Jason Hensley - Class 6: The Voice

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   This is day. Six of the 2022. Idlewild Bible School. Our first period teacher is brother. Jason Hensley. His General subject is Elijah. A man of like passions. Today’s topic is the voice brother. Jason. Good morning everyone. All right, so first of all, since it is the last day, I think it is appropriate for me to say, thank you for having me, and thank you for having my family.

2. 0:24

   Particularly, because I have been told that I was notoriously known as the Absolute worst student at Idlewild and I was also told that my nickname by my teachers at Idlewild was the spawn of Satan. So so you know I like to think that it’s appropriate to open with that when we’re talking about Elijah because it’s good to remember that people can change. So so there you go.

3. 0:54

   Okay. There’s also a couple of other things that I need to say at at the beginning and that is I made two mistakes yesterday and things that I said, first of all, I said that when Elijah was talking to Obadiah that he told Obadiah that you know oh well whatever you’re you’re just going to have to die too bad. That’s not actually what he said and I had, I misspoke there. Elijah did say, I would stay.

4. 1:20

   And that way you will not get killed by Ahab. So that’s an important thing to note there. Correct the record and the second thing is I said that God did not answer a lie just prayer on caramel and and I think it kind of depends on how you define answering. I’d said that before, because somebody ants ask me.

5. 1:37

   Well, how do you explain God answering his prayer on caramel if you think, you know, Elijah made mistakes there? And so my answer was well, he didn’t, but I don’t think that’s the right way to describe it. I think it’s probably better to say. God, always answers prayers, but he answers them in ways that we don’t expect.

6. 1:58

   And in this case, the answer to Elijah was Not today. But in the future. So I think that’s an important thing to clarify. All right, as we get started, now we are going to see everything here. Fall apart for Elijah, we’re in class number 6, on The Voice. We are going to see that God does not relent.

7. 2:22

   Here’s our sections will see the converted Nation converted Nation. We’re going to see Elijah becoming Moses, and then we’re going to discuss the spirit of Elijah, which really brings us to the end of his life and what he will do. God willing in the future. God does not relent. I think this is really important. Some of you may have felt like I’ve been a little harsh on Elijah, And I think there’s a few reasons for that. Number one is because I think we so often hold them up as a superhero.

8. 3:00

   It’s important to be very clear about the mistakes that do happen because scripture shows those to us. The other piece though is, I think when we recognize how God works and that’s what this core message is all about, I’m not sure. It actually is all that harsh on Elijah because God isn’t necessarily looking at the sum of our actions. God is looking at who we are and he transforms us so that those actions do slowly become what he wants them to become. And that’s really what we’re going to see today. That Elijah had that base character that base not in a bad way.

9. 3:49

   The the the character that he had was the kind of character that God looks at and says I can work with that. That is what I need someone to be God. Looks for someone who will hold to him tenaciously, no matter how much things don’t make sense. No matter how much our schema doesn’t work, no matter how much we say, we don’t know what to do, but we’re going to do something, right? This is what God looks for and he says he can work with that, because he can take your something that you do. And even if it’s not right, he can use it. So that I think is the key piece that we see here with Elijah. So yes, I acknowledge I have been harsh on him but I think it’s because over the last few days what we’ve seen is he is slowly changing.

10. 4:39

    And today we’re going to see the final change. God is not concerned. With all the little accomplishments we make the things that seem like such a big deal to us. Because he’s preparing us for what’s to come. Right. It’s only the beginning and that is the way that God sees things. He sees that we every day are being prepared for that work of the kingdom. And so when Elijah prays turn their hearts again. God says, oh don’t worry, I will It’s going to be in thousands of years. but for you, it’s just the beginning. So why did Elijah run to Mount Horeb? That’s our question here or Mount Sinai, so it appears like the nation has converted, right?

11. 5:31

    Elijah has gone through. He kills all the prophets of Baal. They’re gone. Doesn’t look like there’s going to be any more problems. So, he goes to Ahab. And First Kings, 18 41, to 42 and he says, to Ahab, go and eat and drink. Now, just think about that. Because there was no rain yet.

12. 5:55

    And yet he’s telling Ahab to eat and to drink. So they still would have been precious resources and it Elijah believes so strongly. Here comes the rain. He says they have go eat and drink, it’s coming. in verses 43 to 44, you have an interesting little situation, a few of you have talked to me about this, Elijah goes and he prays for the rain. How many times does he have to pray? Seven times.

13. 6:24

    So you’ve praised seven times now that it will rain and there’s a few different possibilities here as to why an hour. Maybe I just didn’t even find one of them. But here’s, here’s, here’s some of the thoughts I have as to why perhaps Elijah had to pray the seven times first, it’s almost like a question of do you really want this? You know, you, you pray it for the drought to happen? Prove to me, that this is what you really want. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And you sort of see this, by the way and James is commentary in James chapter 5.

14. 6:56

    When he says, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, he refers to Elijah praying that it won’t rain and then praying that it will rain. If you look at that in the Greek, I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed that it sounds sort of redundant, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much that’s like saying Saying doing good, things is doing good things, you know, something like that, that the effective work you do is effective, right? Like if you look at it in the Greek, it’s a little bit different, your verb there is present tense which is typically continuous.

15. 7:32

    So what you get is the fervent prayer, there’s that Zeal, the fervent prayer of a righteous man. Is highly effective as it is working. And you’ll notice that a lot of newer translations, get that sense of that continuous idea as it’s working or as it’s being prayed. So you can see that. Here’s this idea of Elijah having to pray multiple times for those, the one thing To get across this idea.

16. 8:00

    That here’s the prayer working. Here is me showing how much I really want this So that’s one possibility. One possibility is to why he had to pray seven times. Okay. The other could just be, does he really want it for the sake of the people? Does he really want them? Does he really believe that they’ve changed? So finally, the rain comes Elijah tells Ahab get in your chariot and go and he does something fascinating. Lifts up his robe, you remember?

17. 8:34

    And he runs in front of the Chariot. We like that. As, you know, one of our children’s stories, he runs in front of the chariot. Now, what I think we might miss though, is that running in front of someone’s Chariot? Often meant something back then. Now, we tend to see it as, you know, this amazing miracle and it probably perhaps was depending on how fast they have was driving. We don’t know if he was a reckless driver or not but but this idea of running in front of a chariot is actually a fairly biblical kind of thing.

18. 9:08

    Anybody know who would typically run in front of Periods. Don’t say fast people. That’s not the that’s not the answer. The answer is that it was typically the servants. So, I’ll show that to you. But apparently, I got a little excited here and I jumped a couple of slides. So let’s talk about this one first, I want to just point out to you that a have goes to Jezreel, which is not the capital So keep that in mind.

19. 9:36

    The capital is Samaria. First king 1629. So he doesn’t go to the capital which is where you would expect him to go and where he generally seems to be. Instead he goes to Jezreel and that appears to be were Jezebel was so it’s one of those things that you start to maybe see a little bit of where ahab’s mind is that we’re going to see more of it as he talks to Jezebel, but he’s not going back to the capital to say, let’s make some reforms.

20. 10:03

    He goes back to his wife to say, here’s all the bad things that happened, right? So that’s what’s happening. He goes to her Jezebel is to tell her now. Elijah is running as well. And that’s because it’s what servants did and that is a fascinating piece of this story. Elijah, all of a sudden. I mean, wasn’t this what he condemned Obadiah? For a few verses prior he condemns Obadiah for it and now this is what he’s doing, why the change because Elijah is convinced ah a Habs going to Jezreel because he’s going to talk to Jezebel.

21. 10:43

    We’re going to change this. I’m going to convert Jezebel to And everything’s going to be fixed. Finally. What he’s been waiting for for years and years and years, it’s all come together.

22. 10:58

    So here’s some verses for you. How about servants running before chariots? So Elijah is very much presenting himself as a servant. First Samuel 811. This is where Israel asks for a king. God says that the king will take your children to run before his chariots second, Samuel 15 verse 1, Absalom, got a chariot and horses and fifty men to run before him first Kings wonders, 51 adonijah, tries to take the throne, he says, I will be king he prepared for himself. Chariots and Horsemen and fifty men to run before him. So this would have been a highly public Kind of spectacle. so, when we look at Elijah’s, Frame of mind when he goes down to Mount Sinai, I think this is an important piece of it. He has stood so strong against Ahab for so many years and now he runs in front of his Chariot.

23. 11:57

    Can you picture the people seeing that say, Hey, That’s Elijah. You know, he’s in front of it has chair. He’s a have servant now like looked at the, the king and the Queen and Elijah they’ve all come together. Okay, so Elijah thinks that Ahab has converted. He thinks then he’s going to take part in Jezebel’s conversion.

24. 12:21

    However, when Ahab begins to talk and First Kings 19, we realize it’s not quite what Elijah expected. Notice, this a have told Jezebel all Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So that’s the summation by Ahab. Just think about this. There are a lot of other things. They have could have said, right? Maybe something about like a miracle fire bail, didn’t do anything rain, right?

25. 12:55

    And steady says, Elijah did a bunch of things and the craziest thing he did is he killed all the prophets. You also notice that he completely ignores all the prophets of Yahweh. He just says he killed all the prophets now really he only killed the prophets of Baal but in a halves mind what you get here is?

26. 13:19

    There was absolutely no conversion. He saw the prophets of Baal as these are the prophets. He goes to Jezebel and he says, let me tell you about my terrible day. The miracle didn’t do anything, he doesn’t even talk about it. He doesn’t talk about the fire. He doesn’t talk about the rain instead.

27. 13:41

    It’s now we gotta get some more profits. Isn’t that fascinating? This is, this is how we work, you know, sometimes we say things like, if only, I could see a miracle, But that’s not what miracles do right biblically, you? Look at all the people who saw Miracles and then turn away, right? Miracles are not what create belief.

28. 14:04

    Miracles. Confirm the belief that was already there. They confirm the word. Now we get another insight into ahab’s mind. In fact, based on what Jezebel says Jezebel makes a vow here. So may the gods do to me and more. Also if that if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. Now keep in mind that Elijah’s at Jezreel, right? So he’s waiting for a messenger to come to tell him. The queen will see you now, right? Because he’s ready to give his Spiel on. Why bail didn’t work?

29. 14:45

    Why? The rain had come all of this, he’s ready to bring about conversion. The messenger comes and Elijah says oh is it my turn? And the messenger says you’re gonna die right analyze. Just like Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting. That that’s not how it’s supposed to go. Now, we get that sense of where ahab’s at because he’s standing there, hearing this Val. And under the law and under probably a number of patriarchal societies.

30. 15:15

    The husband could hear his wife give a vow Numbers Chapter, 30 verses 6 to 15 and could say, you know what I’m negating that vow. Like I don’t want our family to be involved in that we’re not we’re not going to do it. A have says nothing because this is where he’s at no conversion.

31. 15:31

    He came to tell Jezebel because Jezebel was the doer, right? Ahab was the whiner. So Jezebel was the doer and he wanted to tell her so that something could happen and it would Ahab was not converted. Hey, Elijah is now going to die and so you can sense a lie to trying to process all of this.

32. 15:52

    We talked about it on Tuesday. He’s trying to his schema has just totally Fallen apart. Why is there rain if Ahab didn’t convert? Does this mean the people didn’t convert? What, what is going on here? Did I ask for a drought? And it didn’t do anything. Did I ask for a drought and a bunch of people simply died because of what I asked for now, you can see him struggling to put this together and maybe you have these kind of moments, you know, where just, it feels like nothing makes sense.

33. 16:26

    You can’t, you can’t make sense out of what’s in front of you. Like, like, you felt like it made sense at one point, but then something happens and now it doesn’t anymore, and you’re trying to fit all the pieces you have into the view that you have of the world and it doesn’t work.

34. 16:39

    Work. and so sometimes in those Jeffers desperate situations, you try to grab onto anything, you can, anything that does make sense, I think that’s what we see. Elijah doing, not only that. I would suggest there was probably some guilt to about running in front of ahab’s Chariot. You know, how could I have done that? How could I have so misunderstood him and what he was thinking?

35. 17:07

    So, First Kings, 19 3, he doesn’t know what to do. So he runs 90 miles to Beersheba. That’s a big run, even for my brother-in-law. He goes 90 miles to Beersheba and he goes into the wilderness. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He just he runs and he’s not going anywhere, right? He runs and he goes to a tree a broom tree and he sits there. Not sure what to do.

36. 17:36

    It’s almost like he’s gotten to this point and he’s so frustrated that he’s going to starve himself. Do you remember what happens next? An angel appears and the angel has to say, Elijah. Eat. You need to eat this food, right? It’s he just doesn’t know what to do. He can’t. He can’t make sense of anything. But as he gets this, As he meets with this angel. I think, perhaps, He gets an idea. So there he is sitting under the broom tree. It’s this weird wrote em in Hebrew. It’s only use four times one time. It’s used in job, appears to be unrelated, maybe you can find a connection, I don’t know, but the final instance, in the Psalms, I think might show where Elijah was at at the time, you know, there’s got to be a reason that scripture tells us it was a broom tree.

37. 18:36

    So it’s interesting that the instance in Psalms says, this in my distress, I called to the Lord. And he answered me. Deliver Me O Lord from lying lips from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you. You deceitful tongue a warrior sharp Arrows with glowing coals of the broom tree. Woe to me that I sojourn in meshech that I dwell. Among the tents of kedar keytar was known as a violent Society, right?

38. 19:04

    So this, you can imagine Elijah feeling this way, too long. Have I hella had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war and there’s reflecting that feeling of aliveness Just saying you are the troubler of Israel, right? I want peace. This is what I’ve been trying to bring out and I can’t make this work. And so he’s sitting there with this, this feeling of despair. Not sure what to do.

39. 19:34

    And yet the irony is, if this does reflect his thinking, he had been the one who just killed 150 people. So just consider that. Now again, God can work with our actions and he does, and he teaches us, but I just think it’s interesting to see how sometimes we see our own actions, the light in which we present what we are doing.

40. 20:00

    So the only thing that Elijah seems to be able to make sense of as Moses. Righteousness is Moses and I think it gets a little bit of a hint like that as the angel speaks to him. The angel tells him to eat, right? And not only that he’s there in the wilderness. And we touched on how perhaps he’d been thinking about Moses earlier.

41. 20:25

    Then he offers his life to God because of the people which is something that Moses had done. You remember that, with the story of the golden calf and he says if you will not Forgive them blot out my life from The Book of Life. He offers his own life as well. So there’s a little bit of a sense there of what Elijah is doing.

42. 20:46

    And I think he gets this sort of confirmed by what the angel is doing. However, He’s not really acting like Moses because you know what? Weird shows up again, when the angel brings him food, he gets a cake. On Lou gaw. So, he gets that cake, which again, is a reference right back to the Mana. Right back to the Manna in the wilderness and he gets a miraculous provision of water.

43. 21:18

    So you can see again, how he’s being shown. Look, this isn’t Moses. This is the Israelites you got to remember, you know, when the Israelites were discouraged when they thought they were going to die, I took care of them, right? I had a plan. I was bringing them through. This is what God is showing him through this provision here and I think, perhaps Elijah takes it and he says, wait a minute Mana.

44. 21:40

    Water. Well, that’s what happened under Moses. So, you know he he kind of puts these hints out, he runs to the Wilderness. He offers his life and he says, you know, I’m thinking about Moses and then he sees the cake and the water and he thinks aha. God understands. I’m supposed to be like, Moses.

45. 22:00

    And so bent on this idea because the angel says arise and eat for the journey is too great for you. Elijah says God knows where I’m going. Because he’s headed to Mount Sinai to be like Moses and what Elijah is going to do is he’s going to attempt to recreate the giving of the law at Sinai. Now remember, God has slowly been teaching Elijah. That it’s not about law.

46. 22:36

    But these kind of things are hard, right? Like, you know, I’ve known that that it’s not about law. I’ve known it since I was like 10, right? We talk about it all the time this christadelphians and yet here I am. 25 years later, still talking about it because I still struggle with it, right? We still want to create these rules and we still want to live by them and still think this is how we can bring God glory. This is how we can make God happy as by creating these laws. Following them.

47. 23:07

    So I think Elijah, even though God taught him. It’s not about the law, it’s eat from the unclean, birds eat the thing, the stuff that’s dead that they bring to you. Lay on that boy to resurrect him. Even though he starts to learn it, it’s always a process. And so, here he is the world falling apart around him.

48. 23:32

    He goes to the one thing that seems sure. And that is law. He feels like God affirms it with this. So he runs to Mount Sinai and he is going to recreate Mount Sinai. To see the glory of God, like Moses saw, the glory of God to remind himself. Why this all matters to remind himself what he’s doing? I mean, you can totally see, this is extremely biblical thinking like what Elijah Elijah is going to start quoting passages to God.

49. 24:04

    When God says, why are you here? And Elijah is going to be all over the Torah. He’s going to quote it a bunch of times to God, you know, kind of like God forgot or something. You know. It’s like it’s like Elijah’s trying to remind him that this is his biblical thinking, right?

50. 24:21

    I don’t think we can condemn him for it. I think instead we should emphasize with him for it because we do this all the time and amazingly our wonderful God puts up with it, right? And he says, I see your zeal. Let’s just Channel it this way. That’s what’s going to happen with Elijah. So, He runs down to Sinai.

51. 24:52

    He fasts then for 40 days and 40 nights, remind you of anyone. He faster, 40 days, 40 nights only other person to have done that at this point. Which is exactly what Moses did in Exodus 34 28. He goes to Sinai, which is where Moses met with God, Exodus 34 verse 4. He is going to recreate the giving of the law at Sinai.

52. 25:17

    Now what happens is he gets there and just in case you’re a little skeptical of this idea of this recreating the law he gets there and in fact he goes into a cave a cave. Hmm. Now, what what had happened with a cave prior to this at Sinai now I’ll put, I’ll be totally honest here. The record does not say a cave and exodus. It says a cleft of the Rock, right? So it’s this outcropping, something like that. However, I think scripture is telling us that it’s the same place because if you look in the Hebrew, This is your word and some of you may recognize that letter that is a. Hey, and when it’s put on the front of a word, it means the it is the definite article.

53. 26:11

    So, in other words, First Kings 19, 9, you might want to just underline this here and add that in in your Bible. It actually says there, he came to the cave and lodged in it. Now, I think the reason that most translators didn’t put that in is just because they were like Like what?

54. 26:29

    That doesn’t make any sense, the cave, he was never at Mount Sinai before, like why would it be referencing a specific cave? But when you look at this in light of Moses, I think what you see is scripture is telling us he went up, he’s climbing up the mountain and he says, where is it?

55. 26:45

    Where is it? I have to find it and he finds the cave. The one that Moses was in, when God’s glory passes by when God proclaims, Yahweh, Yahweh, merciful, gracious, long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth, right? So, here is Elijah attempting to recreate the whole experience. And he goes, and he stands in the cave and he waits, I’m ready.

56. 27:11

    Right here. It is. You told me I should come down here, right? This is what he’s thinking, I’m ready? So then he stands in the cave and God comes and says Elijah. Why are you here? Now, if that’s not deflating right, I don’t know what is because it’s kind of like, well, isn’t it obvious? You know, I’m standing in the cave. I thought you told me to go here and he’s there waiting. So he says, okay, how about this? I have been very jealous for Yahweh. The god of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken, your Covenant thrown down your altars killed your prophets with the sword.

57. 27:50

    And I even, I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. Now, this is a fascinating conglomeration. A versus he quotes himself right here from the last chapter, right? I even, I only am left. So, he quotes himself in addition to that, this here, I’ve been very jealous. I’ve forsaken, or they have forsaken, your Covenant.

58. 28:14

    This is a quotation of Deuteronomy chapter 4. Let’s just go back to Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 4. Verses 23 to 24. See if you hear the echo. Deuteronomy 4, 23 to 24 says this is by the way Moses’s rehashing of what happened at Mount Sinai. So Moses is telling the story again to the Next Generation. So Deuteronomy 4 verse 23.

59. 28:44

    Moses says take care. Lest you forget the Covenant of the Lord your God? Which he made with you and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord, your God has forbidden you for the Lord. Your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. And so here’s Elijah taking that description of God and saying, look, you’re a jealous.

60. 29:06

    God, I’m jealous for you. You said don’t forget the Covenant. Well, that’s what everybody has done. So, he quotes Deuteronomy, and the reason that this is so powerful, I think for us is consider the way. That Deuteronomy describes the Covenant at Sinai. You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire.

61. 29:31

    Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. The Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire verse 33. Did any people ever hear the voice of a God? Speaking out of the midst of the fire Deuteronomy 436 and on Earth you let you see his great fire and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire, right?

62. 29:50

    We can’t blame Elijah for being a man of fire. This is where his mind was and it was totally biblical. Again chapter 5 says the same thing. The Lord spoke with you face-to-face at the mountain out of the midst of the fire. I don’t know why I didn’t underline that one that should be these words.

63. 30:07

    Spoke the Lord to all your assembly at the mountain out of them. It’s the fire burning with fire out of the midst of the fire. It is everywhere in this description of Sinai. Now in addition to that, Hebrews tells us there were a few other things so we got fire. Alright, keep that in mind. Hebrews chapter 12 says you have not come to what may be touched. He’s contrasting here, the Covenant at Sinai with the New Covenant you have not come to what may be touched a blazing fire and darkness and Gloom and a tempest. In other words, read wind.

64. 30:44

    At that time, his voice shook the Earth. In other words, earthquake. At Mount Sinai when Moses gave the law. There was an earthquake. There was wind. And there was fire. What do you think Elijah expected when he stood in the cave? On Mount Sinai. He’s waiting for the earthquake. SO waiting for the wind, he’s waiting for the fire. He’s looking for a renewal here of the Covenant and look at what happens.

65. 31:27

    God says, leave the cave. Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Now, If you are Elijah and you’re recreating Mount Sinai. How would you feel when you’re told this? Go out and stand on the mountain. Keep in mind Moses was in the cave the whole time, right? Because if he saw the glory of God, what would happen? He would die.

66. 31:53

    God says no man can see me and live so I will put you in the cave. I’ll cover you with my hand. And God says, Elijah get out of the cave. You know what’s interesting about that? He doesn’t. because in the next verse were told, then he left the cave, Elijah refuses to leave This is where he’s at mentally and emotionally at this point.

67. 32:20

    He says, I will not let go, right? This is, this is who you are. You are the earthquake, the wind, the fire. I am the prophet of fire. I’ve been bringing your fire on the people. Show me who you are, right, reaffirm this for all of me. So Elijah does not leave. And so, God passes by.

68. 32:43

    And you can picture him standing there watching the wind and Elijah thinking. Here it is right? This is it. The glory of God. And then the wind stops. And there’s nothing. And then the ground starts to shake and Elijah thinks. This is it. This is the one. And nothing and then finally fire.

69. 33:07

    And can you picture his mind? Going through Deuteronomy out of the midst of the fire out of the midst of the fire and thinking? That’s right. That’s that’s why God save this one for last. This is where his glory will be revealed because the fire was all over the mount. God spoke out of the midst of the fire and here’s Elijah thinking finally I’ve waited to see the glory of God.

70. 33:32

    And the fire dies down. And Elijah is standing there in the cave. And you know what happens? He hears. A gentle whisper. And, you know, it’s unfortunate about that. We’re not told what he heard the whisper say. and I think, That’s because he would have actually heard the words. if he had gone out of the cave, But he doesn’t and he didn’t.

71. 34:09

    So instead he hears something and that’s when he comes out. Look at the next verse after the earthquake of fire, the Lord was not in the fire after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. Verse 13 and when Elijah heard it, he hears something and he goes scrambling out of the cave. He wraps his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

72. 34:33

    So he runs out and he thinks this is where God is. The Whispers gone, though. And you know what he hears. Elijah, why are you here? and that’s because, In this opportunity that he had. To be completely, transformed recognizing. Where is the glory of God? Where is the presence of God? Who is God?

73. 35:00

    Really Elijah didn’t leave the cave when he was told to Elijah clung to this Vision that he had of Moses. I mean, look at this, he wraps his face in his cloak. Does that remind you of anyone else, right? Even after seeing that God was not in the wind that God was not in the earthquake, God was not in the fire, Elijah puts a veil on His face when he leaves. And here he is scrambling out of the cave, and that’s what he’s thinking about.

74. 35:29

    Frank God is speaking to him in this low whisper and he’s running out. Trying to get to it. Oh, got to be like Moses, right? He covers his face with the Veil. Okay, here’s the here’s the reference by the way. Exodus 34 33 when Moses had finished speaking with them. He put a veil over his face.

75. 35:49

    So even after seeing that, God was not in the earthquake Wind & Fire. Elijah still clinging to Moses. And yet. Hadn’t Elijah. Always met with God. And the word of Yahweh came to him saying the word of Yahweh came to him saying, I mean, in this chapter three times, he met an Angel and the voice of God spoke to him twice, right? He had he had been meeting with God. And yet through this encounter, his attitude didn’t change. And I think this is the Crux of the story. Before he sees the earthquake Wind & Fire. He says, I’ve been very jealous for Yahweh. The god of hosts, he says the exact same thing after the earthquake Wind and Fire.

76. 36:42

    I’ve been very jealous for Yahweh, God of hosts. Now, let that sink in a little bit and think about this. How did Elijah want to transform the people? He wanted to change the people with earthquake, Wind Fire. He wanted to show them pyrotechnics, right? That would change everything and God says, but Elijah, that didn’t change. Is you?

77. 37:08

    That’s what this is all about. I think that is why God brought him to Mount Sinai. God didn’t bring him to Mount Sinai to recreate the law. Although that’s what Elijah first. Thought he brought him to Sinai to show him Elijah. These things don’t work, you have been unchanged by them. Why did he expect them to change the people? And so because he refuses to change, this is what is amazing about this.

78. 37:42

    Even though he won’t change. God. Continues to work with him. Because Elijah was holding to him. Because Elijah was willing. He was willing to hear it. And even though change took a, while he would listen. And so what God does, is God gets a little more drastic. You’ll notice, he says, okay, I have a few things for you to do. Go to Damascus annoyed, hazy out king of Syria, go to Israel and anoint jehu, the king of Israel, and then go to Elijah and anoint him to be profit.

79. 38:19

    Now, consider this in your place. They give you a little bit of an idea as to where God was that with Elijah at the time. this wasn’t a, we’re gonna have another Prophet who’s going to work alongside you This was Elijah. I know your zealous. I know you want nothing more than to see me honored and so for that, you’re done being a prophet.

80. 38:48

    Because I can’t teach you how to really bring me Glory until you’re not a prophet anymore. It’s God, says. Elijah is going to replace you. And we’re going to do some intensive training. Because he had a job for him. God had a job for Elijah in the Kingdom that he was going to be prepared for and because Elijah was so bent on serving God.

81. 39:15

    God says, I know you will stick with me through this. I know you will hold on. So, I’m going to take you. Where it’s really hard. But we’re going to get through this. So, Overtime. God continues to work with Elijah, he shows up two more times after this first Kings, 20, he’s not there to other prophets now. First Kings 21.

82. 39:45

    He shows up once to deliver a final message to Ahab. He doesn’t show up in First Kings, 22, first thing is 23 and he doesn’t show up at all. The rest of the book instead. Second Kings, chapter 1. He appears. He appears when those captains of 50 are sent to come and capture him. And that’s it.

83. 40:12

    Until he’s taken in a chariot of fire. He’s In the record. As long as he’s working with and preparing Elijah and Elisha is ready. Eli just taken. And yet, that’s because he still had a lesson to learn. Now, this is crucial Consider the strange language here when Elijah has taken second Kings chapter to do you not know today that Yahweh will take away your master from Over You? From over you, that’s interesting. It said again to Elijah take away your master from over you and then Elijah says, before I’m taken from you. In other words, implying he’s going to be working. Somewhere else doing something with other people, he’s not going to be with Elijah anymore, because Elijah is going to be the main profit.

84. 41:09

    But Elijah has another job and we find that out in Chronicles. Because a letter comes from him. This is all we know of what happens to Elijah but I think the picture is awesome because here with the man a fire of Miracles of Law and God says, I’m going to bring you to a place where the only thing you can do. Is use words.

85. 41:38

    That’s it. You from now on will write letters. How do you think Elijah enjoyed that? Probably not. This was, you know, reliving the brook all over again. And yet, God does it. Because Elijah wasn’t going to let him go and God wasn’t going to let him go. and so, God says, I’m going to teach you this, even if it takes.

86. 42:09

    Your whole life. And he does it. Because all of this life is just a preparation for who we really are. For who God is going to have us become right? All of this time he is training us working with us for what he is going to have us do forever, right? So 80 years of training, 90 years of training, you know, that’s not bad.

87. 42:40

    God will do it if we hold onto him and that is what he does for Elijah. And so what we find out is, the way that Elijah is characterized in the New Testament is he is not the prophet of fire and that is why when James, and John say, do you want us to call down fire from heaven?

88. 42:57

    Like Elijah, you remember what Jesus says? You do not know what Spirit your of. He says, why don’t you go back again? And look at what the spirit of Elijah actually is because it’s not that It’s not the fiery judgment, it’s not the Miracles instead, the spirit and power of Elijah is that prayer that he prayed, it was that feeling and that way of life, that he lived when he stretched out on the child, it was when he recognized that relationships matter that the father’s will love the children. That the disobedient.

89. 43:36

    Will become obedient will become wise to follow the just or the righteous. That was the spirit of Elijah. It was turning people. It was the answer to his prayer.

90. 43:50

    And so that’s why we find out that in Luke 1:16-17 that John the Baptist would come in the spirit of Elijah. We find out that John never performed any miracles. And instead when John was asked, who are you? I thought the Pharisees sent men to ask. Who, are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?

91. 44:13

    John’s words, are I Am The Voice? That’s who I am. He was the man all alone. In the wilderness who realized the power of the word of God. that, that Is what turns hearts? And so God prepared him for that God transformed him. No matter how hard it got. He transformed him for what Elijah will do.

92. 44:51

    In the future. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. And that will finally be the answer to the prayer. Can you imagine What do you think it’s going to be like when by the grace of God? We are in the kingdom and we find out that all those struggles that we’ve had all that frustration.

93. 45:13

    That, that was God. Getting us ready. God is saying, yeah, you went through that because this is what you’re about to do. Now, if this I had to experience that because I had to transform you, I had to change your way of thinking so that now you’re ready for this job. Now you’re ready to be here. That’s what Elijah had to learn.

94. 45:39

    And I think, that even though it would have felt throughout his whole life, he would have looked back on caramel and thought Did God not hear that prayer? Just imagine what it will be. When Elijah is raised and God says Elijah. I have a job for you. You’re going to turn the hearts.