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Study of the Book of Kings – 1Ki 19:1-21  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts

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1Ki 19:1-21  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful…

[Study Aired May 19, 2022]

1Ki 19:1   And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 
1Ki 19:2  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. 
1Ki 19:3  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. 
1Ki 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. 
1Ki 19:5  And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 
1Ki 19:6  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. 
1Ki 19:7  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. 
1Ki 19:8  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. 
1Ki 19:9  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? 
1Ki 19:10  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. 
1Ki 19:11  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 LORD was not in the earthquake: 
1Ki 19:12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 
1Ki 19:13  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? 
1Ki 19:14  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. 
1Ki 19:15  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: 
1Ki 19:16  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. 
1Ki 19:17  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. 
1Ki 19:18  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. 
1Ki 19:19  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. 
1Ki 19:20  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? 
1Ki 19:21  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. 

God’s peace does not rule in the heart of Elijah at the start of this section of Kings (Col 3:15), and it is taken away from him for our sakes (1Co 10:11) to show us how the body of Christ will be brought to trust in Him through the fiery trials of our faith which are used to establish, strengthen and settle us in the Lord (1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 5:10, 1Pe 1:7).

Col 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

We labor to enter into His rest with the body of Christ, the many members that make up that body who are experiencing fiery and precious trials of our faith that make us stronger (1Co 12:24-27) and bring us to see the singlenessG572 that God is forming in the church, to His glory (2Co 11:3). He is raising the  storms in our life to that end so we can be convinced and learn that we can trust in our Father (2Co 1:9) and the workmanship in His hands (Eph 2:10) that we are together, as Christ’s flesh and bones (Col 1:24, Eph 5:30).

1Co 12:24  For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: 
1Co 12:25  That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 
1Co 12:26  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 
1Co 12:27  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicityG572 that is in Christ. 

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

[Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (1Co 15:31)]

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: 

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 
Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 
Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 
Eph 5:33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. 

We are his workmanship being placed in the body with the measure of faith God has determined for the overall good of each member (1Co 12:18), and we are joints now in Christ who each supply something in love that builds us up further in our walk together through this life (Eph 4:16).

1Co 12:18  But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

As we will see in the type-and-shadow example of Elijah, our greatest resource in this life is Christ in each other (Php 4:13) and it pleases God to bruise us as He did Christ and Elijah for our sakes (Isa 53:10, 1Jn 4:17) so that we come to acknowledge and see the spiritual need that we have for each other as those joints who suffer and rejoice together and build each other up in our most holy faith (1Co 12:25-26, Jud 1:20-22).

1Co 12:25  That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
1Co 12:26  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 
Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 
Jud 1:22  And of some have compassion, making a difference: 

Like all of us at first, Elijah cannot see the big picture that God is going to bring brightly to his and our attention, not by might or power, but by His holy spirit that inspired the thoughts and actions of Elijah (Zec 4:6); actions that typify for us today (1Co 10:11) how God is working and has been working and will be working within the body of Christ, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (1Co 10:11, Eph 4:13).

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Col 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 

God has called us to be thankful and to rejoice in the Lord always and “again I say rejoice” (Php 4:4, Rev 19:7), and this part of Elijah’s life is very instructive in showing us how he, as a type of the elect, is in need of forming the patience and faith which will bring him out of a place of thinking these thoughts found in 1 Kings 19:10 and 1 Kings 19:14), twice mentioned in these verses we’re studying.

Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

1Ki 19:10  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. 

1Ki 19:14  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.

Elijah was convinced that he was the only one left who was zealous for the Lord: “and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away“, and so God set the stage through the trials that were brought his way for our sakes (2Co 4:15) to remind us how we’re not alone in this great fight of faith (1Ti 6:12) that we’ve been called unto and that we will be more than conquerors through the author and finisher of our faith who is working within His own flesh and bones (Eph 5:30) both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure which promises that none shall be lost whom the Father has given to Christ (Rom 8:37, Heb 12:2, Php 2:12-13).

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Our prayer is that God will continue to draw us together often (Heb 10:25) so we can learn from each other and comfort one another with the comfort God brings us (2Co 1:4), and in doing so, “let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 
Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

1Ki 19:1   And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

The world around us, our family and former babylonian church members, are very aware of the actions we have taken in this life, and this first verse reminds us of that fact, seeing Ahab represents the first man Adam that is still in bondage (Gal 4:3, Rom 8:21) and as such operates as an accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10) revealed to us with this verse: “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword“. Slaying all the prophets of Baal is symbolic of our coming out of Babylon by the grace-through-faith process to which we’re called (Eph 2:8) that does away with the myriad of false doctrines that had darkened our heavens (Rev 9:2).

Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 

1Ki 19:2  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. 

This threat upon Elijah’s life should not trouble him, but the whole point of God having Jezebel send a messenger to Elijah was to teach us that the spiritual warfare in which we engage is all orchestrated by God (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:11) Who already knows what measure of faith we have and how we are going to react to any given circumstance that He allows to manifest for our growth (1Pe 1:7).

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

Jezebel is very clear in her intentions and desire to see Elijah destroyed, and throws these fiery darts at God’s anointed, whose faith at this point was not able to quench the darts that came his way (Eph 6:16): “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“.

The lesson for God’s elect is that faith is a gift and something that God knows how to fashion and form in each of our lives (Eph 2:8-9). At first we need to see our lack of faith (Mar 9:24) before we’re given to cry out and be delivered from the storms God brings our way (Psa 107:25-28). Elijah is soon going to experience some very ‘hands-on training’ from God to bring him to see how helpless he is in his flesh and how great his deliverance will be through God’s spirit which will inspire him and bring God’s peace to him at an appointed time (Mat 10:19).

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 

Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

1Ki 19:3  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. 
1Ki 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. 
1Ki 19:5  And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 

Elijah, upon the threat of his life, fled to BeershebaH884 which means “well of an oath” and is taken from H875 which means “a pit”. His servant is his helper, who symbolically represents the faith of Christ that he leaves in Beersheba which belongs to Judah.

Elijah is separating himself from his helper (Gal 2:20, Heb 13:6) and has given up hope on what God has purposed for him. Going into the wilderness a day’s journey is a symbol of going back into the world, meaning Elijah was weary of his calling at this point and requested that he might die as he sat under a juniper tree. He says to the Lord at this point, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers“. It is at this exact moment when Elijah has been humbled to his core and knows that he is not better than anyone else and that all of his faithfulness was a result of the Lord working with him that “an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat“.

We are all brought to our wits’ end for the express purpose of knowing that it is God alone who gives us the power to witness and overcome and slay the prophets which eat at Jezebel’s table (1Ki 18:19) who represent false doctrines within us. It is also the Lord Who gives us either the courage to endure through this life or to falter due to a lack of faith. This section of Elijah’s life is being contrasted with his earlier exploits at Mount Carmel to bring the elect to see that regardless of our weariness and feeling of being overwhelmed and with no way out, the Lord will make a way, and that way is found when we get out of the way: “And as he lay and slept under a juniper treeH7574“.

That lesson was shown us of our Lord as well, in the hull of the ship, not worried about the circumstances around him knowing that God was in charge of every single molecule and motion in time (Mar 4:38). If we are bound to the altar, we are bound to the altar, and what we go through in this life is imperative to prepare us to be humbled servants of our Lord who will judge those who come up in the second resurrection (2Ti 2:12, Psa 118:27, Gen 50:20).

Mar 4:38  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 

The body of Christ is represented by this angel, “Behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat,” just as the angel in the garden that strengthened Christ to endure to the end represents each member of Christ’s body which is used to provide the spiritual nourishment that helps keep us awake with our lamps trimmed and ready to meet our Lord (Luk 22:43, Mat 25:2-8).

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 

Mat 25:2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Mat 25:3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 
Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

1Ki 19:6  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. 
1Ki 19:7  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. 
1Ki 19:8  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. 

The “journey is too great for thee” is speaking to each of us who need “cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head” which represents the word of God in which we are called to diligently labour, and God promises to provide and give to those who seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness (Mat 6:33). Elijah is weary and worn out, and even after this miracle of God’s provision and his eating of the bread and water, it is still not enough to keep him motivated and alert: “and laid him down again“. All of this is to tell us that it is a process we must go through to be fully awake in the Lord’s service and that God will not give up on us but will continue to send angels our way who will be used to provoke us to love and good works in this life (Heb 10:24).

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 

The angel comes a second time now to Elijah, as a witness of God’s faithfulness to the process we are going through as Christ’s body today: “and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee“. This ‘being touched by the angel to be awoken’ is like the foolish and wise virgins being awakened at the midnight hour to trim their lamps (Mat 25:5).

Elijah is a type of the elect so he is witnessed to for our sakes as one who must be awakened twice, and the symbolic reason he arose and did eat and drink was so that he could go with “the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God” as Christ did having fasted forty days and forty nights before he was tempted of the devil (Mat 4:2 , 1Jn 4:17). That event symbolizes why we don’t forsake the assembling of the brethren where each joint supplies in love (Eph 4:16) what we need to endure the “forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God” which represents the much tribulation [number 40] we must and can endure due to the spiritual meat God will provide through the church in due season (Mat 24:44-50).

Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 
Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

1Ki 19:9  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? 
1Ki 19:10  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.

This is the second time we see a cave being used to hide a prophet in this story. The first was Obadiah who “hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water” (1Ki 18:4). Now it is Elijah’s time to be fed by the Lord the words of truth which Elijah needs to hear in order to understand what God is doing in his life. God starts off by simply asking the question, “What doest thou here, Elijah?“. Of course God knows why he’s there. He’s terrified for his life, just like Adam in the garden when God asks him “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”(Gen 3:9).

Elijah’s description of what he has done is not inaccurate: “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“… However, the last part of that statement: “and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away“, is the part that God is going to address and bring him to see that he is only looking at these circumstances through a very narrow lens (1Co 13:12) which is what we all do until the Lord opens up our understanding and increases our faith so we can gain the right and Godly perspective which tells us that we are not alone, and that, although we are hated of all men for his name’s sake, we have angelic forces behind us to strengthen us and help us endure to the end (2Ki 6:17), along with the body of Christ whose fervent prayers are going to avail much (Jas 5:16).

1Ki 19:11  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 LORD was not in the earthquake: 
1Ki 19:12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 

God was using these very powerful events of strong winds that were able to “rent the mountains” and “brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD” and “after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire” to demonstrate to Elijah that his being zealous for the Lord is what was expected of him and is akin to our working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12). Elijah keeps coming back to this point of what he did. Now the Lord, for our sakes, is going to drive this point home to Elijah that he did nothing, as it was the Lord that did it all, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure”(Php 2:13), and represents “a still small voice“.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

There is an order to the events, as God has to bring us to stand “before the LORD” and behold the salvation of the Lord in the midst of impossible physical situations. The LORD only needs to ‘pass by’ in order to have a “strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks“, which represents our pride and stubbornness that need to be broken up with God’s spirit which is likened unto wind. After the wind, “an earthquake“, which symbolizes the Lord working the events in our lives that affect us and cause our old man to die, leaving the Lord alone to be the One we acknowledge as giving us the ability to stand before Him (Heb 12:27, Eph 6:13, Rev 6:17). The ‘still small voice’ also represents that time of which Christ spoke in this verse (Joh 14:20).

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

1Ki 19:13  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? 
1Ki 19:14  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. 

Elijah is still not understanding what the Lord is saying to him in the most dramatic and profound way, as he resorts to telling God for the second time, “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“, which just reminds us how blind we can be if God does not open our understanding to His truths via the faith of Jesus Christ (Luk 16:31). Elijah, after hearing and seeing these physical events unfold with the wind and earthquakes and fire, “wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave” symbolizing his blindness to what was being said. It is only later on in the story that the mantle is put off of him and put on the back of Elisha the son of Shaphat (1Ki 19:19), which was a symbolic gesture of the transfer of faith and power from one servant of God to another, something that could not happen unless there was faith there in the first place to be given (Luk 8:43-48).

Luk 8:43  And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, 
Luk 8:44  Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. 
Luk 8:45  And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 
Luk 8:46  And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. 
Luk 8:47  And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. 
Luk 8:48  And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

1Ki 19:15  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: 
1Ki 19:16  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. 
1Ki 19:17  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. 

Now the LORD gives Elijah straight-forward directions as to what he must do, and these actions symbolize for us the need for the many members of the body to serve one another, as opposed to Elijah’s mindset of seeing only himself at this point as the one who has the truth and who is able to be zealous for the Lord. It is each one of us in the body of Christ, represented by “Hazael” and “Jehu the son of Nimshi” along with “Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah“, these three men [“the process of spiritual completion through judgment”] who represent the body of Christ which God uses to bring forth the manifold knowledge of Christ through the church (Eph 3:10), which is likened to a sword that will destroy our old man, symbolized by these words: “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“.

1Ki 19:17 and it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael (god has seen) shall Jehu (Jehovah is him) slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu (Jehovah is him) shall Elisha (my god is salvation) slay. (PNB-kjv)

1Ki 19:18  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. 
1Ki 19:19  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. 
1Ki 19:20  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? 
1Ki 19:21  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. 

The twelve yoke (a yoke being comprised of two oxen confirmed in 1Kings 19:21 “boiled their flesh”) of oxen are a very significant part of this story which is symbolic of where our foundational strength comes from and how it is after the twelve beasts are killed by Elisha that “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“. Elisha is “the son of Shaphat” and “was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth“, and this plowing is connected to God’s foundational purpose for mankind; and his being “with the twelfth” (twelfth yoke of two) symbolizes Christ who gives us the desire and strength to continue to plow (Php 4:13, Luk 9:62, Pro 24:10).

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 

Luk 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. 

Pro 24:10  If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. 

It is after Elisha slays the beasts that he goes and takes a portion for his family, and it is said that he will “kiss my father and my mother” as a symbol of a right and holy kiss as opposed to the earlier kisses spoken of that the people were making toward Baal (1Ki 19:18, 1Th 5:26).

1Ki 19:18  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. 

1Th 5:26  Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. 

It is only by God’s grace and faith that we can come out of Babylon. The seven thousand in this verse, “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“, represent the complete elect church [7] that comes out of the world by that grace through faith process (Eph 2:8).

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

As a type of the elect, Elisha is going to do good to all men, including his parents, and so we read “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” and then he goes to minister to Elijah. “Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him” reminding God’s elect that we are to do good to all men as we have opportunity but especially to the household of faith (Gal 6:10). In order for God’s peace to rule in our hearts (Col 3:15) we need to acknowledge the commandments of God (1Co 14:37) and be granted by our Father to be about His business as Christ was. As a result of being as Christ was when He was in his flesh, we will serve one another and whoever God leads us to care for, even as we keep His commandments that will give us great peace (1Jn 4:17, Psa 119:165-166).

Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Col 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

1Co 14:37  If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. 

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

Psa 119:165  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. 
Psa 119:166  LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.

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