Elijah, and his disciple, Elisha were active in the Northern Kingdom approximately a century after it had broken off with the Southern Kingdom, following the death of King Solomon. Both brought YHVH's word to the people of Israel during a period when the Ten Tribes were physically barred from traveling to the (First) Temple in Jerusalem.

Elijah worked alone to establish YHVH's Will in the Northern kingdom of Israel. This was very difficult, since the kingdom of Israel was under Ahab, who not only followed in the evil steps of his predecessor kings, but also married the Phoenician Princess, Jezebel, and imposed her idolatrous Baal worship on the people of his kingdom.

YHVH wanted to teach Elijah a lesson. He told him to stand on a mountain before Him. Elijah experienced a hurricane, an earthquake and a fire, but YHVH was not in them. Only afterwards, did he actually experience YHVH in the form of the 'voice of silence' - the 'still small voice'. The lesson may be seen to teach that a zealous messenger of YHVH must not present YHVH's Word in wrath and fury, but quietly, diplomatically and meaningfully, thus creating the right atmosphere.

The first part of Elijah's story parallels Jonah's going away from the city of Nineveh, after the people of that city had repented.

Elijah fled from the murderous Jezebel's reach into the Southern Kingdom of Judah and beyond, to Mount Horeb (Sinai). Tired and alone, he sat under the 'rotem' ~ juniper tree, and asked YHVH to take his life. He then fell asleep and an angel from YHVH came to feed him with baked cakes and a jar of water, which gave him the strength to continue for forty days to the 'mountain of Elohim at Horeb'. (I Kings 19:6-8)

Both men displayed great zeal for YHVH.

Elijah openly rebelled against the idolatrous Ahab and Jezebel, proving his point by sending forces to execute the priests of Baal on the banks of the Kishon River as soon as the conditions were right. (I Kings 18:40) Whereupon Jezebel made it clear that she issued a warrant on Elijah himself, for arrest and execution. (I Kings 19:2)

Jonah had also been zealous, but in a different way.

Reluctantly, he finally carried out YHVH's command to preach to the people of Nineveh, but he seemed to have been rather disappointed by his own success. (Jonah 4:1) The reason for his discontent is not clear in the text. In his zeal, Jonah may have felt let down - the people of Nineveh had repented, but not to the degree of renouncing idolatry. As a prophet, he felt aggrieved that the people of Nineveh - the capital of the Assyrian Empire - would, in the future, grow into a force large enough to impose their will on the entire region, and carry the Northern Kingdom of Israel into exile in the process. Though the Israelites deserved it, Jonah, in his zeal, was offended that YHVH should be lenient on Nineveh and make that idolatrous culture His means of exiling the Ten Tribes.

Both, Elijah and Jonah, showed great zeal. Both suffered the sun beating down on them in their travels, and both wished to die. But YHVH treated them differently. He sent relief to Elijah - in the form of an angel, who supplied him with food, giving him the strength to continue for forty days to Mount Sinai, while Jonah seems to have been treated less generously. Jonah's conditions did not improve; rather, they became worse. YHVH not only did not send him an angel with food ~ He took his shade away from him, and instead, taught him a lesson, to illustrate His concern for all men, including those who 'did not know their right hand from their left' - meaning, people who could not distinguish between service of YHVH and their idolatrous beliefs.

Why did YHVH respond more generously to Elijah's display of zeal than to Jonah's?

Thus YHVH showed His approval for Elijah's enthusiasm by initially rewarding him with His hospitality - in the form of food - to sustain him for forty days in the wilderness. Although Elijah's zeal was appropriate, it displeased YHVH, who later, through His 'still small voice' at Mount Sinai, showed him 'a better way'. (I Kings 19:12)

When YHVH has to get our attention with His still, small voice - a sound we can only hear if we are listening - it means that our trial with the Fire from Heaven was based on error. Elijah showed the prophets of Baal that YHVH was the Greater Power but that was not the same as showing them YHVH. That Elohim is a power is a pagan thought. YHVH will never impose Himself on man. To the contrary, He created space for His children to grow. He Is always there, but only when we seek Him we can know that. His Word is ever present, but only if we listen we can hear it, otherwise we cannot hear Him at all.

Jonah's distress at YHVH's acceptance of Nineveh's half measured repentance was a less praiseworthy form of zeal. His prophetic revelation that YHVH accepted their repentance and did not carry out His decree against them (Jonah 3:10) should have been the end of the matter. But Jonah went one step further than Elijah, and that was his undoing. He wanted to impose his personal standards of repentance on the people of Nineveh, rather than allowing YHVH to teach them His Standard. In doing so, Jonah's passion took him outside of YHVH's plan and expectations for Nineveh. Thus YHVH's 'inhospitality' towards him was a strong hint of His disapproval, and a prelude to His final message conveying His satisfaction at the spiritual progress of the people of Nineveh even though it did not come up to the standard expected from His Chosen People ~ Israel.