The story of Elijah and Jezebel is found in 1 Kings chapters 17-19. To understand why Elijah was afraid of Jezebel, we need to look at the background and context.
Elijah was a prophet of God during the reign of King Ahab in Israel. Ahab had married Jezebel, a devoted worshipper of the pagan god Baal. Jezebel promoted the worship of Baal in Israel and persecuted the prophets of God. Elijah boldly challenged the prophets of Baal and called the people back to the worship of the true God (1 Kings 18). God showed His power and Elijah had the prophets of Baal killed. Elijah expected this display of God’s power would turn the hearts of Ahab and Jezebel back to God.
However, Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah just as he had killed the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 19:2). Despite the miracles, signs, and wonders, the hearts of Ahab and Jezebel remained unchanged. It is at this point that Elijah is afraid and runs for his life.
There are several reasons why Elijah was afraid of Jezebel:
- Jezebel was ruthless in her persecution of God’s prophets. Elijah likely feared being killed by Jezebel (1 Kings 18:4, 13).
- Elijah was exhausted and depressed after the intense spiritual battle with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 19:3-4). He was emotionally spent.
- Elijah felt alone in the fight against idolatry. He felt like the only faithful prophet left (1 Kings 19:10).
- Jezebel’s unrepentant heart showed the deep pervasive idolatry in Israel. Elijah lost hope for national revival.
- Elijah was afraid his ministry was ending prematurely. He had expected God to use the miracle on Mt Carmel to bring nationwide revival through his continued ministry.
- Elijah was disappointed God did not protect him from Jezebel despite his faithfulness. Her threats made him doubt God’s sovereignty and protection.
In summary, Elijah was afraid primarily because Jezebel was ruthless toward God’s prophets and Elijah felt alone in the fight against her powerful influence. Elijah struggled with fear and discouragement heightened by physical exhaustion. He lost hope in seeing the nation turn back to God. Elijah doubted God’s protection and sovereignty when Jezebel seemed unrestrained even after God’s clear demonstration of power.
We see Elijah’s humanity in his fear, but also God’s grace toward him. Even the greatest prophets can struggle with fear, depression, and doubt when serving God seems fruitless. God knew Elijah’s limits and graciously comforted, renewed, and restored Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-18). God patiently worked in Elijah and continued using him. Through this episode, God teaches us He is sovereign, regardless of how the wicked may seem unrestrained for a time. God also gently ministers to the downcast to renew their strength to continue serving Him.
1. Jezebel was ruthless in persecuting prophets
One major reason for Elijah’s fear was that Jezebel had already proven her willingness to ruthlessly persecute and kill God’s prophets in Israel. When Jezebel came into power, she zealously promoted the worship of her pagan god Baal and persecuted the Lord’s prophets.
1 Kings 18:4 states, “and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.” This shows the violent extent Jezebel went to eradicate the worship of Yahweh and promote Baal worship. Jezebel was on a mission to kill every prophet of God she could find. She would stop at nothing to squelch their influence.
Later in 1 Kings 18:13 Obadiah explains to Elijah, “Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water?” Jezebel was actively killing the Lord’s prophets.
Elijah had directly confronted and killed Jezebel’s prophets of Baal. Now she threatened to do to Elijah what she had done to the other prophets of the Lord. It is no wonder Elijah was afraid with Jezebel’s reputation for killing prophets who stood against her.
Elijah likely feared being hunted down and killed by Jezebel just like her other victims. Jezebel had proven she would not hesitate to use violence to maintain her power and idolatrous influence over the nation. Her threat was not an empty one in Elijah’s mind.
2. Elijah was physically and emotionally exhausted
Another factor contributing to Elijah’s fear was that he was physically exhausted and emotionally spent after his intense spiritual battle with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. This vulnerable state amplified his fear in the face of Jezebel’s threats.
1 Kings 18 describes in detail the spiritual contest where Elijah called down fire from heaven while the prophets of Baal could not get their god to respond. After God’s dramatic display of power, Elijah had all the prophets of Baal seized and killed.
Then 1 Kings 19:3-4 says, “Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba…and he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.'” Even after this mountaintop spiritual victory, the next thing we see is Elijah afraid and running for his life.
The text notes he traveled all the way to Beersheba, over 80 miles away. He fled far from Jezebel. He was physically exhausted from this long journey undertaken out of fear. Weariness made him more susceptible to discouragement. In verse 4 Elijah even asks God to end his life because he feels defeated. This is a shocking shift after such an emboldening spiritual victory.
However, when we consider that Elijah was exhausted and depleted emotionally, his desperate fear makes more sense. His tired body amplified the threats from Jezebel. Elijah had likely gone all in emotionally during the pivotal showdown on Mount Carmel. Now with his adrenaline depleted, fear crept in. Elijah’s physical limitations left him vulnerable to fear and discouragement.
3. Elijah felt alone in battling idolatry
Elijah also struggled with fear because he felt like the only faithful prophet left in Israel. Earlier Obadiah had hidden 100 prophets in a cave, but Elijah felt alone in taking a bold stand against the idolatry of Ahab and Jezebel. He began to wallow in self-pity that he alone was left as God’s spokesman.
1 Kings 19:10 records Elijah’s complaint: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Elijah lamented that all God’s other prophets were dead and no one was left to carry on the work except him. Feeling alone in the mission made the threat from Jezebel even more intimidating. There was no support system left, there were no other prophets jealously serving the Lord alongside him. It was Elijah by himself against all the prophets of Baal and a whole nation following pagan idols.
Many other followers of God like Obadiah were hiding in fear. Elijah saw himself as the only bold prophet left. He became overwhelmed thinking about facing the threats of Jezebel without support. Hence his remark to God that he felt completely alone against enemies who sought to take his life.
Elijah lost perspective that God can sovereignly raise up others to carry on His work. God gently reminds Elijah there are still 7000 faithful people God can use (1 Kings 19:18). But in Elijah’s mind at the time, there was no one else serving God boldly like himself. This isolation contributed to his discouragement and fear.
4. Jezebel’s unrepentant heart showed pervasive idolatry
Another aspect that fed Elijah’s fear was realizing that even after God’s incredible miracle, Jezebel remained stubborn in her idolatry and persecution of the prophets. Her heart was unchanged. This shook Elijah’s hope that the nation would turn back to God.
The dramatic contest on Mount Carmel was meant to demonstrate to all Israel that the Lord was the one true God. The people cried out “The Lord, he is God!” (1 Kings 18:39). Elijah expected this miraculous sign would cause people to renounce idolatry and return to worshiping the Lord.
Yet Jezebel refuses to repent. Her response to the news was not to humbly acknowledge God’s power, but to double down and threaten to kill Elijah within 24 hours (1 Kings 19:2). Elijah held onto hope that people would see God’s mighty hand and repent, but Jezebel’s defiance dashed those hopes. Her heart was so cold even a miraculous sign could not melt it.
This showed Elijah the nation’s pervasive idolatry ran deeper than he realized. If even clear miracles did not sway Jezebel and Ahab to stop promoting idolatry, he lost hope that the nation would truly turn back to God. Fighting against engrained cultural idolatry now seemed even more daunting and hopeless.
5. Elijah doubted his ministry’s effectiveness
Elijah also appears to have feared that his ministry was ending prematurely before completing the revival mission God intended. The threats of Jezebel caused Elijah to doubt that his ministry efforts were making a lasting impact.
God used Elijah mightily in epic showdowns with the prophets of Baal. Elijah likely anticipated these bold ministry ventures were just the beginning. He expected God would continue using him in greater ways to bring national revival and turn people’s hearts back to the Lord after such a miraculous display on Mount Carmel.
However, when Jezebel remains obstinate and threatens his life, Elijah feels his ministry is about to be cut short. There would be no more opportunities for the miracles and prophetic declarations he expected God wanted to accomplish through him.
In his despair, Elijah asks God to take His life (1 Kings 19:4). He saw no point in living if he could not carry out his prophetic ministry. Rather than trust God’s control over the duration and fruitfulness of his ministry, Elijah gave in to fear that his ministry was over too soon without seeing lasting fruit. Jezebel’s threat felt like the death knell causing his ministry’s premature ending.
6. Elijah doubted God’s protection and sovereignty
Finally, Jezebel’s unrestrained threats caused Elijah to wrestle with doubts about God’s protection and sovereign control. This added to the fear He felt.
After such a miraculous display of God’s power, Elijah expected God would restrain Jezebel and protect His prophets from harm. Yet Jezebel still arrogantly intimidated God’s servant as if she wielded more power.
Elijah struggled to reconcile God’s mighty demonstration with the ongoing defiance and threats of Jezebel. Elijah wondered where was God’s hand of protection? If God was truly sovereign, why did He allow the wicked Jezebel to continue unleashed in her persecution of God’s people?
Elijah’s expectations did not match the reality before him. So he began to doubt God’s motives, power, and sovereign plan. After seeing God dramatically intervene, it was a shock that the next chapter involved running for his life. Elijah’s doubts about God’s sovereignty and protection fueled his desire to give up (1 Kings 19:4).
Of course, God in His mercy comes to Elijah and reminds Him that He is still in control with more for Elijah to accomplish. God reassures Elijah powerfully that He remains sovereign and able to carry out His will. But in his despair and exhaustion, Elijah had momentarily lost sight of God’s supreme authority over all earthly powers and protections.
Conclusion
In summary, Elijah feared Jezebel for several key reasons that combined to overwhelm him emotionally and spiritually:
- Jezebel had proven she ruthlessly killed those who stood against her.
- Elijah was exhausted from intense spiritual battles.
- Elijah felt alone without support from other prophets.
- Jezebel’s defiance shattered his hopes for nationwide revival.
- Elijah doubted his ministry was making a lasting impact.
- Elijah struggled to reconcile God’s sovereignty with Jezebel’s ongoing defiance.
Elijah’s humanity is on full display in his bout of deep depression and fear. But God did not abandon His faithful prophet. He mercifully restored, renewed and recommissioned Elijah to continue his ministry (1 Kings 19:15-18). This story offers hope that God patiently works through the weaknesses and doubts of those faithfully serving Him. Even great prophets like Elijah were not superhuman, but subject to the same fears and limitations as all of us. Yet the Lord miraculously sustained them just as He patiently sustains us through bouts of crippling fear and doubt.