We don’t know how it went down exactly, but about this time, somewhere in heaven, God called an angel aside and gave this celestial being an assignment. “Go to my servant Elijah. You will find him a day’s walk from Beersheba, under a solitary broom tree, feeling sorry for himself” (or something like that). The Scriptures reveal that this angel did two things upon arrival and then, soon after, did the same two things again. First, he touched Elijah. Laid his hand on his shoulder, perhaps? There is no way this was an insignificant gesture because the angel repeated it again and because the author of this account made sure both touches were recorded. There is something personal about a touch. It can be for attention’s sake, but the very presence of the angel probably already accomplished that. A touch can also be reassuring and comforting and friendly and I suspect it might have been all three. It also stood in contrast to previous communications Elijah had from God which probably came to him in a dream or vision. This time a physical presence and a physical touch were necessary.
The next thing that happened was the angel prepared a meal for Elijah… freshly baked bread and a rejuvenating jar of water. When you head into the desert expecting your life to end; you don’t pack a lunch. So, this was both a practical and a necessary task. And since Elijah was about to learn that he had a forty-day hike ahead it became all that more essential.
God’s presence was with Elijah in the king’s palace, by the brook, in the widow’s house, and on Mt. Carmel surrounded by thousands. He was there when instructions were in order, when miracles were required, and when judgment was dispensed. And now, Elijah is about to find out that his God is there when everything seems to have gone wrong. That’s the thing about God that we tend to forget. He is not just with us in the obvious times with our obvious needs. He doesn’t show up and then goes away only to show up again. He never leaves us. And He is just as actively present when nothing seems to be happening as He is when we face the big stuff.
Elijah had a lot of downtime ahead of him here in the wilderness. He had forty days of walking on his itinerary and therefore, a whole lot of time to think. He had the presence of an angel to make sure the bread was baked on time and good water was found along the way. And he had a destination – the very mountain of God where Moses was given his marching orders. And so, he walked, and he reflected on all that had happened, and he built his case for the inevitable confrontation ahead.
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