When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The gentle rustling revealed the Lord as merciful and gracious; yet His answer showed He will not leave guilt unpunished. He commands Elijah to anoint Hazael and Jehu as instruments of judgment, and promises that whoever escapes Hazael's sword shall fall to Jehu's, and whoever escapes Jehu's to Elisha's, a word meant to quiet his zeal and courage him to continue His prophetic work.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Kings 19:13-17
No man can hide from God's eye or word, not in a cave, not in the wilderness. Elijah came there melancholy and afraid, perhaps hoping to find God where Moses found Him, but God found him first, and His question cuts to the heart: what are you doing here, fleeing your calling?
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Kings 19:9-18
And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle,.... Through reverence of the divine Majesty he perceived was there, and through shame and confusion under a sense of his impurity, imperfections, and unworthiness, as the seraphim in Isa 6:2, and as Moses, Exo 3:6, and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave; he attempted...