And he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the Sea.” He went up and looked and reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times [Elijah] said, “Go back,” and the seventh time, [the servant] reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising in the west.” Then [Elijah] said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Hitch up [your chariot] and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds; there was wind, and a heavy downpour fell; Ahab mounted his chariot and drove off to Jezreel. The hand of the LORD had come upon Elijah. He tied up his skirts and ran in front of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
וישנס כי מאז נטה לבו אל אליהו ולכן כבדו כמלך כי שב באותו שעה וחשב לקרבו לעבודת ה', ומ"ש ויד ה' היתה אל אליהו הוא כח וגבורה לרוץ לפני מרכבתו:
As soon as Ahab turned his heart towards Elijah, therefore he deserved to be treated like a proper king because he turned back to God. At that moment, wanted to gain a closeness to God, and that's what inspired Elijah to run in front of his chariot.
(1) When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword, (2) Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “Thus and more may the gods do if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them.”
(4) When Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and provided them with food and drink.)
(19) Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, together with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
(3) Frightened, he fled at once for his life. He came to Beer-sheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there; (4) he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush and sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “Enough!” he cried. “Now, O LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
(1) This displeased Jonah greatly, and he was grieved. (2) He prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD! Isn’t this just what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I fled beforehand to Tarshish. For I know that You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, renouncing punishment. (3) Please, LORD, take my life, for I would rather die than live.”
(4) On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place from afar. (5) Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there; we will worship and we will return to you.”
(14) Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away. And she wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. (15) When the water was gone from the skin, she left the child under one of the bushes, (16) and went and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away; for she thought, “Let me not look on as the child dies.” And sitting thus afar, she burst into tears. (17) God heard the cry of the boy, and an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is.
(14) I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me. (15) If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!”
(5) He lay down and fell asleep under a broom bush. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” (6) He looked about; and there, beside his head, was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water! He ate and drank, and lay down again. (7) The angel of the LORD came a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” (8) He arose and ate and drank; and with the strength from that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb.
(1) Now Moses, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, drove the flock into the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (2) An angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed.
(10) The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to Me, “Gather the people to Me that I may let them hear My words, in order that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live on earth, and may so teach their children.”
(9) There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night. Then the word of the LORD came to him. He said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” (10) He replied, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.”
The reason for the question is to engage in conversation in order to elicit a response. ...It is like the question that God asks Cain, "where is Abel your brother". When he says, "What are you doing here", he is saying, "why did you leave your place to come here".
(11) “Come out,” He called, “and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And lo, the LORD passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. (12) After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound.
ויאמר צא וכו', חוץ ממ"ש האלהיים כי ראה בזה המראה הגדולה שראה יחזקאל, שראה רוח סערה ענן גדול ואש מתלקחת, שהם שלשה קליפות הסובבות את האגוז והפרי, וכן ראה אליהו רוח, ורעש הענן, והאש, וראה שה' לא נמצא בם, כי הם מחיצות ומסכים בין הקדש, ומהם תצא הרעה, ואחרי האש ראה קול דממה דקה שהוא הנוגה הדקה ומתוכה כעין החשמל, חש ממלל, הדובר בלחש, שהוא הקול והדממה, ור"ל קול ודממה החשמל, ודקה שהוא הנוגה, אולם כפי הנגלה הראה לו כי במחנה רוח ורעש ואש אין ה' בם רק בקול דממה, וממנו ילמדו שלוחיו ונביאיו בל יסערו סער בל ירעשו רעש ובל יבעירו אש, כמו שעשה אליהו בקנאתו לה' צבאות שעצר את השמים ושחט את נביאי הבעל, כי ה' ישלח את נביאיו שיבואו אליהם בקול דממה, וימשכו את העם בעבותות אהבה ובדברים רכים:
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"- As if to say: The role of the prophet is to be among the people, to rebuke and to prophesy, not to go into seclusion in the wilderness and mountains.
"And Elijah responded"- Here I am! I cannot be a prophet who teaches and guides this nation, for my zealotry regarding their evil acts has killed me. I executed the prophets of Baal, and now they seek to kill me! I cannot continue with my mission.
...God showed him that God is to be found not in the wind, earthquake, and fire, but only in the voice of silence, and from this His messengers should learn the lesson: not to make a loud noise or burn like fire, as did Elijah in his zeal for God, in his cessation of the rain and his execution of the prophets of Baal. Rather, God sends His messengers to approach the people with a quiet voice, to persuade the nation with bonds of love and gentle words.
(13) When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice addressed him: “Why are you here, Elijah?” (14) He answered, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and have put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.”
(6) The LORD passed before him and proclaimed: “The LORD! the LORD! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, (7) extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.”