Elijah arrived at Horeb and went into a cave. This was probably for his protection, rather than a reflection of his mood! God appears to him and asks "what are you doing here?" Now why did God ask that? For God knows everything anyway, and God had sent the angel to tell Elijah to come to Horeb. The reason is to get Elijah to reveal his thoughts to God. God wants us to be open with Him, then we can receive from Him.
Elijah gives God a tale of woe, fearing for his life. God then tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain. We then get the famous wind and earthquake, with the statements that God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. Then came a gentle whisper, and God was in the whisper.
So what is the message of all this? We need to be careful where we get our security from. God had done great things with Elijah, but he must not put his faith in these things. All sorts of events may happen, but there is always stillness in God. God may do many things through our lives, at the same time many things will happen to us.
Elijah again gives God his sad tale. God then sends Elijah back and gives him several tasks to do, appointing kings, even over nations outside Israel. Also Elijah was wrong that all had turned against God, there were still seven thousand who had not bowed down to Baal.
Elijah went to find Elisha, his successor. He throws his cloak on Elisha, signifying the passing on of the mantle. Elisha tries to follow Elijah, but Elijah seems to reject him. Why is this? Elisha goes back to his farm and burns the ploughing equipment and kills the oxen. Then he follows Elijah. In order to be the prophet he needed to be he needed to be 100% committed.
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