Choice 7: 1 Kings 19:1–18. “A Still Small Voice”
(a)
Study 1 Kings 19:1–18; 1 Nephi 17:45; Moroni 10:5
1 kings
19:1-18
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah
had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto
Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also,
if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
3 And when he saw that, he
arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth 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 juniper tree: and he
requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now,
O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my
fathers.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper
tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6 And he looked, and, behold, there
was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And
he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7 And the angel of
the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said,
Arise and eat; because the journey is too
great for thee.
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink,
and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty
nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
9 ¶And he came thither unto a cave, and
lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to
him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very jealous
for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken
thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword;
and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life,
to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon
the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a
great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks 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 And it was so, when
Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and
went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there
came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been
very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the
children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and
slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only,
am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
15 And the Lord said unto him,
Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest,
anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt
thou anoint to be king over Israel:
and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to
be prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him
that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from
the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven
thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every
mouth which hath not kissed him.
1 Nephi 17:45
Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow
to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto
you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto
you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could
not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of
thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.
Moroni 10:5
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye
may know the truth of all things.
Questions:
·
What did Jezebel want to do about Elijah? Jezebel sought after Elijah to kill him
·
Where did Elijah go, and why? Elijah
went into a cave. He did this so that He could be alone and so that he could
converse with the Lord without distraction.
·
What did the Lord teach Elijah about revelation? God answers prayers. He will give us His answer but it is not
typical for God to answer with a neon sign or a loud or visually astounding
display but when He answers, it is in a still small voice. He will speak to us
in our hearts and through the spirit of God.
(b)
Conclude this assignment reading Doctrine and Covenants 8:2–3;
Luke 24:31–32; Acts 2:37, and then write a paragraph about how revelation
typically comes to us.
D&C 8:2-3
2 Yea, behold, I will tell you
in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come
upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.
3 Now, behold, this is the spirit
of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the
children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.
Luke 24:31-32
32 And they said one to another, Did not
our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by
the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
Acts 2:37
37 ¶Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest
of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Quite often, events arise in our life where we turn to our Heavenly
Father for council. While this is a good practice that should always occur, I
find it necessary to remind myself, and those seeking revelation from God, that
it is important to understand how God gives answers to our prayers. He is not a God that will boom a response to
us on a loud speaker, and He probably wont give an answer to us on a jumbo
tron. Our Father in Heaven speaks to us
when we are listening. Also, when He speaks, it is with a still small voice.
