Elijah’s journey south was a profound moment of grief, defeat and despair. His massive victory over the prophets of Baal only led to his life being threatened by the most powerful figure in Israel at the time. He flees south to wallow in grief and wait for death to come, but what he finds when he arrives in that wilderness is God himself, who declares that HE is finished neither with Elijah, nor with Israel. Elijah hears the voice of God calling him to press onward.