After Elijah slaughtered the prophets of Baal, Jezebel threatened to do the same to Elijah, and the prophet of the one true God fled. Elijah left his servants in Beersheba and set off alone into the wilderness. I sought death Under the juniper tree he cried, “Enough is enough. Lord, take my life now; I have no advantage over my fathers.”
Even one of the greatest of prophets seems to have fallen victim to the despair that so many of us feel today when we are hit by feelings of loneliness, when we are faced with broader signs of demoralization and loss of divinity, or when we are faced with the basic challenges that life inevitably throws at us.
In Elijah’s case, the people of Israel had abandoned their covenant with God, destroyed God’s altars, and killed God’s prophets.
“I am all alone left. They are trying to take my life,” Elijah told the Lord in a dark voice at the base of the tree.
Fortunately, God did not comply with the prophet’s request.
Instead, the angel of the Lord gave Elijah bread and water, instructing him twice to “rise and eat,” indicating that if he did not, “the journey is too long for you.”
Elijah’s provisions only lasted for 40 days, whereas Christ will sustain us forever.
There Psalm 34“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, to save them.”
The Psalm goes on to say, “Many tribulations may the righteous man have, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Elijah was fed for 40 days and 40 nights, roughly the length of his journey to Horeb. On the mount of the Lord at Horeb, Elijah learned why he had not previously given up and died.
God sent an angel to give cake and water to the desperate prophet. We God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and gave his flesh and blood to us sinners.
Elijah’s provisions only lasted for 40 days, whereas Christ will sustain us forever.
In John 6, Christ says, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.”
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life,” said Christ, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, that you may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Different denominations may interpret the Bread of Life sermon in different ways. For example, Catholics may believe that Christ was not merely Faith in Him but Hellom in Communion.
But it should be clear to all of us that our shared faith in and relationship with Christ is what drives each of our journeys.
At Horeb Elijah received his marching orders. With a two-fold commandment we receive ours. In Ephesians chapters 4-5, St. Paul gives additional instructions on how we, who have been nourished by Christ, should behave on the road.
Ultimately, Paul suggests, we must “follow God’s example as beloved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Our nourishment is made possible because of Christ’s sacrifice for us, and it seems only fitting that we continue to be enriched on our journey by sacrificing for one another.
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