Chapter 14 – IN THE CAVE

Chapter 14 – IN THE CAVE

Two things are made prominent in the opening verses of 1 Kings 19, the one serving to enhance the other: the bitter fruits of the Prophet’s panic and the super-abounding grace of the Lord unto His erring servant. The threatening message sent by the furious Jezebel had filled Elijah with consternation and in his subsequent actions we behold the effects which follow when the heart is filled with unbelief and fear. Instead of spreading the queen’s message before his Master, Elijah took matters into his own hands. Instead of wanting patiently for Him, he acted on hasty impulse. First, he deserted his post of duty and fled from Jezreel, where “the hand of the Lord” had brought him. Second, occupied solely with self, he “went for his life,” being no longer actuated with the glory of God nor the good of His people. Third, folly now possessed him, for in rushing to Beersheba he entered the territory of Jehoshaphat, whose son had married “the daughter of Ahab”-not even common sense regulates those who are out of fellowship with God.

Elijah dare not remain in Beersheba, so goes “a day’s journey into the wilderness,” illustrative of the fact that when unbelief and fear take possession, a spirit of restlessness fills the soul so that it is no longer capable of being still before God. Finally, when his feverish energy had spent itself, the Prophet flung himself beneath a juniper tree and prayed for death. He was now in the Slough of Despond, feeling that life was no longer worth living. And it is on that dark background we behold the glories of Divine grace which now shone forth so blessedly. In the hour of his despair and need the Lord did not forsake His poor servant. No, first He gave His beloved sleep, to rest his jaded nerves. Second, He sent an angel to minister unto him. Third, He provided refreshments for his body. This was grace indeed: not only undeserved but entirely unsought by the Tishbite. Wondrous indeed are the ways of Him with whom we have to do, who is “longsuffering to usward.”

And what was Elijah’s response to these amazing overtures of God’s mercy? Was he overwhelmed by the Divine favor-melted by such loving-kindness? Cannot the reader, yes, the Christian reader, supply the answer from his own sad experience? When you have wandered from the Lord and forsaken the paths of righteousness and He has borne with your waywardness-and instead of visiting your transgressions with the rod has continued to shower His temporal blessings upon you-has a sense of His goodness led you to repentance, or while still in a backslidden state have you not rather accepted God’s benefits as a matter of course, unmoved by the most tender mercies? Such is fallen human nature the world over, in every age: “As in water face answers to face, so the heart of man to man” (Proverbs 27:19). And Elijah was no exception, for we are told, “he did eat and drink and laid down again” (1 kings 19:6)-no sign of repentance for the past, no hint of gratitude for present mercies, no exercise of soul about future duty.

Ah, in this line of the picture we are shown yet another effect which follows upon the heart’s giving way to unbelief and fear, and that is insensibility of soul. When the heart is estranged from God, when self becomes the center and circumference of our interests, a hardness and deadness steals over us so that we are impervious unto the Lord’s goodness. Our vision is dimmed so that we no longer perceive whose gracious Hand it is which is ministering to us. Our affections are chilled so that we no longer appreciate the benefits bestowed upon us. We become indifferent, callous, unresponsive. We descend to the level of the beasts, consuming what is given us with no thought of the Creator’s faithfulness. Does not this short sentence sum up the life of the unregenerate: “they eat and drink and lay down again”-without any regard for God, care for their souls or concern for eternity? And, my reader, that is the case with a backsliding believer: he comes down to the level of the ungodly, for God no longer has the chief place in his heart and thoughts.

And what was the Lord’s response to such gross ingratitude on the part of His servant? Did He now turn from him in disgust, as deserving of no further consideration from Him? Well He might, for despising grace is no ordinary sin. While grace does not make light of sin-as the sequel here will make evident-if sin were able to thwart grace it would cease to be grace. As grace can never be attracted by well-desert so it is never repelled by ill-desert. And God was dealing in grace, sovereign grace, with the Prophet. Wherefore we read, “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 you” (1 Kings 19:7). Truly we must exclaim with the Psalmist, “He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither has He hid His face from him” (22:24). And why? Because God is love and love “suffers long and is kind . . . is not easily provoked . . . bears all things” (1 Cor 13:4-7).

And the angel of the LORD came again the second time. How wondrous is the Lord’s patience! “God has spoken once” and that should be sufficient for us, yet it rarely is so, and therefore is it added, “twice have I heard this, that power belongs unto God” (Psalm 62:11). The first time the rooster crowed Peter paid no heed to it, but “the second time it crowed he “called to mind the word which Jesus said unto him . . . and when he thought thereon, he wept” (Mark 14:72). Alas, how slow we are to respond to the Divine advances: And “the voice spoke unto him again the second time, What God has cleansed call not you unclean” (Acts 10:15). “Rejoice in the Lord always”: surely the Christian needs not to have such a word repeated! The Apostle knew better: “Again I say, Rejoice!” is added (Philippians 4:4). What dull scholars we are: “when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again” (Hebrews 5:12), and thus it has to be “line upon line, precept upon precept.”

And the angel of the LORD came again the second time (1 Kings 19:7). It seems most probable that it was evening when the angel came to Elijah the first time and bade him arise and eat, for we are told he had gone “a day’s journey into the wilderness” before he sat down under the juniper bush. After he had partaken of the refreshment provided by such august hands, Elijah had lain him down again and night had spread her temporary veil over the scorched sands. When the angel came and touched him the second time day had dawned: through the intervening hours of darkness the celestial messenger had kept watch while the weary Prophet slept. Ah, dear reader, the love of God knows no change-it faints not, neither is weary. Darkness makes no difference and serves not to conceal its object from it. Unfailing love watches over the believer during the hours when he is insensible to its presence. “Having loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1)-unto the end of all their wanderings and unworthiness.

And said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for you (1 Kings 19:7). May we not perceive here a gentle rebuke for the Prophet? “The journey is too great for you.” What journey? He had not been directed to take any! It was a journey undertaken of his own accord, a devising of his own self will. It was a journey away from the post of duty, which he ought at that hour have been occupying. It was as though this heavenly messenger said to the Prophet: See what comes of your self-will? It has reduced you to weakness and starvation. Nevertheless God has taken pity on you and furnished refreshment. He will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. The Lord is full of kindness: He foresees the further demands which are going to be made upon your frame, so “Arise and eat.” Elijah had fixed his mind on the distant Horeb, and so God anticipates his needs, even though they were the needs of a truant servant and rebellious child. O what a God is ours!

But there is a practical lesson here for each of us, even for those whom grace has preserved from backsliding. “The journey is too great for you.” Not only life’s journey as a whole, but each daily segment of it will make demands above and beyond our own unaided powers. The faith required, the courage demanded, the patience needed, the trials to be borne, the enemies to be overcome, are “too great” for mere flesh and blood. What then? Why, begin the day as Elijah began this one: “Arise and eat.” You do not propose to go forth to the day’s work without first supplying your body with food and drink and is the soul more able to do without nourishment? God does not ask you to provide the spiritual food, but has graciously placed it by your side. All He asks is, “Arise and eat”-feed on the heavenly manna that your strength may be renewed; begin the day by partaking of the Bread of Life that you may be thoroughly furnished for the many demands that will be made upon your graces.

And he arose, and did eat and drink (1 Kings 19:8). Ah, though his case was such a sad one, “the root of the matter” was in him. He did not scorn the provision supplied him nor despise the use of means. Though there is no sign of gratitude, no returning of thanks to the gracious Giver, yet when bidden to eat Elijah obediently complied. Though he had taken matters into his own hands, he did not now defy the angel to his face. As he had refused to lay violent hands upon himself, asking the Lord to take his life from him, so now he did not deliberately starve himself but ate the food set before him. The righteous may fall, yet he will not be “utterly cast down.” The flax may not burn brightly, but smoke will evidence that it has not quite gone out. Life in the believer may wane to a low ebb, yet sooner or later it will give proof that it is still there.

And went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God (v. 8). In His grace the Lord passes over the infirmities of those whose hearts are upright with Him and who sincerely love Him though there still be that in them which ever seeks to oppose His love. Very blessed is the particular detail now before us: God not only reviewed the flagging energy of His servant but He caused the food which he had eaten to supply him with strength for a long time to come. Should the skeptic ask, How could that single meal nourish the Prophet for almost six weeks? It would be sufficient answer to bid him explain how our food supplies us with energy for a single day! The greatest philosopher cannot explain the mystery but the simplest believer will reply, By the power and blessing of God upon it. No matter how much food we eat, or how choice it is, unless the Divine blessing attend it, it nourishes us not a single whit. The same God who can make a meal energize us for forty minutes can make it do so for forty days when He so pleases.

Horeb the mount of God was certainly a remarkable place for Elijah to make for, for there is no spot on earth where the presence of God was so signally manifested as there, at least in Old Testament times. It was there that Jehovah had appeared unto Moses at the burning bush (Exo. 3:1-4). It was there the Law had been given to Israel (Deuteronomy 4:15) under such awe-inspiring phenomena. It was there that Moses had communed with Him for forty days and nights. Though Israel’s Prophets and poets were accustomed to draw their sublimest imagery from the splendors and terrors of that scene, strange to say, there is no record in Scripture of any Israelite visiting that holy mount from the time the Law was given until Elijah fled there from Jezebel. Whether it was his actual intention to proceed there when he left Jezreel we know not. Why he went there we cannot be sure. Perhaps, as Matthew Henry suggested, it was to indulge his melancholy, saying with Jeremiah, “O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them!” (9:2).

Strangely enough there are some who think that the Prophet wended his way across the wilderness to Horeb because he had received instructions from the angel to do so. But surely this view is negated by the sequel: would the Lord had twice uttered that searching and rebuking, “What do you here Elijah?” had he gone there in obedience to the celestial messenger? That his steps were Divinely guided we doubt not, for there was a striking propriety that he who was peculiarly the legal reformer should meet with Jehovah in the place where the Law had been promulgated-compare Moses and Elijah appearing with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. Though Elijah came not to Horeb by the command of God, he was directed there by the secret Providence of God: “A man’s heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). And how? By a secret impulse from within which destroys not his freedom of action. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD: as the rivers of water He turns it withersoever He will” (Proverbs 21: 1)-the waters of a river flow freely, yet is their course determined by Heaven!

And he came thither into a cave, and lodged there (1 Kings 19:9). At last the Prophet was contented with the distance he had put between himself and the one who had sworn to avenge the death of her prophets: there in that remote mountain, concealed in some dark cave amid its precipices, he felt secure. How he now employed himself we are not told. If he tried to engage in prayer we may be sure he had no liberty and still less delight therein. More probably he sat and mused upon his troubles. If his conscience accused him that he had acted too hastily in fleeing from Jezreel, that he ought not to have yielded to his fears but rather put his trust in God and proceeded to instruct the nation, the sequel indicates he would have stifled such humiliating convictions instead of confessing to God his failure. “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways” (Proverbs 14:14)-in the light of such a Scripture who can doubt that Elijah was now engaged in pitying and vindicating himself, reflecting on the ingratitude of his fellow countrymen and aggrieved at the harsh treatment of Jezebel?

And, behold, the word of the LORD came to him (1 Kings 19:9). God had spoken to him personally on previous occasions. The word of the Lord had ordered him to hide by the brook Cherith (17:2, 3). It had come to him again bidding him betake himself to Zarephath (17:8, 9). And yet again it had commanded him to show himself unto Ahab (18:1). But it seems to this writer that here we have something different from the other instances. As the fugitive lurked in the cave, we are told, “and, behold, the Word of the LORD came to him.” That expressive term does not occur in any of the previous passages and its employment here is the Spirit’s intimation that something extraordinary is before us. On this occasion it was something more than a Divine message which was communicated to the Prophet’s ear, being nothing less than a visit from a Divine Person which the Prophet now received. It was none other than the second Person of the Trinity, the Eternal “Word” (John 1:1) who now interrogated the erring Tishbite. This is unmistakably clear from the next clause: “and HE said unto him.” Very remarkable, very solemn is this.

And He said unto him, What do you here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19:9). Elijah had turned aside from the path of duty and his Master knew it. The living God knows where His servants are, what they are doing and not doing. None can escape His omniscient gaze, for, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place” (Proverbs 15:3). The Lord’s question was a rebuke, a searching word addressed to his conscience. As we do not know which particular word the Lord accentuated we will emphasize each one separately. “What do you?” Is it good or evil, for totally inactive, in either mind or body, man cannot be. “What do you?” Are you employing your time for the glory of God and the good of His people, or is it being wasted in peevish repinings? “What do you?” You who are the servant of the Most High. You who has been so highly honored, who has received such signal proofs of God’s power-could you not have committed your cause unto Him and depended upon the Almighty for protection? “What do you here?”-away from the land of Israel, away from the work of reformation.

And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your Prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away (1 Kings 19:10). As we ponder these words we find ourselves out of accord with the commentators, most of whom severely criticize the Prophet for seeking to excuse himself and throw the blame on others. That which impresses this writer first is the ingenuousness of Elijah: there were no evasions and equivocations, but a frank and candid explanation of his conduct. True, what he here advanced furnished no sufficient reason for his flight, yet it was the truthful declaration of an honest heart. Well for both writer and reader if we can always give as good an account of ourselves when challenged by the Holy One. If we were as open and frank with the Lord as Elijah was we could expect to be dealt with as graciously as he was; for note it well, the Prophet received no rebuke from God in answer to his outspokenness.

I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts was a statement of fact: he had not shrunk from the most difficult and dangerous service for his Master and his people. It was not because his zeal had cooled that he had fled from Jezreel. “For the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your Prophets with the sword.” Elijah had been deeply distressed to behold how grievously the Lord was dishonored by the nation which was called by His name. God’s glory lay very near Elijah’s heart, and it affected him deeply to see His laws broken, His authority flouted, His worship despised, the homage of the people given to senseless idols and their tacit consent to the murder of His servants. “And I, even I only, am left.” He had, at imminent peril to his life, labored hard to put a stop to Israel’s idolatry and to reclaim the nation; but to no avail. So far as he could perceive, he had labored in vain and spent his strength for naught. “And they seek my life, to take it away”-What then is the use of my wasting any more time on such a stiff-necked and unresponsive people!

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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 a still small voice (1 Kings 19:11, 12). Elijah was now called upon to witness a most remarkable and awe-inspiring display of God’s power. The description which is here given of the same, though brief, is so graphic that any words of ours would only serve to blunt its forcefulness. What we desire to do is rather to ascertain the meaning and message of this sublime manifestation of God: its message to Elijah, to Israel, and to ourselves. O that our eyes may be anointed to discern, our heart so affected as to appreciate our thoughts controlled by the Holy Spirit and our pen directed unto the glory of the Most High and the blessing of His dear people!

In seeking to discover the spiritual significance of what the Prophet here witnessed upon the mount, we must ponder the same in connection with what has preceded it both in the history of Israel and in the experience of Elijah himself. Then we must consider it in relation to what immediately follows, for there is undoubtedly a close connection between the startling scenes depicted in verses 11 and 12 and the solemn message contained in verses 15-18, the latter serving to interpret the former. Finally we need to examine this striking incident in the light of the Analogy of Faith, the Scriptures as a whole, for one part of them serves to explain another. It is as we become better acquainted with the “ways” of God, as revealed in His Word, that we are able to enter more intelligently into the meaning of His “acts” (Psalm 103:7).

How then are we to consider this manifestation of God upon the mount with regard to Elijah himself? First, as the Lord’s dealing with him in grace. This should be evident from the context. There we have seen the touching response which God made to His servant’s failure. So far from forsaking him in his hour of weakness and need, the Lord had ministered most tenderly to him, exemplifying that precious promise, “Like as a father pities his children, so the LORD pities them that fear Him” (Psalm 103:13). And Elijah did fear the Lord and though his faith was for the moment eclipsed, the Lord did not turn His back upon him on that account. Sleep was given to him: an angel supplied him with food and drink: supernatural strength was communicated to his frame so that he was enabled to do without any further nourishment for forty days and nights. And when he reached the cave, Christ Himself, the eternal “Word” had stood before him in theophanic manifestation. What high favors were those! What proofs that we have to do with One who is “the God of all grace.”

To what has just been pointed out it may be said, “True but then Elijah slighted that grace: instead of being suitably affected thereby he remained petulant and peevish; instead of confessing his failure he attempted to justify the forsaking of his post of duty. Even so: then what? Why, does not the Lord here teach the refractory Prophet a needed lesson? Does He not appear before him in a terrifying manner for the purpose of rebuking him?” This writer does not read this incident in that way. Those who take such a view must have little experimental acquaintance with the wondrous grace of God. He is not fickle and variable as we are: He does not at one time deal with us according to His own compassionate benignity and at another treat us according to our ill deserts. When God begins to deal in grace with one of His elect, He continues dealing with him in grace, and nothing in the creature can impede the outflow of His loving-kindness.

One cannot examine the wonders which occurred here on Horeb without seeing in them an intended reference to the awful solemnities of Sinai with its “thunders and lightning” when the Lord “descended upon it in fire” and the whole mount “quaked greatly” (Exo. 19:16, 18). Yet we miss the force of the allusion in our present verses, 1 Kings 19:11-12, unless we heed carefully the words, “the LORD was not in the wind,” “the LORD was not in the earthquake,” “the Lord was not in the fire.” God was not dealing with Elijah on the ground of the Legal Covenant. That threefold negative is the Spirit saying to us Elijah had “not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest” (Hebrews 12:18). Rather was the Prophet addressed by the “still small voice” which was plain intimation that he had “come unto mount Zion” (Hebrews 12:22)-the Mount of Grace. That Jehovah should reveal Himself thus to Elijah was a mark of Divine favor, conferring upon him the same sign of distinction which He had given unto Moses in that very place when He showed him His glory and made all His goodness pass before him.

Second, the method which the Lord chose to take with His servant on this occasion was designed for his instruction. Elijah was dejected at the failure of his mission. He had been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts, but what had come of all his zeal? He had prayed as probably none before him had ever prayed and though miracles had been wrought in answer thereto, that which lay nearest to his heart had not been attained. Ahab had been quite unaffected by what he had witnessed. The nation was not reclaimed unto God. Jezebel was as defiant as ever. Elijah appeared to be entirely alone and his utmost efforts were unavailing. The enemy still triumphed in spite of all. The Lord, therefore, sets before His servant an object lesson. By solemn exhibitions of His mighty power He impressively reminds Elijah that He is not confined to any one agent in the carrying out of His designs. The elements are at His disposal when He is pleased to employ them: a gentler method and milder agent if such be His will.

It was quite natural that Elijah should have formed the conclusion that the whole work was to be done by himself, coming as he did with all the vehemence of a mighty wind; that under God all obstacles would be swept away-idolatry abolished and the nation brought back to the worship of Jehovah. The Lord now graciously makes known unto the Prophet that He has other arrows in His quiver which He would discharge in due time. The “wind,” the “earthquake,” “the fire,” should each play their appointed part and thereby make way more distinctly and effectively for the milder ministry of the “still small voice.” Elijah was but one agent among several. “One sows and another reaps” (John 4:37). Elijah had performed his part and soon would he be grandly rewarded for his faithfulness. Nor had he labored in vain-another man and not himself should enter into his labors. How gracious of the Lord to thus take His servant into His confidence!

Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He reveals His secrets unto His servants the Prophets (Amos 3:7). This is exactly what occurred there on Horeb. By means of what we may term a panoramic parable God revealed the future unto Elijah. Herein we may discover the bearing of this remarkable incident upon Israel. In the immediate sequel we find the Lord bidding Elijah anoint Hazael over Syria, Jehu over Israel, and Elisha Prophet in his place, assuring him that, “it shall come to pass that him that escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, and him that escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay” (1 Kings 19:17). It was in the work of those men we may perceive the prophetic meaning of the solemn phenomena Elijah beheld-they were symbols of the dire calamities with which God would punish the apostate nation. Thus the strong “wind” was a figure of the work of judgment which Hazael performed on Israel, when he “set their strongholds on fire and slew their young men with the sword” (2 Kings 8:12). The “earthquake” was a picture of the revolution under Jehu, when he “utterly destroyed the house of Ahab” (2 Kings 9:7-10)-and the “fire” depicted the work of judgment completed by Elisha.

Third, the incident as a whole was designed for the consolation of Elijah. Terrible indeed were the judgments which would fall upon guilty Israel, yet in wrath Jehovah would remember mercy. The chosen nation would not be utterly exterminated and therefore did the Lord graciously assure His despondent servant, “Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth which has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18). As the “strong wind” the “earthquake” and the “fire” were emblematic portents of the judgments which God was shortly to send upon His idolatrous people, so the “still small voice” which followed them looked forward to the mercy He had in store after His “strange work” had been accomplished. For we read that after Hazael had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz that “the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion unto them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast He them from His presence as yet” (2 Kings 13:23). Once again we say how gracious of the Lord to make known unto Elijah “things to come” and thus acquaint him with what should be the sequel to his labors.

If we consider the remarkable occurrences at Horeb in the light of the Scriptures as a whole we shall find they were indicative and illustrative of one of the general principles in the Divine government of this world. The order of the Divine manifestations before Elijah was analogous to the general tenor of the Divine proceedings. Whether it is with regard to a people or an individual it is usual for the bestowment of Divine mercies to be preceded by awe-inspiring displays of God’s power and displeasure against sin. First the plagues upon Egypt and the destruction of Pharaoh and his hosts at the Red Sea-and then the deliverance of the Hebrews. The majesty and might of Jehovah exhibited on Sinai and then the blessed proclamation, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness, and in keeping mercies for thousands, forgiving iniquities and transgressions and sin” (Exo. 34:6, 7). Thus will it be at the end-time: the destruction of “Babylon” will be followed by “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9).

Fourth, the method followed by the Lord on this occasion was meant to furnish Elijah for further service. The “still small voice,” speaking quietly and gently, was designed to calm and sooth his ruffled spirit. It evidenced afresh the kindness and tenderness of the Lord, who would assuage his disappointment and cheer his heart. Where the soul is reassured of his Master’s love the servant is nerved to face fresh dangers and oppositions for His sake and to tackle any task He may assign him. It was thus also He dealt with Isaiah: first abasing him with a vision of His glory, which made the Prophet conscious of his utter sinfulness and insufficiency, and then assuring him of the remission of his sins; and in consequence Isaiah went forward on a most thankless mission (Isaiah 6:1-12). The sequel here shows the Lord’s measures were equally effective with Elijah: he received a fresh commission and obediently he discharged it.

And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave (1 Kings 19:13). This is very remarkable. So far as we can gather from the inspired record, Elijah stood unmoved at the varied displays of Jehovah’s power, fearful as they were to behold-surely a clear intimation that his conscience was not burdened by guilt! But when the still small voice sounded he was at once affected. The Lord addressed His servant not in an angry and austere manner but with gentleness and tenderness, to show him what a compassionate and gracious God he had to do with, and his heart was touched. The Hebrew word for “still” is the one employed in Psalm 107:29-“He makes the storm a calm.” The wrapping of his face in his mantle betokened two things: his reverence of the Divine majesty and a sense of his own unworthiness-as the seraphim are represented as covering their faces in the Lord’s presence (Isaiah 6:2, 3). When Abraham found himself in the presence of God he said, “I am dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27). When Moses beheld Him in the burning bush he “hid his face” (Exo. 3:6).

Many and profitable are the lessons pointed out for us in this remarkable incident. First, from it we may perceive it is God’s way to do the unexpected. Were we to put it to a vote as to which they thought the more likely-for the Lord to have spoken to Elijah through the mighty wind and earthquake-or the still small voice, we suppose the great majority would say the former. And is it not much the same in our own spiritual experience? We earnestly beg Him to grant us a more definite and settled assurance of our acceptance in Christ and then look for His answer in a sort of electric shock imparted to our souls or in an extraordinary vision-when instead it is by the still small voice of the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Again-we beseech the Lord that we may grow in grace, and then expect His answer in the form of more conscious enjoyment of His presence; whereas He quietly gives us to see more of the hidden depravity of our hearts. Yes, God often does the unexpected in His dealings with us.

Second, the pre-eminence of the Word. Reduced to a single word we may say that the varied phenomena witnessed by Elijah upon the mount was a matter of the Lord speaking to him. When it is said, “The Lord was not in” the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, we are to understand it was not through them He addressed Himself to the Prophet’s heart; rather was it by the “still small voice.” In regarding this last agent as t