Not Just Rain
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Our topic today is prayer.
Our context is the Book of James.
Our lesson is Elijah.
Previously we looked at
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
With the suggestion that WEAK may be a more appropriate rendering of the greek word
astheneō.
astheneōNo health of soul, body, mind without being right with God.
Anoint with oil 1) implies care beyond prayer; possibly soothing bodies sore from difficult labor or mistreatment… as an encouragement.
Point of the message is that there is no health of soul, mind, body without being right with God.
And the prayer of faith is effective; The LORD will raise him up; if sin is involved it will be forgiven just as he promises.
As the Jews saw it, and as indeed it is, to cure the ills of life we need to be right with God and right with one another, and we need to [bring to bear upon others through prayer] the mercy and the might of God.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Power of God
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
The Letters of James and Peter A Praying Church (James 5:16–18)
As the Jews saw it, and as indeed it is, to cure the ills of life we need to be right with God and right with one another, and we need to bring to bear upon others through prayer the mercy and the might of God.
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James reminds us that Elijah was made out of the same stuff as all the rest of us (v. 17). The secret to his praying was not that he was a superman. The secret was that he prayed! So if we want to give a go at defining the “prayer of faith” we need to look to Elijah.
James reminds us that Elijah was made out of the same stuff as all the rest of us (v. 17). The secret to his praying was not that he was a superman. The secret was that he prayed!
Because Rain is not just rain.
Rain was not just rain.
1 Kings 17-18 is the entirety of the story James references here, and his Jewish readers would of course know the whole story and also know that the story isn’t just about rain.
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.”
Elijah shows up out of nowhere it seems and make this proclamation to Ahab. And it comes to be true. The rain stopped. And so this one verse sets in place the entire theologic backdrop for the whole drought story.
It is a contest between Yahweh the God of Israel and Baal, who is the mythological Canaanite god of… rain and storm.
Oct - April is rainy season… early rains and the late rains. Summer the god of Death trapped Baal until Anath, his consort-godess freed him. Yearly cycle that explained the rain and dry and annual growth of crops.
So Israel has wandered from God and adopted beliefs and customs of the Canaanites… the inhabitants of the land of Canaan which God gave to Israel. (Joshua).
and a God who provides rain.
[Ahab and Jezebel.]
What this meant in practice was a lack of total commitment to the one true God. They accepted more than one God… this god for this and that god for that.
God who saved us from Egypt,
and a God who provides rain.
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.
recall:
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Sometimes I need God sometimes I’m fine on my own.
So:
Elijah’s attitude about God is very single-minded. Elijah is an example in James’ eyes of someone who prayed in faith and lived in faith.
1 Kings The Whole Drought Story: Baal vs. Yahweh
To make the claim, as Elijah does in 17:1, that he, a servant of Yahweh, controls the rain is to blaspheme Baal. It is to claim for Elijah, and implicitly for Yahweh his master, territory that has traditionally been Baal’s dominion. The conflict between Baal and Yahweh is joined from that instant, and there can be no quarter or compromise.
When Elijah went before the king and made the claim that he, a servant of Yahweh, controls the rain, he blasphemed Baal. Elijah, speaking for the LORD, claimed territory that had traditionally been Baal’s dominion. The conflict between Baal and Yahweh is set from that instant, and there can be no compromise. Elijah’s effective announcement of the beginning and ending of the drought shows that Yahweh, not Baal, controls the rain.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Elijah’s effective announcement of the beginning and ending of the drought shows that Yahweh, not Baal, controls the rain.
During this drought and resultant famine in the land, who is in control? God! He is able to sustain. Who is living by faith? Elijah!
Are those why cry out to Baal answered? No.
The ability of the LORD to secure food and water during the drought demonstrates his command of those resources: The LORD sustains Elijah at the Wadi Cherith with bread, meat, and water;
The ability of the LORD to secure food and water during the drought demonstrates his command of those resources: The LORD sustains Elijah at the Wadi Cherith with bread, meat, and water; Elijah assures the widow’s meal and oil at Zarephath; Obadiah provides bread and water for the hundred hidden prophets; at Elijah’s command the people of Israel on Carmel have access to a large quantity of water. In contrast, Ahab cannot find water to save his livestock, and Baal’s prophets survive only by sharing in the royal dole (18:19).
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
It
Elijah assures the widow’s meal and oil at Zarephath; Obadiah provides bread and water for the hundred hidden prophets; at Elijah’s command the people of Israel on Carmel have access to a large quantity of water. In contrast, Ahab cannot find water to save his livestock, and Baal’s prophets survive only by sharing in the royal dole (18:19).
Elijah assures the widow’s meal and oil at Zarephath;
Who commands these resources even in pagan land?
Elijah is a doer of the word of God, isn’t he?
Be a doer, not just a hearer.
17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
Fervency of prayer. Yahweh controls not just the rains, but life itself.
1 kings 17-24
[Obadiah provides bread and water for the hundred hidden prophets; Ahab cannot find water to save his livestock, and Baal’s prophets survive only by sharing in the royal dole (18:19).]
1 kings
20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 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.
NOT [It’s all the same thing, man! We’re all on the same journey, man.]
There is God and then there is everything else. There is right and there is wrong. God defines it.
[DID NOT ANSWER]
Elijah came near
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
choose (no doubleminded)
choose (no doubleminded)
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.
26 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.
1 Kings
29 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.
Is no substance; no Baal.
doer (widow, Obadiah, people of Israel)
Is no substance; no Baal.
And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
No substance
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.
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
30 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. 31 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,” 32 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. 33 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.” 34 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. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
water anyone?
36 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. 37 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.” 38 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. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 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.
“The LORD, he is God.”
1 Kings 36-40
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’ ” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
From that remembrance, James finishes:
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
How did Elijah bring Israel back?
Served God as one Faithful in Prayer, fervent in prayer, and also Faithful in Action; being a doer of the word.
In these days of Elijah where ambivalence and hostility to God surround us, May we all be faithful in prayer, fervent in prayer, and also faithful in action. May we be doers of God’s word. And may we return wanderers around us to the truth of God. Amen.
Stand and sing.
being Doer