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forty days in the wilderness, before liberty and light were granted,^21 to learn the
same lesson which God would have had Israel learn during their forty years of
wandering. And so he came ultimately unto "the mount of God," to "the cave"^22 -
perhaps the very "clift of the rock" where Moses had first been permitted to hear the
glorious revelation of what Jehovah was and of what He purposed.
It was a wondrous place in which to spend the night,^23 and to hear amidst its silence
the voice of Jehovah.^24 The one
question - afterwards repeated in different circumstances - "What doest thou here,
Elijah?"^25 was intended to bring his state of mind clearly to the consciousness of the
prophet.
In tender mercy, no reproach was uttered, not even reproof of the rash request for
release from seemingly hopeless, burdensome toil. But was it really hopeless? Did
Elijah rightly apprehend God's final purpose in it; did he even know what in God's
Providence would follow that seeming defeat of the prophet on the day after his great
victory: how God would vindicate His cause, punish the rebellious, and take care of
His own? What then had brought Elijah thither; what was his purpose in coming?
Although the same question was twice asked and the same answer twice returned, it
seems in each case to bear a somewhat different meaning. For the words of Elijah
(vv. 10, 14) imply two things: an accusation against the children of Israel and a
vindication of his own conduct in fleeing into the wilderness. The first of these seems
to have been the meaning of his reply before the special manifestation of God
(Romans 11:2, 3); the second, that after that revelation of God which the vision
conveyed. This manifestation, so deeply symbolical, appears to us to have also
wrought an entire change in the prophet.
The first question came to Elijah while still in the cave. As already stated, it elicited
from him an accusation of His people, as if to appeal for vengeance to the LORD
(Romans 11:2, 3) - "It is time for Thee to work, O LORD, for men have made void
Thy Law" (Psalms 119:126)! Upon this Elijah was bidden to go forth out of the dark,
narrow cave, and behold, as Jehovah passed by.^26
Not a word was spoken. But first burst "wind great and strong, rending mountains,
shivering rocks before the face of Jehovah - not in storm Jehovah! And after the wind
earthquake - not in earthquake Jehovah! And after the earthquake fire - not in fire
Jehovah! And after the fire sound of soft silencing (audible gentle stilling)!"^27
Elijah could not but have understood the meaning of this. He knew it when, at the
"sound of soft stilling," he wrapped his face in the mantle and came forth in most
reverent attitude to stand before Jehovah (comp. Exodus 3:6; 33:20, 22; Isaiah 6:2).
The storm which rends, the earthquake which shakes all to its foundations, the fire
(^)