A reflection from Elijah incident, is depression a kind of illness the Lord won't intent to intervene?

Question

Elijah appeared to suffer from depression as he fleed from Jezebel.

1 Kings 19

3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.... 4 ...He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 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.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn 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.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn 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.”

Elijah's emotional state was clearly troubled. He appeared inattentive when the angel spoke to him, and when God communicated with him, he repeated his answer twice, a behavior reminiscent of depression. God's remedy for Elijah's condition seemed to be granting him an early retirement, with Elisha chosen as his successor (1 Kings 19:16).

In the New Testament, some mental illnesses were seemingly cured by driving out demons from afflicted individuals. What insight might we draw from the story of Elijah in relation to this?

Answer 1

As best as I can determine, depression is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible in the modern sense of the word. However, anxiety and a crushed spirit are often mentioned, for example, 1 Peter 5:7. Several well-known Bible characters appear to have suffered from depression so severely that they were suicidal.

• Saul: 1 Sam 16:14-16
• David: Ps 38:4, 42:5, 6, 11 (see also Acts 13:22)
• Elijah: 1 Kings 19:4
• Jonah: Jonah 4:3, 9
• Job: Job 3:11, 26, 10:1, 30:15-17
• Moses: Ex 32:32
• Jeremiah: Jer 20:14, 18
• Paul: 2 Cor 1:8-10

We should pause to note that while a variety of things lead up to each of these depressive and suicidal episodes, the final ideas about suicide are always triggered by a loss of hope. People feel overwhelmed, crushed and at a complete loss; but in the end, each results in a loss of hope.

There are several very important things to note about these honest records about Bible heroes including Jesus Himself! Even Godly people suffer from bad thoughts and, at times, become suicidal! Some were even angry with God and were not rebuked for this.

The cure for depression always involves getting help to restore hope by dealing with whatever has caused the loss of hope. Such causes are numerous and diverse such as overwork, delusions of grandeur, exhaustion, chronic sickness and/or pain, abuse (whether sexual, pharmacological, emotional, or financial, etc), acute disappointment, biochemical imbalance, poor diet, lack of exercise, etc, etc. For some this will require professional (medical) help to treat the underlying cause. For Christians this will also involve the three great virtues of Faith, Hope and Love (1 Cor 13:13). The order is important. It is our faith that enables a trust in Christ our Great Hope (1 Tim 1:1) who always encourages us to love others.

In all the cases listed above, each person found comfort in the Lord and His promises, but the cure involved several other things as well.

• David often needed to confess (Ps 38, 51) to relieve guilt.
• Elijah needed rest and food and the comfort of an angel of heaven (1 Kings 19:5, 7) followed by a job to get his mind off himself (1 Kings 19:15-18)
• Jonah needed to be re-acquainted with grace (Jonah 4:9-11)
• Job needed a sense of proportion (Job 38-42)
• Moses needed to understand that he could not take responsibility for others’ problems and needed to learn to delegate (he was overly compassionate??) (Ex 32:33-35)
• Jeremiah needed a listening ear and the Lord was the only one left to provide this. That is Jeremiah turned to the Lord and complained! (Jer 20:7-17)
• Jesus also found comfort in prayer (Ps 34:18) but in His extreme case, He was also comforted by an angel from heaven (Luke 22:43)
• Paul took comfort in the resurrection and the support from the prayers of his friends (2 Cor 1:9-11)

Thus, each person’s need was met in a different way; but all involved receiving help from outside the person in order to restore hope.

Therefore, I agree that Elijah was so exhausted and felt threatened by Jezebel and thus became hopeless. He needed help and received divine help!