“After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, ‘Go show
yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.’ “
Finally, things are
starting to move! Between Chapter 17:1 (Elijah informing Ahab that there will be no
rain) and 18:1 (Elijah telling Ahab
that there will be rain) at least
3 years and 6 months (1275 days) had passed, according
to James 5:17,18.
In the meantime
neither God, nor Elijah have been idle. The LORD has been working in Elijah’s life, shaping his character for
kingdom service.
The names of the places where God did this are deeply
suggestive: Kerith (cutting) and Zarephath
(refining) were no waste of time. God
was shaping His servant for greater use.
A.W Pink says that the ”first mark of an approved servant of
Christ is the grace of spiritual
patience and this is developed in the trials of faith (James 1:3)“ [i].
Through God’s providence, His servants
may be kept from public service
until an appointed time. In the meantime they are being prepared to become more fruitful, and once they are made ready by God , they were able to do more in a short time than
any man could do in a long time!
The time has finally
arrived to deal with
Ahab, the apostate king of
Israel, the propagator of Ba’al
worship. The 18th
chapter of 1 Kings must be one of the
greatest chapters in the Old Testament
as we see the LORD acting in
awesome power through His prepared servant, Elijah! Oh the depth of divine timing!
What is at the heart
of this narrative? Why does Ahab need to be confronted through
God’s servant, Elijah? The heart of the problem
is idolatry. Idolatry is the
replacement of the One, True, Sovereign
God and Creator of the Universe, for
fictitious gods that the sinful and deviant, demonic heart of
man has created. In this case the worship of YAHWEH was replaced by the
worship of Ba’al [ii]. In
Ch 16:31 we saw that
Jezebel, the wife of Ahab imported
this fake god from her home territory in Phoenicia , and she made sure that
the true prophets of YAHWEH were systematically hunted down and killed (18:4).
The time had come
to act!
It is not as if God had been
silent during this time! YAHWEH had
spoken in the drought! By this YAHWEH
had directly challenged
this Ba’al cult. Ba’al worship
was primarily a fertility cult. Ba’al
was supposed to give rain
and therefore harvests and
therefore fertility! Now YAHWEH, by withholding rain at the word of
Elijah (17:1) was showing everybody who
was truly in charge! YAHWEH was
shaming the impotence of this
Phoenician non -god. Elijah’s later
contest with the
400 prophets of Ba’al in 18:20ff is merely the cherry on the top- the logical
conclusion of this saga! So, the 18th chapter is the story of a show down, a contest between
YAHWEH, the only true God and Ba’al
the currently popular, but false and fake god, whom the human heart has conceived. That is where we are heading
in v. 20, but before we get there (next week D.V.) we will
have to consider the first 19 verses. Here is a simple outline of the order of events in
18:1-19
Vv. 3-6 Ahab and Obadiah
Vv. 7-15
Obadiah and Elijah
Vv.16-19 Ahab and
Elijah
Vv. 3-6 Ahab
and Obadiah
The famine was
severe in Samaria (v.2) …. And
Ahab said to Obadiah:
Go through the land to all the
springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass…” (v.5)
You already know the reason for
the famine : God is judging the sin of
idolatry in Israel! But that is not the
way Ahab sees it. Here is not a
single word about God as Ahab
makes plans about finding grazing for the animals. That is typical of God-less
people. They think of drought as a freak of nature. Today,we blame the so
called El Niño effect for this. This is a little understood, complex weather pattern associated with ocean
temperatures in the Pacific ocean.[iii] Modern man refuses to see God behind the weather. We prefer a
vague science!
A surprising fact emerges here. In a footnote (18:3) we learn that Obadiah, a trusted servant of
Ahab, is a believer! While he serves Ahab, he also hides a 100
prophets of YAHWEH and secretly
provides for them. D.R. Davies observes[iv]:
“ Obadiah saves prophets . Ahab wants to
save mules and horses. That is typical
of kings and governments: the economy is everything.” It is amazing to find faithful servants even where Satan’s throne is (Rev 2:13).
Vv. 7-15 Obadiah
and Elijah
“And as Obadiah was on the way, behold , Elijah met him. And
Obadiah recognized him…” (v.7). In my reading this past week I have come
across a commentator who sees
Obadiah as a compromiser, accusing him
of serving Ahab on the one hand,
whilst serving God in another. I see however no such
judgment cast upon Obadiah in
the Scriptures. Has God not used His
people in such circumstances? Think of Joseph and Daniel.
They had
pagan bosses , but they never compromised; on the contrary, they served God with distinction, whilst also honouring and serving their unbelieving masters with integrity! God’s saints
are often found in very unlikely places
(Caesar’s household - cf. Phi.l
4:22).
Elijah promptly
informs Obadiah: "Go, tell your lord , Elijah is here!” Obadiah, though he may be delighted to see Elijah, clearly doesn’t fancy being the messenger
of such news, since he knows how Ahab
and Jezebel felt about
the prophets of the Lord. They have
been conducting a ruthless genocide of prophets in the land. (See the extent of this search in v.10!) Obadiah responds, “ I am glad to see you , but surely , you cannot be serious in making such a request! Just now I report
to Ahab , that I have seen you , and then
the Spirit of the Lord carries who
knows where (v.11) and then Ahab
will say to me, “ Why did you not kill
him?” , and if I have no answer he will kill me!” (v.12) You see Obadiah’s dilemma, don’t you? He’s not ready to die for such an announcement. Elijah
calms him down by assuring him, “As
the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today. So Obadiah went to meet
Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah " (vv. 15,16)
Vv. 16-19 Elijah and
Ahab
Chapter 17:1 and Chapter 18:1
are now almost connected. The
rain issue is almost solved. It will
rain again – at the Word of the Lord,
and Ba’al will have nothing to do with this. But before this there is other
work to do. Ahab must be challenged.
The story continues: “When
Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” (v.17) A.W. Pink comments : “The
very fact that the prophet was seeking him out… must have rendered the king
uneasy. Wicked men are generally great cowards: their own consciences are their
accusers, and often cause them many misgivings, when in the presence of God’s
faithful servants,even though these occupy an inferior position in life to
themselves. Thus it was with King Herod in connection with Christ’s forerunner,
for we are told, "Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an
holy" (Mark 6:20). In like manner, Felix, the Roman governor, trembled
before Paul (though he was his prisoner) when the apostle "reasoned of
righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come" (Acts 24:25). Let not the
ministers of Christ hesitate boldly to deliver their message, nor be afraid of
the displeasure of the most influential in their congregations.”
So, Ahab’s opening statement is very telling : “ Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” (v.17) Pink says: “This is
not to be regarded as an unmeasured outburst, …. It was the avowed antagonism
between evil and good: it was the hissing of the Serpent’s seed against one of
the members of Christ: it was the vented spite of one who felt condemned by the
very presence of the righteous. Years later, speaking of another devoted
servant of God, whose counsel was demanded by Jehoshaphat, this same Ahab said,
"I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil,"
(22:8). So far, then, from this charge of Ahab’s making against the character
and mission of Elijah, it was a tribute to his integrity, for there is no
higher testimony to the fidelity of God’s servants than their evoking of
the hatred of the Ahabs around them.[v]
Ahab knew that Elijah had something to do with this drought.
It was after all Elijah who told Ahab that there would be a long drought
(17:1) and in that sense he considered him the troubler of Israel. His animals
were dying of hunger. He wasn’t worried
about sin! Elijah immediately sets the
record straight by reminding Ahab: “I have not troubled Israel, but you have ,
and your father’s house, because you
have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Ba’als”
(v.18). Elijah did not cringe before this king, although
this king was on a mission of exterminating him and the true prophets from the land. BUT Elijah had
come from the presence of the Almighty King,
conscious of His immense power to judge and strike this little kinglet dead .
He would in fact be dead in a short while!
(22:29ff). Elijah, in the Name of God Almighty charges Ahab of
trouble and treason … you have troubled Israel … you have abandoned the
commandments of the LORD! This wretched king and his family were the leaders in
rebellion against God, and the people of Israel
had blindly followed. Here was the true cause of the distress in the land.
They were the disturbers of its peace.
A CHALLENGE
“Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount
Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal,
and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat
at Jezebel’s table“ (v.19) . Behold
the boldness of the prophet! Man alone
he charges Ahab with crimes
against God and the kingdom of
God. Man alone he give Ahab
instructions, telling him what to
do … gather all the people of Israel …
gather all the prophets. This was of course a unique situation. It does
not necessarily give us a precedent to
challenge the cults around us in a
similar fashion! But in this unique instance Elijah was endowed with extraordinary authority, and yet it was
not ultimately Elijah’s authority.This
was the announcement of a contest between Yahweh and Ba’al on Mt Carmel, and
God was going to show Himself mighty through
Elijah!
APPLICATION
God is not mocked : Judgment may not come in a hurry, but it is
certain. Israel, chosen for holy purposes would not get away with this idolatry.
God has declared Himself to be a jealous
God. Christians have no reason to
believe that God thinks otherwise of
them. Flirting with the world and with
idolatry is dangerous to your
spiritual future.
God is merciful: He sends his Elijahs, His
servants to warn His enemies and
to call them to repentance before He
executes His justice. Modern Christians need to know that Christ is the last Word
of God. He is God’s beloved
Son. He is your only hope, your only
Redeemer. Look no further. Listen to Him! Forsake your sin. Trust in Him.
God’s called
servants may have different ways of working: Elijah’s
ministry is public and confrontational; Obadiah’s ministry is quiet and behind the scenes.
Elijah is not God’s only faithful servant. 1 Corinthians 12 describes a multitude of gifts operational in
the church to the glory of God. All are
important
It will be good to pray
for people who in the Name and authority of God
will boldly challenge our present
day Ahab’s and systems of Baal. But let us remember what it took to get Elijah
to this point. He was pruned and refined by God for
this work. He was not a heartless, callous, ‘in your face’ guy. He was
a lump of clay shaped for God’s purpose – bold, courageous and not afraid - as long as he stood before the LORD.
God will put all His enemies under His feet. This account is illustrative of the fact
that Jesus shall
triumph and reign over all His
enemies. All the evil people and systems
of the world, though intimidating to us when faced without God’s perspective, shall be forced to bow
the knee. We shall see this powerfully illustrated in v 20ff.
[ii] Wikipedia: "Baʿal" can
refer to any god and even to human officials. In some texts it is used for Hadad, a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and
agriculture, and the lord of Heaven.
Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name, Hadad, Ba‛al was commonly used. Nevertheless, few if any Biblical uses of "Baʿal"
refer to Hadad, the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven,
but rather refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called baʿal and
regarded in the Hebrew Bible
in that context as a "false god".The Baal cult provided the greatest and
most enduring threat to the exclusive worship of Yahweh among ancient
Israelites
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