Abundance of Rain

Fall is the time of the year that lawn companies are encouraging you to aerate your lawn and to do “over-seeding”.

We had that done to our lawn about 5 weeks ago. And, of course, rain was sparse following the process. Dry as a bone.

So every morning I was up early putting the water sprinklers on the lawn. …And… we had to do it again in the evenings. Thankfully, Alex helped me quite a bit with that.

Finally, in about the 4 weeks they predicted my seed began to sprout. Some of the bare spots in my yard had grass once again.

As I sat preparing this message, I watched the rain pouring down outside my office window.

I love listening to the rain. The sound is so soothing. Rain is calming. More importantly, rain is life-giving.

Liquid water is one of the qualifications for a planet to be able to support life.

However, sometimes, like this past September... the skies become stingy with the rain.

I have lived through droughts. But nothing devastating.

Several weeks even a few months with limited rainfall. But nothing life threatening.

Tonight, we are going to look at a drought in the Bible that lasted 3 years.

Not 3 years of limited rainfall. 3 years of NO rain.

I can’t imagine what it must been like in Israel during the drought that Elijah prophesied.

I am sure that Elijah took no comfort in telling King Ahab that it would not rain for 3 years.

Elijah’s crops, and livestock, and… family would suffer just like everyone else’s.

As much as I like listening to falling rain... I can’t imagine how it must have sounded to Elijah when he announced:

I HEAR THE SOUND OF ABUNDANCE OF RAIN

But I’m jumping to the end of the story. Let’s back up

Elijah first appears in the Biblical narrative in

1 Kings 17:1 ESV

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

So, why is God turning off the heavenly water faucets?

At the end of chapter 16 we are introduced to King Ahab.

1 Kings 16:30–33 ESV

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Not only did Ahab worship false gods... he led God’s chosen people to do the same.

God does not take it lightly when you cause harm to people.

So the drought begins. and continues… for 3 years… because the people trusted in something other than God.

For the next two years, God arranges for Elijah to be fed and housed.

We have talked about those miraculous provisions on other Sunday night sermons.

So we’re going to skip ahead to the 3rd year.

1 Kings 18:1 ESV

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.”

Now Elijah has been making himself scarce from Ahab’s palace for 2 reasons.

When prophets declared God’s judgment on the people, the evil kings would hold the prophet guilty of the trouble that came. So in King Ahab’s estimation, Elijah is guilty of treason. Subverting the nation by starving the people.

Jezebel. Ahab’s wife. A vile and despicable woman, and the person who motivated Ahab to incite the people to the worship of Baal and Asherah. Jezebel hates God. Jezebel hates the prophets. Jezebel despises Elijah.

She will take ANY opportunity to rid herself of Elijah.

And now God says “go show yourself to Ahab.”

So God orchestrates a “divine appointment” between Elijah and Obadiah in order to get the King to come out to meet with the prophet.

(I’ll let you read that story on your own.)

When Ahab stands before Elijah, he blurts out:

“So, you’re NOT dead.”

Then he calls Elijah a “troublemaker.”

Elijah responds with, “I haven’t caused trouble for Israel. You and your family have. By abandoning God and worshipping Baal.”

Do you know what Elijah DIDN’T say? He didn’t say, “Rain is coming.”

What he said instead was... “I challenge you to a duel.”

{give a synopsis of the challenge on Mt. Carmel.}

1 Kings 18:21 ESV

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

You can say, “Don’t you remember: -God leading your out of Egypt? -The parting of the Red Sea? -The pillar of cloud and pillar of fire? -Manna in the wilderness? -the fall of the walls of Jericho?

And their answer would be... “No. We don’t”

Do you remember YOUR family history from 700 years ago.

And idol worship was rampant throughout the land

And the northern kingdom of Israel has purposefully separated itself from proper temple worship in Jerusalem.

Much like King Henry VIII made himself the head of the church in England, the King of Israel took the lead of worship in the northern Kingdom of Israel.

And as we have said, the king has led them down some pretty dark paths.

So the people decide to just keep their mouths shut, and wait for the outcome.

{Compare to me and the dolphins}

{complete the story}

1 Kings 18:29 ESV

And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

Again there is so much that can be said here, but we’ve got to get to the rain.

But we need to see the result.

Not the failure of Baal to show-up. Not the miraculous fire from heaven, but

the reaction of the people.

1 Kings 18:39 ESV

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”

THAT’S IT! That’s the kicker. That’s what needed to happen. That’s what God is waiting for.

God will not bless the worshipping of idols.

“The rain doesn’t fall, when you’re bowing to a rock.”

What rock are you bowing to?

The rock of your career? The rock of your appearance? The rock of how you identify? The rock of your wealth? The rock of your ability to control?

All of these rocks are…you. If you are bowing to THESE rocks... Then you are worshipping yourself.

That’s pride. That’s what got Satan kicked out of Heaven.

If you are worshipping a false god tonight, that’s going to stop the rain from falling.

Thankfully, the people of Israel “saw the writing on the wall” and.. canceled their memberships to the church of Baal.

At Elijah’s instruction, they chased down and killed the prophets of Baal.

NOW... Elijah says to Ahab:

1 Kings 18:41 ESV

And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.”

or as the New King James says:

Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” 1 Kings 18:41 NKJV

In Elijah’s heart and mind it was a done deal. The people’s hearts were where they needed to be for God to bless them.

The rain… God’s blessings… physical, emotional, spiritual were now available.

But you know what? It still wasn’t raining.

God had spoken it. Elijah had prophesied it.

But nobody... okay you have to give me this one... “nobody backed it up to the cloud.”

So after Elijah sent Ahab off to the Golden Corral, he went back to the top of Mt. Carmel and began to pray.

Verse 22 describes how Elijah positioned himself. The description of how he bowed... The words that were used for his passion in prayer... paint a picture.

A picture of childbirth.

Have you ever prayed for something SO HARD that you are exhausted.

God had already promised the rain. The blockage of idolatry was removed.

But, Elijah still needed to give birth to this miracle.

Elijah prayed. Then sent his servant to look toward the sea.

Nothing.

So he repeated the process.

Nothing.

And again.

Nothing.

Have you ever been where, you have prayed for so long and no answer comes.

You shouldn’t be discouraged. Elijah… ELIJAH, went through it too.

I know it sounds like a cliche, but we do often give up just this side of a miracle.

You might say, “Yeah, but God had already promised rain to Elijah.

Yeah. You’re right.

But what do you need tonight?

Do you need financial provision?

Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

...my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Do you need for God to heal your body?

1 Peter 2:24 ESV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Are you tired?

Matthew 11:28 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Do you need peace?

Psalm 29:11 ESV

May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Six times Elijah prayed and sent his servant to look for rain.

And six times… nothing.

but...

Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”... 1 Kings 18:44 NLT

And soon the sky was black with clouds A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm... 1 Kings 18:45 NLT

What do you say?

Let’s pray, one more time.