Awaiting the Manger: 7 Days of Discovering Jesus in the Old TestamentSample

Elijah’s Provider

During the time of Elijah...

A rebellious nation. A wicked king. A famine. A war with the priests of Baal. Drenched sacrifice. Elijah prays. Fire consumes the altar. Victory! God brings rain. Queen Jezebel threatens. Elijah runs away. Afraid. (See 1 Kings 18.)

“Right here,” the weary prophet said to his newly brought-back-to-life servant,his only companion as he fled the city. “I need you to wait here in Jezreel.”

The young man looked up at Elijah. “But can I not go with you? I’ll help you.”

Elijah shook his head. “I go alone.”

And so he did, trekking deep into the isolation of the wilderness. A day passed—was it only a day? He was too tired to think. Too tired to care. Finally, he came to a broom tree that gave him blessed shade and concealed safety, a place where he could rest.

Sitting in the dirt, his back against the tree, he exhaled. His journey was at an end. Here, he thought, I can finally die. “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4). While he slept, the pre-incarnate Son of God, as the angel of the Lord, came.And when Elijah awoke, the Bread of Life had prepared him bread. The Living Water had given him water. Elijah slept again, and after a time, he again awoke to the Lord’s touch. “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you” (1 Kings 19:7).

Elijah greatly needed this gift of sustenance, for after that, the Lord would call him to travel for forty days and nights. In his own strength, he could not go so long without nourishment, yet the food God had provided satisfied him for the entire journey. Finally he reached the mountain of the Lord, the mountain Moses also climbed (Exodus 19:1-3). Elijah hid in a cleft, waiting, longing for God’s presence. Would the Lord pass by? Would he show himself as he had done to Moses? (Exodus 33:21-23).

But then, “Behold, the word of the Lord came to him.” Yes, the Word of the Lord. “And he said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:9).

He spoke his name. And God knew the answer to his question, but still gifted Elijah the time to respond.

The haggard prophet unloaded his heart. He’d been “jealous” to turn the people of Israel back to their God. He’d poured out his life for them, but what difference had all his suffering, his confrontations, his speaking the words God told him to say—what difference had any of it made? All his efforts had failed. “The people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets,” (1 Kings 19:10).

And so he sat, still frustrated.

But God didn’t leave him in that state. “And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire” (1 Kings 19:11-12).

Elijah yearned for the Lord to be in these earth-shaking events! Didn’t the obstinate, ungrateful, idol-worshiping masses deserve a mighty display of God’s powerful presence? Hundreds of years before, hadn’t almighty God crashed into time through wind, earthquake, and fire right here on this same mountain when giving his Law to Moses? Why was he not now in these things? Where was he?

“And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12 NLT). A gentle whisper. God’s power was great and unmatched. He wielded it when his holiness demanded, but in that moment with Elijah, the prophet did not need God’s justice, but his grace—the gentle care of his good Father.

Advent comes in a gentle whisper too. “She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:7). The one who gently whispered to Elijah knew that one day he would come to rest in a manger, to sleep among cows and chickens, a child in a poor family.

And that one still seeks and finds the ones for whom the journey is too great. He touches, feeds, waters, and whispers his love to them—to us.

Practice

God is willing to listen to your complaints, your questions, even your deepest despair. When the journey is too great for you, cry out to him. He will gently care for you.

Reflect

What heartache have you held back from God, whether intentionally or out of simple forgetfulness? (Psalm 51:6)

Pray

Gentle Jesus, I am weary from the long journey of this life. Feed me, touch me, whisper to me your love, that I may be renewed to serve once again.

Sing

The First Noel