rain.” A terrible prayer indeed! Granted; and yet, was it not more terrible for the people to forget and ignore the God of their fathers, and to give themselves up to the licentious orgies of Baal and Astarte? Physical suffering is a smaller calamity than moral delinquency. And the love of God does not shrink from inflicting such suffering, if, as a result, the plague of sin may be cut out as a cancer, and stayed. Elijah gives us three indications of the source of his strength.

1. “As Jehovah liveth.” To all beside, Jehovah might seem dead; but to him, He was the one supreme reality of life.

2. “Before whom I stand.” He was standing in the presence of Ahab; but he was conscious of the presence of a greater than any earthly monarch, even the presence of Jehovah, before whom angels bow in lowly worship, hearkening to the voice of His word. Gabriel himself could not employ a loftier designation (Luk_1:19). Let us cultivate this habitual recognition of the presence of God; it will lift us above all other fear.

3. The word “Elijah” may be rendered, “Jehovah is my God”; but there is another possible translation, “Jehovah is my strength.” This gives the key to his life. God was the strength of his life; of whom should he be afraid?" (F. B. Meyer, M. A.)

*************


"Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."  1 Kings 17:1

"It is hard to set the Lord always before us; but it is possible, and in the measure in which we do it we shall not be moved." -Alexander Maclaren

***********

Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647), circa 1621-24
"Elijah Receiving Bread from the Woman of Zarepheth"

On the widow of Zarepheth (I Kings 17)

"God had apparently revealed to Elijah that He would honor that promise in Elijah’s day. This would have struck at the heart of Baal-ism, for Baal-worshipers believed that their god was the god of rain!"

******************

"This woman was a Phoenician, of Jezebel’s own race and country, and by birth and training a believer in those very idolatries which the bloody Queen was then establishing in Palestine, and against which it was the chief part of the prophet’s burden to witness."


"What a world of suggestion lies in the picture of Hebrew Prophet and Phoenician widow, Jehovah’s champion and Jezebel’s countrywoman, under the same roof, sharing the same meal, in friendship and fellowship! The sternest anti-idolater of history by the side of an idolater, blessed and blessing! It is a forecast and prophecy, amid the world’s enmities and hates, of the reconciliation of the future to be wrought out by a greater than Elijah."

"The point to which he here calls attention, and which was so distasteful to the Jews, is that the prophet was not sent to any of those within the circle of the visible Church, but to one living outside, in the darkness of a heathen land. And in her, the child of disprivilege, he found that faith which he found not among the children of privilege." -G.M. Grant

************
"This miracle of God’s continually supplying flour and olive oil was another polemic (protest) against Baal, just as was the drought. Baal-worshipers believed he was a fertility god, giving rain to make crops grow."  -BKC