A Biblical Story: Elijah Under the Broom Tree

The nineteenth chapter of 1 Kings tells a story most believers have heard pieces of, but rarely read all the way through. It is the story of what happens to a man of God after the biggest spiritual victory of his life. And it is a story for anyone in the middle of a hard season who does not have the strength to keep going.

The Victory That Came Before

In the chapter just before, Elijah had stood on Mount Carmel and faced down four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. He had built an altar of twelve stones. He had soaked the altar and the sacrifice with water — twelve barrels of water, until the wood was drenched and the trench around the altar was full. He had prayed one prayer, and fire fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the water in the trench.

The watching crowd fell on their faces and confessed that the Lord was God. The prophets of Baal were exposed as frauds. The drought that had gripped the land for three and a half years broke that same day with a heavy rain.

It was one of the most dramatic public victories of any prophet in the Old Testament.

And then the queen, Jezebel, sent a message to Elijah promising to kill him by the next day.

The Collapse

Here is what is striking about what happens next. The man who had just called fire down from heaven runs.

He runs for his life. He runs about a hundred miles south, into the wilderness of Beersheba. He leaves his servant there and goes another day's journey into the desert by himself. And then, alone under a broom tree, he sits down and says these words to God:

"It is enough. Now, O Lord, take my life; for I am not better than my fathers."

He wanted to die. The man who had just won the showdown of his life wanted God to end it.

Then he laid down under the tree and fell asleep.

What God Did

God could have rebuked him. God could have given him a sermon about how he had just won a great victory and had no right to be despairing. God could have reminded him of his calling and demanded he get back to work.

God did none of that.

Scripture says an angel touched him and said, "Arise and eat." Elijah looked, and at his head was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water. He ate, he drank, and he laid down again to sleep.

The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee."

God's first response to the burnout of a great prophet was breakfast. Twice. With sleep in between.

The Whisper on the Mountain

Strengthened by the food, Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb. He came to a cave and lodged there. The word of the Lord came to him and asked, "What doest thou here, Elijah?"

Elijah answered. He poured out his grievance. He had been jealous for the Lord. The people had forsaken the covenant. They had killed the prophets. He alone was left. They were trying to kill him too.

God did not answer him with words yet. God told him to stand on the mountain, because the Lord was about to pass by.

A great wind came and tore the rocks. The Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, an earthquake. The Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire. The Lord was not in the fire.

After the fire — a still small voice. A whisper.

That is where the Lord was.

Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle, came out of the cave, and stood at the entrance. The voice spoke to him again, and asked the same question: "What doest thou here, Elijah?"

Elijah gave the same answer.

And then God did three things. He gave Elijah a new mission. He told him that there were seven thousand others in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal — Elijah was not alone after all. And He gave him Elisha, a successor who would walk with him and carry the work forward.

Elijah got up off the ground and went back to the work. He did not die under the broom tree. He kept going for years more.

What This Story Teaches

For anyone in the middle of a hard season, the story of Elijah holds four lessons.

First, the collapse can come right after the victory. Elijah's worst moment came right after his greatest moment. If you are wondering why you feel so empty right after something that should have felt like a win, you are not the first. Spiritual highs are followed by spiritual lows. The valley after the mountaintop is part of the pattern.

Second, God meets exhaustion with rest, not rebuke. The first ministry of the angel to Elijah was food. The second was more food. The third was more sleep. God did not start with theology. He started with the body, because the body was empty and the body was where the work had to begin.

If you are running on no sleep and bad food and pure adrenaline, the most spiritual thing you can do today might be to eat a real meal and lie down for a real night of sleep. That is not a lack of faith. That is exactly what God did for Elijah.

Third, God is often in the whisper, not the spectacle. After the wind, earthquake, and fire — the dramatic, the loud, the visible — God came in the still small voice. Hard seasons are full of noise. The whisper is the part you have to be quiet to hear. If your prayer life feels like silence right now, the silence may be where the most is happening.

Fourth, you are not alone. Elijah believed he was the last one. God told him there were seven thousand others. Whatever you are walking through, you are not the only one. Other faithful people are walking through it too. Some of them are praying for you right now, even though you do not know their names.

A Prayer to Pray With This Story

Lord, Elijah won the great victory and then collapsed. He ran. He sat down under a tree and asked You to take his life. He was at the end of himself.

I am not Elijah. But I know that broom tree. I have sat under it.

Send the angel today. Send the food. Send the rest. Send the still small voice when the wind and the earthquake and the fire have passed. Remind me that I am not the only one. Remind me that the journey is too great for me alone, and that You know it, and that You make provision for the parts of the journey I cannot make on my own.

Give me Your whisper today. I am listening, even when I cannot find the words to answer.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

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The morning is coming. Hold on.