1 Kings 17:1 A light in the darkness / Elijah, A man standing for God in evil times

It was a dark night. We had laid out our sleeping bags. Suddenly night became day. Everyone heard the boom of the explosion.

1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

I. A light in the darkness: Contrasted with Ahab, the embodiment of his evil time

A. Received an evil heritage and culture 1 Kgs 17:1, 16:30, 25-26

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab,

1. Jeroboam

a) Split the kingdom

b) Modified God ordained ways of worship to fit his need

c) Combined idol worship with true worship

2. Nadab continued evil -was murdered

3. Baasha - mass murderer – killing all those in the previous line of kings

4. Elah - murdered in a drunken stupor after 2 years of reigning

5. Zimri - suicide after a one week rule

6. Omri - Father of Ahab

1 Kings 16 (NIV) 25 But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. 26 He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols. 29 … Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel

7. Conclusions

a) Hard to stop compromising once it is begun

b) Children will follow naturally in the sins of their parents

B. Made wrong choices 1 Kgs 16:31-33

1 kings 16: 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam … but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.

1. Ultimately his problem was his choices not his heritage or his weaknessses

2. Chose to follow cultural path away from God

a) Challenge God’s right to an exclusive place – mix religion

b) Was no big deal to incorporate other beliefs in with Yahweh worship

3. Wrong spouse choice

a) Jezebel – Where is the prince? (Phoenician) – (vocalized in Hebrew- Where is the dung? – No prince

b) Radically different religiously - Daughter of Ethbaal (Baal exists), king of Sidon – priest of Baal Melqart - who took the throne by violence – she might have been high priestess

c) Evil character qualities – vicious / scheming /manipulative

d) Domineering – drive down the wrong path

e) Zealous missionary for her beliefs

4. Chose to abandon God

a) Blessings can be achieved through other means – Fertility/storm God – Covenant God irrelevant and not needed

b) Challenge God’s existence – replace Him

(1) Active opposition to those who worshiped the true God

c) Exchange a culture based upon righteousness and relationship with God to one that is pleasure based and oriented to validating sinfulness

C. Became a prototype of evil 1 Kgs 21:25-26

(ESV) 1 Kings 16 33 … Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

1 Kings 21:25-26 (NIV) 25 (There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.

II. A light in the darkness – Elijah, an unexpected man for the times

A. At an unexpected moment 1 Kgs 17:1a

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 1 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.”

a) Burst on the scene

b) (unlikely time- they had won)

B. An unlikely spokesman 1 Kgs 17:1c; James 5:17-18

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 1 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.”

1. Of unknown heritage

a) In culture where genealogy is everything – He is nothing

b) Instead of the king leading in Godliness – an unknown

2. From an unlikely place - Gilead

a) At the edges of the promised land

b) A place full of Gentiles

c) Perhaps “Elijah the Tishbite of the sojourners of Gilead” Perhaps a resident alien there – even worse

d) Tough barren land – disciplined, focused

3. Just a normal guy

(ESV) James 5 17 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. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

C. Identified with a significant God 1 Kgs 17:1b

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 1 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.”

1. Name

2. “My God is Yahweh”

3. A politically incorrect name – against all the rising power – postYHWH culture

4. Reflected His message – God is alive and He is mine

a) Personal connection to God – My

b) Powerful God

c) Covenant God

5. Whenever anyone talked about or thought of Elijah – they were reminded of His God

6. Whenever he though of himself – not him but God

III. A light in the darkness: Gave the needed message from God

A. From the Living God 1 Kgs 17:1d

1. The living active God

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 1 … “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.”

a) Living and active (first word in Hebrew text – emphasis) – had not been gotten rid of by Ahab

b) with authority of His words

c) “as sure as Yahweh is living” this will happen

B. As God’s ambassador 1 Kgs 17:1e

1. At God’s disposal – an ambassador and servant

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 1 … “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.”

a) Servant language “before whom I stand”

b) Close to God – Knew God intimately / was still standing before him at that moment

c) Confidential place – Knew God’s plans

d) Official position - ambassador

(1) Had a job to do

(2) Personally represented God

(3) When they saw him – they saw God / heard His message

(4) Has His resources at his disposal

C. Proclaimed God’s message 1 Kgs 17:1e; Deuteronomy 11:16-17

1. The message from the true God – Deal with sin to enjoy the blessing of a relationship with God

(ESV) 1 Kings 17 1 … “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.”

a) Message of judgment and blessing – choose death or life

b) The people’s relationship with God was broken (context of Mosaic promise)

Deut 11: 16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.

c) The intended blessings will be withheld and replaced with problems

(1) Stop the early (oct/nov) rains and late (march/Apr) rains

(2) No dew to sustain the land (heavy as drizzle at times)

d) Challenge Baal – storm god / fertility to make plants grow – who is God?

(1) you will not enjoy the blessings that you abandoned the true God to enjoy

(2) You will see that there is only one place of blessing – in God

e) Intended blessings will be restored upon repentance (implied)

except at my word.”

(1) Desires they turn to Him

(2) He is ready to heal and bless

Chuck Swindoll make this convicting observation. ‘In the process of growing older we lose the desire to risk. It is a tragic loss. We become sophisticated, cautious, careful. We call it wisdom--it is cowardice, that’s all. We are afraid to take giant steps of faith. We’d much rather stay near the shoreline than cast off into the deep. We want to know that our security will be down at the end of the road.’