Smoke

God’s Power Prevails

Large Group Teaching Summary | In a world where most people rely on brute force, Elijah’s story shows us that true power comes from knowing the God who holds all power.

As Elijah faced off against the prophets of Baal, smoke signaled that God’s power prevailed.

So as we seek to let our hearts be set on fire with God’s power, we need to alter the altar and nail our colors to the mast to choose that we will follow God and God alone.

Key Takeaway | God’s power prevails

Scripture Focus | 1 Kings 18:16-40

What You May Need | Optional Illustration: Feats Of Strength (2 decks of cards) (Personal Story), Optional Illustration: Colors To The Mast (Flag, Board, Hammer, Nails)

Introduction

Welcome to session two of our series we are calling Smoke.

If you weren’t with us last time for session one, we kicked off everything together, agreeing with you that Smoke is kind of a strange name for a series.

Hopefully, if you were with us for session one, you have a good handle on why we are calling this series Smoke and how it ties into the Scriptures we are looking at together.

If you missed session one (or if you zoned out once Ethan started speaking), let me catch you up and get everyone on the same page.

When we read through the Old Testament, we begin to see that the presence of smoke often signals the presence of God.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

And in the Bible, where there’s fire, there’s God.

According to our Scriptures, God actually appeared to His people a surprising number of times in the form of smoke and fire.

The more we dig into the Bible accounts of God interacting with His people, especially in the Old Testament, smoke and fire equal God not only showing up and taking action but also revealing Himself to the people.

We want to encounter God.

So in this series, we’re going to sit by the fire of God’s Word and stare into the smoke together to see how God reveals Himself.

We’re going to follow the smoke signals toward God. And, as we do this, our hearts will be set ablaze for Him.

In session one, we looked at the account of Moses’ encounter with the burning bush.

We learned through this Old Testament account that SMOKE SIGNALS THAT GOD’S PRESENCE IS PRESENT TENSE.

In this burning bush moment, what Moses had heard about and hoped for all his life was in front of him.

He had heard about God in the past, but he hadn’t experienced God lately.

He hoped that God would act in the future.

But now God was here, and in this present-tense moment of God’s presence, awakening happened in Moses’ life.

God had moved out of the future and into Moses’ face.

God had moved out of history and into Moses’ heart.

Through this account of Moses and the burning bush, we walked away from session one, understanding that the same is true for us.

NO MATTER HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN SINCE GOD SHOWED UP IN OUR LIVES, GOD IS STILL LIVING AND ACTIVE.

At any moment, anything can happen because God’s presence is present tense.

And that means awakening can happen in our lives as well.

In this series called Smoke, we’re going to continue to see again and again that AT ANY MOMENT, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.  

And we’re going to continue to discover as we look through these four accounts in Scripture that THE REASON THAT AT ANY MOMENT, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IS BECAUSE OF GOD.

Let’s jump into session two!

Here in session two, we’re going to discover what smoke signals about God’s power, and we’ll discover that power isn’t just brute force.

it was a showdown between Elijah, a prophet of God, and the prophets of a foreign god named Baal.

The prophets of Baal had brute force because they had hundreds more people and far greater resources.

But they didn’t know the one true God.

On the other hand, Elijah had both force and knowledge.

And we’ll see together that BECAUSE ELIJAH KNEW GOD, HE HAD ACCESS TO GOD’S POWER.

Let’s look at the smoke signals in this story to see how God’s power prevailed in this showdown.

Background

The books of the Kings (First Kings and Second Kings) are a tragic tale of Israel’s failure to live as though God’s presence is present tense.

Although God had greatly blessed Israel during the days of David and his son Solomon.

Both the kings of Israel and the people themselves were unfaithful to God.

They worshipped foreign gods and turned their backs on God.

THEY LIVED AS THOUGH GOD WAS A PAST-TENSE PRESENCE.

God brought judgment on Israel because of this unfaithfulness.

First, the kingdom was split into two countries, Israel and Judah.

As we follow the nation of Israel, we soon come to a king named Ahab, who was among the worst in Israel’s history.

He married a foreign woman named Jezebel and allowed her to institute the worship of Baal in the land.

God raised up a prophet named Elijah to bring Israel back to Him.

Elijah first prophesied that a drought would strike Israel for three years, and it happened.

During this drought, God provided for Elijah by sending food via ravens and by miraculously providing oil.

But this drought was hard on Israel, so much so that King Ahab decided to confront Elijah.

That meeting led to the massive public showdown we find in today’s passage.

1 Kings 18:16–40 ESV

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “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 Baals. 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.” So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 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. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 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. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

Trouble was brewing in Israel, and King Ahab thought Elijah was to blame. But Elijah pointed to another culprit: “You and your father’s family have.

You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals.” (v. 18) So Elijah challenged Ahab’s prophets of Baal to a face off.

For Elijah, this face off was actually a way of creating a public forum in which fire and smoke signaled that God’s power prevails.

He told the people that they had to stop wavering between two options.

It’s time to choose between following the One True God and following Baal.

“How long will you go limping between two different opinions?

If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (v. 21)

Elijah proposed a simple contest—both Elijah and the prophets of Baal would put a sacrifice on the altar, and the god who sent fire to consume the sacrifice was the real God.

Elijah gave the prophets of Baal the first choice of sacrifice animal and the first at-bat.

For the entire day, these prophets tried to get Baal’s response by fire.

They danced, they shouted, and they even cut themselves.

But nothing happened.

As the day went on, Elijah began to trash talk about Baal, saying that he was deep in thought or busy or asleep or even relieving himself (a.k.a. going to the bathroom).

No matter what the prophets of Baal tried, no fire fell down.

“But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.” (v. 29)

Baal was not present.

Then it was Elijah’s turn.

First, he repaired the altar of God on Mount Carmel, which was in ruins from the neglect of God’s people.

He covered the altar with water—A LOT of water, just to make sure that no one had any doubts about what was about to happen.

Then he prayed: “O LORD, 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.

Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” (v. 36-37)

At this moment, God was present, and He demonstrated His presence with His absolute power.

A consuming fire fell down from heaven and burned up not only the sacrifice, but also the wood, the stones, and even the soil.

The fire from Heaven was so hot that it even licked up every drop of water that Elijah had put around the sacrifice.

Nothing was left but ash and smoke.

All the people fell to the ground and praised God.

There was no doubt about the winner of this face off

—THE FIRE WAS THE PROOF OF GOD’S PRESENT-TENSE PRESENCE, AND THE SMOKE SIGNALED THAT GOD’S POWER HAD PREVAILED.

Application

So, how do we step into the smoke when it comes to God’s power?

To do this, we need to begin as Elijah did by altering the altar. Like the Israelites, we tend to let God slip in our lives.

We turn away from God and turn toward Baal worship.

We might not call it Baal worship, but the same things that marked Baal worship mark our lives — a quest for immediate gratification, drunkenness, sexual immorality, and impressing or oppressing others.

We let the worship of God lag in our lives because we want to gratify ourselves.

But INSTEAD OF LIVING WITH WORSHIP LAGGING IN OUR LIVES, WE NEED TO ALTER THE ALTAR.

We need to once again clear the way for God in our lives.

God’s present-tense presence and prevailing power can break into our lives with or without this happening, but if we don’t choose to follow God, we will soon find ourselves wavering.

That’s what happened to the Israelites, and it’s what happens to us as well.

By altering the altar, we choose to follow God.

SMOKE SIGNALS THAT GOD’S POWER PREVAILS, but we need to live as though this reality is true.

We need to alter the altar and quit wavering between two opinions.

To put it another way, we need to nail our colors to the mast.

1. Back in the old days of naval battles and pirates, the flag (or colors) of a ship symbolized the owner of that ship, and so when a ship surrendered or wanted to call a truce to negotiate, it lowered its colors and put up a white flag.

When a ship’s captain decided that surrender or negotiation was not an option in a battle, he would call for the ship’s flag to be nailed to the mast so that it couldn’t be lowered.

By nailing the colors to the mast, the captain and the crew were saying that they were going to stand their ground throughout the battle.

No longer would they waver between the options of fighting and retreat.

The altar was once and for all altered because the colors weren’t coming down.

NO MATTER WHAT THE FACE OFF IS, GOD WINS.

Wavering is no longer an option.

We just attack or retreat.

We must choose God or Baal.

So, as we close out this second session together, may I ask you a few questions?

What about you?

Do you need to nail things down today?

Are your colors nailed to the mast or are you standing there with two or more flags waving in the breeze saying, “Ehhh, I’m just not really sure if this Jesus stuff is for me.

Ehhh, maybe some other time.

I still have some other colors I want to check out before I fully commit.”

Would you allow me to speak some truth in love to you right now?

The decisions you are making right now will affect the rest of your life.

The things you are worshipping in place of God will impact you.

Younger students in the room, ask the older students if I’m telling the truth.

Older students, ask the Christian adults in your life that you trust. 

I’m telling you the hard truth because I don’t want you to fall into the same excuses and lies that I (and so many others) gave when we sat in your stage of life saying,

“I can go this way and that way playing this game with Jesus because I can always take following Him serious later.

I want to see what all my options are first.”

I’m not saying that God can’t change you later on, but I am challenging you to look at the altars you’ve built in your life that aren’t for God.

Look at all those other things you worship and put in God’s place.

I’m telling you just like Elijah told God’s people on Mount Carmal.

PICK ONE!

If God is God, serve Him.

If Baal (or if whatever it is that you worship) is god, serve that. 

For those of you who are in the spiritual juggling act right now, the cultural Christian who is keeping his/her options open giving lip service to God but doing what you want—Pick one!

If God is God, serve Him.

If you are your own god, serve yourself…and let me know how that goes.

Just remember verse 29 that said, “But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”

Baal was not present because Ball and all the other things we worship have no real power to respond.

So don’t blame me or anyone else when you choose to be your own god and no one listens, no one cares, and there is no response.

And all you have to show for the life you lived is all the blood you left on the trail behind you and all the brokenness and broken people you left in your wake.

If God is God, then let’s serve him.

If God is God, He has the right to our whole lives, not just pieces and parts of it.

If God is God, let us fall on our faces and repent of our being lured away and worshipping other things.

Remember, SMOKE SIGNALS THAT GOD’S POWER PREVAILS, but we need to live as though this reality is true.

So, let us leave this second session together by declaring that we will be the ones who alter our altars, quit wavering as if we try to keep our options open, and instead nail our colors to the mast.

Join us for session three, where we will take a look at the story of the Exodus, pillars of smoke and fire leading the way, and how smoke signals that God is providing by guiding.