What are you doing here, prophet?
The problem with a fascist dictator is that they don’t care who they hurt or kill on their journey if it gets them the power, wealth, and prestige they seek. The evidence is what we see with Putin, Xi, Ali Khamenei, and Netanyahu. They use intimidation, imprisonment, murder, violence, and other human rights abuses to control the population. One presidential candidate has already demonstrated, and threatened such strategies and tactics.
In contrast, and not without savage sin, after killing 450 prophets of Baal and Queen Jezebel, the prophet Elijah runs into the desert to hide, rest, and wrestle with what he’s done under a Broom tree. The Juniper tree being the Broom tree of Colorado, which grows in inhospitable rocky, dry places. For Elijah it was one of the only trees to afford shade and respite in the desert. It is this story of Elijah from 1 Kings Chapter 19 that Juniper Formation gets its name.
Repenting and lamenting that he is no better than his ancestors—overzealous, violent, and murderous, Elijah asks God to take his life. Instead, God sends an angel to Elijah offering water and hot cakes and calling upon Elijah to have courage and strength to continue the journey. Elijah would later continue in a less violent but passionate prophetic and teaching (formation) ministry.
The more immediate journey the angel spoke of was forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb where Elijah spent the night in a cave, a prophet’s hiding place during this time of persecution. Soon God spoke to Elijah saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah responded that he had been overzealous for God, that Queen Jezebel had desecrated God’s altars and was killing God’s prophets and Elijah was the last one, and she would take his life too.
God replied, “Go out and stand on the mountain before me, for I am about to pass by.”
Immediately, a mighty wind arose, splitting mountains and breaking rocks into pieces, an earthquake, then a fire. But none of these loud, aggressive, destructive experiences contained the voice of God.
As the band director used to say, “one more time with feeling:” none of these loud, aggressive, destructive experiences contained the voice of God.
Then came “a sound of sheer silence.” Elijah covered his face and stood at the entrance of the cave, and a voice came to him saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah again explained his situation.
God instructs Elijah to go and anoint Hazael as king over Aram, anoint Jehu as king over Israel, and anoint Elisha as prophet in Elijah’s place. Setting up a competing power structure to Queen Jezebel and King Ahab of Samaria the northern kingdom of Israel.
In this time we are in, if we are the last surviving prophets of God, truth tellers, Spirit-dwellers, pointers towards God’s unconditional love in a world hypnotized by greed, hatred, violence, and death, who are we setting up to be a competing power?
One last thing, speaking of the imperfection of Elijah trying to do the right thing: don’t expect perfection, even when it breaks your heart, even if it’s for our beloved Palestinian siblings who are suffering genocide; and our beloved Israeli siblings who like us in the United States are drawn into the guiles of empire and supremacy—a false means of security. The United States’ military response to 9/11 killed approximately 250,000 civilians in direct war in Iraq and Afghanistan alone, this does not include reverberating deaths due to water loss, sewage, infrastructure issues, and war-related disease (source). Our collective futures, unfortunately, could be even worse.
May we never have to run so far away that God has to ask us, “What are you doing here, prophet?” Instead, may we continue in ministry—loving one another generously, seeking justice for one another and all of creation, and always aiming towards the peace of Christ. All the time knowing, trusting deeply, that we are not alone.
In Partnership,
Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher, Ph.D (she/her)
Minister of Prophetic Formation
