Will We Stone Those Sent to Us?

God sent Elijah the prophet to Israel, but King Ahab and his pagan queen killed the other prophets of God and honored the idol Baal. The “prophets of Baal” felt protected, became brazen and continued to present a false view of the divine.

This was the atmosphere in which Elijah lived!

Elijah confronted the idolaters and gained a fiery victory high up on Mt. Carmel. After proving who the one true God is, he must have thought “This was the moment for which I was sent! Surely now they will all repent!” However, they did not, and instead Queen Jezebel succeeded in putting fear and doubt into Elijah. He feared for his life as a prophet of God and fled to the desert. There he found himself in a cave complaining to God about his isolation – rejected by the nation to which he had been sent.

“I have been very zealous for the LORD of hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed Your altars and killed Your prophets by the sword; and I alone remain and they seek my life to take it.” (1 Kings19:10)

There by the cave, the Lord revealed himself to Elijah in a still, small voice. God encouraged him and then sent him back into the fray to anoint three people: Hazael as king over Syria; Jehu as king over Israel; and Elisha as prophetic voice in his own place (1 Kings 19:15-18). (Sadly, even though these two new kings were both anointed by the prophet to rule, neither Hazael nor Jehu ended up living according to God’s instructions.)

What about governmental leadership and the prophetic voice of today?

We the disciples of Yeshua are anticipating His return as King of Kings and Prince of Peace – the only perfect and righteous leader possible. Let’s remember the words of our Lord in Matthew 23:37-39. As the Rejected One sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He must have identified with Elijah:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together … but you were not willing!”

1. Where is the voice of the prophetic today?

2. How will we discern the ones whom God has sent, and listen to the prophetic voices they provide?

3. Will we be willing to accept the ones whom God sends to us or will we “stone” them and be attracted to “prophetic” voices God did not send?