Elijah Wins and Runs

Welcome

Elijah is a prophet who God worked through to bring the people of Israel back to him. Elijah announces to the King of Israel, Ahab, that there is going to be a drought because of how they have turned away from God and worshipped other gods. During this drought God provides water to Elijah through a small brook and has ravens bring him bread and meat to eat. Elijah also stays with a widow and her son who have almost no food left, but God never allows the flour and oil to run out and they have food every day. Then, the son eventually dies, and God raises him back to life. Elijah’s story continues though, and we see him confront the idol worship in the nation as well as deal with his own doubts and fears.

Prayer

Obadiah

1 Kings 18:1–15 NIV

1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) 5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.” 6 So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another. 7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” 8 “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ” 9 “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ 12 I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. 13 Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!” 15 Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”

We find out just how long this drought has been going on for at the beginning of chapter 18. We are told that in the third year God sends Elijah to go meet with Ahab, who is the king of Northern Israel. Three years they have been in this drought. Now, something we didn’t touch on last week, but is worth noting here, is what the people believed about Baal, this false god that Ahab has been leading them to worship. They believed that Baal was the most powerful god and that he was the one who ultimately was able to produce crops. Baal was thought of as the storm god, the one who provided rain for crops. He was often depicted as holding a lightning bolt.

So you see, when God causes a drought to come upon the land, God is directly confronting their belief in Baal. If Baal is this mighty god who causes it to rain and produce crops, where has he been the last three years?

God instructs Elijah to go confront Ahab and as Elijah is heading that way, he comes across a man named Obadiah. Obadiah was a palace administrator, someone who worked closely with Ahab. We would think this is bad news for Elijah. But we learn something interesting about Obadiah. Obadiah has remained committed to God throughout this whole time. Even though he has been working for Ahab, he has been secretly protecting other prophets of God. The author of 1 Kings tells us that Obadiah was a devout believer in Yahweh. So during a 3 year drought, Obadiah has tucked away 100 prophets and has somehow been able to keep them fed and provide water for them. Our passage doesn’t give us details on how this was happening, but I would have to think that God was involved in that provision.

Elijah tells Obadiah to bring Ahab to him but Obadiah is scared to do so. He thinks he will go tell Ahab and God will take Elijah somewhere else, resulting in his death. Obadiah to me, is a very relatable person in this passage. He has remained committed to God despite his position with Ahab, even putting himself at risk by protecting other believers, but here he still voices fear over dying. To me, Obadiah is an example of someone living for the Lord but still has struggles and doubts. And you know what, that’s okay! I think some might look at Obadiah harshly because of his response to Elijah, but I like to focus on the positive. He was doing a great act of mercy and love towards other believers who were in danger.

I believe that Obadiah serves as an illustration for us. Obadiah was faithfully serving God in the position he was in. Likewise, we don’t have to work at a church or some kind of ministry to faithfully serve God. We can serve God in whatever position God has placed us in. There are opportunities to minister to people, to demonstrate the love of God to them, just as Obadiah was doing in his position.

Elijah assures Obadiah that he will not leave and will meet with Ahab, and so Obadiah goes back to Ahab.

(This next section is a bit long, but it is very interesting!)

Yahweh and Baal

1 Kings 18:16–40 NIV

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” 25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” 34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” 40 Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

As this showdown is about to begin and all the people are gathered there, Elijah asks them all this question.

“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

Elijah is directly calling them out for their idol worship and for their decisions to worship Baal. Apparently they can’t really decide who is actually God. The term that we would use now is that most of the people of northern Israel were “sitting on the fence.” To sit on the fence means you won’t make a decision. You’re not really sure what side to pick and so you don’t really pick a side.

Notice then how the people respond.

“And the people said nothing.”

Even when they are being called out, they don’t have anything to say. And so Elijah begins this whole process of trying to get the people to realize who is really God here. The one who burns up their offering with fire is the real god.

Everyone agrees that this sounds like a good plan and the prophets of Baal begin. They call on Baal all morning and get no response. They dance all around the altar. Still nothing. This is when Elijah begins to taunt them. Shout louder! Maybe he’s asleep! Is he traveling somewhere? The prophets of Baal shout louder and eventually begin to do some things to get Baals attention that demonstrate what kind of god they thought Baal was. They start to cut themselves and pour out their blood to try to get his attention. This kind of points us to why God is going to deal with these prophets so harshly. People would cut themselves as part of their worship to Baal and beyond that, they would participate in human sacrifice to Baal.

Jeremiah 19:5 “5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.”

They were not sacrificing willing adults who worshipped Baal, they were offering their children as sacrifices. This is the kind of evil that Baal worship contained. I think it’s important that we keep that in mind for later on!

But they get no response and so Elijah begins his part of this duel. He has them make the altar in a way that points them back to the 12 tribes that were from Jacob and then he has them dump all kinds of water over the offering. Elijah really wants the people to see, that when this fire starts, it is God who starts it.

1 Kings 18:36–39 NIV

36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

Why did God orchestrate this elaborate show? Why go through all of this? So that the people who know that Yahweh is God and that he desires for them to turn back to him.

Application

Please see the beauty of God. God is attempting to draw the people back into a covenant relationship with him. God says that he is turning the hearts of the people back to him. This whole show is to see the Lord as God who wants his people back because he desires a relationship with them. In fact, the event looks like a burnt offering as a bull is put on the altar and completely consumed by the Lord. God is making atonement for his people. Further, they are on Mount Carmel for the fire of the Lord to come down on, which is like when God did this on Mount Sinai during the exodus. God is turning the hearts of the people back to himself, making atonement for the people, and renewing the covenant on the mount because he does not want to destroy his people but wants them all to come to repentance. The repairing of the Lord’s altar pictures this. God is repairing the relationship with his people.

Action

God desires to repair the relationship with his people so much that eventually he will send Jesus to be the perfect offering for sin. God desires to have a relationship with you so much that he has done the work needed to repair that relationship.

All that is up to us, is what side of the fence are we on? Believe that God is God, and follow him with your entire heart.

Prayer