1 Kings 19:4
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.
Elijah fled alone into the wilderness after Jezebel threatened his life, and worn and hungry he sat under a juniper tree and asked God to take his life because he felt he had failed and could bear no more. It was the low reaction that often follows high faith and success, for after the triumph on Carmel he was disappointed that lasting reform had not come, and in weariness he lost hold on God and let fear overcome him. God in mercy did not grant his rash request to die, but sent an angel to sustain him, for a great work still remained for him before he would be taken to heaven without seeing death. His fall proves that even a prophet of undaunted courage was a man of like passions with others, who will lose courage and fail when tested unless he constantly looks to God and trusts wholly in His power. Yet his despondency does not prove God had forsaken him, and his experience brings hope to all in discouragement that God still watches, pities and understands, and that the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on God is truly invincible.
Elijah's Flight Into Wilderness
Elijah was fleeing for his life after Jezebel threatened to kill him, with no warning from God to flee and no errand from God sending him, moving rashly without waiting for God to speak. A messenger roused the weary prophet at night with her vow to do to him as he had done to the prophets of Baal, and he started up from slumber bewildered while rain poured and darkness lay on every side. He fled for his life as though the avenger of blood was close behind him, leaving his servant behind at Beersheba on the way until in the morning he went a day's journey alone into a dreary waste far from the homes and habitation of men. His hasty flight turned him from the work God had commissioned him to do and from his post of duty, the opposite of his former course when God sent him to Samaria with a message to Ahab, to the brook Cherith, to the widow of Sarepta, to stand on Carmel, and then girded him to guide the king's chariot to Jezreel. He should have met the threat by appealing for protection to the God of Heaven who had commissioned him and warned him before when to flee and where to find asylum, telling the messenger that the God in whom he trusted would protect him, and should have stood steadfast making God his refuge and strength while waiting with faith and patience for God to shield him and give another signal victory in judgments upon Jezebel that would have wrought reformation.
The verse finds him worn down, weakened, hungry, weary and prostrate after faithful work for Israel and after a day of toil without food. Exhausted and alone he sat down under a juniper tree to rest and fell asleep exhausted. His work of reproving sin had brought danger upon him so that he was hunted from place to place as a weary and travel-worn fugitive.
He was crushed by bitter disappointment because the signal display of God's power on Carmel in fire from heaven, the slaying of the prophets of Baal, and rain had not broken Jezebel's influence over Ahab and brought lasting reform in Israel. He had expected Israel to remain true and faithful after returning to God, Jezebel's power and influence to end, and a general revolution in the kingdom, and when her threat came he feared the reform would fail and felt he could no longer trust men or put confidence in man. Jezebel remained hardened, infuriated and defiant in idolatry after hearing of Jehovah's power, and with Satan and his host opposing and the unconsecrated uniting with the adversary to make the work of God's faithful servants as hard as possible, Elijah as one sent with a message denouncing Israel as sinners deserving judgment was rejected as unnecessarily severe and as having lost his senses.
In that crisis he forgot that God was the same all-powerful and pitiful God who had granted every request for fire and rain, hidden him three years from Ahab and Jezebel, and watched through three and a half years of famine for repentance while remaining powerful and compassionate. His faith and courage forsook him, he lost sight of and hold on God, and fear of death overcame him in a moment of weariness and weakness that Satan exploits to shake confidence in God. The verse means the reaction that often follows high faith and glorious success and can come after spiritual exaltation had come upon him: exalted to Pisgah's top on Carmel, he was now in the valley, bewildered and wearied, with Satan apparently prevailing through Jezebel. His despair followed that period of great faith and success, his courage gave way to depression, and his loss of courage and faith came when he stopped relying on God and forgot God's sustaining care.
Alone in the wilderness beneath the juniper tree he requested for himself that he might die, saying it is enough and asking the Lord to take away his life because he was no better than his fathers. The words express despair, a sense of failure and that he had failed to achieve what he hoped through the display of God's power, and a crushed desire to die with hope gone and his life-work seeming threatened with defeat. He felt life was no longer desirable and wished never to look upon men again nor face people again.
God's Mercy Despite Failure
His plea that he had endured enough was rash and faithless, an unsound direction for God spoken without knowing what he was doing. In mercy God did not take him at his word nor grant the request. A great work still remained for him to do before he would be translated to heaven.
He was not to perish in discouragement and solitude in the wilderness and go down to the tomb or into the dust of the earth. When worn out and hungry and near death, an angel was sent to him on a mission of mercy. When his work was finished he did not die alone in the wilderness but ascended in glory with God's angels and a convoy of celestial chariots to the throne on high into His glorious presence. God had marked his heart-service.
By that one failure of faith his loss cut short the work he had begun. The work he had begun he was not to complete, for God directed him to appoint another prophet in his place and bade him anoint another to be prophet in his stead.
His despondency does not prove that God had left him, but illustrates the weakness that can follow intense effort and pressure. Though he felt broken-hearted and forsaken by God and people, God still watched over and loved him. God still pities and loves His servants and understands them, reading the motives and purposes of the heart. His danger when threatened and facing persecution and deprivation is an example of God's care for His people.
In his hour of greatest weakness, when hope was gone and his life-work seemed threatened with defeat, he learned one of the deepest lessons of his life. He learned the need and the possibility of trusting God under the most forbidding circumstances, and that Heaven will never forsake a man while he maintains his integrity. His severe trial exposed natural impulses and passions alongside his spiritual life, bringing impurity to the surface and testing his character. Through God's refining work the lasting good was preserved and the dross consumed.
Warning and Comfort Today
Even a prophet of undaunted courage in the contest between life and death, sent with a message denouncing sin, was a man of like passions as others and subject to temptation. His strong spirit sank under a fearful trial after intense effort and pressure, when undaunted courage and triumph over king, priests and people gave way to despondency and timidity. However courageous and successful a man has been in special work for God, and however marked the tokens of divine power he has seen, he will lose courage and fail when tested unless he constantly looks to God and trusts implicitly in Omnipotence. Such sinking after spiritual exaltation and glorious success is nothing strange or new, for discouragement and despair that overwhelm after a day of toil without food and crushed hopes can follow intense exertion. The record stands to teach that even people favored by God can struggle and fall.
The collapse proves that Satan assails the soul with his fiercest temptations at the time of greatest weakness, the policy by which he gained many victories and hoped to prevail even over the Son of God. When those impelled to do a special work feel reaction when pressure is removed, when encompassed with doubt, perplexed by circumstances, or afflicted by poverty, distress, and physical and emotional weakness, he seeks his advantage. He then seeks to shake confidence in God by arraying mistakes before them and tempting them to distrust God and question His love. His aim is to discourage the soul and break its hold on God, for once separated from the source of strength he is sure of his prey. Long and valiant standing for the right is no exemption, since in a moment of weariness fear of death can overcome faith and weaken will-power until death itself is requested.
Trials and pressure do not justify abandoning one's post, fleeing duty, or yielding to what is known to be wrong, so the request for death is an example of a response not to follow. God's servants are instruments in His hands, and they are to remain still and trust Him rather than give up their work. They must not rely on human wisdom or let fear discourage them, but trust the Lord, remain in the way of duty without giving way to fear, and wait patiently and prayerfully for God to defend them and display His power. They are warned against taking on burdens God has not assigned or coming between God and those being tested, because doing so can hinder the purposes God is working out in their experience.
The words of having endured enough were rash, faithless, unsound direction for God, spoken without knowing what was done in dictating to the Lord. The request was not granted because a great work still remained before translation to heaven. Though the loyal face trials, disappointments, sickness, sorrow and heavy grief, there is no necessity to become restless, impatient, rebellious or morose. Impatience and unwise speech in suffering, and trying to dictate to God, are therefore warned against.
Yet the days of discouragement and apparent defeat yield lessons for times of widespread departure from what is right. The experience on Horeb should bring hope and courage to all tempted to give way to despondency and distrust, in assurance of God's watchful care, love, and power. This comfort belongs especially to those who spend their lives in self-sacrificing labor whose zeal is misunderstood and unappreciated, whose counsels and reproofs are slighted, whose efforts to reform are repaid with hatred and opposition, and who feel their life-work threatened with defeat. Through God's grace believers can regain strength, rise above evil, take heart again and conquer, and encourage others to press past human weakness. To wait patiently and trust when everything looks dark is the lesson needed, for nothing is apparently more helpless yet really more invincible than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on God.