JOTS FROM OLD JAKE
W. W. of renowned part II
Friday, Oct. 19, 2007 - 9:18 p.m.
When I left off last time Elijah had slain 450 false prophets after the Lord consumed the sacrifice that he had made to the Lord God Almighty. Well Ahab didn�t seem to have a problem with that but the wild evil woman, Jezebel just was so blinded by her own self-esteem that she couldn�t realize that the God of Elijah is the True Living God of Israel. She became enraged: 1 Kings 19:1-3 (KJV) And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 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.
As you can see this might prophet of valor who had just eleminated 450 men now became fearful of one evil woman. (I think I know how he felt!) He took off for the boonies to hide from her reach. He went clear down to Beer�sheba which is clear down in the southern kingdom. He was plumb tuckered out and crawled up under a juniper tree and fell asleep.
1 Kings 19:5-6 (KJV) And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
Can you imagine being so wore-out that you just pass out under a tree and you are woken up and told to rise and eat with a meal all ready cooked for you? Some Bible scholars believe that this angel was actually Jesus. I have no proof either way but I believe He could have been.
1 Kings 19:7-8 (KJV) And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Elijah held up in a cave on mount Horeb, which is way down in the desert. While he was there, still hidding, the Lord gave him a lesson in leadership and taught him how to hear the voice of God.
You see Elijah was just a common person just like you and me. Sometimes we can be busy doing the things of the Lord and pursuing his path when something happens that we don�t understand and we allow our own wisdom to kick in and we knee-jerk our actions. This is quite common in the secular world. Instead of stopping and getting some understanding of what is going on and set up a good plan to handle the situation� some leaders who lack experience react with a knee-jerk decision� the result is a problem that has exculated.
The long short of it is that the Lord taught Elijah to hear the still small voice� the same voice we hear from Him today.
VERSE FOR THIS ENTRY!
2 Chronicles 15:7 (NIV) But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."
ULTERIOR WORDS OF WISDOM� OR/NOT!
When the final judgment has come, favored fortunate for the foolish will prove to have been highly overrated!
~Anonymous~
May you be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit!
