“At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” – 1 Kings 18:27
Wretchedly wicked was the generation of King Ahab and his Jezebel, who had led their nation wayward from the path of God, as many generations before them, abandoning their identity, trading it for child sacrifice, sexual perversion, and other dreadful activities. The words of Elijah provoked the idolatry of the Israelites, challenging 450 prophets, mocking their wooden, dead god. One who had no rival, no response when placed against the Living God, who lit that fire straight from heaven in spite the pit being drenched and saturate with water. Every time I read this story, I can’t help but chuckle at the insults of Elijah and feel awe at the power of God.
All of this in mind, we drove up Mount Carmel, near Haifa, the 3rd largest city in Israel, where this all took place. The view was breathtaking, magnificently astounding. You could see the whole land, from every direction, endless expanse colored in shades of green. At this particular lookout, arrows oriented us to what exactly we could see in the distance. Snapping away with my camera at the scene before me, I took a moment to ponder the words of Elijah, the miracle that took place on this bluff. My time here was brief, not long enough for an enormous move of God but sufficient to hear a gentle whisper on the wind.
The interesting thing is, after Elijah and hundreds with him view an active miracle of God, a bounty is place on his head and he has this momentary realization that even this boisterous, indisputable manifestation of the Living God, which should have caused a radical cultural change, did nothing for revival. In that moment, he is so overwhelmed with fear and confused by the response of the people, he panics and asks God to take him out because he had had enough.
It makes me wonder, how often in my own life am I more consumed by fear instead of trusting in God’s miraculous power? How often do I look at the “lack of immediate results,” in spite of all the effort I’ve given and just give up? How often do I lose sight of what’s valuable and true? Even after a dynamic move of God takes place, Elijah feels hopeless. So, God in all His goodness, made Elijah some food, gave him something to drink, and told him to take a nap. This doesn’t just happen one time, but several times before God calls Elijah and sets him on a 40 day journey to Mt. Horeb, to that same wilderness that Israel wandered in for 40 years, back to the place Moses received the commands that would construct the identity of the people of God. After 40 days of spiritually reviving Elijah, God speaks in a still, small voice, not in a loud boom as He had done before.
Instead of allowing him to wallow, God resets the thinking of Elijah, reminds him he is not alone, gives him things to do, casting vision for his life. I knew I was in a place similar to Elijah when I enter the Holy Land, a position of losing hope in what I was doing with my life, where I was headed, and who I was to be. As things were wrapping up, I did not have all the answers yet, but I knew that I had been renewed in faith to go searching for them once again. Looking back a year later, I’m so grateful for the scene that was set in my mind on that beautiful mount, even if it were for a moment and for the revelation I have now received from further study of the Word.
Our next stop, Tel Megiddo, the future site of the battle of Armageddon, was quite an archaeological discovery. Megiddo guarded a vital trading route linking Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, thus becoming the target of a long history of battles. As you climb the mount, you could see the layers of civilizations stacked upon each other, as if you were climbing through history. One corner contained stables with a disputed potential relation to either Solomon or Ahab. Further down, carved into the mountain was a Canaanite temple with a massive altar with evidence pointing to much animal sacrifice. There was a grain pit, remnants of homes, a tabun (a stone oven), remains of a palace, and so much more.
In the archaeological records, we discover at least 10 major battles taking place here, everyone wanting this stronghold, from the Canaanites, to the Egyptians, Joshua, Assyria, King Josiah, the Romans, the first Crusaders, the Muslims, Napoleon, and even the British fighting the Ottomans to end WWI. It really made the capacity of a final battle between good and evil at the end of time, quite substantive. As we descended into the cold tunnels built for the water system down below, the many characters of history had me wondering, what would happen next to this Tel and what stories it had yet to uncover.
Lydia, I am totally impressed with your stick-to-it-ness. Even after mulling over this for a year you still have the ability to keep your focus, drill down into the Word, and have God speak so dynamically to you. Really proud of you.