Prophet Elijah with bipolar disorder?
“And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:3-4).
There was a woman who had been suffering from bipolar disorder used to come to our church. When she was happy, she was very good to her apartment neighbors. So I think she did her best for a year or so to three women in her apartment complex and eventually brought them to our church. But when she was in bed mood in her depression, she had a big fight with those three women and all of them left our church. Several years ago, she tried to take her own life. So our church elder and my wife went to her apartment immediately. After all, she had a big head injury and went to the hospital for surgery. And after the surgery, she had to go into the nursing home. In the process, I got her phone book from someone and thus tried to contact the Korean phone numbers there in order to find her relatives. But I couldn’t reach anyone because all the phone numbers were old and disconnected. I still remember when she called me from the hospital and I went and prayed for her before she went into the operating room.
Nowadays I have become more interested in mental illnesses than before such as depression. As of last year, I have personally bought books on depression and read many articles about mental illness from the internet. By doing so, I began to realize little bit how serious mental illness is. Also I see a little how dangerous the mental illness is. I have heard from people around me that bipolar disorder is much more frightening than depression. And I agree with what they said because what I have actually seen someone suffering from depression and suffering from bipolar disorder. When I saw the internet, I read a definition of "bipolar disorder": ‘Bipolar disorder is a disorder in which mood, energy, thinking, and behavior change dramatically. There are usually two "mood states" of depression and bipolar disorder. When people are in bipolar disorder state, they are energetic and very active. On the other hand, when they are depressed, they are very sad, desperate, and annoying "(Internet). I still remember I didn’t know what to do when my church member with bipolar disorder was very happy and then changed to very depressed mood.
As I was reading 1 Kings chapters 18 and 19 in the Morning Prayer today, I wondered how to adapt and respond to Prophet Elijah appearing in those two chapters. The reason was that Prophet Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 18 obeyed God’s Word (v.2) of “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth” (v. 1) and without any fear he boldly said to King Ahab “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals” (v. 18). But Prophet Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 19 “was afraid and arose and ran for his life” (19:3) because King Ahab’s wife Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time” (v. 2). How could the appearances of Elijah be so different in these two chapters? I felt like this is too extreme. Don’t you think Elijah had a bipolar disorder?
When he confronted the 450 prophets of Baal in Mount Carmel (18:20, 22), he prayed to God with faith (vv. 36-37) and thus he witnessed “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (v. 38). So Elijah brought the prophets of Baal down to the brook Kishon and slew them there (v. 40). But when Queen Jezebel told him “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them” (19:2) Elijah was afraid and ran for his life (v. 3). Was it because Queen Jezebel killed other prophets of God before? (18:4, 13) If I express little bit extreme way, did Elijah run away out of fear because he knew that Jezebel was God’s prophets-killer? I wondered how many God’s prophets Queen Jezebel killed so that “Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water)” (v. 4). Certainly she would not have killed only one or two of God's prophets. If we think about the fact that Obadiah hid 100 prophets in 2 caves and what Elijah said to God, “he Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too" (19:10, 14; Cf. 18:22), we cannot help but think that there were many prophets of God who were killed by Queen Jezebel. Then when she heard that 450 of her prophets of Baal were killed at Mount Carmel from her husband, King Ahab, she said to Elijah that she would kill him like the Baal prophets who were killed (v.1). I am sure Prophet Elijah was afraid enough to run for his life (v.3). So when he ran away for his life he himself went a day's journey into the desert and sat down under a broom tree (v. 4). And he prayed that he might die: “I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors" (v. 4). How could he prayed to God to take his life under the broom tree after he told the people on Mount Carmel “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (18:21)? How could he be so extreme? He didn’t only ask God for him to die, but also he said he was no better than his ancestors (v. 4). Why did he compare with his ancestors? Why did he compare with them and say that he was no better than them? Was it because when he saw himself running for his life out of fear of death, he thought about how weak and pathetic he was? Why did Elijah, who didn’t even care when Obadiah might be killed (18:12) when he was obeying God's word and boldly show himself to Ahab in faith, care about his ancestors (19: 4)? Was it because he was very weak in many ways such as spiritually, mentally and physically? One obvious thing was that Prophet Elijah was physically weak. That was why Elijah fell asleep under the broom tree (v. 5). So an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat” (v. 5). So Elijah got up and ate and drank and then lay down again (v. 6). “The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you” (v. 7). So Elijah got up and ate and drank (v. 8). Looking at these facts, we can imagine that Elijah was very tire and hungry. Maybe he was in a state of exhaustion. The reason why I think so is that after Elijah told King Ahab "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word" (17: 1), he had to escape to the Kerith Ravine as the Lord commanded him (v. 2). But when the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land (v. 7) the Lord commanded him to Zarephath of Sidon and met a widow (v. 9) and miraculous he and the widow and her son ate food for many days (v. 15). In short, the reason what I think Prophet Elijah was in the state of exhaustion was because he had escaped from evil King Ahab for at least three years who was looking for him (18:1). But then again, when Queen Jezebel said that she was going to kill him, Elijah was afraid and fled. So I am sure he was physically exhausted. But when I was reading 1 Kings 19:1-7, I though Prophet Elijah was depressed. I thought like what Rev. Lloyd Jones' book title says, Elijah was undergoing a "spiritual depression". This is what an internet sermon says about spiritual depression:
‘In our journey of faith, spiritual depression can happen all the time. And it isn’t easy to treat
when it occurs. The causes of spiritual depression also vary. Sometimes long-term physical
illness can be a cause of spiritual depression. To some people depressed temperament may be
the cause. But it is clear that the obstacles and sins that obstruct the relationship with God are
the direct factors that cause spiritual depression. Spiritual depression doesn’t start with a great sin.
Small sins can slowly distance the relationship with God. If we fall into a spiritual depression,
we will lose our passion for worship and our prayer life can be decreased or disappeared. And
as spiritual depression deepens, we can become indifferent to other souls and focus on our
problems. Our soul is disturbed and dismayed. We will lose the joy of our Christian life and
our spiritual state will become dry "(Internet).
Indeed, didn’t Prophet Elijah indifferent to other souls, like a man in spiritual depression, and focused on his own problems? Look at 1 Kings 19:10 – “He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” Didn’t Elijah lose his joy in his life of faith and his spiritual condition dried up, as his soul became uneasy and fell into pain, like a man in spiritual depression?
As I saw Elijah who looked like a man with spiritual depression and with bipolar disorder in 1 Kings chapters 18 and 19, I wondered how God raised him even from the point of asking God for him to die under the broom tree. One of the more curious reasons is because of a sermon titled ‘Elijah who arose back’ by my beloved co-worker in Christ who suffered from mental illness, and then passes away with cancer. I cannot forget that sermon title. Maybe it would be more appropriate to say it was unforgettable sermon title. In this morning, when I was praying, I thought about him. And when I thought how much he suffered from mental illness as well as cancer, my heart went out to him in tears. But when I thought him smiling at me and hugged me in my dream soon after I led his funeral, my heart was comforted. On top of that, I prayed to God, thinking about those who now going various mental illness such as depression, bipolar disorder, panic anxieties and etc.. I am sure they are the ones who now are going through most difficult time. So I prayed to God for them since God knows them, who knows what they are going through and who only can comfort them. I pray that God will touch each one of them, comfort them, give them hope, deliver them, and heal them. I want to think about three things as to how God revived Prophet Elijah who seemed like a person with bipolar disorder from the spiritual depression:
First, God sent His angel to touch Elijah.
The angel of the Lord touched Elijah who asked God for him to die and who lay under the broom tree and fell asleep (vv. 5, 7). When I was meditating on this, I thought that God's children who are suffering from spiritual depression and other mental illness need to be touched by God. We must pray and bear with each one of them with the heart and love of our Heavenly Father who are suffering. Through such affection and prayer, those who are suffering need to feel God's warm and tender love.
Second, God sent his angel to Elijah to make him eat and drink.
The angel of the Lord not only touched Elijah when he lay down and fell asleep, but also woke him up and said to him, ‘Get up and eat (vv. 5, 7). And the angel of the Lord supplied Elijah with “a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water” (v. 6). Because of this provision of God, Prophet Elijah was strengthened by eating bread and drinking water twice (v. 8). And he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the Mount of God (v. 8). When I meditated on this, I became more aware of the importance of physical strength to the children of God who are suffering from spiritual depression or mental illness. I remember someone who went through depression before told me that it is important to exercise when people are depressed. Of course they have to eat well in order to exercise. That’s why I think it is important that the angel of God woke Elijah while he was sleeping, and then told him to eat and drink. People who suffer from spiritual depression or mental illness must eat and drink well and exercise regularly to promote physical health.
Third, God spoke to Elijah.
Prophet Elijah, who got up and ate and drank and strengthened by that food, walked 40 days and 40 nights and reached Mount Horeb (v. 8). “There he went into a cave and spent the night” (v. 9). When he was in the cave, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (vv. 9, 13) Elijah, who heard the word of the Lord, said to God, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too” (vv. 10, 14). Then God said to Elijah, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by” (v. 11). And He let Elijah to hear “a gentle whisper” (v. 12). I think this is the blessing of the desert. It is the blessing of the desert that God let Elijah to hear the gentle whisper. How can we know it? We know this by looking at Hosea 2:14. When the Israelites used to serve both God and Baal, God disciplined them by leading them to the desert and spoke to them kindly (Hos. 2:14). In this way, God comforts the man whom He loves by leading them to the desert and speaks to them tenderly. God spoke to Elijah, who said “I am the only one left” (1 Kgs. 19:10, 14), with the gentle whisper (v. 12), that “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him” (v. 18). What a great comfort to Elijah. How encouraging was this to know by Elijah, who thought that he was the only one life, that there were 7,000 in Israel whose knees had not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths had not kissed him. When I meditated on this word, I thought again that we needed to go into the desert when we were suffering from spiritual depression or mental illness. We need to go into the desert and stand alone and kneel down in front of God when our minds and bodies are exhausted and when we are in despair. And we must listen to God's gentle whisper in silence. The indwelling Holy Spirit will remind us of the Word of God recorded in the Bible, and make us realize it and hold onto it in confidence. We must not only hold on to the Word of God by faith, but also be help up by that Word. In doing so, we will experience the salvation (healing, deliverance) of God. God will restore and revive our depressed souls with His Word.
I thought about a person with bipolar disorder who is suffering because she cannot control her ups and downs of emotional change. I also thought about the Christians who suffer not only the emotional ups and downs but also the spiritual ups and downs. How hard and painful that is. I am sure it is distressful for us if we start our Christian life with passion and zeal but later on we start to live a religious life because our passion and zeal has cooled down and our hearts is cold. In the case of Prophet Elijah, in 1 Kings 18, he was obedience to the Word of God in faith. He boldly appeared to King Ahab and rebuked him without any fear of death. But in 1 Kings 19, when King Ahab’s wife Queen Jezebel said she would kill him, Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. Prophet Elijah, who confronted and defeated the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings chapter 18 asked God for him to die under the broom tree in 1 Kings 19. How could he be so different? It looks as though he is suffering from spiritual bipolar disorder. To this Elijah, the angel of the Lord came and touched him and provided him food and drink. And God spoke gently to him who entered the desert. God’s gentle whisper restored and revived his soul. I hope and pray that the same restoration and revival will be in our lives as well, especially those who are suffering from their spiritual bipolar disorder.