Untitled Sermon

The Disappointment of Ministry

Key Questions

Why do we serve the Lord?

Can we serve the Lord?

Are we the Lord’s servant or His master?

(Backdrop to Elijah’s ministry (Chapter 16))

Israel is in a tumultuous state.

In a span of 40 years they have had 5 rulers

Perhaps this doesn’t sound very odd to the modern ear

An average of 8 years a king, fits nicely into the American scheme

But they had kings, and kings intended to rule for life, and if we read 1 Kings 16 we see that very few ruled for their lifespan

One of them ruled for 7 days

In fact, lets just read a couple of verses of chapter 16 just to get an idea of what kind of Israel Elijah is born into.

(Read 1 Kings 16:8-11, 15-18 & 21)

English Standard Version Chapter 16

8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. 9 But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

11 When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends.

English Standard Version Chapter 16

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, 16 and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire and died,

And so at this point you would think the drama is over

Omri is the uncontested ruler of Israel now, correct?

No. See v.21

English Standard Version Chapter 16

21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.

Doesn’t sound very different from our country does it?

Or from the U.S.

Or from any other country in the world.

Half the people think one man should be in charge, the other half want another.

Anyhow, this goes on for awhile.

Different Israel kings and generals sniping for the position of top dog

And the scriptures tell us that none of these kings of Israel were good kings

And we are also told that the constant turnover of Israel’s kings, whether by rebellion or death or chaos was judgment from the Lord on these bad kings.

And so things in Israel are not good. Their kings are short lived and abysmal. And I THINK it is a fair assumption that if the kings are bad, the people are not much better.

And if things couldn’t get any worse, we then get the king Ahab. The Bible makes a point of saying that, in the middle of all this chaotic political history, we get a really bad egg.

English Standard Version Chapter 16

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah,

And I’d like you to remember that Israel has broken away from Judah, which is still considered a tolerably Godly place. At least the writer uses the age of the Judean king’s rule to serve as a reference point for Israel’s politics, serves as a contrast of general stability against Israel’s chaos.

English Standard Version Chapter 16

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 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. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 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.

And this is the environment that we meet Elijah the Tishbite

Some interesting things to note about Elijah

We are not given any background information on him

Was he a farmer?

Was he a soldier?

A politician?

Civil servant?

And I know some of you are probably thinking right now

“Mr. Redekopp, he was a prophet, duh”

And I agree with you, but I have something interesting to add to that thought.

We are suddenly introduced to Elijah.

In the midst of the Hebrew political history the writer of Kings suddenly plops in front of the reader, with no introduction - as if we already knew who he was, Elijah from Tishbe,

who is not the king of Israel, yet challenging the king of Israel.

lets read (1 Kings 17:1)

English Standard Version Chapter 17

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.”

Now lets pay close attention to this passage.

Here is Elijah,

implicitly telling the King of Israel that he, Elijah, does not serve Ahab.

and explicitly telling us that he is a servant of Yahweh, the God and true king of Israel.

And this Yahweh is in charge of the rain, and Yahweh will only send it back when Elijah gives the word.

AND if we look even closer, we realize that Elijah, servant of the Lord, is actually issuing two challenges.

First, Elijah, servant of Yahweh is telling Ahab that Ahab is not in charge of Israel’s well being.

Rather, Elijah, is in charge of Israel’s well being. (Reread v.2, emphasis on Elijah’s “MY WORD.”)

Pretty bold statement by Elijah!

Most prophets we run into preface their statement by “Thus saith the Lord,”

Not Elijah. He acknowledges that Yahweh is both his Lord (before whom I stand) and God (the name Elijah means, Yahweh is my God)

He even makes the Lord the source, the basis, the GUARANTEE of his pledge to stop the rain.

But it is by Elijah’s word that the rain will return.

And I want to begin by saying that I am not suggesting that Elijah is showboating or bragging.

But what he is saying is that to be a servant of the Lord is greater than to be a king of Israel.

And Elijah fully believes this!

Usually when you tell a king off in the olden days you get out of dodge pretty quick

But Elijah sticks around, the Lord actually has to tell him to get out of town and hide in 17:2-3

So this is Elijah. He fully believes in Yahweh’s power, he believes this God, Israel’s God, can and will do great things, and he wants to be a part of it.

And speaking of Israel’s God Yahweh, this brings us to the second challenge Elijah is issuing

English Standard Version Chapter 17

17 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.”

We read earlier that Ahab brought Ba’al worship into full acceptance in Israel

He even built a temple to Ba’al in Samaria, the capital city of Israel.

And Ba’al was one of the gods of the sophisticated Syrian and Phoenician people.

For them, Ba’al was responsible for things like fertility, the seasons, and more importantly to our story, rain

Ancient texts archaeologists have dug up about Ba’al talk about him riding thunderstorms as chariots.

And so for Elijah to invoke Yahweh’s power to allow the prophet to shut off the rain for three years is to make a direct challenge to Ba’al’s power.

Not only does Yahweh control the rain, and not Ba’al, he gives his servant Elijah the power to shut off the rain.

And this is meant to be an insult to Ba’al.

Not only does Ba’al not control the rain, and another God does, Ba’al has less control of the rain than a hairy leather clad man from Gilead.

And we know the rest of the story

Of course Elijah’s words are true

There is a three year drought in the kingdom of Israel.

Things are bad in Israel.

Finally the Lord relents, tells Elijah to go and find the king and issue a challenge on Mount Carmel

And we know how that turns out

We have Yahweh and Ba’al in the boxing ring

Its an instant and showy knockout

The Lord defeats Ba’al

The prophets of Ba’al are killed

the people repent

God sends rain to quench the dry thirsty land

The people hoist Elijah onto their shoulders and carry him back a hero

Ahab destroys the temple of Ba’al and kicks the wicked queen Jezebel out of Israel

The people return to Jerusalem to worship under the rule of David’s son’s.

Elijah lives out the rest of his days in peace, a hero, gratefully celebrated by the reunited kingdom of Israel.

I lost you guys there for a bit

Just seeing if you guys are paying attention

Lets turn to the Scriptures to see where our hero Elijah, servant of Yahweh is at after Yahweh’s great victory at Mt Carmel.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how 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 more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

This doesn’t sound like a man who just saw God send down fire from heaven.

What happened?

He just watched a miracle of immense power, and now he’s afraid of being killed?

And the reader, I think, should be baffled at this point. Here is a man who has

stood up to a king,

Stood up and triumphed over 450 prophets false prophets whose God he’s insulted

stood up to a nation who has forgotten the God who delivered them from Egypt

all of this requiring an immense amount of faith.

what is the cause of this?

And I think perhaps we have to think back to the confident Elijah we were introduced to in Chapter 17.

Perhaps he had grand visions of revival in his mind

Perhaps he envisioned an overthrowing of the government

Perhaps he had hoped for a reunion of Israel with the apparently God fearing nation of Judah

After all, Judaen country is where he fled when he realized that his dreams were not coming to fruition. (19:3)

All these dreams were dashed when he realized that there was no desire for regime change

The people didn’t overthrow Ahab and Jezebel

Ahab didn’t have a change of heart

Jezebel, and here paganism were here to stay.

And if we continue reading the text we see that perhaps he is angry with God and wants some answers, and maybe even ready to hang up the prophetic hat as it were

(19:9)

English Standard Version Chapter 19

9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it.

this is a cave on the mountain of Horeb,

a mountain he traveled 40 days and nights to reach,

and that without food.

This is the mountain where the ten commandments were given

This Elijah is starting to look like Moses

English Standard Version Chapter 19

9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. 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 jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

This is the sound of tired and discouraged servant isn’t it?

English Standard Version Chapter 19

10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts.

Translation

I’ve been working very hard! For you Lord! For your kingdom, and for your glory!

English Standard Version Chapter 19

For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword

But these people won’t listen! These people whom you have shown mercy by sending again the rains are no better now than before. You should be punishing them for breaking their promises and taking advantage of your people.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.

And here we come to the crux of the matteer

Elijah feels like he has gotten the short end of the stick

He has done all that he can for the Lord, done a great miracle, and still his own people hate him and want to kill him,

Or at least won’t stand up to the crazy lady sitting in the palace who wants him killed

And you know what this feels like to me?

A resignation

Why else trek all the way back to the mountain where Israel first made their covenant with God?

Elijah has gone to the bosses office to hand in his resignation

He says in effect to God

Your people have violated and continue to violate your covenant. You should just give up Lord

Because I am. I can’t be your prophet anymore. It’s not working

What was the Lord’s response?

English Standard Version Chapter 19

And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place

You know what I think? The Lord says okay Elijah.

If your done being my prophet go anoint your replacement Elisha

But I am not giving up on my people.

I will continue to honor the terms of my covenant.

You remember the covenant Israel made with the Lord at Horeb right?

If they would obey the Lord he would bless them, and if they disobeyed, he would punish them. But He promised to never forsake them.

He promised to take back all those who repented

This covenant God would still honor in spite of Elijah’s opinion that it was futile to do so.

God says to us in Scripture, my ways are higher than your ways. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

You see, Elijah had great faith!

He had faith that God could do great and mighty things

God could part the Red Sea with a great wind

God could meet men on mountains in fire

He could keep people from getting hungry

He could shake the earth and defeat Israel’s enemies

He could send fire that destroyed doubt

Elijah had great faith, right?

Did Elijah have faith in a God with a still small voice?

Did Elijah have faith in a God who would continue to show mercy to sinful doubting people?

Did Elijah still believe in God’s power when the kingdom of God seemed to be

just one Mountain removed 40 days by foot from Israel

Did Elijah still believe in a God who remained faithful to a covenant

and 400 years from Israel’s hearts and minds?

Did Elijah serve God for the great things God can do?

Or did he serve because of the great, merciful, person that God is?

Elijah had another step to take in his walk of faith.

He knew the God who thunders and sends fire

Now he is learning about the God of the still small voice.

So I ask again. Why do you serve the Lord?

Why do you follow him

Do you serve expecting great things?

Big results?

Do you follow Jesus because you’ve seen him do incredible things

I’m not saying you won’t do incredible things for the Lord

I’m not saying you haven’t seen him do incredible things for you and for others

But aren’t we often like Jesus’s disciples John and James?

Aren’t we often like Peter?

When someone disrespects Jesus we want to call down fire from heaven

We can be quick to chop off someone’s ear in the Garden, all the while the Lord has to clean up after us.

Picking up the ear.

Putting it back where it belongs.

And then giving himself up to demonstrate his love.

And you want to know the amazing part. Jesus still loves his disciples who are constantly misunderstanding him.

He still loved the frustrated, resigning Elijah. We find him after his discouragement still hearing from the Lord, being God’s spokesperson and friend.

The Lord still loved Peter, and strengthened and restored and forgave him after his 3 denials.

He showed himself to the struggling and defeated Thomas

And he also says blessed are those who have not seen, and yet still believe.

Maybe our purpose as believers is not so much to do great things for God, or know that we are doing great things for God

But rather to know him for who he is, and to be known by him