Elijah: How Deep Our Father’s Love for Us • 1 Kings 19-2 Kings 2
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Do you get afraid or discouraged by the challenges of life? Sometimes our response to hard circumstances is to run away or just to give up and isolate ourselves. But God knows what you are going through at that time. He wants to nourish you and redirect your thinking to meet the challenge with His strength and love for you. This is post #9 in the Old Testament Men blog series. In the last article, we learned from Elijah’s life that our God is a God you can really know and can really trust even in impossible situations. In this post, we will see that God’s tender love for Elijah that helped him move past weakness and disappointment.
Listen to this post as a similar podcast from our Profiles of Perseverance Bible Study covering the lives of Joseph, David, Elijah, and Nehemiah.
A Father’s Love
His name is Jason. He is in his early 20s and lives daily with physical difficulties so that he can barely walk. His father helps him get to his seat at church and holds Jason up so he can take the offering during the service. What captured my attention is the look of deep, deep love on the father’s face as he interacts with Jason, a son who will never be the star quarterback or ace pitcher or do any of those other “great” things a father might expect from his son.
Jason’s father doesn’t look at him with disgust or annoyance because he squirms a lot and needs help to go anywhere. He looks at him with love. What a beautiful picture of how deep a father’s love is for his son! Our Heavenly Father’s love for us is deep like that even when we are weak.
How Deep Our Father God’s Love
Elijah runs
You cannot look at 1 Kings chapter 19 without realizing how much God loved Elijah. The chapter starts with news that affected Elijah.
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. (1 Kings 19:1-5)
After that astounding display of God on Mt Carmel, Elijah must have thought things would change. But it got worse. Queen Jezebel, who had tremendous influence over her husband and Israel’s religious leaders, swore to kill Elijah. Elijah became afraid.
Fear is a normal human emotion designed by God to take action against it. The two most common actions are fight or flee. Elijah didn’t ask God what to do. Remember that God had previously directed him to safe places by the brook and then with the widow (1 Kings 17). Elijah’s response this time was to run away—exhausted and disappointed. He just reacted to the threat on his life and ran. We do the same.
For help overcoming fear, read the blog,”4 Truths to Walk from Fear to Faith.”
God intercepts him
God intercepted him on the way to the wilderness.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. (1 Kings 19:5-9)
God knew Elijah was on that journey. He saw him isolate himself and want to give up. In His love for Elijah, God sent an angel to nourish Elijah for the trip. Elijah’s target was Mt. Sinai, the place where God made the initial covenant with Israel accompanied by fire and smoke and thunder. The God who loved him met him there. He didn’t let Elijah stay in his discouraged frame of mind.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” (1 King 19:9-11)
God encouraged and directed
Elijah obeyed God. God then put on a show of His power with a great wind, an earthquake, and a fire. Then, God gently whispered to him outside that cave.
The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu… king over Israel, and anoint Elisha … to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:15-18)
God gave Elijah encouragement, a friend, and tasks to do. Remember how God surrounded David with the strong support of friends so he could persevere through his challenges. Elijah obeyed and did exactly as God commanded. That deep, fatherly love bolstered Elijah so that he could persevere as God’s prophet for several more years.
Learn more about not living in isolation from the blog, “Naomi and Ruth • Life Should Not Be Lived Alone.”
Consider these words from Psalm 73. The writer is discouraged then declares to God:
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:23-26)
Elijah did not write those words. But they could have been his. They fit his life! They fit my life as well.
God Holds Me by My Right Hand
My experience
I can say along with the psalmist, “You hold me by my right hand.” I’ve experienced that deep father’s love. My earthly father loved me dearly so I have had no difficulty believing that God truly loves me as a Father. Through the years, God my Father has held me up when I just couldn’t hold myself up just like He did for Elijah.
There have been times when I felt too weak to measure up to whatever I was supposed to be. I looked at all my inadequacies—all that I couldn’t do right or as well as others could. I felt afraid. I know my God was holding me up during those times just to give me that extra strength to stand. And, He has whispered in my ear—through His Word, His Spirit, or someone’s teaching. Those words were just what I needed to know for that moment.
For all of us
In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, our Father God’s promise is this,
“My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Picture yourself sitting in Jesus’ lap, holding out your hand for Father God to take hold and whisper in your ear, “Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.”
Our God Is a Trustworthy Father
You are dearly loved
Jesus continually taught His disciples to consider God as their Father. This God is your Father God, too. The moment you placed your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation, you were adopted into God’s family as His child. He is the perfect Father, the most loving Father, the most dependable Father, and the Father who cares about your every need. You are dearly loved!
We read these beautiful words in 1 John chapter 3,
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
Jesus continually encouraged His followers to call God, “Father.” He taught them to pray to their Father God, whom they could trust.
Earthly fathers vary
Wait a minute! What if you didn’t have such a good earthly father! Your concept of a father might be pretty scary. That term “father” evokes as many feelings as there are people. Good. Bad. Present. Absent. Loving. Hollow. Provider. Ask anyone. It is like a box of chocolates.
God knows that. But He wants you to know that you are dearly loved by your Father God. Dearly loved.
God is the best Father
Think of the best father in any book, movie, or TV show. Who comes to mind? God is even better than that father. And you can become familiar with the character of God—those attributes that help you to know Him well, love Him wholeheartedly, and gain the confidence to trust Him as your Father God who loves you.
The psalmist said, “you hold me by my right hand.” That is truth. He does that for you.
God Guides Me with His Counsel
The psalmist also said to God, “You guide me with your counsel.” We see that in Elijah’s life.
God guiding Elijah
In 1 Kings 19, God guided Elijah with His counsel. Basically, God said, “I’m giving you a companion who will help you. Here are some things you must do for me. And know this, you are not alone. I have 7000 other Israelites who are still on my side.”
Elijah got up and moved forward, following the counsel God just gave him.
God guiding you and me
The Bible guides us with God’s counsel.
I remember the first time I went to a small group Bible Study. All I had was the Bible I was given as a child when I joined the church. I had memorized Psalm 23 and Psalm 100 for Vacation Bible School one year. And I knew where to find and read the Christmas story. But I had never opened up the Bible to study what it said to me. I was ignorant of its truth to guide me to God’s way of approaching life rather than the world’s way.
In that first small group gathering, I discovered a treasure as my leader showed me how to find verses in the Bible. She asked me questions that led to my understanding of what those verses said. That began an insatiable appetite for God’s truth in me. I desire God’s counsel to me so I can approach life His way rather than my own. And I know confidently that when I open the Bible. I am getting God’s counsel. He can guide me with it.
The psalmist said, “You guide me with your counsel.” That is truth. God does that for you.
God Will Take Me into Glory
The psalmist then said, “and afterward you will take me into glory.” We see that in Elijah’s life.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. (2 Kings 2:9-12)
God certainly took Elijah into glory in a dramatic way. A fiery chariot accompanied a whirlwind that lifted him upward to heaven. What an unforgettable scene for Elisha and the 50 men watching it!
My earthly life won’t end like that. At least, I don’t think it will. There’s only one Elijah! But, God will hold my hand all the way through this life and past this life into the glorious next one. I have a future with God in heaven. One day, Jesus will come for me—either through the Rapture if I am still alive or to take my soul with Him to heaven when I physically die.
I have complete confidence in what the psalmist says, “you will take me into glory.” One day, Jesus will come for you too. You and I have a future with God in heaven.
To get more of your questions answered about death, read our “Death and Beyond” blog series.
God Is My Strength and My Portion
For now, the psalmist declares this, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
God is your strength
God is your strength for your heart. You can choose God every day that you are on this earth. As you grow older, your flesh and your heart may fail. But God is your strength now and will continue to be your strength. I have that confidence.
God is your portion
God is also your portion. The Hebrew word for “portion” has to do with a ration or a part of something divided like an inheritance. When a biblical writer says, “God is my portion,” they mean that God is the source of their happiness and blessing. They are content with all that the Lord is and provides. They have the best inheritance imaginable and do not seek any possession or comfort outside of God.
Nothing is as valuable as the promises of God—not riches, not honor, not friends, nor fame. If God is our portion, we need nothing else. That is a promise but difficult to embrace in our materialistic world.
You and I can persevere through anything in this life if we believe that when we have God, we need nothing else. And our God is the one who loves us dearly with a deep Father’s love.
As the song goes, “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure.” I know that to be true. I hope you will too.
Are You Ready for Perseverance in Your Life?
As the Bible promises,
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4 NASB)
We can have hope because we have God with us. So, remember our lane markers for the race.
- Choose to persevere through every challenge.
- Count on God’s promise to give you hope.
- Let that hope sustain you through the rough-and-tumble of life.
- Celebrate the joyful reward.
In the next post, we will see from Nehemiah’s life that the joy of the Lord is your strength and reward.
Let Jesus satisfy your heart with hope as you persevere through everyday life.
All of the above information is covered in the Profiles of Perseverance Bible Study covering the lives of Joseph, David, Elijah, and Nehemiah.
Related Resources:
- Old Testament Men blog series
- Hannah • Believe That You Are Dearly Loved
- Elijah: The God You Can Know • 1 Kings 17-18
- Death and Beyond blog series
- TRUTH Is the Prescription for Healthy Living
Ai was not used to generate this post.