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COURAGEOUS FEAR…RESTORED ELIJAH’S MINISTRY
King Ahab’s wife, Queen Jezebel, who was not at the miracle on Mount Carmel, was not at all pleased with the contest’s outcome and sent word to Elijah that his days were numbered; in fact, she was going to kill him within 24 hours. Although Elijah had just witnessed God’s power at Mount Carmel, for some reason, her threat was able to rattle this great man of God, and he fled over 400 miles south, deep into the Sinai wilderness. There, while hiding in a cave on top of Mount Horeb (Mt. Sinai), the mountain of God, God told him to go outside and stand on the mountainside, for He was going to reveal himself to Elijah.
First, a “great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire came a gentle whisper. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah? Go back the way you came.’”
Why the theatrics and then a whisper?
The prophet Elijah fled from Queen Jezebel’s threats when he should have stood his ground. Elijah was absolutely of no use to God, while he feared Jezebel’s wrath. He needed to realize Jezebel’s little temper tantrum paled compared to God’s great power. It is no coincidence that God told Elijah to “go back the way you came.” With a freshly imprinted fear of the Lord on his heart, the prophet needed to return to and confront his path of failure.
The fierce earthquake, wind, and fire were necessary, so Elijah could regain a proper fear of the Lord, for only then could he hear and obey God’s still, small voice. Godly fear draws us to God in a reverential way.
When Elijah returned north, he did so with his ministry restored and confidence in a supreme and all-powerful God.
The antidote to the fear of man is the fear of God, for fear of man can never coexist with the fear of God. Elijah found that man’s fear is so intense, dangerous, and spiritually debilitating that only the fear of God can displace it.
About this Plan
This fourth devotional in the “Fear of the Lord” series expands on the connection between the fear of God and the resulting obedience to His word. Through obedience to God and His ways, our faith is strengthened. Through Abraham’s obedience, Joseph’s unwavering faith, Elijah’s restoration, Daniel’s rescue from the lions’ den, and Saul’s transformation into Paul, we see the common essential quality displayed is courageous fear, which always yields glorious treasure.
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