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What Are You Doing Here?
~1 Kings 7-10~
In-person service at Temple Baptist Church
(850 Venice Blvd., at Oak)
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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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. 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. 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? 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. What doest thou here, Elijah? I Kings 7-10
Introduction
Bruce Larson in his book, What God Wants To Know, suggests that the answers to life’s vital concerns and our questions about God can be found in our response to the questions God asks us. Put all of your questions aside for a
moment and explore the implications of the questions the Lord asks us. We began last week with the first question in the Bible which was from the Lord: “Where are you.”
“To whom do you listen to inform you?” “Have you done what I asked you not to do?” Wow! Imagine answering the questions the Lord asks you and how those responses can answer the inquires you want to raise with the Lord.
I repeat that most often, if not always, we ask questions of God. We find ourselves, like Job, as the scenario of life unfolds, wanting to present our case before God by filling our mouths with arguments requesting an answer to our questions. (Job 23:4) Why me? Why did you let this happen? What did I do to deserve this? What am I supposed to learn from this? I am sure you have heard people ask these questions. You may have asked one or more of them yourself.
Just maybe if we answer the questions the Lord ask of us we will have the answers to the questions we ask of God.
As matter of fact the first questions in the Bible are raised by God. In the opening pages of sacred writ we find God asking the creatures that have been made in God’s image and fashioned after God likeness, “where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). We hide from God when God comes to us because we are ashamed of what we have done and yet we want God to be available to us to fulfill our desires when we call. A series of questions follow that first question that probe into the choices we have made. Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree that I told you not to eat? What is this you have done?
There is the instance where a murder takes place in secret and the murderer is confronted with the question, “where is your brother.” (Genesis 4:9). How often do we attempt to hide what we have done by being smart in our own conceit?
There is an instance where an individual’s acknowledgement of personal inadequacy was met with the query, “what is in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2)
There is the instance where a person (fleeing for safety due to a threat that has been made on his life) is asked by God, “what are you doing here?”
In the context of worship, Isaiah has an awe-inspiring experience of God that requires
a response to a question, “whom shall I send and who will go for us? Isaiah 6:8
Consider what it means to answer the questions the Lord asks of us
as the Lord asked persons in their experiences in sacred writ.
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In the passage read in your hearing today, we find Elijah in a cave. Elijah is there because he is afraid of the threat Jezebel made to kill him. She sent a messenger to tell him what she was going to do to him. After receiving the frightening message, Elijah runs for his life; however, he does not just go anywhere. As he makes his way toward the holy mountain of revelation, angels accompanied him on the journey making provisions available as he traveled. Upon arriving at the mount of God he goes into a cave. While there, the word of the Lord comes to him asking, “What are you doing here?” The context of the circumstance in which this inquiry is raised provides useful insights about the implications of this query for us.
Consider what it means for you to respond to
the Lord asking you, "What are you doing here?"
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First, we are here deciding how to handle or manage life’s threats.
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?
He was deliberate about going there. He took a day’s journey into the wilderness and then another forty-day journey. He knew exactly where he needed to be. He was intentional and purposeful. He was going to the mount of God, Sinai or as it has been called, Mount Horeb.
Elijah was running from Jezebel. She has threatened his life. He goes to the mount of God. It is good to have a holy place where you can go to get your bearing. He did not just go anywhere. He went to a holy place. A place with a record of providing what was necessary when life was threatened. Sinai you will remember is the place where Moses experienced the presence of God and received instruction. It was there at Sinai that the Israelites gathered and it was there that the law was given to Moses to give to the people.
There are many threats in life and it is good to have a place to decide how to deal with them. Where do you go when the storms of life assail and your strength begins to fail? The composer says, I go to the rock. I go to the rock of my salvation, the stone that the builders rejected. Another composer says, tell me where could I go but to the Lord, needing a friend that would be with me to the end. Tell me where could I go but to the Lord.
Consider what it means to have a place to go to manage life’s threats.
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Wednesday, August 16, 2023 | |
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Second, we are here seeking clarity for our confusion.
Elijah was confused about what God was doing. Believers are often perplexed about how God is active in the affairs of humanity. Elijah has just had a triumphant victory on Mount Carmel. Now the threat of Jezebel has him cowering like a frightened child.
His understanding of God’s presence needed to be altered. Elijah discovers that the Lord can be experienced in a gentle whisper.
Life at times seems to be a series of victories and setbacks. You take five steps forward and then ten steps backward. You can't seem to get ahead. Just when you think you are safe, something happens that turns your world around and upside down. We want to know what the Lord is doing.
The accustomed way that we have been experiencing the Lord is not the only way the Lord can become known. We are familiar with the wind, earthquake and fire - those unforgettable ways in which we have experienced the presence of the Lord. However, the Lord speaks in a gentle whisper. When we need assurance and direction, the Lord with a gentle whisper quiets your spirit, settles your doubts and calms your fears.
Speak to my soul, Lord Jesus. Speak to my soul, I pray. I need your word to guide me. Speak to me today. Listen for the gentle whisper. 12And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. Some may call it instinct, impulse, hunch, sentiment and sense. Call it what you want, a person of faith calls it providence (fate, fortune, destiny), the Lord guiding you through what you are facing.
Consider what it means to experience clarity when confused about
the disarray that happens so often in life.
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Thursday, August 17, 2023 | |
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Third, we are here getting a proper perspective about our predicament.
Elijah had a false picture of what was really happening. He perceived that he was the only one left who was faithful. We can get too focused on ourselves when things go wrong.
Listen to how self-absorbed he is with himself. He is having a pity party, opining about the way he sees what is happening.
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.” 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: 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.
Elijah had a false picture of what was really happening. He perceived that he was the only one left who was faithful. We can get too focused on ourselves when things go wrong and fail to see that there is more taking place than you can see. There is always more going on than what you know. The Lord uses the faithful to bring them to the understanding that there is always something we can do, following His directions, that will determine a different outcome than we envision. Imagine having the faith to believe in what the Lord ask you do. Do what the Lord ask in the midst of your fears, frustration and forge ahead through what you are facing with faith trusting what the Lord has asked you to do.
Consider what it means to get a proper perspective about unfolding developments that are awful and contentious.
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When you do what the Lord says, you will see what kept you fearful, evaporate, what frustrates you dissipate. You experience what faith can do to turn your perception around about the possible outcome.
Conclusion
Elijah was in the cave because he was afraid, confused and disillusioned. He was afraid for his life, he was confused about what God was doing, and he was disillusioned about being the only faithful one on whom God could depend. Being scared, perplexed and discouraged, Elijah hides in a cave on the mount of God. There, God encounters him.
We come here because it was here that we joined a congregation of believers in Christ. We made a covenant to the Lord when we joined this fellowship of faith.
“Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God. to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God. and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.”
It was in this fellowship of faith that we pledged our allegiance, commitment and loyalty to the Lord. It was in a congregation of believers that we promised we would be His people and acknowledge Him as our God. It is in this faith fellowship where we reinforce our faith in worship, prayer, Bible study, and the agencies of this congregation through our auxiliaries with ministries that develop our discipline, foster our faith and put weight in our witness.
Consider what it means to have made a covenant with the Lord
when you became part of the body of Christ, the Church.
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Saturday, August 19, 2023 | |
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We say with the psalmist, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122
I was glad when they said unto me
Let us go into Your house O Lord
No greater joy / Than to be in this place
To lift my voice and sing Your praise
Here we are in Your courts we stand
With our hearts and hands upraised
Here we are by the blood of the Lamb
By Your grace we come
And by Your grace we stand.
Consider what it means to be glad to go into the house of the Lord.
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