Verzuz

After the Battle is over...

This global pandemic is unlike anything we’ve experienced before, however, how we’re choosing to spend our time indoors is a phenomenon in and of itself. Instagram Live battles between the biggest names in music have emerged as an unlikely pastime for many of us. Dubbed “Verzuz,” the battle series created by legendary producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz has become a highlight of quarantine.

Ever since the two superproducers kicked off the series back in March, few things have kept us from going totally stir crazy as much as the Verzuz battles. What started off as a 20-song showdown between evenly matched producers, has come to encompass the stars and GOATs of R&B and hip-hop, with millions glued to their IG feeds on countless weekends to watch the magic – and drama – unfold. The old Testament had it’s fair share of Verzuz battles including the one we will discuss today. Jezebel and the prophets of BAAL Verzuz Elijah.

In the 19th Chapter the we find that after a major victory, after Elijah had been used so greatly he found himself in a Voluntary quarantine after hearing the Threats that Jezebel made. He was entangled in one of the most famous battles of history.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 19

1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and ahow he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”

3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

5 He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.”

6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

7 The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Teddy Riley vs Babyface

So God ask Elijah a simple question, why are you or better . what are you doing here. please note when God ask you something he knows the answer but has decided that your current set of circumstances is a space for a teachable moment. Elijah answers with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. “i am the only one of your servants who hasn’t bowed, they killed some of your other followers and now they want to kill me. God and Elijah were having two very different conversations.

It was kind of like listening to the Teddy Riley and Babyface’s infamous Verzuz battle. we had two of the greatest writers and music producers of our time primed and ready to go head to head, but because they understood how to use all of the grand music equipment in the studio but could not work IG Live it was like watching 2 trains crashing over and over again. they just could get on the same page, and that’s how it happens with us. I had a bit of a funny moment earlier with Lesli Thomas and she was trying to communicate a simple phrase but our collective enemy “Auto-correct” would not let het be great. it keep taking what she was typing and changing it to the message Auto-correct thought was most appropriate for that moment.

Isn’t that what we do to God? He clearly tells us one thing and we clearly “adjust it to align closer with our own vision. we have to stop being Auto Correct and just type what he says. he knows you think its a typo, but God does not make typos he is just able to take words and phrases you don’t understand. That you have deemed to be mis-spelled, mis-used, or out of place and use them for greatness. You see Np as a mis-spelling of No, God looks at Np and sees No Problem.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 19

Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Say Less

If you know me, than you know I love word play. The Say Less is how we now express the notion of Say no more. Say less implies just what says, you are saying too much about this topic, I’m already on board with you. This was God’s response to Elijah. Say Less. Elijah was expecting a grand response but sometimes God just wants to whisper his intentions toward you so that you become reassured but also that he keeps his plans out of the enemy’s hands. Pay attention to the little things and say less.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 19

So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

12 After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Walk in what you don’t know

So we see God Ask Elijah the same question twice and he gave the same answers both times. Clearly Elijah still hadn’t learned to use his IG Live, he still wasn’t the same page so these next scriptures God spells it out for him. He sends him back the way he came, and shows him what he didn’t see. He shows him all the many men and armies that have not bowed yet and that will slay his enemies. God outlined Elijah’s emotional tool box. and that’s what i want us to focus on today. Defining tools that you have been overlooking.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 19

15 The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;

16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

17 “It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.

18 “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”