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“Lesson 8 - How Satan Diverted Elijah”
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Lesson 8 – How Satan Diverted Elijah
01/18/2012
Introduction
For the Jew, no prophet could have surpassed the status and respect of Elijah. Long considered to be the greatest of the prophets, in the minds of many he was on equal footing with Abraham and Moses. Elijah, whose name means “Yahweh is my God,” had some incredible victories. One is found In 1 Kings 18 where he soundly defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. After acknowledging the power of God, the people helped Elijah round up all the pagan prophets who were then immediately executed, 18.40.
Leading up to the events that took place on Mt. Carmel, God had caused a drought to cover all of Israel. It continued 3 ½ years. This was an effort to persuade God’s people to repentance. But why a drought? By raising up a prophet with the name “Yahweh is my God,” God attacked Baal at its heart. “Baal worshippers believed that their storm god made rain, unless, of course, it was the dry season and he needed to be brought back from the dead. To refute this belief Elijah states that Yahweh is the one who determines when the rain falls, that Yahweh lives at all times, and that Yahweh is not afraid to challenge Baal on what his worshippers consider his home ground.”?1
Under Ahab, Israel’s apostasy had taken a quantum leap. Much of this was due to the influence of his wife, Jezebel. In the original language, her name means “dunghill,” which means this must have been a nickname given her by the Israelites. After Elijah’s victory God blessed the nation with much needed rain. Elijah and Ahab both returned to Jerusalem. It had been a great day for Elijah. Most likely, his emotions would have been riding high. Success is sweet. God had been glorified and it appeared that the people responded positively. (Although they did fall short by failing to remove Ahab and Jezebel from the throne.) When the good times come, we need to celebrate and be happy, giving thanks to God for His blessings.
But, whatever happiness Elijah enjoyed was short-lived. As soon as Ahab got home, he immediately reported to his wife what happened. Instantaneously, as far as Jezebel was concerned, Elijah became public enemy number one. She sent a messenger to him saying, so may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow, 19.2.
Elijah’s response should not be considered in any other way than natural. Emotion kicked in and Elijah fled. He was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a days journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree, 19.3-4a. Elijah knew full well that Jezebel had the power to carry out the threat. But some scholars suggest that by fleeing, he played right in her hand. Had she really wanted to kill him, nothing prevented her from secretly sending in a team to ambush and execute him. But by scaring him and making him flee, she may have reasoned that the zeal of his followers would wane without his presence and that he would have been quickly perceived as a failure.
Beersheba is the southernmost city in Judah. Leaving his servant there, he heads out into the wilderness another day’s journey. Was he giving up his ministry? As he sits under a broom tree, God provided for his physical needs and Elijah continued on the strength of that for 40 days and 40 nights. Finally, he comes to Horeb, the mount of God, 19.8. What were his emotions during this dark time?
- Elijah wanted to die. He asked that he might die, saying, It is enough, now O Lord, take away my life…. 19.4b. He felt the world would be much better off without him.
- Elijah felt worthless. …For I am no better than my fathers, 19.4c. At this point, his emotions were blinding him to all his previous successes.
- Elijah felt as if he was alone. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it way, 19.10, 14. In these moments, a person can feel as if they are sliding off a very slippery slope. Emotions rage inside what becomes a vicious circle as individuals struggle with isolation, loneliness, and feelings of worthlessness.
Darkness was clearly at work here. During these dark moments, Satan was certainly having success in diverting Elijah from his mission - faithfully serving as God’s prophet and being a spiritual leader to the seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed their knee to Baal, 19. 18.
Today, as life circumstances permit, Satan seeks to execute the same play on us. In the moments of our greatest spiritual victories, he lurks and plots, looking for any opportunity to divert us from our mission. Then, through events that seem bigger than us, he goes to work on our emotions, leading us into a pit that seems impossible to escape. For awhile, he certainly had success with Elijah. But later in 1 Kings 19, we see how God’s tender care and provision led Elijah back to where he should have been - at work advancing the purposes of God.
What avenues did Satan pursue to divert Elijah from his mission?
Satan Worked Through Elijah’s Temperament
It would appear that Elijah had a deeply emotional temperament. If so, he would have had many similarities to some of the other prophets. Because of the magnitude of their message, prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel,?2 and Elijah would have had many emotional struggles. As they grappled with these things, God was not removed from their sorrow. It is the same for us today.
We are fourfold beings. Our existence is comprised of our mind (intellect), strength (physical), soul (spiritual), and heart (emotional). See Luke 10.27. Each person has differing strengths in the physical, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of our existence. We are also different emotionally. What affects you emotionally, may not affect someone else. (Some people cry at the end of a chick-flick, others do not.)
Depending on your temperament, Satan can be very effective in manipulating your emotions, especially during times of discouragement. He will magnify all of our failures and diminish all of our successes. If you have been born with a sentimental or sensitive personality, you know it is not always easy to “snap out of it.” Deeply emotional temperaments are not chosen. Some individuals inherit a biology that makes them susceptible to emotional issues. While a person’s temperament should never be used as a “crutch,” it is important to understand our personality so that we can be better prepared to deal with the diversions Satan will place in our life.
Satan Worked Through Elijah’s Life Experiences
In our story, Elijah had just received a death threat, 19.2. How would you respond? The “flight or fight” response is a God given part of the human make up. Elijah fled. Our will to survive is perfectly natural and extremely powerful. As he runs for his life, it seemed easier to give up his ministry and fade into the background. Satan must have been smiling as he watched Elijah hastily get up, gather his things, and escape under the cover of darkness. Now, God’s prized and highly acclaimed spiritual leader and man of faith was “out of commission.” Elijah had been knocked off task.
Think of how life experiences today play a role in the way we react to situations. Some things are just devastating. My mother watched my biological father die in front of her after a hunting accident. She’s never been the same. It affected every aspect of her life and especially the way I was raised. Think of the spouse who has suffered through the betrayal of unfaithfulness. They will most likely struggle with trust issues for the rest of their life. Children who experience divorce are subjected to an incredible emotional toll. Those who endure the wretched pain of watching a family member or spouse die of a terminal illness are affected in ways that are hard for others to understand. Members of the military who have been to war and watched their comrades die struggle with a myriad of questions and how to relate to their loved ones after they return home.
Wounds like these don’t just go away. You don’t “get over it.” There are moments, triggered by things that seem completely unrelated, that unlock all the emotions, allowing them to manifest themselves in ways that are hard to explain. In these moments Satan can challenge our faith, make us question God, and paralyze us with distress.
Working through the tragedy of life experiences, Satan seeks to exploit us. He seeks to divert our attention away from God and moves it onto self. He continually picks at the scabs and scars of our emotional wounds and once he opens them he inflicts as much pain as he possibly can. One way he works is through other people who do not understand emotional problems. Someone has said, It’s almost as if its OK to have a horrible disease from the neck down but the person who struggles with an ailment above the neck ‘doesn’t have enough faith.’ Those with this attitude simply ignore the biblical principle communicated in Galatians 6.2, bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
In 1 Thessalonians 5.14, Paul wrote, we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. Those who are idle (unruly, NASU) are to be admonished with a view of returning them from the error of their way. Those who are fainthearted are spiritually tired or exhausted. They should be encouraged. This would have been especially fitting for those who were suffering during times of persecution. They were to be consoled and comforted. But notice the final group that Paul identified: the weak. In other words, “those who are powerless.?3” They have no strength and need to be helped. Those who are emotionally weak need to be treated with compassion and care. If we choose to ignore this distinction, we deny both common sense and the instruction of God through the Holy Spirit.
Satan Worked Through Elijah’s Personal Choices
When Elijah chose to flee, Satan took advantage of his decision. It wasn’t that Elijah decided to be sad and move into a time of depression. But, he did choose to flee. He did choose not to eat, 19.5-7. And he did choose to think negatively about the situation. Satan seized these as opportunities and intended to use them to drive Elijah into the ground. There were some personal choices Elijah made that Satan exploited making the situation only worse.
For as he thinks within himself, so he is, Proverbs 23.7. What we think matters. During bad times it is easy to direct our thoughts inward and focus on our failures and shortcomings. These thoughts can morph into questioning God, and even blaming him for the undesirable circumstances we find ourselves in. When these thoughts enter our mind, we must choose not to dwell on them. In fact, these moments are a very good time to direct our thoughts to God in prayer.
We can be assured that the activity of Satan will look for every possible opening in order to gain a foothold in diverting our attention from God’s mission and purpose for our life. He will exploit what we do with our thoughts and the choices we make. While these choices may seem perfectly natural, we must include God in everything we do.
Conclusion
Elijah’s time at Mt. Horeb is interesting. God did not reject him for a lack of faith. He did not order him to “snap out of it.” He did not minimize Elijah’s pain. God provided for his physical needs, listened to him, and comforted Elijah by His presence. When Elijah’s emotions were distorting reality, God gently replaced those thoughts with the truth, 19.17-18.
Finally, God put Elijah back to work. Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place, 1 Kings 19.15-16. By giving him a job, God let him know he was not a failure. “This changed his pattern of isolated, lethargic, nothingness.”?4
Those who are beset with emotional pain can trust that they are not alone. Help can be found through prayer and the application of biblical principles. The Holy Spirit reminds us of Jesus. We are never alone. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need, Hebrews 4.14-16.
Questions for Discussion
1. Speculate what Elijah’s emotional state might have been after the victory on Mt. Carmel.
2. After a great spiritual victory, what must we always be on guard for?
3. Read 19.4-6, 10, 14. Describe Elijah’s emotional state after fleeing for his life.
4. Should we be critical of Elijah’s quick decision to flee after receiving word that his life was in danger? Why? Why not?
5. Why is it important to remember that what affects someone else emotionally may not affect you?
6. How should we treat those who are struggling emotionally? See Galatians 6.2, 1 Thessalonians 5.14.
7. In what way do life experiences affect us emotionally?
8. Why is it so important to guard our thoughts?
9. What are some ways you can help those who are emotionally distressed?
1 Constable, T. (2012). Notes of 1 Kings. Retrieved 01/16/2012 from http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/1kings.pdf
2 Ezekiel 24; Jeremiah 9
3 Thayer
4 Scott, S. (2000). Elijah: A Case Study in Depression. Sermon Outline.
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