Daily Lesson for January 3, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Kings chapter 19 verses 9 through 16:

9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 10He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’

11 He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces 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; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 14He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ 15Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.

Elijah is in the cave.  

The cave is the place of loneliness.  It is the place of isolation and despair. It is the place where we go for fear of the world and all its coming to. It is the place where we run when after all our efforts Ahab is still king, Jezebel is still queen, and the world appears lost and without hope. The cave is the place of hopelessness. 

And then a voice calls to Elijah.  “Go out, stand on the mountain, the LORD will speak to you.”

And then the elemental spirits — earth, wind, and fire — rail.  Who would go out into such terror?  Who would dare to rise up and step out from the cave into the world of such evil and dread?

And then silence. The sound of sheer silence. Something is stilled, quieted. Was the terror outside? Or was it in? In either case it was real; but it was quieted. It was calmed. It was tamed. It was overcome. Silence calmed and overcame it. 

Then Elijah wraps his face in his mantle and rises up to stand at the mouth of the cave, to walk out again into the world, to stand on the mountain, to wait for the LORD.

And waiting for the LORD upon the mountain, Elijah hears the voice: “You are not alone.  There are others. Go back down into the valley. Find them. Find and anoint them. Find and throw your mantle upon them. Find them and know that I am still God and this is my world.”