Standing in the Gap

Introduction

Pray at Beginning

Introduce series

Elijah - A Humble Hero, based on scripture; using a book by Charles Swindoll as a main commentary source

Our country as of 2019

43% Protestent

20% Catholic

17% religious but nothing specific; I believe in God, I am Christian because I am an American

5% agnostic

4% atheist

7% Non-Christian; Muslim, Mormon, JW

This means that approximately 96% of the people that live in the USA believe in a god

J.D. Greear, “The question for most Americans is not, “Is there a god?” but, “Which god is the right god? How can we know? Can we know?”

This is the same type of world that the prophet Elijah found himself in

spoiler alert, Elijah serves the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God that came to this earth as a man, Jesus the messiah, lived perfect, was crucified for our sins, died and was buried, only to rise again on the third day.

How do we know this before we ever look at the text? Elijah means “Jehovah is God”.

1 Kings 16:29–17:1 CSB

29 Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Judah’s King Asa; Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than all who were before him. 31 Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and bow in worship to him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole. Ahab did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he finished its gates, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun. 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”

History of Israel

Israel wanted a king desperately, like the other nations, God gave them Saul

a man from the tribe of Benjamin who looked the part, standing a head taller than all other Israelites

yet, when the time came to establish him as King, they found him hiding

Saul, out of fear of losing his followers and to appear powerful in front of his enemies, offered a sacrifice that should have been offered by Samuel and the kingdom was removed from him

God anoints David

David, a shepherd, did not look the part.

His own father, Jesse called him the least of his brothers

though he did not look the part, he was said to be a man after God’s own heart

David was not without sin, had an affair with Bathsheba she became pregnant and they lost that child

they had another son, Solomon who became the third king of Israel

Solomon was not without his problems

he was the wisest and richest person in the world

He built the temple in Jerusalem, the most magnificent building anyone had ever seen.

But Solomon had taken wives from other nations, and also set up temples for their gods that they worshipped as well

After Solomon the kingdom divided

the northern kingdom is now called Israel and the southern kingdom is Judah

Jerusalem, where the temple is to worship is in Judah

the first king of the North, Jeroboam, created an altar and a place to worship in the north, so that the people would not go to Jerusalem out of fear that they would leave and support the southern kingdom

He led them to worship Baal

Baal is a Canaanite god of the storm, rain, and fertility very important to understand that based on our passage from today

Ashera is the female associated with Baal.

The temple of Baal would have prostitutes, and it was believed that by sexual acts in the temple of Baal, it would get this god to send rain, making the land fertile, for people, flocks, and crops

Israel struggled with this baal worship until they were exiled out of the land that God had giving them

occasionally, because of the prophets, they would repent. But they would always fall back into it.

remember the warning that God gave them when they went in to the promise land…

do not follow any other gods or I will drive you out of the land

Israel started with three kings; Saul, David and Solomon. Their kingdoms lasted for over 100 years.

After the split, the northern kingdom had 19 kings in just over 200 years.

every king being evil and not following God

Ahab was number 7 in line of the evil kings of the north

said to be more evil than all the others, think of that, more evil then the first king that led the people to worship another god so that he could keep his power

Ahab married Jezebel

Jezebel was the one who really ran the kingdom

1 Kings 21:25 CSB

25 Still, there was no one like Ahab, who devoted himself to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him.

Jezebel means Baal favors, her father Ethbaal means living in the favor of Baal.

So it is no surprise to read that after they were married, Ahab not only built an altar for this false god, but an entire temple as well.

So here in the northern kingdom that bears the name of God’s people, Israel, these two are leading the people to a temple to worship a false god by doing things that is against the very law that God has given them

God sent Elijah the Tishbite - not much is known of who he is

being known as a Tishbite is very interesting because nobody knows for sure where that was.

the author did not even know, because it had to be said that it was near, or from the settlers from Gilead

We know that is on the eastern side of the Jordan river

This area is not known for their sophistication

they are not well educated people, they are rough looking and speaking, they are said to be leathery and muscular

So we have a unsophisticated man from nowhere and put him before the king to tell him that there was going to be no rain

there was no time given when relief would come

there was nothing to hint of how Elijah gained this access before the king

notice how bold he was in speaking to the king

In difficult times the people of God must stand

Proverbs 9:10 CSB

10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

In order to stand, we must know the Lord

to know him, is to fear him, be in awe of him or amazed at his holiness, justice, grace and mercy

If we do not know God, we are standing for our own version of God

we are not to stand on what seems right to us

we are to stand on the word of God

what is the difference, the word of God is to be the highest authority in our lives

yet so many of us do not know what it says

so we end up standing on what we believe based on a little knowledge of God and his word and then what sounds good to us that we hear from other avenues that help form our opinions

We must stand for the God of the Bible, for Jesus Christ and be bold enough to speak what he has us speak and humble enough to only say what he has us say, when he has us say it.

and in this case that we are looking at, he has just the guy to do it

there is not a long drawn out conversation, no explanation on why God was doing this, just a simple and direct statement

1 Kings 17:1 CSB

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”

God uses nobodies from nowhere to be His somebodies

Nobody had heard of Tishbe

Heather and I had never heard of Burdett or Hanston

Heather cried, I don’t know where it is, and I don’t want to move there but I know that we are supposed to.

Too many people think that they are a “just person” and consider themselves a nobody

just a mom, a dad, a farmer, a housewife, a coach

when the truth is you are classifying yourself as the world sees you not how God sees you

as a believer in Christ you are the child of the one true king. you are chosen, you are known and loved from the foundation of the world

though nobody knows who or where Elijah is, God is about to use him in a mighty way showing a polytheistic society that there is one true God and his name is Jehovah!

this is who Elijah tells Ahab he is speaking for… the LORD, or Yahweh or Jehovah

Ultimately we stand before God

Elijah says, “… in whose presence I stand.”

We must remember whose we are and where we are standing

we get nervous because we have to take a stand in front of people

I am amazed continually that God allows me to speak in front of people

I know what he has done in my life to allow me to do it, I can remember the fear and anxiousness that would come over me when I would have to speak in front of a group of any size

Over the last year, I have had several people tell me that I, and other pastors, make this look so easy

I appreciate the compliment, but what amazes me is that the nervousness would be speaking in front of people

I have realized that people can do nothing

sure they may be able to take my title away, not pay me to do the very thing that God has called me to do

they may put me in prison one day for speaking the truth about God and his word

I speak publicly in a way, that in other countries around the world would get me tortured and killed as well as my family

None of that makes me nervous… the only thing that makes me nervous is that I stand before God, in his presence, declaring what His word says.

I never want to misrepresent Him or his word

the confidence that I have is in his power, his spirit and his word

that as long as I stick to that, nothing can separate me from him

I pray you realize who you are standing for, speaking for and allow it to humble you and embolden you all at the same time