Chapter 13—“What Doest Thou Here?”
This chapter is based on
1 Kings 19:9-18
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Elijah’s retreat on Mount Horeb, though hidden from man, was
known to God; and the weary and discouraged prophet was not left to
struggle alone with the powers of darkness that were pressing upon
him. At the entrance to the cave wherein Elijah had taken refuge, God
met with him, through a mighty angel sent to inquire into his needs
and to make plain the divine purpose for Israel.
Not until Elijah had learned to trust wholly in God could he com-
plete his work for those who had been seduced into Baal worship.
The signal triumph on the heights of Carmel had opened the way for
still greater victories; yet from the wonderful opportunities opening
before him, Elijah had been turned away by the threat of Jezebel. The
man of God must be made to understand the weakness of his present
position as compared with the vantage ground the Lord would have
him occupy.
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God met His tried servant with the inquiry, What doest thou here,
Elijah? I sent you to the brook Cherith and afterward to the widow of
Sarepta. I commissioned you to return to Israel and to stand before the
idolatrous priests on Carmel, and I girded you with strength to guide
the chariot of the king to the gate of Jezreel. But who sent you on this
hasty flight into the wilderness? What errand have you here?
In bitterness of soul Elijah mourned out his complaint: “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.”
Calling upon the prophet to leave the cave, the angel bade him
stand before the Lord on the mount, and listen to His word. “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
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