"What Are You Doing Here?"

In the book of Kings, when Elijah starts heading for Mt. Horeb, he lies down and asks to die. Basically as far as he can see, the entire covenant of G-d with the Jewish people, the entire centuries-long project of Israel being G-d's chosen, has completely collapsed.

Both the northern Kingdom of Israel and even the southern Kingdom of Judah has fallen to worshiping false gods, spearheaded by the King of Israel, Ahab, and his wife Jezebel. Jezebel was a Canaanite princess from Sidon who was very much in favor of pagan gods and very much against the G-d of Israel. Jezebel commanded that the priests and prophets of YHWH be slain, to the point where Elijah thought he was the only one remaining.

Consider: the whole Exodus from Egypt, the miraculous plagues that caused Pharaoh to release them, parting the Sea of Reeds, G-d slaying their enemies, water from stone, and G-d himself speaking from Sinai (Horeb) to give His people His commandments. Now all for absolutely nothing? Israel was irrevocably apostate. Judah was irrevocably apostate. No wonder he laid down and wanted to die.

But he managed to make it to Horeb and he hid in a cave, the very same cave from which Moses pleaded with G-d not to strike down the Israelite people. Elijah though, he was having none of this mercy business. If anything he WANTED Israel to be struck down. He was beyond disgusted. Aside from all the pagan idolatry, King Ahab through his wife actually had a dude murdered so he could steal his vineyard. They were both continually doing evil, and everyone seemed pretty okay with it or even participating in it themselves. Israel had been cursed with a three year famine because of its evil, but that seemed to accomplish nothing. Moses had begged G-d not to obliterate Israel: in that same cave on that same mountain Elijah would have begged G-d TO obliterate Israel.

I find Elijah a very sympathetic character. I feel I can relate to him more than any other figure in the Bible. Nevertheless, it was G-d's will that Elijah intercede FOR Israel, not ACCUSE Israel. G-d wanted to be merciful. Elijah did not.

G-d called Elijah to the mouth of the cave. A terrible wind passes, but G-d is not in the wind. A great earthquake strikes, but G-d is not in the earthquake. A great fire swept over the mountain, but G-d was not in the fire. Then a still small voice.

These four things: wind quakes fire and the voice, are a parable of the nature of the world and the journey of Man in the world, and of its end. The world passes away like the wind. The prospect of death shakes like a quake. Judgment burns like fire. But all these things pass away. This world passes away like a dream. What is left is the voice, the Last Day, the Kingdom of G-d.

Elijah because he could not intercede for Israel any more, could not be Israel's main prophet anymore. So G-d commanded that he go to anoint new kings for Aram and Israel and then anoint Elisha as his replacement.

I can totally sympathize with Elijah. I would definitely want to take the first regularly scheduled chariot of fire out of that whole dog-and-pony-show. I very often feel that way myself in the modern world. If the chariot pulled up out front and an angel in the driver's seat asked, "want a ride out of here?" I might well say yes. But the important part of the story is G-d saying none of this lasts. This is just a blink in eternity.

So today there are so many horrible things going on, and the people seem completely godless, and so much seems lost. But none of that matters in the long run. It will all pass away forever one day.