Shayla: In 1 Kings 18:46, did the Lord give Elijah the power to outrun a chariot and horse?

Midrash:

1 Kings 18:46 HCSB The power of the LORD was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

A good midrash pays as much attention to what was NOT said as to what WAS said. For instance, though it does say that “the power of the LORD was on Elijah”, it doesn’t necessarily say that that power was used to outrun the chariot and horse. Remember that in the context, Elijah had been bowed to the ground with his head between his knees, praying that the Lord would let it rain again and had his prayer miraculously answered. Prior to THAT, he’d called fire down from heaven! So “the power of the LORD was” very much on Elijah, but not necessarily being used to outrun a horse.

For another instance, it doesn’t actually say “Elijah outran the horse”. It says “ruwt pani’im ‘Ach’ab” Elijah “ran ahead of Ahab.” The word pani’im (Strong’s #6440) connotes that he remained before Ahab the whole time, that he was literally “before the face of Ahab” all the way to Jezreel.

There are a few things to keep in mind. First, the passage doesn’t say the horse was running. Second, remember that there no paved roads and they were descending Mount Carmel so the road was winding and rocky. Third, it was customary for kings to have runners go before them. Fourth, Elijah was from Gilead (East of the Jordan River, South of the Jabbok River, North-east of the Dead Sea), where Bedouins lived. Bedouins were famous for their running ability, much like the Ethiopians are for producing world-class Marathon runners. The distance from Mount Carmel to Jezreel was about seventeen miles, about 9 miles short of a marathon. So the run was quite a feat no matter the pace!

You may wonder at Elijah’s hurry to get to Jezreel before the rains. They had to pass through the valley of Esdraelon which was subject to flash flooding and turning into a mass of black mud as Sisera and Jabin discovered to their dismay (Judges 4:7, 13, 15; 5:21). The mud got so bad that Sisera lost his whole army and had to descend off his chariot to be able to run away through the muck! Ahab’s chariot would have suffered the same fate had he not heeded the prophet’s advice.

By the way, there is an excellent lesson in humility here. After accurately predicting the downfall of Ahab’s kingdom, calling fire down from heaven and miraculously ending a drought that he had initiated, Elijah took the humble position of a runner before the king. Ahab on the other hand had a great man of God before him and never bothered to invite him into his chariot as the Ethiopian eunuch did for Philip. Ahab went on to self-destruct. Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind.