Undecided

1 Kings 18:1–21 NASB95

Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.” So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly; for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.) Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself. Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is this you, Elijah my master?” He said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’ ” He said, “What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death? “As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. “And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here.” ’ “It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. “Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? “And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here” ’; he will then kill me.” Elijah said, “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. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals. “Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.

INTRO: Do you ever feel stuck between two choices? Sometimes people are very clear on where they stand. For instance, some of you are very proud and clear about your political allegiances. Some of you are very proud and clear about your favorite college ball team. Some of you are very proud and clear about your commitment to hunting or fishing or other hobbies.

What makes your stance clear is your actions. You talk about your political position.. you have bumper stickers and yard signs. You have t-shirts and car tags with your college mascot on them. You schedule time to be on the boat or in the tree stand.

But, other subjects lack that kind of clarity. Now, to be sure, that’s not always a bad thing… chocolate cake or cobbler? Blue jeans or khakis? Ford or Chevy? But it becomes a problem when the subject is our relationship with and allegiance to God. You see, many people are fine to identify as Christians, but fewer are willing to act in such a way that it is clear where they stand.

This is the case with a number of liberal churches who have compromised the clear teaching of Scripture when societal pressure is levied against them. Indeed, when it comes to our ever-secularizing world, Christians are often caught in the middle.

Today, as we continue to follow Elijah, we are going to see a similar circumstance. And, because we are looking at a narrative, we must first grasp the big picture before we dial into the pieces that will help inform our study and application.

Chapter 18 opens with Elijah receiving God’s word telling him that the waiting period has come to an end. Now, it was time to face King Ahab, for God was going to bring relief to a hurting people. Therefore, Elijah leaves the widow and heads to Samaria. It has been close to 3 years, and the effects of the drought were severe.

Elijah happens upon Obadiah, and thus sends him to fetch Ahab so that this ordeal can be brought to an end. Remember, Elijah told Ahab that the drought would only end upon his own words declaring so (17:1). When Ahab sees Elijah, the two exchange accusations and then Elijah calls for an audience. This audience would include: The men of Israel (we assume a representative group), 400 prophets of Baal, and 450 prophets of Asherah.

You can picture this being set up like a contest between Elijah and these false prophets, with all Israel present as witnesses. This was bigger than the Super Bowl!

We will not delve into the contest this week... that will have to wait til next Sunday. Today, we have a front row seat to the unfolding of this contest. Not only are we witnesses, but also it is required of us that we too respond to that which we see and hear in this account.

So, having laid out the road map, let us dive into the details. With each point, we will look at how we apply God’s Word to our lives. If you picked up a bulletin, you may use the sermon guide as you follow along. The sermon is titled, “Undecided”. Let us learn together.

Our first piece of this puzzling encounter is

A Misguided Monarch

When we see Ahab here, we see a king who is going every way but the right way.

ILL: A friend of mine shared a video of a hunting dog that was trained to track deer. The problem with this particular dog, was that it seemed to be oblivious to a deer that was no more than 10 feet away from the dog. The dog was a bit misguided.

King Ahab, if you remember, was the most evil king the nation of Israel had ever had. He rejected Yahweh. A couple weeks ago, we looked at how his wickedness prompted a judgment by God, which was announced by the mouth of Elijah. Now, you’d think that 3 years into this judgment, ‘ol Ahab would have figured out that maybe Yahweh was serious.

But instead, he seemed oblivious. Instead of asking, “How might I correct or atone for my actions?”, he doubled down. Let me explain:

Not only had he raised altars to false gods, now at the request of his bride, Jezebel, there was an attack upon any man who preached or proclaimed Yahweh as God. (18:4, 13)

Ahab and Jezebel were being discredited by the situation. Their god, Baal, was not providing. But, they couldn’t very well have people out there saying stuff that did not align with their narrative. So, they censured them… permanently.

*NOTE* - Jesus talked about this too. The world will hate us who follow Him and speak truth because the world hated Him first. Or, in another statement, Men love darkness rather than light.

Even as the drought had brought severe famine, Ahab was more focused on saving his livestock than leading the people of Israel. (18:5-6)

His best idea was to take one other man and walk around the country trying to find grass… I say it’s too bad he didn’t have some sort of weather balloon that he could have sent out to survey this land…(too soon?)

In times of crisis, leaders need to cast vision and unify the people towards a solution. It seems like Ahab was simply looking out for himself.

Further, Ahab spent enormous efforts to find Elijah (18:10). He probably believed that Elijah had made Baal, the sky-god mad, and thus he withheld rain. In Ahab’s mind, the only way to rectify the drought was to capture and execute Elijah.

So it’s no surprise that when Ahab saw Elijah, he accused him of being the one who brought all this calamity upon Israel. (18:17)

It’s as if Ahab truly cannot see reality. Perhaps he has been so long listening to the voice of lies, that he cannot discern the truth.

Needless to say, Ahab was missing the whole point. No worries, though- there is clarification coming. In the meantime, we have one very misguided monarch.

Discuss: Do you ever blame others for the consequences of your actions? What does this behavior reveal?

The next piece of the story is a new character, we’ll call him

A Silent Supporter

His name is Obadiah. Now, there are several folks in the OT who carry this name, and even as have a book bearing the name Obadiah among the minor prophets, we have no reason to believe this is the same chap. Obadiah has a literal meaning in the Hebrew language. If you remember a couple weeks ago, we learned that Elijah is translated literally “Yahweh is my God”. Obadiah, however, is translated “Servant of Yahweh” (Some of you are re-thinking the baby names you picked out, huh?)

Obadiah is an official in Ahab’s court (18:3)- in fact, he’s Ahab’s right-hand man. But, he is also a follower of Yahweh.

He shows us that you can serve a wicked king or boss, and still maintain integrity in your walk with God.

Daniel had a similar type role - Though this was not a foreign nation like Babylon, there was still the fact that the king was an idolater.

Obadiah was not an outspoken man of God… if he were, he likely would not be in this story because he would have been killed with some of the others who were more vocal. But, he was a man of action. In fact, he managed to sneak 100 of these prophets out of the city and into the mountains where he hid them in 2 caves and made sure to provide food & drink to them daily. (18:4, 13)

This was a major feat! I wonder how many folks read of Obadiah’s work and were inspired to hide the Jews in Nazi Germany or to liberate slaves in the civil war era of the United States. Truly, silent supporters are instrumental in the work that God is doing in areas like China and Iran where Christianity is illegal. The church needs both Elijahs and Obadiahs!!

But, nevertheless Obadiah was troubled when he saw Elijah. Here, his faith would be stretched once more. He is asked to summon Ahab to meet Elijah. Obadiah feared that Elijah would be swept away again and that Ahab would rage against Obadiah. Yet, it was his faith in God that strengthened him to carry out this task.

Obadiah was situated in a key position in order to be an instrument of God that saved the lives of 100 men. He was not the loud proclaimer of God’s Word, but rather the silent, behind-the-scenes, less talk -more action kinda guy. Just because God didn’t use him in the same way as he used Elijah, his role was no less significant.

Some of you are here this morning, and the thought of standing before a group of people and teaching or leading is either terrifying or repulsive. That’s ok. God will use you the way He gifted you, just like Obadiah.

And so, we see 2 men who did have a clear side. Ahab, the misguided monarch, was clearly against Yahweh. Obadiah, the silent supporter, was clearly for Yahweh. This was not true, however of the larger population. That brings us to the final piece of today’s focus,

Discuss: How can we serve God in an increasingly sinful culture?

A Public Challenge

Elijah requests for all the prophets of the false gods- both of Baal and the Asherah, as well as all the men of Israel to be brought to Mount Carmel. It’s strange to me that Ahab complied with this request. However, I believe that Ahab thought this would play to his advantage. After all, what political figure would pass on the opportunity to have a captive audience where they think they might get to garner some support? Ahab probably thought he would be heralded as a hero in front of the very folks who were disenchanted with him.

Let’s look at the dynamics of the crowd:

400 Prophets of Baal, 450 Prophets of Asherah = 850 false prophets who stand decidedly on the side of Ahab, against the God of the Bible, Yahweh.

On the other hand, you have Elijah. That’s 850 to 1.

Standing as an audience or perhaps witnesses were all the men of Israel. Now, these folks were the undecided. They were of the tradition of Yahweh- after all Israel had a rich heritage of being God’s people. But, the culture was changing. Yahweh worship was not popular or socially advantageous as it had once been. So, they were, as Elijah said, ‘dancing back and forth in their devotion’

ILL: We can describe it as an unfaithful marriage partner who is unwilling to give up their spouse, but who also refuses to give up their adulterating partner.

The reality is you cannot have it both ways! And so Elijah challenges the Israelites to put action behind their devotion.

CHOOSE! Don’t just sit there! Let your action demonstrate your commitment!

But the people said nothing. Their silence condemned them. By not choosing to follow Yahweh, one chooses destruction, for all other gods are counterfeits.

Here’s the thing, that same challenge lies before the church today. How long will people try to pander to the popular opinion? How long will people attempt to masquerade as a Christian on Sundays, and unite in the idolatry of the world on Monday?

Folks, just because an idea is popular or celebrated in our culture, does not make it right. God is not intimidated by a majority opinion.

So, let me appeal to you this morning: If you are trying to live with 1 foot in the church and one foot in the world, you are not accomplishing what you think you are. Our God is holy and will not share His throne.

So, choose. Let your actions demonstrate your commitment. I’ll be down front as we sing and out back as we leave. I’d love to share with you how you can follow Yahweh today.

[Pray]

Discuss: Are you trying to ride the fence when it comes to Christianity? Why is this dangerous?