1 Kings 19:12

1Ki 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; [but] the LORD [was] not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

Ver. 12. And after the fire a still small voice.] This was scintillatio Divinitatis, saith Tertullian, a small sparkle of the Deity, a sweet expression of God’s mind. And in this gentle and mild breath there was omnipotency; in the foregoing fierce representations there was but powerfulness. God’s saving revelation of himself, saith Mr Diodate here, is in the gospel only, which soundeth grace and comfort, and not in his terrible law. Hereby also is showed, saith another, that God hath sanctified a voice to be the ordinary mean of coming to his creature, mastering the strongholds of sin and Satan in us.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki_19:12

A still small voice.

The still small voice

I. This vision ought to teach us that God is often more really present in little things and in quiet and unostentatious agencies than in things that seem to us great, and agencies that we think the most impressive. We are apt to look for God in the storm, the earthquake, and the fire, and to overlook God in the still small voices of nature. But God is not more in the forked lightning that rends the rock than in the sunbeam that plays with the rippling wave; He is not more in the roaring cataract than in the silent dewdrop; He is not more in the spangled heavens, whose clustered stars attract our gaze, than in the tiny flower whose unprotected beauty we trample beneath our feet. God is not more in the great events of nations than in the smallest incidents in the lives of individuals. He who counts the stars also numbers the hairs of our heads. Indeed, the most powerful agencies in nature are generally the most silent in their operation, and often work in the deepest obscurity. But this is especially true in relation to God Himself. He is the greatest agent, and yet He works in the deepest obscurity. There is a sense in which He does everything, and yet He does it so silently and secretly that there are those who say He does nothing, that in fact there is no God. As in the natural, so in the spiritual world, the strongest forces are the least seen. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. There is not always the most good being done where there is the most noise. Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God, the God of Israel. He does not come out and sound a trumpet before Him when He is about to do a great and good work. The agencies that are even now doing the most good in society are not the most ostentatious and self-asserting. It is not by parliaments and armies and police that the commonwealth is maintained and peace preserved. A stronger force than all these is the leaven of religious life which quietly operates in families.

II. This vision is an example of the way in which God very generally reveals Himself to men. He sends messengers to prepare His way. These messengers are fitted to arrest and arouse our attention, and then He Himself comes and speaks to us in a still small voice. He said, Go forth, etc. (1Ki_19:11-12). These things are an allegory and example of Gods dealings. He sent the law and the prophets with all their thunderings and earthquakes to prepare the way for the Gospel.

1. He often sends to us the whirlwind of adversity.

2. God sent an earthquake. This may represent events in providence still more severe, such as bereavement, which swallowed up out of sight objects dearer to you than property, the desire of the eyes and the living treasures of the loving heart.

3. God sent a fire. That fire may aptly represent persona] affliction. This is often likened to a furnace: it consumes the health, and often brings eternity nearer to us than does even the death of a friend.

4. Then comes the still small voice. This is pre-eminently the Voice of God. The other dispensations are only intended to prepare the way for this Voice. God does not inflict or grieve us because He takes pleasure in doing it, but because He wishes to speak to us, and we will not listen till we are thus arrested. The silvery tones of Gods voice are constantly heard by those whose ears are inclined to hear.

III. This vision contains an example of the message which God is constantly addressing to men.

1. It is a word of rebuke for forsaking Him. What doest thou here, Elijah? This is the question which you address to a man who is out of his proper place--What are you doing here?

2. This word of rebuke is also addressed to the backslider. God says to him, What are you doing here?--in sin, among husks and swine, after having eaten of the hidden manna, and been in fellowship with God and Christ and the excellent of the earth, and the powers of the world to come.

3. This word of rebuke is also addressed to the Christian who has forsaken the post of duty.

4. The message also contains a word of exhortation: Go, return. This is what God says to the sinner: Return--return unto Me, and I will return unto you. (A. Clark.)

The still small voice

There are some important truths taught us by the account of the Lords dealings with Elijah--truths worthy of a prayerful perusal.

I. The attractions of the Gospel are far more powerful to save than the intimidations of the law. This is a lesson which the display of Gods majesty and the subsequent effect of His mildness were intended to teach. I do not read of any impressions being produced upon the mind of the prophet by the convulsions of nature, though I can quite suppose that his very blood chilled at the awe-inspiring scene he witnessed. But I find that when the still small voice fell upon his ear, he was smitten to the heart and humbled at Jehovahs feet. The terrible phenomena illustrated the giving of the Law; the gentle voice the giving of the Gospel. The Law was given amid thunder and fire and earthquake; the Gospel fell from the hallowed lips of the loving Son of God. The Law threatens; the Gospel invites. The Law wounds; the Gospel heals. The one speaks of death; the other points to life. The one lays on us burdens grievous to be borne; the other calls us to duties delightful to fulfil. The one holds out penalty and the lash; the other recompense and love.

II. The still small voice and its effects on Elijah may be regarded as showing that God works most successfully by quiet and invisible agencies. This is a truth daily proved to us in the natural world. There the Almighty mutely elevates His mountains, excavates His valleys, levels His plains, dimples the bosom of expansive seas, gives beauty to the heavens, guides worlds in their orbits, tints His flowers with beauteous hues, and makes His fruit nectarious. No man hears a sound or sees a motion where the Great Architect is carrying out some of His gigantic plans. How gently falls the dew, how silently travels the sunbeam, how noiseless is electricity in its movements. But what effective agencies are these! How the face of nature is gladdened and rendered fruitful by them!

1. The still small voice of the Holy Spirit has effected wonders. Coming to us as the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Ghost holds up before us in the written and preached word our full-length portraiture, and then unfolds to our gaze the wondrous beauties of the God-Man.

2. The still small voice of conscience often speaks to us. Its utterance is not audible to the outward ear, yet the stoutest hearts have quailed before it. Men who have stood unmoved before the thunderings of adversity and the whirlwind of persecution, have succumbed to the whisperings of this inward monitor.

3. God makes great use of the still small voice of individual influence. We have lived with some who have let their light shine before men, and that light has shone upon our hearts, revealing to us the deformity and death within. (J. H. Hitchens.)

The still small voice

Feeble minds attain their petty ends with much noise and exertion; the Infinite Mind delights in accomplishing the greatest results silently, and through the operation of small causes; and the most satisfactory proofs of the presence of God are found in the still small voice with which he speaks to us.

1. It is so in the natural world. We see God as Elijah did, rending the mountains with His mighty wind; we hear His voice in the thunder, the earthquake, and the storm; but what is the effect of all these terrible manifestations of His attributes compared with that of the still small voice, which reaches us from every part of His works? Very frequently will it be discovered, that such terrifying manifestations of the God of nature result in no lasting moral good; while that still small voice, which speaks to us in every smiling exhibition of His benevolence on earth, and from every bright world above us, almost compels us to adore, and causes our affections to come forth as Elijah came forth from the cave, and bend in humble reverence before a present God.

2. And again we may see our text illustrated in the providences of God. When we witness any sudden stroke of bereavement; when we see a family or an individual visited by some signal calamity, some awful and overwhelming blow, we are apt to say to ourselves, Surely such a warning will not be in vain. But is it not often in vain? After waiting some time, do we not find that the momentary terror and agitation of the blow have all subsided; and that the greater the calamity, the deeper apparently is the stupidity of those on whom it is sent, after it has gone by?

3. And thus it is, again, in the spiritual world. John the Baptist wrought no miracles, but all men came to him; our Saviour performed so many mighty works that nearly every inhabitant of Judaea might have seen some of them, and yet to human apprehension the result was less successful. It is not unlikely that a single sermon of St. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, because attended with the Spirits influence, may have made more converts than all the mighty works which our Saviour performed. Miracles are addressed to the understanding. They do not affect the heart; and it is the heart that needs to be moved; it is the conscience which must be awakened, before there can be any moral reformation. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.)

The power of quiet forces

1. Materialism and spirituality are ever at war, ever have been. The claims of the first, that the outward and visible only--that which we can see, feel, and touch--or which the chemist, the microscopist, or the physicist can examine and analyse, alone is worthy to be considered or to be classed as knowledge, has many sincere advocates. Those who believe that at the back of all natural phenomena there is a realm of spiritual life, just as real, just as tangible to the higher sense, and who maintain that this, too, is knowledge, albeit personal--are a large, shall we say a growing army? Spiritual things are spiritually discerned; hence the impossibility of convincing a materialist of these things. But there is a materialism not dogmatic, but real, with which we are surrounded all the time. We are in touch with it everywhere. If affects us unconsciously. We cannot rid ourselves of it. This can be recognised in our religious lives oftener than we are ready to admit. Our activities take upon themselves many materialistic forms, many useful, some questionable, and we can scarcely find time to sit down to listen for the still small voice. We are labouring at a disadvantage. Our inheritance, our environments do not aid us, and the life we ordinarily live places us not upon vantage-ground, but where constant effort and watchfulness are necessary to avoid wrong conclusions.

2. All the great questions of reform vary but little in aim. The divergence is not the result of the want of a purpose in any one direction, so much as an intelligent insight into the causes which produce our moral disturbances. Public sentiment is ready to denounce the want of virtue or principle. Rumour is ready to carry on its steady current the moral carrion, until the putrefying mass contaminates and destroys the social order of society, and yet the cause of much of our evil is not understood nor disturbed. Christian and moralist alike forget their reason and good common sense in the excitement, and become like the lake when disturbed by a storm. Its quiet waters are ruffled and active. Its waves are high and powerful, and bear upon their crown the dignified crest of matured agitation. The elements frighten us, and we tremble with fear. But what of the storm? Need the farmers and other people upon the lakes shore deceive themselves that the waters of the lake are rising? Need they seek other habitations lest the water become so high that their farms and houses be overflowed by the great increase of water? No, no. Very soon the storm subsides. The bosom of the lake wears its usual peaceful calm. The clouds are parted, and God smiles through the warm, bright light, saying, Peace, be still. The leaven of the Gospel which raises three measures of meal is quiet, insinuating power. True reforms never come in any other way. It takes time and the warm, healthy glow of united Christian hearts in society to aid it in raising the life to a place of spiritual existence.

3. The silent voice which speaks to our hearts, speaks in a language which commands our respect. We may not be able to give the thought in words. We are all sensible of deeper mysteries than our understanding can solve. The strongest convictions of life have sprung from these deeper sentiments of the soul. They furnish us food for reflection, and give us the fuel which warms the heart to an energy that will not be quieted. The noisy demonstrations of life pass by us unnoticed, and we fear them not; but silent voice awakens us. We are all attention, our hearts tremble with fear or joy. The steady onward strides of all the great forces of life are never heralded before their coming, saying, Behold, I come! They are not seen but known by that which they do, and others praise them. Strong life is quiet and modest, dignified and powerful. Light and heat, electricity, and many other agencies for good or for evil, as the circumstances may make them, work silently in the secret chambers of nature. God has made man not only in His moral image, but nature and man strongest when seemingly silent and composed. There is a dignity in the thought of such a life. There is an inexpressible awe in the presence of such a God who in the secret chambers of an eternity silently makes known to the life within us His will.

4. We leave very much of our religious faith behind us when we resort to physical rather than moral force in our work. It is then the command for solicitude is, You must, You shall, when the silent and all-potent influences of moral power should win. When the Church of Christ had assumed strong organisation and exercised great temporal power, as in the Dark Ages, it was because she had lost the moral force which an all-pervading spirituality furnishes. It is not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord.

5. How ready are we, as we see the weakness of the Church--her lack of success in winning many from sin--to flee to the cave of despair, as did the prophet Elijah, and thus in the confines of natural resources try to protect ourselves. This is one of the grievous mistakes of the people of God. Men are hidden in their professions, in their business, in their selfish pursuits, and seem not to have the moral courage or inclination to stand erect as men of God, saying, Judge ye, my God is Jehovah. They are not unlike the prophet Elijah in the cave, and when the Lord says unto the soul thus neglecting Gods altars, when the Lord speaks unto the man or woman who thus neglects the ordinances of Gods house, the Church, the prayer meeting, the family altar, the answer comes as of old, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets, and I, even I only, am left.

6. The influences which are potent in lifting from the pit to a life of godliness are not noisy or demonstrative, but silent and insinuating. All true reforms commence in the heart of mankind, and are significant in that they are spiritual, rather than materialistic. Like the air by which we are warmed when chilled, we are bathed in it, and infused with a new life ere we are aware of it. Even so God comes to you and me in the silent influences of life. (J. M. La Bach.)

Christianity-a voice

I. Christianity is a voice--not only a book, but also a voice. Other religions have books: Mahometanism has a book, and a grand old book it is too, called the Koran. Some of its stories are equal in beauty to the stories of the Book of Genesis, but Mahometanism has no voice. Mahomet is dead, and his voice is silent in the tomb. Hinduism has books, and interesting books they are too, called the Veda and Shaster. They are full of hymns and precepts, some of them equal in purity and spirituality to some of the Old Testament Psalms and Proverbs, but Hinduism has no voice. The great prophets of Hinduism, who thought out the books, are dead, and their voices are heard no more. Christianity also has a book. It is more beautiful than the Koran, and more poetic and spiritual than the Veda or Shaster. But the book of Christianity is also a voice. The Prophet of Christianity is not dead. Christ is alive, and fills all the words of the Bible with a living voice. He speaks again, through His spirit, the very words which He spoke when on earth. Herein is the great difference between the Bible and every other book. The voice of Christianity is a revealing voice. God is not to be seen, only heard. No man hath seen God at any time; the Only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. And He declares Him still. As one said: When we look, with the eye of faith, on Christ in history we behold only the man, but we hear the God. The man only is visible, but the invisible God speaks. God is not seen in the world of matter, but He is heard.

II. Christianity is a small voice. Would it not be better were it a large voice filling the world with its melody, and captivating every ear with its charming music? It appears so; but when we study the subject closer we find that what appears to be a disadvantage is a very great blessing.

1. A voice for the weakest. It is a small voice, that the human ear may be able to take it in as a whole. One of the loudest noises that art can produce is the report of cannon as it discharges its perilous contents into the air, but the human ear is too small to take it in as a whole; only a small portion of the sound enters our ears as it passes by through the air. One of the loudest sounds Nature can produce is that of a thunder-clap, rending the air with its sound and echo, but only a small part of it reaches our ears, carried by the air wavelets. There are sounds too great and awful for the human ear to take them in as a whole. The voice that man can take in must be small. The voice of Christianity has been ordained small by God that the weak, small human ear may take it all in.

2. The voice of Christianity is ordained small in order that other voices may be employed to re-echo it, in preaching and living it. And as they reproduce it they are transformed into the same melodious quality.

III. Christianity is a still voice, or, according to the Welsh translation, which undoubtedly is better here, Christianity is a silent voice. It is a voice; it is silence--contradiction in terms, but not in the truths themselves. It is a voice to some; it is silence to others. It is a voice to the ear of faith, but it is silence to the ear of unbelief. It is a voice to the children of God, but it is silence to the children of the devil. There is a music in this world that no one can hear except those who have had their spiritual ears opened by Divine grace. The people of the world boast of the music of the opera and theatre, but they have not yet heard the conductor of heavens choir giving the keynote to the saints upon earth. The world has not yet heard the sweetest music--the voice of Him who made the storm to sleep by His Peace, be still. We must have our spiritual ears opened by Christ; then we shall hear His Voice. The voice of the Opener of our spiritual ears will be the first we hear, and ever will be the sweetest. The sweetest voice on earth is the voice of Christ to the saints.

1. It is a silent voice, that God may be able to tell the secret of His kingdom to His children, so that the devil, who is at the elbow, cannot hear it. God has secrets to impart to His people which no one is to hear.

2. Christianity is a silent voice, that the weak and the painful and the dying may listen to it without being hurt. There are events in human life when the voice of the world and society are too loud and harsh for us to listen to it without being pained. As I was walking, a few years ago, over the streets of Cardiff I noticed that a part of the street was covered over with chaff four or five inches deep. I stood wondering what it was good for. Failing to solve the mystery I ventured to ask a policeman, who was standing by, what was the meaning of the chaff-covered street. In that house, said he, pointing to the other side, there is a young woman twenty-one years of age, in the last stage of consumption, and she cannot bear the noise of the traps and footsteps going over the street, so they have covered the street with chaff that the vehicles and people may pass by in silence. I saw through the mystery of the chaff-covered street at once. The noise of trade was too loud and harsh for the consumptive young woman to listen to it without being pained; her dying ear could not bear it. But there is a voice so still and sweet that the dying young woman could listen to with pleasure--the still small voice of Divine love. (R. Williams.)

Gods whisper

I. What meaning this parable had for Elijah.

1. It seems to me, first of all, that the Lord would teach him that, though disappointed, he might still live to purpose, and do good work for God.

2. God would have His servant understand that He is not straitened for means, and methods, and instruments. Not by a continuation of Carmels triumphs, but by other and simpler means God would carry out His programme.

3. Jehovah would have Elijah remember that his example had accomplished more than he had supposed.

II. But this parable, surely, has a bearing towards ourselves.

1. There is this truth, amongst others, that God employs unexpected means.

2. The folly of relying on outward appearances. Displays of power are not to be encouraged or rejoiced in. Eloquence, and style, and culture have all their place. The great forces of nature are silent.

3. God sometimes delays, but makes Himself manifest eventually.

4. Mercy is more potent than judgment. (T. Spurgeon.)

The still small voice

1. This still small voice, for us, is both conscience and Jesus. It is Jesus, acting by His wisdom, and His truth, and His courtesy, and His gentleness, and righteousness, and holiness, on our conscience. And the still small voice of affection says, Great is intellect; glorious is the pursuit of truth, knowledge, discovery; glorious the application of these things in what we call art! Glorious all that. More beautiful still, more truly human is the love of a sister for her brother, the love of a mother for her child. Love is more beautiful than even thought, glorious as thought is. Does conscience tell us that this God watches over us, that He acts according to laws? But those laws are much more manifold than we suspect, much more complicated than we suspect. It is a west wind blowing, with, I believe, a little south in it. Do you think that is an accident? It is all the result of law, laws and influences--antecedents, we may call them-that have been at work for four thousand and more years before to-day. It is very difficult to ascertain all those laws; nay, it is humanly possible and impracticable. But God has all those antecedents in His hand. To speak it reverently, think it reverently, that Great Mechanic has but to touch some of those remote and complicated links in the chain of antecedents, or cause and effect, if you like so to call them; has but to touch some of the higher, more remote, less visible, less conspicuous, less ascertainable links in the chain of antecedents, and it is changed; and you shall have, not the west or the south-west, but a northerly or an easterly wind. Does conscience speak to us of this Great Being, and of Him as shown to us in Jesus Christ, infinitely and humanely caring for us, and watching over us.

2. This voice was to Elijah articulate. What doest thou here, Elijah? Go, return, says this voice; go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus. Strange prophet, this Elijah. Strange history, very often overlooked and not noticed at all. Go back! where to? To Jerusalem? No. Go back! where to? To the sacred cities of Israels kingdom? No. Where to? To the wilderness. Another wilderness; not this southern one, but far off beyond thine own Gilead, north of that, east of that, go away to that wilderness, that belongs to Damascus, the chief city of the Syrian, the Gentile uncircumcised. Ah, think you God cares not for the uncircumcised, the Syrian, as well as for the Jew? (J. Macnaught.)

The still small voice

We have to consider how God dealt with His dispirited and truant child.

I. God spake to him. In some darksome cave, among those rent precipices, Elijah lodged; and, as he waited, in lonely musings, the fire burned in his soul. But he had not long to wait. Behold, the word of the Lord came unto him. That word had often come to him before. It had come to him at Thisbe. It had come to him in Samaria, after he had given his first message to Ahab. It had come to him when Cherith was dry. It had come to summon him from the solitudes of Zarephath to the stir of active life. And now it found him out, and came to him again. There is no spot on earth so lonely, no cave so deep and dark, that the word of the Lord cannot discover and come to us. What doest thou here, Elijah? How often is that question put still! when a Christian worker, sorely needed, deserts his post, because of some unforeseen difficulty, or to secure selfish gratification and ease; to that couch of indolence, or to that forest glade where soft breezes blow, the question comes, what doest thou here? When one endowed with great faculties digs a hole in the earth, and buries the God-entrusted talent, standing idle all the day long among the loungers in the market-place, again must the inquiry ring out, What doest thou here? Life is the time for doing. The world is a great workshop, in which there is no room for drones. God Himself worketh as the great Masterbuilder. There is plenty to do. Evil to put down; good to build up; doubters to be directed; prodigals to be won back; sinners to be sought, what doest thou here? Up, Christians, leave your caves, and do! Do not do in order to be saved; but being saved, do!

II. God taught him by a beautiful natural parable. But in this natural parable God seemed to say: My child, thou hast been looking for Me to answer thy prayers with striking signs and wonders; and because these have not been given in a marked and permanent form, thou hast thought Me heedless and inactive. But I am not always to be found in these great visible movements; I love to work gently, softly, and unperceived; I have been working so; I am working so still; and there are in Israel, as the results of My quiet gentle ministry, seven thousand, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. Yes, and was not the gentle ministry of Elisha, succeeding the stormy career of his great predecessor, like the still small voice after the wind, the earthquake, and the fire? And is it not probable that more real good was effected by his unobtrusive life and miracles, than was even wrought by the splendid deeds of Elijah? We often fall into similar mistakes. When we wish to promote a revival, we seek to secure large crowds, much evident impression, powerful preachers; influences comparable to the wind, the earthquake, and the fire. When these are present, we account that we are secure of having the presence and power of God. His Spirit descends as the dove, whose wings make no tremor in the still air. Let us take heart! God may not be working as we expect; but He is working. If not in the wind, yet in the zephyr. If not in the earthquake, yet in the heartbreak. If not in the fire, yet in the warmth of summer. If not in thunder, yet in the still small voice. If not in crowds, yet in lonely hearts; in silent tears; in the broken sobs of penitents; and in multitudes, who, like the seven thousand of Israel, are unknown as disciples. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

A more excellent way

We find instructive parallels in the lives of Moses and John the Baptist; or, if we prefer a modem instance, think of Frederick Robertson, one day preaching to a crowded church in Brighton, the next day grovelling on his study floor. It is only to the noblest natures that such dejection is possible. And yet, such despondency was wrong. It was unjust to God. Elijahs despondency was unjust to the past. I am not better than my fathers! I have failed, so did they! Why labour any longer? Why tax the overwearied brain? Why continue the unavailing struggle? Is it worth while to toil like this? Are those for whom I labour worth it all? So we repine, so we despond. And yet the kingdom of God is coming amongst us, and the day of the Lord draws nigh. But it concerns us most of all to know, not the grandeur of this scene, but its real meaning. What is the truth at the back of this story, and how shall we translate it into plain words? What is the real meaning of these experiences? It seems to me that Elijah gained, through them, three things.

1. First, he gained new views of God. The prophet had made a mistake. He supposed that the fire of Carmel was the only symbol by which God could make Himself known, that earthquake and thunder and storms were the expression of His essential nature. Elijah had tried to bend the stubborn wills of men by methods of force. He never thought of any other way. He magnified Gods strictness with a zeal he would not own. But in the solitude and silence of Horeb, he learned the gentleness of God.

2. He gained, in the second place, new views of his work. What doest thou here? The cruelty of Jezebel, the apostasy of Israel, the failure of past efforts, the uncertainty of the future--none of these, nor all of them together, were sufficient to justify Elijah in abandoning his duty. God gave His servant a glimpse of the work yet to be done.

3. Above all, Elijah learned at Horeb a new method of appeal. The method of coercion had failed, the method of wonder had failed. There was a better way. Force threats, denunciations will never avail. Men cannot be frightened into goodness. But where thunder-and-lightning methods have failed, the gradual, silent, pervasive influence of the faithful seven thousand may succeed. (A. Moorhouse, M. A.)

The power of silent influence

I. It is a power which God usually employs to accomplish His work.

1. In the government of the material world. How noiselessly does He work the great machinery of nature! There is not a sound to be heard. Poets talk of the music of the spheres; but it is a music that has never fallen on their ears.

2. In the dispensation of Providence. We sometimes imagine we hear nothing but the stormy wind, or the terrible earthquake, levelling to the ground all our hopes. The fire of Divine disapprobation seems to rage most fiercely, and we feel ready to perish. But these are not the chief agents employed by our Father in the dispensation of His Providence. After the fire a still small voice.

3. In the renovation of the soul. The wind, the earthquake, and the fire, may be used as preparatory means to the great work of conversion. The influence of the Spirit on the heart is secret, silent, and effective.

II. It is a power that is productive of the greatest good. It is folly to think that because an influence is silent it cannot be effective.

1. It awakens thought. The wind, the earthquake, the fire, sometimes disturb the slumbers of a soul in sin.

2. It operates on the heart. The noisy tempest may affect the passions, stir up the animal feelings; but it cannot reach the sinners heart.

3. It regulates the actions. The very power that impresses the heart, will also mould and shape the actions of life. It is often remarked that example is more powerful than precept. The reason of this is evident.

III. It is a power that is lasting in its effects. Why is the power of silent influence so durable?

1. It is emblematic of the Divine presence. God was not in the awful tempest which preceded the still small voice.

2. It becomes a living element in the new character. The believer in Christ is a new creature. (J. H. Hughes.)

God heard in the still small voice

I. When god comes to reprove men for their sins, He usually manifests Himself to them, or addresses them, not by His works, either of creation or providence, but by a still small voice. Thus it was in the instance before us. You have all known something of the force of the winds; you have felt your habitations tremble before the fury of the blast. And not a few of you have witnessed more terrible proofs of its power on the ocean. You have seen the billows raised into mountains, and lashed into foam. You have felt the labouring vessel reel under you, while tossed by a tempest which seemed sufficient to rend the mountains, and break in pieces the rocks; and you have seen the tempest become a calm. But, as it respected you, God was not in the wind, nor in the calm which succeeded. You saw His hand, you heard His voice in neither. If you then heard Him in anything, it was in a still small voice within you. Further, the globe which we inhabit, though not this particular part of it, has often been convulsed by the most terrible and desolating earthquakes. Even some parts of New England have been agitated in a degree sufficient to excite distressing apprehensions. But have the nations thus visited found God in the earthquake? Did our fathers find Him there as an instructor and reprover? Far from it. Never have the survivors been reformed by such events. The earthquakes in New England did, indeed, occasion a kind of religious panic. A writer, who was then one of the ministers of Boston, informs us, that immediately after the great earthquake, as it was called, a great number of his flock came and expressed a wish to unite themselves with the church. But on conversing with them he could find no evidence of improvement in their religious views or feelings, no convictions of their own sinfulness; nothing, in short, but a kind of superstitious fear, occasioned by a belief that the end of the world was at hand. All their replies proved that they had not found God in the earthquake. The same may be said of other means. Ministers may give voice and utterance to the Bible, which is the Word of God. Like James and John, they may be sons of thunder to impenitent sinners. They may pour forth a tempest of impassioned, eloquent declamation. Nothing effectual can be done unless God be there, unless He speaks with His still small voice.

II. That when God speaks to men with this voice, He speaks to them personally, or does, as it were, call them by name. This He did in the case before us. He addressed the prophet by his name, Elijah.

III. That, when God speaks to men in this still small voice, He usually begins by turning their attention upon themselves, their conduct, and situation. He said to the prophet, What doest thou here, Elijah? a question which was most admirably adapted to convince, reprove, and humble him. (E. Payson, D. D.)

The still small voice

The once triumphant spokesman of the Lord has temporarily lost his exuberant faith, and is sunk in dark despair. I am free to confess that I obtain a little comfort even from the prophets grief. There is something in human nature which makes us feel more akin to men who occasionally suffer defeat. When the Apostle Peter is very bold, daring even death in the presence of the great ones of the earth, be appears very remote to the child of hesitancy and doubt; but in the hour of Peters weakness, when he shrinks from the foes that beset him, he becomes one of the common crowd. His impulsiveness makes even his martyrdom human. Pauls feelings of wretchedness lend humanness even to his ecstasies, and his unspeakable visions do not lie in lands too remote. Now think of this mighty symbolism being portrayed before the despondent prophet. What would be its significance? Its significance was this, and he learned the lesson: comparative impotence may roar in the guise of tempest and fire; Almightiness may move in whispers. Feebleness hides in the apparently overwhelming; Almightiness hides in apparent impotence. God was in the weak thing! Elijah left the mount with his conceptions entirely changed. I think I can see him descending from the place of apocalypse with this thought filling his life: The wind is against me, and the earthquake, and the fire, but what of that? The breathing is with me, and the immeasurable voice of God is in the wind. It is well for us to remember that the seemingly feeble, if the ghostly voice be in it, is transcendently more powerful than the massed battalions of the ungodly. When I had written these words I looked upon my study walls, and saw Munkacsys great picture, Christ before Pilate. There is a vast, howling, brutal mob, the very incarnation of brutal and irresistible force. It seems as though the violent crowd can carry all before it. Standing before the surging, shouting throng is the meek figure of the Master! It seems as though one hand out of the violent mob could crush Him like a moth! And yet we now know that in that silent Figure there dwelt the secret of Almightiness, and the Lord was not in the mob. Some time ago I was in Stirling Castle, and the guide pointed out to me the field of Bannockburn, and revelled in his description of the bloody fray. I turned from the contemplation of material strife, and I saw John Knoxs pulpit! I allowed the two symbols to confront each other, and they enshrined for me the teaching given to Elijah in the days of old. The ghostly power suggested by the pulpit was of infinitely greater import than the carnal power suggested by the battlefield. I remember one day passing along the road, by the far-stretching works of Messrs. Armstrong, that vast manufactory of destructive armaments. I was almost awed by the massiveness of the equipment, and by the terrific issues of their work. Near by I saw a little Methodist chapel; it could have been put in a small comer of Armstrongs works, but it became to me the symbol of the enduring and the eternal! The ghostly breathing was in the plain little edifice, and the creations of its ministries will be found when the bristling armaments have crumbled into dust. Never let us count heads, but let us make sure of God. One man with God is in the majority. The man on the side of the still small voice must become at last overwhelming. One man in a workshop surrounded by jeering and sneering mates, moving in an environment altogether invincible to grace, will most assuredly conquer if he has the companionship of the Holy Ghost. A working man said to me a little while ago, speaking of the uncongenial character of his workshop, I must get out of it! I told him I was not so sure about that. I told him that he had chosen Elijahs way out of the difficulty. I urged him to believe in the sovereignty of the Almighty, and to remain faithful unto the end. We can wear down the stoutest antagonist. Our contention may be as silent as time, but it will be as invincible. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)

The still small voice

By communion with God must be understood a sense of His presence, which fills consciousness with a living moral force equal to the work of regeneration. When it is said that God was not in the storm, the earthquake, or the fire, we understand that such manifestations of God did not commend themselves to the judgment of Elijah, as likely to effect the changes he prayed for. Then God came nearer, and spoke to him as friend to friend, which brought the assurance that the human heart can be reached effectually without the terrors of Sinai, or the destruction of the prophets of Baal. The regeneration of man is essentially moral, which can only be accomplished by moral means--means that will bring Gods still small voice into the soul.

I. An answer to the ever-recurring demand of the church for the marvellous. What sign showest thou? is the oft-repeated question.

II. An answer to the materialistic tendency of the age. A large class of educated people contend that the works of nature afford a sufficient scope for the human mind. Religious exercises, say they, as observed in saying prayers, singing hymns, listening to sermons, and building churches, abstract the mind from the wonders of the universe. There never was a greater mistake. How can the voice of God in the soul hinder the contemplation of His works?

III. An answer to the distracted saint. Elijah was in need of a special communication from his God. The earthquake, the storm, and the fire failed to calm his fear. The voice came to strengthen his faith. (T. Davis, M. A.)

Quiet churches

It is a common error to suppose that a church is dead because it is not making a noise. Some people would keep up a continued round of tea-meetings, bazaars, Dorcases, holiday-makings, and trumpet-blowings, and advertise the same as signs of spiritual life. Some in-judicious man once drew a distinction between perspiration and inspiration. He must have had his eye upon the people in question. Spiritual life is generally quiet. There may be periods of intense excitement, but they cannot last. We should remember that the river is not deepest where it is noisiest. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Through storm to calm

There are some spirits which must go through a discipline analogous to that sustained by Elijah. The storm struggle must precede the still small voice. There are minds which must be convulsed with doubt before they can repose in faith. There are hearts which must be broken with disappointment before they can rise into hope. Blessed is the man who, when the tempest has spent its fury, recognises his Fathers voice in its undertone, and bares his head and bows his knee as Elijah did. To much spirits it seems as if God had said: In the still sunshine and ordinary ways of life you cannot meet Me; but, like Job, in the desolation of the tempest you will see My form and hear My voice, and know that your Redeemer liveth. (F. W. Robertson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 19:12. After the fire a still small voice — To intimate, that God would do his work in and for Israel in his own time, not by might or power, but by his own Spirit, (Zec 4:6,) which moves with a powerful, but yet with a sweet and gentle gate. “Elijah had perhaps expected to carry all before him, with a high hand, and with continued miracles and judgments: or he had supposed that the desired reformation was to be effected by the sanction of civil authority, or the support of the people at large; whereas, having gained their attention by the famine and its gracious removal, in answer to his prayers, by calling for and obtaining fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, and by the execution of Baal’s priests, he ought to have proceeded to instruct them with meekness and gentleness, publicly and from house to house, and to have excited others to assist him; and then the Lord would have blessed that small still voice for the most important purposes, notwithstanding the persecuting rage of Ahab and Jezebel, and the general apostacy of the people. Thus miracles in the first ages of Christianity called men’s attention to the preaching of the gospel; which, as a small still voice, was the power of God to salvation to thousands and millions.” — Scott. For faith comes by hearing the word of God, and miracles do but make way for it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. a still small voice] Literally, as in the margin of R.V. ‘a sound of gentle stillness.’ There is nothing to indicate to us whether the sound was articulate or not, nor is it said that the Lord was now present, but the action of the prophet shews that he knew the time was come for him to present himself before Jehovah. The Alex. LXX. adds ‘and the Lord was there,’ but the narrative is much more impressive without those words.’ For a similar recognition of God’s presence cf. Job_4:16 ‘there was silence and I heard a voice.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire,.... As he was when he descended on this mount, and spake to Moses, Exo 19:1, the Targum, and so Jarchi, interpret all these appearances of angels, and not amiss; the wind, of an host of angels of wind; the earthquake, of an host of angels of commotion; the fire, of an host of angels of fire; see Psa 104:4, these ministers of the Lord went before him, to prepare the way of his glorious Majesty; which emblems may represent the power of God, the terribleness of his majesty, and the fury of his wrath, which he could display, if he would, to the destruction of his enemies; and could as easily destroy the idolatrous kingdom of Israel, which Elijah seems to be solicitous of, as the wind rent the mountains, and broke the rocks, and the earthquake shook the earth, and the fire consumed all in its way; but he chose not to do it now, but to use lenity, and show mercy, signified by the next emblem:

and after the fire a still small voice: not rough, but gentle, more like whispering than roaring; something soft, easy, and musical; the Targum is, the voice of those that praise God in silence; and all this may be considered as showing the difference between the two dispensations of law and Gospel; the law is a voice of terrible words, and was given amidst a tempest of wind, thunder, and lightning, attended with an earthquake, Heb 12:18, but the Gospel is a gentle voice of love, grace, and mercy, of peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by Christ; and may also point at the order and manner of the Lord's dealings with the souls of men, who usually by the law breaks the rocky hearts of men in pieces, shakes their consciences, and fills their minds with a sense of fiery wrath and indignation they deserve, and then speaks comfortably to them, speaks peace and pardon through the ministration of the Gospel by his Spirit; blessed are the people that hear this still, small, gentle voice, the joyful sound, Psa 89:15.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

A still small voice - literally, “a sound of soft stillness.” The teaching is a condemnation of that “zeal” which Elijah had gloried in, a zeal exhibiting itself in fierce and terrible vengeances, and an exaltation and recommendation of that mild and gentle temper, which “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” But it was so contrary to the whole character of the stern, harsh, unsparing Tishbite, that it could have found no ready entrance into his heart. It may have for a while moderated his excessive zeal, and inclined him to gentler courses; but later in his life the old harshness recurred in a deed in reference to which our Lord himself drew the well-known contrast between the spirits of the two Dispensations Luk 9:51-56.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Air. Something similar happened at the giving of the law, and at the propagation of the gospel, Exodus xix 9, 16., and Acts ii. 2. The Lord was pleased to shew his prophet the difference between the two laws: the own was full of terror, the other of mildness. (Grotius) --- He insinuated likewise, that he could easily exterminate the offenders, but he chose to bear patiently with them; (Tirinus) and taught his prophet to moderate his zeal, and, after terrifying sinners, to being them to a sense of their duty by gentle means. (Sanctius) (Calmet) --- "His spirit is most indulgent and mild." ....est teneræ serenitatis, apertus et simplex. (Tertullian, contra Marcion xxiii.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Wherein it is implied that God was present; which peradventure was to insinuate, that God would do his work in and for Israel in his own time, not by might or power, but by his own Spirit, Zec 4:6, which moves with a powerful, but yet with a sweet and gentle gale.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. After the earthquake a fire — The whole mount quaked greatly, as in the days of Moses, (Exo_19:18,) and the earthquake shock was followed now, as then, by the fiery glare of eastern lightning. Exo_19:16; Exo_19:18; Exo_20:18.

A still small voice — Literally, A voice of a light stillness. Septuagint, Voice of a gentle breeze. Whether this was an articulate voice, or the sound of the soft wind that usually follows a storm among the mountains, it was in either case symbolical. It was something which Elijah heard and understood as a prelude to some further revelation. See exposition of these symbols under 1Ki_19:18.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And after the earthquake a fire For the association of tempest, earthquake, fire, etc., as punishments of God, see Isa_29:6, Psa_18:7, Psa_18:8. "Fire" may well signify lightning (Job_1:16; Exo_9:23) For a vivid description era thunderstorm at Sinai, see Stewart"s "Tent and Khan," pp. 139, 140; ap. Stanley, "Jew. Ch.," vol. 1. p. 149: but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. Heb. a voice of gentle silence. hm; m; D an onomatopoetic word, is allied to our word dumb. Very similar expression Job_4:16. What was the object and meaning of this succession of signs? First, let us remember that Elijah was the prophet of deeds. He taught his contemporaries not by word but by set. He is here taught in turn by signs. There passes before him in the mountain hollow, in the black and dark night, a procession of natural terrors-of storm, and earthquake, and fire. But none of these things move him; none speak to his soul and tell of a present God. It is the hushed voice, the awful stillness, overpowers and enchains him. He is to learn hence, first, that the Lord is a God "merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth"; (Exo_34:6) and secondly, that as it has been with himself, so it will be with others; the name of the Lord will be proclaimed in a voice of gentle silence (ib., ver. 5). The weapons of His warfare, the instruments of religious progress, must be spiritual, not carnal. Not in fire and sword and slaughter, but by a secret voice speaking to the conscience, will God regain His sway over the hearts of Israel. (See Homiletics.) The striking similarity between this theophany and that which Moses saw in the same place, or at no great distance from it, must not be overlooked, for this constitutes another link between law giver and law restorer. The proclamation of Exo_34:3, 7 is the best exponent of the parable of vers. 11, 12. To each was the vision of God granted after a faithful witness against idolatry, and after a slaughter of idolaters; each was in a clift of the rock; in either case the Lord passed by; the one was taught by words, the other rather by signs, but the message in each case was the same that judgment is God"s strange work, but that He will by no means clear the guilty (cf. ver. 17).

A still small voice." The terrors of the Lord awe the soul; His love melts and wins it. What the law could not do, the gospel has done. (Rom_8:8) Christ draws men unto Him by the sweet attraction of His cross. (Joh_12:32) The lightnings and thunders, the trumpet and the voices of Sinai, do not move the world as do the seven last words of the Crucified. "Not in the wind that parted the Red Sea, or the fire that swept the top of Sinai," was God brought so near to man, "as in the ministrations of Him whose cry was not heard in the streets, as in the still small voice of the child at Bethlehem" (Stanley). This parable may be compared with the familiar fable which tells how storm and sun strove together for the mastery. The former made the traveller wrap his garments more closely about him; the latter made him cast them aside. Love is more powerful than fear, and that because "love is of God." Judgment is His strange work. "God loves to make a way for Himself by terror, but He conveys Himself to us in sweetness" (Bp. Hall) a truth well brought out in Theodore Monod"s exquisite hymn

Yet He found me: I beheld Him Bleeding on the cursed tree; Heard Him pray, "Forgive them, Father;" And my wistful heart said faintly, "Some of self, and some of Thee.

Day by day His tender mercy Healing, helping, full and free; Sweet and strong, and, ah I so patient, Brought me lower, whilst I whispered, "Less of self, and more of Thee.

Higher than the highest heavens, Deeper than the deepest sea, Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered; Grant me now my spirit"s longing, "None of self, and all of Thee.

The still small Voice.

Describe the stupendous scenes amidst which Elijah stood. A wind came shrieking up the mountain ravines, unseen yet instinct with secret force; an earthquake made the solid ground heave and reel; fire glared from heaven, like that which had fallen on the sacrifice at Carmel, or on a subsequent occasion consumed the captains and soldiers of Ahaziah. Amidst this war of the elements the prophet was unmoved by fear; indeed, probably a wild exultation filled his heart as he saw this stormy reflection in nature of the conflict within him. (Compare Shakespeare"s splendid description of King Lear in the storm.) The uproar in nature was succeeded by a solemn calm; and as Elijah waited for the next marvellous display of Divine power, "a still small voice" broke the silence, and the prophet knew that it was the voice of God. He who till now had been undaunted and unmoved, now reverently covered his face with his mantle, and bowed in humble worship in the felt presence of Him before whom angels veil their faces. This strange and weird experience evidently had reference to the work which Elijah had attempted, and over which he was now so despondent. When he learnt that the Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, he re-fleeted that permanent religious reformation might not result from the material signs of Divine power, displayed in the withholding of the rain, the raising of the dead, or the fall of fire on Carmel, but from the more quiet testimony of his own devoutfie, and from the fidelity of the "seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal." In effect, the message to him and to us was this: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." We are taught, in the first place

I THE SPIRITUAL WEAKNESS OF WHAT SEEMS MIGHTY. "The Lord was not in the wind..... in the earthquake,.... in the fire." Let us exemplify this truth

1. By the experience of Elijah. He had done many mighty works, but the people were startled rather than reformed. No radical and abiding change

2. had been effected. "The wind" may represent the drought, both in its coming and in its ceasing; "the earthquake," the raising of the child from the dead; and "the fire," the answer to prayer on Carmel. It was not these wonders which could change the heart of the people, but "the still small voice" speaking within for God.

3. My the miracles of judgment. Take the plagues of Egypt as specimens. Marvellous enough they were, but in the result "Pharaoh"s heart was hardened.

1. By the penalties of the law. Show from the history of Israel, and from the comments made on it in the Epistles, the powerlessness of the law to put away sin. The fear of punishment may check the outward manifestation of sin, but in itself does not conquer innate sinfulness. If a child does not love his father, no orders, however stringently enforced, will make him happy. It was not John the Baptist, but Jesus Christ, who was the world"s Redeemer,

2. By the events of Providence. Illness, the dread of death, a startling bereavement, a national calamity, etc., do not convert men, unless through them or after them "the still small voice" is heard. Men may be driven to alarm, to murmuring, to despair, perhaps to suicide; but their hearts are still rebellious under the influence of trouble. It is not the storm, but the voice of Jesus in the storm, saying, "It is I," that brings rest to those who welcome Him.

II THE SPIRITUAL STRENGTH OF WHAT SEEMS FEEBLE. The still small vice, which only a listening man could hear, was more Divine and more mighty than all Elijah had witnessed before. There was all the difference between God"s power and God"s presence. "The Lord was not in the fire," but His was the still small voice; concerning which we observe

1. It follows on preparation. Elijah had heard so much, had been so startled into keen listening for the wonderful, that he did not fail to hear this. So the miracles which had not converted the people had made them ready for Elisha and the school of the prophets. Similarly John preceded Jesus. It is thus in personal experience. The earthquake did not convert the jailer at Philippi, but it aroused him to ask, "What must I do to be saved?" Trouble does not save a man, but it may make him ready to listen to the words of life. Some must lose all before they find all in God.

2. It reminds of secret forces. The most mighty are silent in nature and in grace; e.g., gravitation is far more tremendous than volcanic agency.

3. It typifies the influence of the Holy Spirit. "He shall convince the world of righteousness," etc. How secretly He melts the heart to repentance, faith, and obedience, and changes the whole current of affection and thought.

4. It whispers of the love of Christ. He forced none into His kingdom, but won all His subjects man by man. Not His reproaches, but His look of love, broke the heart of Peter into penitence, after the denial. Paul"s inspiration was found not in applause or success, but in this that he could ever say, "The love of Christ constraineth me.

CONCLUSION. Wait for no resistless influences, for no startling events; but listen to the "still small voice" which speaks within, testifying of your deep necessity and Christ"s glorious redemption. A.R.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A still voice - To intimate, that God would do his work in and for Israel in his own time, not by might or power, but by his own spirit, Zech iv, 6, which moves with a powerful, but yet with a sweet and gentle gale.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Fire. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a camp of angels of fire.”

A calm quiet. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a voice of those praising quietly,” but regarding the prophets of the [other] nations, it states, “Silence and a voice I heard,” there was silence to the praising. But I heard, it is a voice coming out of the silence, rentesment, in O.F., but the voice itself is not heard.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.