Elijah on Mount Sinai

Elijah was very frightened.
A queen called Jezebel had sent a message to say that she would get someone to kill him.

Elijah went into the wilderness. He sat down in the shade of a tree and said to God,
“It’s too much, Lord. Take away my life.
I may as well be dead.”

He lay down under the tree and fell fast asleep.
Soon an angel came and touched him.
When he woke up he found a loaf of bread and a jar of water next to him.
“Elijah!” said the angel, “You must go on a long journey for forty days. You must eat this food to make you strong for the journey.”

Elijah ate all the food then set off on his journey.
He walked and walked and walked till he came to
Mount Sinai. There he went into a cave to sleep.

Suddenly the Lord spoke to him,
“Elijah, what are you doing here?”
“O, Lord God Almighty,” Elijah answered,
I have always served you and you alone.
But now the people of Israel have broken their promises to you. They’ve killed all the other prophets.
Now they want to kill me.”
“Elijah, Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain.” Elijah went out as God told him.

Then the Lord sent a fierce roaring wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks. But Elijah knew that the Lord wasn’t in the wind.

Next the whole earth quaked and quaked. There was such a lot of loud noise. But Elijah knew that the Lord was not in the earth-quake.

The shaking of the earth stopped and a big fire started where the rocks fell down. The fire burned fiercely.
It crackled and roared. But Elijah knew that the Lord was not in the fire.

Then it became very, very quiet. There was not a sound, just peace and quiet all around Elijah.
“Elijah!” said a soft, gentle voice, “what are you doing here?”
Then Elijah knew that God was not in all the frightening noise, but God was in the peace and quiet.

Again Elijah said, “Lord God Almighty, I have always served you, you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their promises to you. They have torn down your altars and killed all the other prophets. Now they want to kill me.”
So the Lord spoke quietly once more to Elijah.
“Go back to the wilderness, Elijah,” He said. “Do the work I told you to do. Trust Me, I will take care of you.”