40 Days and 40 Nights“And the angel
of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him [Elijah], and
said, ‘Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.’
So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that
food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.”
In the 2002 movie 40 Days and 40 Nights, Josh Hartnett is a guy who vows to stay celibate after a brutal breakup during the 40 days of Lent, but finds the girl of his dreams. In the Bible, the number 40 has a very special meaning. The great flood of Noah lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Elijah was not just Touched By an Angel, but was fed with angel food cake and water and went Full Throttle for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses spent so much time in Egypt, 40 years, that he walked like an Egyptian. He then was banished to the desert for another 40 years. The children of Israel wandered for 40 years in the desert before reaching the Promised Land. Elijah and Moses were passionate about their causes. Moses sought to free his people from the yoke of slavery by killing an Egyptian. Elijah, after calling down fire on the evil prophets of Baal, was so drained physically and emotionally that he asked God to take his life. They both were led to the same Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. Horeb in Hebrew means desolation, and this desolate environment mirrored the condition of Moses and Elijah. For Moses, it was 40 years of boredom herding sheep in the desert of Midian. For Elijah, it was 40 days and 40 nights without food. Many of us often become so focused on the goal we forget to meet God at our own Mount Horeb or Sinai. This was the place God met both Moses and Elijah. It was a place of spiritual renewal, a place of new beginnings, a place of Close Encounter of the God Kind. Elijah’s greatest virtue was his zeal. Twice in his communication with God, Elijah speaks of having been very zealous for Him. But unattended and unmitigated zeal eventually becomes its own god for it compels us toward Great Expectations, which are unrealistic, and outside the timing and anointing of God. To remain balanced, zeal must be reined in and harnessed by strategic encounters with God Almighty. Otherwise, we become frustrated with people and discouraged with delays. We step outside our place of strength, favor, blessing and protection. Many of us become so exhausted with the battles of life that we are no longer aware of the presence of God. Instead of traveling in our own strength 2 Fast 2 Furious or watching Charlie’s Angels, we should meditate on the Word of God and learn that intimacy with God and spending time in Horeb, the mountain of His presence, is the greatest measure of success.Copyright © 2003 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved. Subscribe/Unsubscribe: eddyn@earthlink.net
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