“And the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.’”
(1 Kings 19:15-16)
Elijah had witnessed God’s supernatural intervention when the ravens fed him. The flour and oil were not spent, the widow’s son was raised from the dead and a totally drenched sacrifice was burned up by heavenly fire. So, when God was going to meet him, Elijah probably expected some dramatic natural phenomenon.
And indeed, God sent a great wind, an earthquake and a fire, but the Lord was not in any of these. He came in “the sound of a low whisper”.
Maybe this was God’s way to show Elijah that He can work in different ways. During Elijah’s life, God had shown his power supernaturally.
Now it was time to appoint a new prophet and two kings, under whose reign the people’s worship of Baal would receive the final blow. Not through God’s supernatural intervention, but through normal human policies. God’s influence would be hardly visible to natural eyes, but just as powerful as it had been in Elijah’s day.
All through the Bible, we read how God can use both natural and supernatural means to accomplish his will. Can you list more examples of both?