#24 “A Still Small Voice” (Part 2)

Published by Ben Stahl on April 23, 2020April 23, 2020

April 23, 2020

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?” 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.” 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; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

I Kings 19:9-12 NKJV

What will satisfy your spiritual desires today? Do you look for a sign? Or do you look for something better?

One of Jesus’s frequent rebukes in His earthly ministry was against the desire for signs to be revealed. “This is an evil generation: they seek a sign...” (Luke 11:29). “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign… “(Matthew 12:39). The rich man wanted someone to return from the dead. The Pharisees and scribes tempted Christ for a sign. Even the devil desired Jesus to do a sign: “command this stone that it be made bread” (Luke 4:3). Instead of turning stones to bread or a man returning from the dead, Jesus had given Moses and the prophets. Instead of a great wonder at Nineveh that converted the lost, the Lord gave “The preaching of Jonah” (Matthew 12:41).*

The account of the voice of God speaking to Elijah is one that we should not pass over quickly. First came dramatic signs that the world expects to see and learn great truths from: A great wind, a great earthquake, a great fire. Surely these are the sources from which the world wants to hear the voice of God. They forget the fear and dread of Israel at the base of Mount Sinai when they saw such things. Perhaps you and I have at times desired such wonderful signs from God to give meaning and insight into our lives. “But the Lord was not in the wind… the earthquake… [or] the fire” (I Kings 19:11).

The great signs of God tell us of His power and might. COVID-19 teaches us of the might of God and weakness of man. But none of these things tell us what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. None of these signs teach us of the person of Jesus Christ and His great work for us as He lived a perfect life and died a shameful sinless death for sinners such as I. The great message of Christ crucified, dead, and risen is found only in the word of God, the Scripture: “…and after the fire a still small voice.”

Is the Bible enough for you? Does the Word of God satisfy the spiritual desires of your heart? If yes, feast on it, for man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” (Psalm 119:103). If not, have you considered that you may not yet know the true Christ? The Ninevites will rise up in judgment against the children of this age because they heard the preaching of Jonah, repented and believed in Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, and were saved. If you will not believe Moses and the prophets, you will not believe even if a great sign is given to you like one rising from the dead. But, if you will listen to the voice of God as He speaks in His Word and by His Holy Spirit today, then you will know and believe in Him who saves and will be filled with the living water that will quench your thirst for spiritual things forevermore!

May we, like Elijah, listen to the voice of Jesus in His Word today. “The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 1:22-23).

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* Jesus testified to His great power, His deity, and the truthfulness of His Word with many great signs and wonders. Part of the point of the rebukes is that those seeking the signs were not believing in the word of Jesus or the person of Jesus they wanted a sign from Jesus to glory in the sign as an end in and of itself, celebrate a miracle, or perhaps to personally benefit.

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