05.09.2014 Old Testament: 1Ki 19.13–18

To read the Bible in a year, read First Kings 19–20 on May 9, In the year of our Lord 2014

By Don Ruhl

Zeal is good, but if knowledge does not guide it, then the zealous will not see certain things, as demonstrated in the prophet Elijah when he heard a quiet and calm voice from the Lord,

So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19.13–18).

Truly, Elijah had been zealous for the Lord God of hosts, but in his zeal the prophet did not see that the Lord had certain people lined up for various jobs, and that seven thousand people in Israel had not bowed down to Baal.

You are zealous, that is why you read the Bible daily, but do not let that zeal make you think that no one else has the same zeal and that no one else has the same concerns as you.