Jezebel tries to kill Elijah. Elijah flees into the wilderness and is fed by an angel. Elijah goes to Horeb, where he is comforted by the Holy Ghost and instructed to continue in God’s work.
1 Kings 19:1–19
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks 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:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
Todd A. Knowles wrote:
“[After the Lord sent the fire from heaven that consumed Elijah’s] offering . . . [another miracle occurred:] [C]louds came, . . . a torrential rain fell . . . [and the long drought was over]. Elijah had successfully nurtured his people’s weak faith.
“King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, however, were only convinced that Elijah must be put to death, so Elijah fled into the wilderness (see 1 Kings 19:1–3). Feeling discouraged, Elijah experienced one more important lesson about faith and miracles.
“As Elijah rested in a cave, the Lord sent a great destructive wind, then an earthquake, and finally a fire. In each marvelous display of divine power, the record states that ‘the Lord was not in [it]’ (see 1 Kings 19:11–12). Finally, there came ‘a still small voice’ in which the Lord manifested Himself (see 1 Kings 19:12–18).
“A friend of mine, faced with the sudden death of a close family member, struggled to prepare a talk for the funeral. Finding a time and place to be alone, he asked the Lord for a manifestation of the departed loved one. As he prayed, a still, small voice spoke to his mind, ‘And what would you know then that you don’t know now? Be faithful and you will continue to be filled with light and truth.’
“He learned, like Elijah, that the ‘Spirit of God speaking to the spirit of man has power to impart truth with greater effort and understanding than . . . by personal contact even with heavenly beings’ (see Joseph Fielding Smith, “The Sin Against the Holy Ghost,” Instructor, Oct. 1935, 431).”
(“Elijah Nurtures Faith,” Ensign, July 2002, 45.)
