<< 1 Kings 19: Elijah at Horeb >>

 The people had seen the sacrifice on Mount Carmel, and had said, "The LORD, he is the God." But this sign of the Lord's power does not seem to have had any lasting effect upon them. When Jezebel heard what Elijah had done, she was the more angry and tried again to kill him. So Elijah went for his life to Beersheba, in the south pastures of the kingdom of Judah,  and there he went alone a day's journey the wilderness. The "juniper tree" under which Elijah rested was not a large tree, but a shrub (a kind of broom, genista, with white pea-like flowers) which grows in countries about the Mediterranean, and even in the deserts. Elijah was discouraged. It seemed to him that all his work was of no use, and he prayed that he might die. But the Lord who had cared for him and fed him at the Cherith and at Zarephath cared for him still, as you will see when we read the story.

We have heard of Horeb. It is the general name for the group of rough mountains among which Mount Sinai stands. Here Moses came with the flock, and the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush. Here the commandments were spoken to all the people by the Lord. Going to Horeb was like going where the Lord was, for help. And the Lord came near to Elijah there, and gave him courage.

But I must not tell too much of what we are going to read.

Elijah came from Horeb with new strength, and went, as the Lord  sent him, back through the wilderness  towards Damascus.   There was a place in the Jordan valley, a little more than half way from the Dead Sea to the Sea of Galilee, called Abel-meholah; it was the home of Elisha. He was ploughing in the field. Twelve ploughs, each drawn by a yoke of oxen, were making as many furrows across the field. His servants were driving those that went before him, and Elisha himself himself was with the twelfth. We think of rude ploughs, such as the people in that country use to-day, which only scratch the ground. Elijah left the path and crossed over to Elisha and cast his mantle upon him. We hear several times of Elijah's mantle. It was probably a rough, hairy mantle such as prophets wore; perhaps it was of camel's hair, like John the Baptist's.

Elisha understood the sign to mean that he was to be Elijah's servant, and to become prophet in his place. He asked first to go and kiss his father and mother good-by. Elijah's answer shows displeasure, and it means that when I he Lord says something is right, we ought not to linger or delay for anything. "Go back again: for what have I to do with thee!" as if he said, "Stay in your old home if you are not ready to leave everything for the Lord."

Elisha made a farewell feast, which was perhaps also a sacrifice. It would seem to have been made hastily in the field. And he went after Elijah and became his servant.

Now let us read.

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. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 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. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 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. 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. 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. 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?  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. 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 LORDwas not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 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?  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. 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: And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.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. 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. 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. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.---1 Kings XIX.

Author: William L. Worcester 1904

Spiritual Correspondences

Elijah >> The power of the letter of the Word to condemn evil

Elisha >> The Word softned by a perception of the Divine Spirit within it

Sitting under a tree >> Taking spiritual comfort in Truth

Dwelling at Horeb [mount of God] in a cave >> An effort, in a time of discouragement, to come near the Lord

Wrapping his face in his mantle >> Listen to the Lord's words 

Still small voice >> Love from the Lord

Seven thousand >> All Heavenly influences working with the Lord

Spiritual Meaning

1 KINGS XIX

1And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
 
 1. It is perceived in the corrupted spiritual church, by those who are in faith without charity from self-love, that Divine Truth, or the Word, testifies concerning the Lord, that His Human Nature is Divine, and then also concerning the falsities of faith alone, that they are rejected.
 
  2Then 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.
 
 2. And those who are in faith alone infest the man of the spiritual church, who loves the Word and threaten the extermination on of true doctrine, and consequently of true charity perpetually.
 
  3And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
 
 3. But those who love the Word are protected by an elevation of their state as to chanty, and by conjunction with true doctrine adapted to their state of rational thought, and confirmed in their lives, which doctrine is from celestial love, and defends the natural man.
 
  4But 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.
 
 4. While the spiritual man, through infestation, is brought into a temporary state of obscurity as to perceptions of truth, and of despair as to the preservation of spiritual life, In which it seems as if they who are In
charity are still under the power of hereditary defilements.

  5And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
 
 5. The result of which is a lapse into a natural state from defect as to truths; but therein Divine Love protects him, and stimulates him to activity, and the appropriation of good.
 
  6And 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.
 
 6. When it is perceived that from within he is provided with good conjoined to truth, and also truths, with which he is nourished in that obscure state.
 
  7And 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.
 
 7. Moreover Divine Love now more strongly affects his will as well as his understanding, causing fresh activity, and stimulating him to the appropriation of good, because regeneration cannot be effected through the understanding alone.
 
  8And 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.
 
8. And hence there is farther elevation and appropriation of good and truth enabling those who love the Word to endure the. full course of temptation leadIng to the realization of Divine Love in an external state of the church and of worship,
 
  9And 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?
 
 9. For then there is a state of the obscurity of love, and yet of the revelation of Divine Truth !n that obscurity, prompting an inquiry into the cause of this state.
 
  10And 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.
 
 10 Whence there is perception that those who love the Word have an ardent zeal for living Good, from which is Divine Truth manifesting the Divine Power against evil; but that this zeal is in obscurity because, in the corrupted spiritual church conjunction with the Lord is broken, the worship of the Lord is destroyed, and the doctrine of a true faith is rejected; and because, although the Word is still acknowledged, the tendency is to deny it entirely.

  11And 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:
 
 11. On which account there is further revelation giving the perception, that the man of the church must stand firmly in Divine Love which is from the Lord, and that revelation in an external state of the church and of worship is still from that love; that, in its outward form, it is Divine Truth destroying evil and error, in which Divine Good does not appear; and that it next produces convulsions and changes in the state of the church, or of the individual mind, good being again not apparent:

  12And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
 
 12. That, thirdly, it results in temptations from the lusts of self-love, in which, once more, Divine Love or Good is not perceived; and that, lastly, it is Divine Truth united with Divine Good and proceeding from it.
 
  13And 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?
 
 13. But the man of the church, in its obscure state, although affected by Divine Love, can only endure it, when veiled by Divine Truth adapted to that obscure state; and now from the good of truth, he is again prompted to inquire into the cause of this state.
 
  14And 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.
 
 14. Whence the former perception from Divine Truth is conflrrned---namely, that those who love the Word have an ardent zeal for Divine Good from which is Divine truth manifesting the Divine Power against evil; but that this zeal is in obscurity because, in the corrupted spiritual church, conjunction with the Lord is broken, the worship of the Lord is destroyed, and the doctrine of a true faith is rejected; and because, although the Word is still acknowledged, the tendency is to deny it entirely.

  15And 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:
 
 15. And it is further perceived from Divine Good, that the incipient church must, as yet, remain in obscurity as to the knowledges of good; and that first the affection for those knowledges must be awakened, and become predominant :
 
  16And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
 
 16. Afterwards that Divine Truth derived from charity which gives conjunction with the Lord shall govern the spiritual mind; and lastly that the Word of the Lord which, internally, teaches nothing but charity acquired through the proper exercise of the rational faculty, in the course of purification from evil, shall be supreme in the will.
 
  17And 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.
 
 17. For it must happen, that evils and errors which cannot be seen and overcome by obedience from the affection of knowing, will be seen and overcome from the affection of interior truths; and that those which cannot be removed by this affection, will be entirely rejected by the power of the Word from a principle of charity.
 
  18Yet 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.
 
 18. And, in the spiritual church, there always remain those who are capable of attaining the holy state of regeneration, and who do not yield to the power of self-love by the conjunction of evil and falsity in themselves either externally or internally.
 
  19So 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.
 
 19. And the consequence of these states of perception is, that he who loves the Word passes from his obscurity into a state of charity conjoined with truth, and acquired by truth, which, at first, is a state of good preparing to receive truths, and this by the full exercise of the natural powers, charity being inmost, and Divine Truth from the Lord, being its outward form and expression.

  20And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
 
 20. But this state (being one of transition) is liable to recede from good, and therefore although it follows the Lord, it also looks back to former states of life as to affection and thought, thus to evils and falsities, the desire to obey the Lord predominating, and hence there is fluctuation preceding conjunction.
 
  21And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
 
 21. So that good, as yet, recedes from truth, further preparation of the natural affections of good and truth---in which good is adapted by truths, through the good of merit, or obedience as from self for the sake of reward--- being necessary: and after this, good is appropriated by truths; an elevation of state occurs; and the natural mind being brought into harmony with the spiritual, is subservient to it.

Author: Rev. HENRY MACLAGAN (1905)