We might well imagine those words on the lips of Elijah the prophet, or that's a word of judgment against the land of Israel, or their corruption, their disobedience, their unbelief. And with that background in mind, I'd ask you to turn in your Bibles this morning to the Old Testament book, 1 Kings. 1 Kings, chapter 19, which is found on page 348 in most of the Pew Bibles. There's a few odd editions out there, so if it's not on 348, you're going to have to look around. 348. I have long wanted to begin a sermon series considering the ministry of the prophet Elisha. And today's the day. But the scriptural record of his ministry is not found until 2 Kings, but we do find it anticipated in the final verses of our text this morning. And so in anticipation of that series, as the scripture here is in anticipation of his ministry, we will begin here today. And I want to begin by making it clear what I mean by the word tempest in the title of the sermon this morning. We don't use that word very often, so I want to make sure that you know what I mean. Quite simply, a tempest is a furious agitation or commotion. It really doesn't matter what type. The nature of the tempest and the size of the tempest can vary. Hurricane Katrina was the largest tempest this nation has ever known. But there's a tempest in my teapot when the water comes to a boil. And Shakespeare, King Lear complained of a tempest in his mind. It's just agitation, curiosity. And I've entitled this sermon, After the Tempest, because in each of the three sections in our text this morning, we will see the work of the Lord in and after the tempest. First, after the tempest on Mount Carmel. Secondly, after the tempest on Mount Horeb. And finally, after the tempest of Elijah's ministry. Follow along as I read the word of God this morning. 1 Kings chapter 19 in its entirety. 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. And I would have you note the footnote there in verse 3. Elijah was afraid. There's a footnote in your NIV. It simply says Elijah saw. Elijah saw and he walked away 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 desert. He came to a broom tree, 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 tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, Get up and eat. He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of 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 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. 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, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death by 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. And a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said 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, broken 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 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 son of Nimshi king over Israel. And anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel of Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escaped the sword of Hazael. And Elisha will put to death any who escaped the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal, and all whose mouths have not kissed him. So Elijah went from there and found Elisha, son of Shaphat. He was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the 12th pair. Elijah went up to him and threw the cloak around him, threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. Let me kiss my father and my mother goodbye, he said, and then I will come with you. Go back, Elijah replied. What have I done to you? So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and become his attendant. Here ends the reading. of God's Word. Our text this morning opens immediately after the tempest on Mount Carmel where the false god Baal and his prophets had a showdown with God and his true prophet, Elijah. You know the story. Three years earlier, as recorded in chapter 17, Elijah announced a drought in Israel. judgment against the idolatry under Ahab and his pagan wife Jezebel. And after three years, as recorded in chapter 18, the Lord sends Elijah back to confront Ahab and to call all the people together to choose between Baal and the Lord. It kind of plays out like a Western movie. The good guy, the prophet of God, comes into town and he calls out the bad guys, the prophets of Baal. And he calls them out for a showdown. And the showdown took the form of dueling sacrifices to Baal and to the Lord on the top of Mount Carmel. And Elijah let the prophets of Baal draw first. All 450 of them. What a commotion they raised that day. From morning until evening they cried out to Baal to consume their sacrifice, shouting and dancing and slicing themselves so that they bled. but there was no response. No one answered. No one paid attention. And at the end of the day, their sacrifice stood untouched. Then Elijah alone rebuilt an altar to the Lord on which he offered his sacrifice. And just to make it fair, he doused it three times with water so that it was soaked. And he prayed that the Lord would consume his sacrifice so that the people would know that the Lord is God and that Elijah was his prophet. Then, according to chapter 18, verse 28, the fire of the Lord did fall and it consumed his sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the soil and the water. The Lord is God. And the people fell down in fear. And Elijah commanded them to gather up all the prophets of Baal and to put them to death by the sword. The tempest raised on Mount Carmel by the false prophets of Baal was answered by the tempest of God's judgment against them. And Elijah knew the thrill of victory. But after the tempest, Elijah was stung by the agony of apparent defeat. King Ahab had witnessed the whole thing. He saw this magnificent power display by God Almighty on Mount Carmel, but he didn't get it. According to verse 1 of our chapter today, he raced all the way back home and told Jezebel everything Elijah did and how he put all the prophets to death with the sword. And Jezebel, instead of repenting, hardened her heart against sin and in the name of her false gods issued a curse against herself that she had sent to Elijah, letting him know that if he was not dead by the morrow, may it be worse for her. Now our English translation suggests that Elijah feared Jezebel and ran away to save his life. As I pointed out as I read the text, the text literally says that he saw, he saw what she was up to and he walked away for his life. Now, it may be true that he did fear for his life. I mean, he was a man. But it is certainly true that he despised his life. In the power of the Lord, Elisha had run as a victor from Mount Carmel in the north, A marathon from the mountain to the valley to Jezreel the day before. And now in his own strength he walked away. From Jezreel to Beersheba in the south of Judah. After settling his servant in Beersheba, who by the way we might note we never see again, Elijah continued to walk into the desert alone, despondent. And we read in verse 4 that like the prophet Jonah, he sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. I've had enough, Lord. Take my life. I'm no better than my ancestors. And then he lay down under the tree. See, Elijah had seen the power and the fury of the Lord on Mount Carmel and he expected that the Lord would come in that power to rescue his people. But he didn't. Elijah knew what he wanted and he knew what he'd worked for and he knew and he believed that it was right. But the Lord didn't come through. In spite of his office and in spite of his ministry, Elijah was still a man. And he responded like we might respond when we walk by sight. Responding to circumstances and forgetting the sovereign power and purposes of God. Perhaps he was overcome by doubt. believing that God didn't act because he didn't have the power or the authority to act perhaps he was overcome with anger judging God's will according to his own will we know what that feels like don't we? we can't know for sure because the text doesn't tell us but in any case he prayed for the sleep of death I've had enough Lord take my life and the Lord answered his prayer for sleep but not with the sleep of death with the sleep of refreshment and not only that the Lord visited him twice with the ministry of angels to strengthen him with food and with drink not because he deserved it but out of sheer grace for his own greater purposes the Lord continued to sustain of this despondent prophet. And we're told in verse 8 that in the strength of that supernatural food, Elijah arose and walked 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Mount Oreb, the mountain of God. And with that, we turn our attention to the middle section of our text today, which begins in verse 9. And consider the work of the Lord after the tempest on Mount Oreb. Elijah is now on Mount Horeb in a cave where he spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him. What are you doing here, Elijah? Elijah tried to dodge the question by defending his ministry and pointing the finger at Israel. He said, I've been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I'm the only one left. And now they're trying to kill me too. But in his answer to the Lord, was Elijah being truthful? Did he tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Well, it was true that he'd been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. In fact, some would say that no one was ever more zealous for the Lord God Almighty. And it was true that the Israelites had broken his covenant, his altars, and put his prophets to death by the sword. but it was not true that Elijah was the only one left. And he knew it. In chapter 18, beginning in verse 12, Obadiah, a devout believer in the Lord who was in charge of Ahab's palace, told Elijah to his face, he says, I, your servant, have worshipped the Lord since my youth. Haven't you heard, my Lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets in two caves, 50 in each, and supplied them with food and water. Elijah had wanted the Lord God Almighty to come in power at Mount Carmel. And now he would on Mount Horeb. But instead of coming in wrath to destroy Israel in that place, he came with mercy to discipline Elijah. The Lord answered Elijah and called him out. He says, go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord. With an awesome display of power through his creation, the Lord passed by, we're told. Beginning in verse 11, Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, came a fire, and the Lord was not in the fire. This tempest of wind and earth and fire kept Elijah hunkered down in his cave. He could not comply to go out and stand before the Lord. But after the tempest came a gentle whisper. Or as one commentator helpfully puts it, the sound of gentle silence. A silence so profound that all Elijah could hear was his own heartbeat and his breath. A silence that drew him out of the cave and caused him to cover his face with his cloak. Like Moses, when the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush, he hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. And he knew he was standing in the presence of the Holy One of Israel. And from out of that holy silence, the Lord questioned Elijah again. What are you doing here, Elijah? Now, Elijah answered with the very same words as before, but I suspect with less zeal. He had just been rebuked and humbled by the power of God in the tempest. Yet he still lacked assurance of faith and confidence for his task. In his mind, I suspect that he was thinking, surely those other hundred prophets don't count. I mean, they're hidden. I loan them on the front line. But the Lord answered that discouragement. the Lord encouraged him and prepared Elijah with the truth. He gave him a peek of the bigger picture so that he could return to service. And he says in verses 15 to 19, Go back the way you came and go to the desert of Damascus and when you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram, Jehu over Israel, and Elisha to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death those who escaped the sword of Hazael. And Elisha will put to death those who escaped the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve 7,000 faithful, my people. The Lord made it clear to Eliza that he had everything under control. In his own time, he would bring the sword against the flesh of Israel through Hazael and Jehu. And he would bring the sword of the Spirit through Elisha. The sword of the spirit that the prophet Hosea spoke of in chapter 6, verse 5 of his record. It says, I cut you in pieces with my prophets. I killed you with the words of my mouth. And through it all, the Lord was preserving his remnant. His purpose was being accomplished. He answered Elijah's walk of sight and lack of assurance of faith with the truth. A truth that could not be denied, and a truth that was bigger than him. And so we read in verse 19, the Lord's work done on Horeb, we read that Elisha went from there. Encouraged, prepared, humbled, and back in service. And so now we turn our attention to the last section of our text in which we consider the work of the Lord after the tempest of Elijah's ministry. you see our text this morning marks the beginning of the end of Elijah's ministry after this chapter there are only two events recorded in the rest of Kings about his work before he dies the time he came Israel had disowned God's authority had denied the claims of the covenant had insulted his majesty with idol worship the cancer of their unbelief was pervasive it was deadly and a drastic measure was needed chemotherapy, radiation therapy. And with ferocious energy and zeal, Elijah was set loose on the land as the messenger of judgment. And through prayers uttered in faith, he summoned the power of Almighty God to enforce the demands of the covenant on the people. His mission was to call Israel to repent and return to the Lord. His work was proclaimed in his name, Elijah. God is Yahweh, not Baal, Elijah. And through the tempest of his ministry of judgment, Elisha failed to save the people of Israel. But his ministry was not a failure. He had not labored in vain. through his ministry of judgment, the conscience of the people had been stirred and they had been made ready for the ministry of grace that would follow. He did succeed in preparing the way for the Lord. And so after the tempest of Elijah's ministry, the word of the Lord would come to Israel from the gentle stillness of Elisha's ministry. His work was proclaimed in his name, Elisha. God is salvation. Elijah would decrease and Elisha would increase. And you may note as you read through the rest of this book that the first and only thing that Elisha accomplished of what God gave him to do that day on Mount Oreb was to anoint Elisha. Elisha went on to accomplish the rest. And we find a remarkably brief account of Elisha's anointing in verses 19 through 21 of our text. So Elisha went from there and he found Elisha, son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. Let me kiss my father and my mother goodbye, he said, and then I will come with you. Go back, Elijah replied, what have I done to you? So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and become his attendant. See, the rains that had showered the land after the tempest on Mount Carmel had brought with him the promise of crops, the first in three years. And Elisha, along with others, was hard at work plowing a field. And he was the last, if not the least, of the drivers. He was bringing up the rear of a formation of twelve yoke of oxen. He was laboring in the dust of those who were plowing before him. And as Elijah approached, he saw a man who had been prepared to follow in the fields of Israel. And he saw a man who was least among his brethren, who had become great. And as Elijah drew near, he took off his cloak, his prophet's mantle, that signified that he was clothed with the Spirit of God. And then, when he issued the Lord's call to Elisha, by throwing that cloak around him, without breaking his stride, without saying a word, he found in Elisha a man prepared by the Spirit to answer his call. Without hesitation and without reservation. Elisha did not hesitate when he asked to honor his father and his mother with a kiss goodbye. And Elisha did not hesitate to let him do it, for it was not his call. Elisha was not like the man in Luke chapter 9 who told Jesus, I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family. Those words are nearly the same. Jesus revealed that man's heart to be different than Elisha's heart when he said, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. But Elisha was certainly fit for service because he had been fitted for service. And once he put his hand to the plow of the Lord, he never looked back. In fact, he made it certain that he couldn't look back. Everything he had, he gave to the poor. He slaughtered his oxen and cooked them over a fire built with his plowing equipment. Not for himself, but for the people, the hungry people. And he gave it to them, and then he set out to follow Elijah. We've seen in this narrative three circumstances wherein the Lord, after a tempest, sovereignly worked for his purposes, for his glory. And we will follow the ministry of Elisha that we've been introduced to today in the months ahead. But today I would have you see some of the big picture of God's redemptive plan that he has hinted at and shown us through this text. Now you may have already noticed that this episode in Elijah's life reflects the life of Moses. You should have heard Moses all over your brain when I was reading about what Elijah did on the trip to Mount Orem and even after. And there are many parallels between Moses and Elijah that are made here. But I want to draw your attention to only one today. If you remember, in the face of Israel's stubbornness and sin in the wilderness, Moses faltered. He disobeyed the word of the Lord. And as a result, the Lord had him appoint another to complete his mission. Joshua, whose name means Yahweh is salvation. And Elijah, in the face of stubbornness and sin in the land, he faltered. He walked away from his post. And the Lord had him appoint another to complete his mission. Elisha, whose name means God is salvation. Now, Elijah and Elisha, just like Moses and Joshua, fulfilled God's purposes for them in their own time, even as they portrayed his purposes for the fullness of time. Of all the prophets in the history of Israel, only Moses and Elijah physically stood in the presence of the glory of God. And they would stand with him again, This time together, when Jesus, the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, when Jesus revealed His glory to His disciples. You know the story. Mark chapter 9, we read, After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him and led them up a high mountain where they were all alone. And there He was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white and there appeared before him Elijah and Moses who were talking with Jesus. Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them and a voice came from the cloud, This is my son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. And on the way down the mountain, the disciples asked him, Why did the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first? Jesus replied, to be sure, Elijah does come first, and he restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him. John the Baptist had come in the role of Elijah. And like Elijah before him, he preached repentance and he prepared the way for another. The Lord Jesus, whose name means Yahweh is salvation, who came into this world to save his people from their sin. Jesus came to do what Israel could not do, what Moses and Elijah could not do, And what each of us cannot do and that is to keep the commands of God completely and perfectly and to be the remnant of God. The embodiment of faithful Israel. But not only that, he came to do what Joshua and Elisha could never do to secure the salvation of God's people. He came to give his life as a ransom for theirs so that all who believe in him will be led by him into the promised land of eternal rest forever and forever. The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to endure the tempest of unbelief raised against him by his own people and by the world and by Satan himself who all sought to take his life away. And like Elijah, he despaired in the Garden of Gethsemane. But unlike Elijah, he did not walk away. But he delivered himself up to them in obedience to the will of his Father. And instead of seeking refuge from the tempest of God's judgment, the judgment that was reserved for the sinners, his people, he submitted himself to it. He gave himself to it on the cross. And after the tempest of the judgment of God against sin on Jesus on the cross that cost him his life so that he was buried. He was raised in the flesh and he ascended into glory and he has opened the way for us who believe in him and in his saving work for us to stand in the gentle stillness of God's grace now and forever. Let us pray and be thankful. Bow with me. Heavenly Father, we are grateful this morning for your word. For the narrative that reveals to us the work of your sovereign will in the life of Elijah and in Elisha in this episode that moved from Mount Carmel to Mount Orb and back to Israel. And Lord, how you exercise your judgment with power against sin. And how you extend grace to those who will heed that judgment and turn to the Christ that you gave. Thank you, Father, that as we read the Old Testament, the lives of the saints, that in your wisdom you have portrayed there and pointed to there your Son, Jesus Christ, so that we might know him better and his work better. And that we might marvel at your wisdom, marvel at your purposes and marvel at your power, and yet even more to marvel at your grace. For sending Christ into this world whom we do not deserve to live and to die and to be raised for us that we might know your grace and no longer stand under your judgment. Move our hearts, Lord, to live in that grace, to rejoice in that grace today and every day of our lives. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.