He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Wake up and eat.”
I wonder how many angels have crossed my path throughout the years…
Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain. There he went into a cave to spend the night.
Always forty (Genesis 7:17; Exodus 34:28; Matthew 4:1-2) and a tale of two mountain tops. You alone know what we need to complete the path before us, Father. Why go all the way to Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:18-19; Deuteronomy 1:6)?
Suddenly the Lord spoke to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
He answered, “Lord God Almighty, I have always served you—you alone.
May I always serve you, Lord God, and you alone.
“Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain,” the Lord said to him. Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks—but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake—but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire—but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice.
When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
The furious wind, the earthquake, the fire – the force – it was that which was present on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40), but the Lord wasn’t present in that. Where was he? In a soft whisper (Isaiah 42:1-4). The Elijah to come (Malachi 4:5-6) will prepare the path (Isaiah 40:3-5; Mark 1:1-8). God’s plan stretches across the centuries. You are wonderful, Father. I wait patiently on you (Habakkuk 2:3).