ELIJAH: HOREB, THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD

“Then the angel of the Lord … said, ‘Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.’ So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God” (1 Kings 19:7–8).

God found the runaway prophet hiding under a broom tree in the northern Sinai desert. Instead of reprimanding Elijah, God instructed him to go to Horeb, the Mountain of God.

Notice three things.

First, “the angel of the Lord” warned Elijah that “the journey will be too much for you.” The road ahead wasn’t a super-expressway with a convenience store at every exit. It was a wilderness with many dangers.

In fact, Moses had led the Israelites though this same wilderness. They faced marauding enemies, scorching sun and unrelenting wind, miles of dust, sand, and rock, with no food or water. Miraculously, God protected them from their enemies, provided water from a rock, and sent bread from Heaven.

If God could protect Moses, then He could protect Elijah. “I Promise!”

Second, the trip would take “forty days and forty nights.” If you look at the map, it appears that it was only two hundred miles, give or take a few. The Hebrew slaves, under God’s direction, spent forty years crisscrossing these sandy lands. Often God leads by a circuitous route. Also, Moses had spent forty days on the Mountain, alone with God. Likewise, Jesus had spent forty days in the wilderness… in both cases, Moses and Jesus were without food or water.

Lastly, God took Elijah to Horeb, also called Sinai, the Mountain of God. This was the place of the Burning Bush… the place where God delivered the Ten Commandments… the place where God revealed Himself to His people.

God knows who you are and where you are. He knows where you are going and what it will take to get you there. He can provide. He can protect. And He can reveal Himself to you.

Trust Him today.

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).