Living Alone and Solitude
(Gen. 2:18)

Elijah was a great prophet of Israel. He proved that only the Lord of Israel is God by confronting 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah alone, and killed all prophets. After accomplishing a great thing, he was frightened by the threat of Jezebel who tried to kill him, so he went into the desert. Later, he lost his will to live and desired to die. He became this way because he had no one who can carry his burden with him. God created human beings not to live alone, but to live together.

1. When God created humankind
1) God created man in His own image and likeness. (Gen. 1:27)
2) God made a helper suitable for Adam to live with him. (Gen. 2:18)
3) After God made Adam to fall into a deep sleep, He took one of his ribs and made a woman.
　① Taking a rib, but not head or foot, shows that there must be equal rights and love between a man
　　and woman. A man and woman need to date not with reason, but with love.
　② A man must be a woman’s refuge and fortress. (Eph. 5:25)
4) Human beings as men and women live together. Also, they live with God. (Eccles. 4:9~12)

2. Solitude of the life lived alone
1) Nowadays, there are no neighbors who we can open ourselves up to. In Korea, the number of one-person households exceeded 5 million. Likewise, many people eat and live alone.
2) Chronic loneliness brings various bad effects to our bodies and hearts. It weakens the immune system so people are easily infected with viruses. (Prov. 17:22)

3. Where two or three come together in my name
1) Hostility toward each other was put to death by Jesus. (Eph. 2:16~22)
2) Jesus said, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” When we are with the Lord, we can overcome loneliness. (Matt. 18:20)

Conclusion
Nowadays, there are various electronic devices. So people say that they can live well without their neighbors. However, even though many electronic devices are available, they cannot bring all kinds of emotions like people. Loneliness of mankind can be solved by mankind. In addition, only Jesus who came as a man can solve the problem of loneliness fundamentally.