1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

Content of the Text

Right after the epic victory on Mt. Carmel, we find Elijah in an odd place. He is running for his life. What is surprising is that after this great battle, one could imagine to the victor goes the spoils, or at least some time to rest and relax after this clear assertion that Yahweh is the one true God and Elijah is Yahweh’s prophet. In other words, you might think twice before messing with Elijah, because Yahweh is strong and powerful and that Elijah would be living in this promise and confidence. Moreover, Mt. Carmel was not an isolated event. Elijah has been used by God to see miracles happen, the dead raised, and that great Mt. Carmel fire. He challenged a king and even won a chariot race. Elijah should be brimming with hope, confidence, and power. Yet in Chapter 19, Elijah has a great deal of self-doubt and perhaps is even suicidal. While textual critics note this shift is so dramatic some question the present scriptural order’s accuracy. Regardless other scriptural scholars said that putting these narratives of the great victory of Mt. Carmel next to the intense and personal struggles of Chapter 19 is important and crucial.

Chapter 19

The chapter begins with Ahab recounting to Jezebel how Elijah had all their prophets killed. Jezebel’s anger and fury drips with vengeance with a direct tweet to Elijah that she is coming for him now. Verse 3 notes Elijah is afraid and running for his life. Of course, it is easy for those of us who are not Elijah to critique his fear. With self-righteousness, we may patronize him, “Elijah you have just seen Yahweh’s mighty power fall. God delivered all the prophets into your hand and you are running away so quickly, oh yea of little faith.” Yet how many of us have had moments of seeing great triumphs of God work, only to quickly forget God’s mighty acts of deliverance. We become fearful and run.

Elijah runs and finds shade under a tree and asks God to let him die. God comes with food and comfort and says to keep traveling. Elijah makes it to a cave at Horeb (another name for Mt. Sinai) and again whines that while he was faithful no one else in Israel was. Biblical Scholars note that it is possible this cave in verse 9 may refer to the cleft in the rock that Moses stood as God passed by in Exodus 33:22. Similar to Moses on Mt. Sinai (probably not an accident), the presence of God passes by Elijah on the mountain and this presence was more than Elijah could handle. Elijah repeats his self-righteous pity that he is the only faithful one of Israel.

Notes on the Text

Verses 15 and 16: While not initially addressing Elijah’s claim of being the only faithful one in Israel, God speaks to him a third time to “Go, return to your way.” God instructs him to anoint kings over Aram and Israel and anoint Elisha as his successor. The instructions connect to the events recorded in 2 Kings 8:7-10:31).  However, in that passage Elisha is recorded as the one who anoints these kings.  For the reader it is hard to know if these commands by God were encouraging or humbling Elijah. Choon-Leong Seow notes that the conclusion of Elijah’s ministry would not come in the great drama of Mt Carmel nor in the fire and earthquakes as described in 2 Kings 19:11-12. Conversely, it comes in the fine silence of God’s invitation to find a successor. “The seemingly mundane event of the ordination of Elijah’s successor will turn out to be the resolution to the problem of Jezebel.” [1]

While Elijah’s faithfulness to Yahweh is unparalleled, by calling for Elisha to be his successor, this is the first response to Elijah’s claim that he is the only one God can use moving forward. Yahweh seems to be lovingly saying, “don’t worry there is a bright future after you leave.” This is not to diminish Elijah’s faithfulness to God, but it does seem like Yahweh is also challenging his pity and self-importance.

Verses 19-21

In a scene similar to Jesus’ calling of disciples, Elijah goes right to Elisha and anoints him. Powerfully Elisha is seen simply doing the daily tasks of labor, yet upon seeing Elijah drops everything and is ready to go with a request that he can go home and say goodbye to his parents.

It is noteworthy that Elijah’s first response is to find his successor and let Elisha do the anointing of the kings. Scholars are puzzled about Elijah throwing his mantle upon Elijah but not stopping by. Some suggest Elijah’s passing by Elisha is similar to how the Lord passed by Elijah at Mt. Horeb. It is likely this mantle was what Elijah used to cover his face from the theophany at Horeb.   Later this same mantle Elijah would use to strike the water and cause it to part.  Hence, this mantle is to Elijah what Moses’ staff was to him (Exod 7:17-18; 14:16). [2]  Whatever this action meant culturally Elisha is ready to leave immediately.  

The exchange between Elijah and Elisha is also hard to decipher. In verse 20 “Go back, what have I done to you?” It is possible that this gesture was also an instruction to Elisha (like Jesus’ disciples) that to receive Elijah’s mantle would cause for a new way of life from the familiar and cultural norms he was used to. It appears evident that Elisha is aware of such a radical new life. It is noteworthy that the tools of his work and labor (oxen) are sacrificed with the technology (wood plow) as the fuel for the sacrifice. This sacrifice, perhaps similar to Cortez burning the ships in the new world, was both a symbolic and visceral cutting off Elisha’s previous way of life.

Preaching the Text

This short text provides many homiletical options.

1. Humility of Elijah: With care and respect for Elijah this passage exposed perhaps Elijah’s view of self-importance toward Yahweh. With the repeated admonition to Yahweh that he was the only one faithful and no one was left, Elijah had come to believe too much in his importance. Too often Christians can take on a posture of how faithful and righteous we are while everyone else is falling away. This passage is a reminder, not that Elijah was not faithful, but that he was not the only one.

2. Danger of Forgetting: Elijah, like the disciples in the New Testament saw many amazing miracles yet also were quick to run in fear in the Garden of Gethsemane. Too often times Christians have courage simply for the moment but fail to consider what God has done and are quick to forget the power of God. How can our level of trust and confidence in God not be so short-sighted? Moreover, God’s faithfulness is never promising the road will be easy or even that we are free from hardship and pain. The invitation is to trust God that is beyond the present circumstance.

3. Passing on the Torch: This calling of Elisha is a wonderful narrative of someone ready for God to speak. Elisha must have lived with an openness to the call of God. The powerful sacrifice of slaughtering the oxen and burning the plow signify a life that was already committed to do whatever and whenever God calls. [1] Choon-Leong Seow, The First and Second Book of Kings in New Interpreter’s Bible Vol 3 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999), 143. [2] Seow, 144.