By Nanette Sawyer
Old Testament Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a
For Sunday, June 23, 2013: Year C—Ordinary 12
When we get right down to it, Elijah is a murderer, and we need to think long and hard about this fact. What are the implications of this element of Elijah’s life? How might this story guide us in our own lives as Christians?
I would much rather focus my reflection on the “still small voice” in this story, because my romanticization of it is so comforting. As a contemplative soul, I love the idea that we can encounter God in “sheer silence” as the NRSV translates this phrase. The “still small voice” is the King James translation.
I have many times referenced this phrase when inviting people to look for God in quiet reflection. But this story is so much more complicated than a tale of meditation.
A Quiet God Who Speaks with Lightning
Actually, the text doesn’t say that Elijah hears God in the silence. In chapter 19 it is the sound of sheer silence that causes Elijah to wrap himself in his cape and go to the entrance of the cave seeking God. In the prior chapter, 18, it’s Baal who has “no voice, no answer, and no response” (vs 26, 29). That was a sheer silence that seemed to prove that Baal was powerless over the weather. In chapter 18, it’s Yahweh who answers Elijah’s prayer with lightening (Loud! With thunder we presume.) This “answer” to Elijah’s prayer sets the altar offering on fire and incinerates everything (18:37-38). In chapter 18 it seems that Yahweh is the God who controls storms, not Baal, the purported god of storms and fertility.
So why would God “speak” or answer through “fire of the Lord” in chapter 18, but not be present in the wind, earthquake, or fire of chapter 19. Why the switch? Has God become suddenly non-violent? That doesn’t seem a convincing interpretation, given that God is about to command Elijah to arrange for more killings (19: 17-18).
If we understand 1 Kings (and the whole bible, actually) to be a theological book instead of a historical book, then we have to consider what is being said about the character of God within the social setting of the story.
The Meta-narrative’s in the Names
This portion of the 1 Kings story-cycle is about the struggle between Elijah and Jezebel over who is in control. Jezebel’s father is named Ethbaal, meaning “Baal exists,” and Elijah’s name means “Yahweh is God.” Jezebel’s name means “where is the prince?” or possibly, if based on the Syro-Phoenician language, it might mean "the Lord (Ba'al) exists/ exalts."
Whose God is bigger? Whose God is in control? The answer to that has implications about which king and which prophets will be in control of land, wives, children, slaves, silver and gold (20:1-3ff).
What’s a Little Murder Among Kings and Prophets?
Jezebel, saying it’s for the sake of Baal, kills all of the prophets of Yahweh except 100, whom Obadiah hid in a cave, (18:13). Then Elijah, saying it’s for the sake of Yahweh, kills all the prophets of Baal down in the Wadi Kishon (18:40). Jezebel vows to kill Elijah in reaction, and that’s what brings Elijah running to the cave on Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai) to talk with God.
It strikes me that Elijah is not entirely forthcoming with God here. God asks, “why are you here?” and Elijah rightly mentions the dead prophets of Yahweh, but doesn't mention the prophets of Baal dead by his hand, nor does he mention the other 100 living prophets of Yahweh who were protected by Obadiah. Why is he overstating his case?
Absolute Loyalty or Death
The authors of this story however, don’t claim that God is non-violent, as a “still small voice” after wind, earthquake, and fire might suggest. In 19:17 God commands that after Elijah initiates Elisha, “Elisha shall kill” anyone that King Hazael or King Jehu do not kill. The story cycle seems to be very much about loyalty to kings (lords) and to God as the high king, in a sense. It is the 7,000 who have not bowed to Baal nor “kissed him,” that will be spared from slaughter by Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. Is this really God’s wish, to kill anyone who has not been loyal to him? What happened to the God who renews the covenant again and again?
Again, if this is a theological book rather than a history book, then it’s an account of how the story-tellers understood the character of God and their relationship to God at the time. In a world based on so much war and vying for loyalty and power, where is God? Is God just another player? It seems the authors might have thought so. But must we?
The Hardest Question
Does this story teach us that murder is okay when we do it to defend God’s honor or to enforce loyalty to God? Does God need this kind of defending?
Nanette Sawyer is the founding pastor of Grace Commons (formerly known as Wicker Park Grace), an emerging faith community that began in an art gallery on the west side of Chicago. She currently serves both Grace Commons and St. James Presbyterian Church as solo pastor. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), she has blogged at The Christian Century’s lectionary blog, the Emergent Village Blog at Patheos, and at nanettesawyer.com. She has a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and an MDiv from McCormick Theological Studies, where she has also taught as adjunct faculty. She is the author of Hospitality: The Sacred Art.
