Faithful in the Wilderness (290/365)

Life update: My supposed first sale bombed. Potential client emailed at the last minute saying he went with a cheaper alternative.

I took leave this week to focus on the Anniversary, and to do some re-evaluating.

One of the items we have for this coming Leadership Summit is critical: It’s the ratification of our Manual of Internal Procedures. The goal is for every congregation under or partnered with our church to agree upon the organization’s Mission and Vision, as well as its Statement of Faith.

Just to quickly share:

Our Vision Statement: Transforming nations with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. (Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:18-20, Revelation 5:9-10, Habakkuk 2:14)

Our Mission Statement: To testify, preach and teach the Gospel of God’s Grace to all the world. (Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:18-20, Revelation 5:9-10, Habakkuk 2:14, Acts 20:24, Acts 1:8, 2 Timothy 2:1-2, Mark 16:15-16)

The 4 Pillars of our Statement of Faith:

The Holy Scripture is the trustworthy foundation of all we believe.
Jesus Christ and His complete, finished work is the heart and climax of redemption.
The grace of God our Father, revealed, received and celebrated only through Christ.
The power of the Holy Spirit, enacting absolute salvation and empowering victorious living.

Last week we spoke around James 4:7 – We submit to God, we resist the devil, and he will flee from us. We went a little further, however – emphasizing that submitting to God came before resisting the devil; and, in fact, when we submit to God, we are automatically resisting the devil.

We submit to God, and we realize God has always been with us, unlike the devil, who comes and goes. We also understand that there is the very real possibility that angels would come to minister to us, sure as it happened to Jesus after his temptations in the wilderness, and sure as they came to feed Elijah as he was fleeing Jezebel.

I said this was a very real possibility when I reported on how I was ministered to when our car didn’t start, and when we were stuck at a parking lot.

I went ahead and took the congregation into a deeper look into both biblical accounts. Seeing as we arrived pretty late, I quickly read through the following Scriptures – 1 Kings 19:1-18, and Matthew 4:1-11:

1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for 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.”

God’s Revelation to Elijah

11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

13 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?”

14 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.”

15 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. 16 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. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 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 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

I already noticed some parallels between the two accounts, but due to lack of time, I had Grok go through it and point out what it found, in the light of James 4:7:

Submit to God, then resist the devil, and he flees.

Both Elijah and Jesus illustrate that sequence in the wilderness. God had not left either of them. He met them, sustained them, and sent them on.

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Here are the clearest parallels between 1 Kings 19:1–18 and Matthew 4:1–11:

1. After a public high point, both enter the wilderness

Elijah has just seen fire fall on Carmel and the prophets of Baal defeated. Then Jezebel’s threat comes, fear takes over, and he runs into the wilderness, leaves his servant, and sits under a broom tree asking God to take his life.

biblia.comJesus has just been baptized. The Spirit descends, the Father speaks, and immediately the same Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be tempted. One flees; the other is sent. Both arrive exhausted in a barren place right after a moment of apparent triumph.

Let us not be surprised if, after a key event, we suddenly find ourselves in a wilderness; From high stakes to suddenly, little to no activity.

2. Forty days and forty nights

Elijah, strengthened by the food the angel gave him, travels forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. Jesus fasts forty days and forty nights and is hungry. The number deliberately echoes Israel’s wilderness years and Moses on Sinai; Matthew also seems to have Elijah in view.

The time we spend in the wilderness can take longer than we expect or endure. Also, understand that the devil began his tempting of Jesus AFTER the 40 days and 40 nights. This tells me that critical events both PRECEDE and SUCCEED our time in the wilderness.

3. Angelic ministry

An angel of the Lord touches Elijah, provides food and water, and returns a second time.
After Jesus sends Satan away, “the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”

The devil even tries to use angels against Jesus, quoting Psalm 91: “He will command his angels concerning you…” Jesus refuses to put the Father to the test. The angels still come—but on God’s schedule, after obedience, not as a spectacle.

Through the wilderness, God had not abandoned either man. After the wilderness, the angels are evidence that heaven was already attending to them.

I also want to point out, that though the devil was adept in trying to get Jesus to give in, by quoting Scripture… The fact of the matter is that prior to Christ’s 40 days and 40 nights, the Spirit descended upon Him as a dove – and I believe it is this same Spirit that brought Him to clearly rebuke the devil.

It’s one thing to quote lines from the Bible. It’s another thing to employ the Living Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

4. The real encounter is with God, not only with the enemy

Elijah reaches the cave. Twice the word of the Lord asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” There is wind that shatters rocks, earthquake, and fire—but the Lord is not in them. Then comes the gentle whisper. Elijah covers his face. God does not scold him for the flight so much as re-commission him: go back, anoint Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. There are still 7,000 who have not bowed to Baal. Elijah’s isolation was real to him; it was not the whole truth.

Jesus meets the devil directly, three times. Each time He answers with Scripture (“It is written…”). The last word is submission: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Then the devil leaves. The pattern of James 4:7 is lived out in real time: Jesus is already submitted to the Father (led by the Spirit, living by the Word), therefore He can resist, and the enemy flees.

In our times in the wilderness, we may find ourselves alone… but, following that time, not only is Elijah ministered to by angels – He is also given an encouraging revelation by the Lord: All that time, Elijah thought he was the only one left to speak of the Lord Most High… but then God reveals direction (anointing of kings), and assurance (there are still thousands who have not bowed down to Baal).

And this is pretty much where I closed the message. I told the congregation that, as trivial as it sounds, we’re to be reminded that God is faithful – before, during, and after our times in the wilderness.

So we may not know where we stand right now, but we know that the Lord is with us.

He is surely with me, even as we continue this critical week of clarification and reflection.

We had a power outage yesterday, and I decided to stay home… and I was able to write stuff down.

That’s going to follow, within the day.

Till then, the Lord continue to bless and keep us all. Amen.

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