1 Kings 19:12

And after the earthquake a fire [For the association of tempest, earthquake, fire, etc; as punishments of God, see Isaiah 29:6 , and Psalms 18:7 , Psalms 18:8 . "Fire" may well signify lightning ( Job 1:16 ; Exodus 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 . דְּמָמָה 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" ( Exodus 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 ; Job 4:5 ). 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 Exodus 34:3 , Exodus 34:7 is the best exponent of the parable of Exodus 34:11 , Exodus 34:12 . 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. Exodus 34:17 ).]