Bold Faith

1 Kings 16:29-17:6

READ 17:1-6

It is tempting for people to think that we’ve never been here before. That the spiritual state of our society has fallen to such a depth that there’s nothing to do but hold on and wait for Jesus’ Second Coming.

In the early 18th century – religious and moral life in England was reaching a very low point. England had been through the Reformation in the 1500s, men like John Owen and John Bunyan had lived and preached and taught and deepened the faith of so many. But things had slid a long way since then.

By the early 1700s there was serious moral degeneration. Sexual immorality was flaunted – Biblical morality was mocked at court and in the theatre and in literature.

An invitation to a masked ball was sent out to the aristocracy with the promise of: “champagne, dice, music, or … your neighbour’s spouse.” Drunkenness was a plague among the lower classes. Gambling and alcoholism was an embarrassment to the country. Gin was cheap and more and more people drank to soothe hunger pangs and to try to mask the despair of life’s drudgery in the slums and workhouses. Many houses in London were vacated of residents and turned into gin mills. In one infamous incident – a woman strangled her own 2 year-old child and sold his clothes to get a couple of pennies to buy gin. It was nicknamed, ‘The Mother’s Ruin.”

The state government had set up lotteries to encourage people to gamble their meagre incomes away. Sports had become popular that entertained through the abuse of animals – sports like cock-fighting and bull-baiting – that pitted a bull against a dog for bloodlust.

Jails were overcrowded and there were so many hangings that one official publicly worried that the Royal Navy may run out of rope.

Can you imagine a society in such a state? Maybe we have been ‘Here’ before, after all.

The Church in England seemed powerless to do anything about it. There was a spiritual ‘deadness’ that permeated Christianity. Someone said that sermons were like a winter’s day: ‘Cold and short’ – delivered with no heart and they did no good. And society around seemed to be running deeper and deeper into decay. It seemed that there was no hope for the future.

But it was into that dark despair … that John Wesley and George Whitefield stepped onto the scene. And through the ministry of those men and others who joined with them – preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ from the heart, often in the open air …. God brought about a Great Awakening in England that spread to America – that breathed life into a lifeless Church, that impacted the society in miraculous ways and is the MAIN reason, according to some scholars – that England didn’t suffer through a bloody revolution like France did – just across the water.

I’m very excited about where we are in God’s Word today. We have been journeying through the Old Testament book of 1 Kings. We’re still there - but this morning, a new character steps onto center sage and takes the spotlight. So far, the book of Kings is exactly what you would expect from a book with that title. “What’s the book of Kings about?” … Answer: “Well, it’s a book about Israel’s kings”. This has been a book about the human kings who rule God’s people - from David, through Solomon, through the division of the nation into 2 separate kingdoms - with separate kings. And the whole story has been very, very discouraging. With few exceptions, it’s been a bad news story about the spiritual decline of a once-glorious nation.

We pick up our journey this morning, at a time in history where all hope of the glory of God being seen on earth, is gone. Among the very people of God himself, it seem to have pushed aside the One who rescued them from Egypt’s slavery – and traded him for the popular gods of the nations. From a worship perspective - the future looks bleak.

Do you see the relevance to us, in our corner of the world, today?

But now the focus switches to someone who is no king - but who IS one of the most monumentally important people in all of the Bible: Elijah.

The Old Testament closes with him. Just before 400 years of silence, when there will be no word from God for His people, when things are looking hopeless for God’s people, Malachi 4:5, promises - the LORD is coming - He hasn’t forgotten his people and there is a day coming - when He will make a distinction, once and for all, between His people and those who are NOT his people, between the righteous and the wicked. And before that day, God promises, through the mouth of Malachi: “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”

Then 400 years later, John the Baptist bursts on the scene - living in the wilderness, preaching, baptizing and declaring, “Prepare the way of the LORD” .... John the Baptist is the Elijah who was promised. Elijah 2.0 - John doesn’t realize that’s who he is, but Jesus affirms that yes, this is the Elijah who was to come and get the way ready for him.

Jesus refers to Elijah in his teaching, Paul talks about Elijah in his, James does as well, in James chapter 5.

And there’s that stunning experience when Jesus takes 3 of his closest disciples: Peter, James and John - takes them up on the mountain, where the curtain of heaven is pulled back, just for a moment - and the heavenly reality shines through to the earth: Jesus is transfigured before the eyes of his dumbstruck disciples: His glory bursts out - Jesus is standing there - face shining with the brightness of the sun, his clothes – blazing brilliantly white ...

… God’s voice thunders from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

And there, on that mountain of transfiguration, there are suddenly two, long gone Old Testament saints appear, standing and talking to Jesus as the disciples try to catch their breath at the wonder of it all.

… the two people Jesus talks to? Moses and ELIJAH.

If you are one of the only 2 Old Testament people chosen to show up on earth at Jesus’ transfiguration - you are a big deal. If you are one of only 2 people in the Bible to not die at the end of your life – you are a big deal. Elijah is one of the most significant men in the whole Bible - a model of courageous faith and strength.

I’m excited about getting to this part of the book because I’ve always wanted to preach through the life of Elijah. In fact, so impressed with him that I named one of my sons after him.

(Oh kids - when you’re choosing who to model your life after - who to hold up as an example to strive after .... aim HIGH! Forget the influencers on Social Media - forget the names that have the most followers on your favorite app … Look for a real hero - look for an Elijah).

What the world needs today is a band of Elijahs and I hope by the end of our time in his life, you will know what I mean.

But all that being said, I wonder: “What do you actually know about Elijah?” Maybe not much, actually. You know about ravens and food, a showdown with the prophets of Ba’al and a fiery chariot, but not much more than that. Well, let’s correct that. Let’s get into our series within a series - and dig into the life of this very real, man of BOLD FAITH.

1 A MAN FROM NOWHERE

2 A MAN WITH A MESSAGE FROM GOD

3 A MAN UNDER GOD’S PROVISION

1 THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, 17:1

The first thing you notice about Elijah, when he bursts onto the scene, is that he seems to come right out of nowhere - he steps onto the stage and finds himself face to face in a confrontation with the king .... and we’re not properly introduced. He’s obviously a prophet, since he’s bringing God’s message here, but we aren’t told anything about when God called him to be a prophet.

Moses had the burning bush, Isaiah had the vision of God in the temple, many of the prophets are introduced to us, when God steps into their life and says, “You are going to speak for me now.” We don’t get that with Elijah … He’s just there, standing in front of the king with a message.

Not only do we not get any story about his call, but we don’t even get any family history. In the Bible - when we’re introduced to an important person, we usually get a family connection - which family they’re from, who their father is, at least … we get none of that for Elijah. We don’t know who his father is, who his mother is, we don’t know if he’s married - or has any kids. We know none of the details of his background. The only thing verse 1 tells us is that Elijah is, “(a) Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead”.Even that short description sounds more impressive than it is. “Tishbe”, in Hebrew, is a word that means a ‘temporary resident’ - a ‘settler’. So, it’s almost like saying, “Keith the Abbotsfordian, living in Abbotsford.”

Even the name of his town doesn’t help us much - “Tishbe”? It’s not a town that’s known for anything. It is in Gilead, so that means it’s in the north of Israel, it’s east of the Jordan River - up in the highlands - with the Sea of Galilee above and the Dead Sea below … it’s hillbilly country, like the mountains of West Virginia - except a whole lot dryer.

Oh, there’s one more thing about Elijah that we do know … we know the meaning of his name. “Elijah” is made up of two Hebrew words: “El - means God”. The “I” is a first person possessive - so ‘Eli’ - means ‘My God” and ‘Ja’ is short for ‘Yahweh’ - That’s the name God revealed himself to his people as - It’s his covenant, relational name. In the OT, every time you see the word ‘LORD’ in all capitals – that’s the translators telling you that they’re translating the Hebrew word ‘Yahweh’.

It comes from the time Moses is afraid to go to Pharaoh all those centuries before to demand that he set God’s people free. Moses asks, ‘Who will I say sent me?’ God says tell them, ‘Yahweh sent you’ - and It means ‘I Will Be’

..... wherever you are, whatever desperate situation you find yourself in … when the entire force of the mighty Egyptian army is chasing you down on your chariots - and you are fenced in by the sea … death behind you, death ahead of you and you have nowhere to turn .... don’t worry, because - even there, ‘I WILL BE with you … in all of my power and love.’ And He was - a parted sea for the whole nation to walk through and drowned Egyptian army behind them, proved it. And God has proved over and over and over again throughout history - that He is always with His people - in full force and holiness and power, accomplishing their good and His glory.

I wonder whether you know God in that way. Most people believe in a god - but if you ask them to describe what they think God is like … they will describe a Being who isn’t anything LIKE, “I Will Be (with you)”.

So, here’s Elijah - The man out of the backwoods of nowhere, the man with no family history to brag about … the man who is defined by his faith, “My God is Yahweh” … face to face with the king of the nation!

And isn’t that so the way of God?! Our God has a way of raising people up out of obscurity and putting them in front of kings … He has a way of taking weak and foolish things and using them to confound the strong and the wise. God uses the ‘nobodies’ of this world to do His mighty works, so that at the end of the day, nothing gets in the way of the glory going to Him alone.

Hear that, humble Christian … you wonder whether your life is going to count for anything of significance. You don’t come from any great heritage, your family life was a disaster, you see others with so much talent and charisma and you think to yourself: “Now THAT’S the kind of person God needs to build His kingdom. That’s the kind of person who can make an impact on this world. God could really do something with them … but me? Not so much”. Remember Elijah the Tishbite - God delights in taking nobodies and using their nothing to shake the world.

Martin Luther used to say: “Since God made the world out of nothing, He’ll make nothing out of you - unless you’re prepared to let Him make SOMETHING out of your NOTHING.”

2 GOD’S MESSAGE FOR HIS KING

The first thing that Elijah DOES in the entire Bible - is what chapter 17:1 tells us: “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, isn’t that something of a strange way to start a prophetic career? No call to repentance, no prediction of coming destruction … Elijah stands there and declares a climate change - with himself as the only one with the power to turn the taps back on.

Well, it DOES sound strange - and the only way you can understand what’s going on here - and why it matters - is to understand the context.

Now, I am so excited about the Elijah narrative, that I just want to plow right into the story. Problem is that if I do that - you’re not going to get the full, HD picture - and you will miss too much of the richness and power. You need to ‘get’ the context, to get the most out of the story … so let’s take a few minutes and let’s set the stage so we can understand the scene.

READ 16:29-33

These are spiritually dark days for God’s people. We’re in the Northern kingdom and NONE of its kings so far, have been good ones. They’ve all followed the bad theology of Jeroboam - who made golden calves to represent God, so that the people of the north would stay home - stay away from Jerusalem and away from a temptation to rejoin the south and put him out of a job and out of a head. He led his people to worship the right God, but in the wrong way. And that’s not good enough for God - friend. Every king has been judged as having done evil by following in Jeroboam’s sin.

But then comes Omri - who did MORE evil than all who were before him. Now Omri’s son, Ahab is on the throne and Ahab has taken the sin of all of the kings before him - piled it all up and injected it with steroids.

He’s taken a foreign wife, Jezebel, as his queen, in what was probably a politically motivated marriages, since she’s the daughter of the king of Sidon - a key strategic partner. So marrying a foreign wife, who turns out to be a fervent worshiper of the Canaanite god, Baal, that’s another check-mark in the ‘sin’ column. But the ultimate sin here, is that Ahab becomes a worshiper too.

He builds a temple for Baal, builds an altar to Baal, inside that temple - AND - he makes an Asherah pole to worship Ba’als female partner goddess - Asherah.

See how the people of God have fallen. In Jerusalem is the temple that Solomon built for Israel’s God - Yahweh - the one, true God of the universe. People celebrated for days that God had actually chosen to make His name dwell with them … in this house made by human hands?! The wonder … the delight of it all!

Now, just a few short generations later, King Ahab has made Ba’al worship the national religion of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. These are devastating days of spiritual depression, far more hopeless than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Now, I need to stop here, for a couple of minutes to deal with a misconception you may have about life in Israel during these days. I know I had the wrong idea, growing up and hearing these stories. I would hear the stories of Ahab and the decline of Israel and I was always under the impression that the economic and everyday life in Israel was as poor and malnourished as the religious life.

Actually, it wasn’t. These are actually days of wealth. Ahab’s dad bought the city of Samaria for his new capitol and built an impressive city there - worthy of royalty. Samaria was set up on a natural hill, with a commanding view in all four directions. It’s lush with vegetation - olive groves and vineyards surround the city. Solid walls protect the city - and a palace, complete with ornate columns make it visually stunning.

Israel has one of the most powerful armies in its day - a booming economy - and all in all, it seems that this Baal worship is paying off - it surely is making Israel part of the ‘in’ crowd - following the trendy, progressive, cosmopolitan religion that all the ‘cool countries’ follow. From a purely human perspective - these are good days under King Ahab … maybe not as great as Solomon’s golden years, but the future definitely looks bright.

Now, before we go any further, let me ask, “What do you know about Ba’al worship?” Ba’al is the storm god and, in Canaanite religion, that makes him the god of fertility. He’s the one with authority over the rain. He’s pictured with thunder in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other. Ba’al is the god responsible for watering the earth and bringing fruitfulness of every kind.

But there’s a problem with a rain god in that part of the world. It’s one thing to worship a storm god on the west coast of Canada - He always seems to be working overtime - so you would have no temptation to doubt his power. But in Israel’s corner of the globe - there are months that go by, without any discernible rainfall. All the rain falls from October to April - and then, for 5 months - you see nothing but sunshine. How do you worship the rain god in the middle of an August heat-wave?!

Well, don’t worry, skeptic. The Canaanite theologians figured out an answer to that problem: Ba’al is the storm god, but he is NOT the top god on the totem pole (to mix a couple of religious metaphors).

M’ot - the god of death has more authority. So every year what happens is that Ba’al surrenders himself to M’ot and he dies - that’s what brings the dry season – Ba’al’s gone – so he can’t bring rain. But then, after several months in the grave, he’s revived again, comes back to life - and does his ‘watering the earth’ thing. This is a cycle that is repeated year after year.

Now, that may sound goofy to you, but the people of Israel don’t think so - they’ve been tempted by Ba’al worship almost from the day they set foot in the land. Ever since Joshua died - there has been a constant tension that God’s people have wrestled with:

“Will we stick with the LORD - Yahweh - the God who rescued us from slaver - who provided for us through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness when we had NOTHING … the God who led us in victory - fighting for us against enemy after enemy - nations bigger and stronger than we were. Will we trust and worship the God who IS God - ALL THE TIME - through every day and month and season of the year?

.... OR .... will we give our affection to the god who disappears during the dry days of summer?

Oh the relevance to us today - do you see it, friend?! We are caught in a tension of our own, today: Will we give our affections to the God who has proven himself in history? Will we trust and worship the God who took on flesh and our humanity - who died and rose again, physically from the grave … and who speaks in His word - and whose word has built the society that everyone from around the world wants to come TO?!!

OR .... will we worship human government - that has proven throughout history that ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts, absolutely”? Will we trust science and scientists with our hope for the future - despite the fact that the same science is used to make nuclear power that provides clean energy to people ....AND is also used to make nuclear bombs that annihilate people.

Israel has a MAJOR decision to make.

Now you get the context. Let’s go back to Elijah, in chapter 17, verse 1.

Elijah walks up the hill to the bustling capitol of Samaria, walks through the city gates, strides through a bustling marketplace, with vendors bartering with buyers over the value of their goods. Somehow, Elijah marches right through the impressive columns, decorated with their artwork - and he forcefully presses into the throne room of king Ahab himself:

(Oh - just one more thing: What do you think Elijah looked like? The Bible doesn’t give us his appearance - but the fact that he’s from the hill country, out in the sticks. The fact that John the Baptist in the New Testament, was the second Elijah … and you know something about his appearance - wore rough camel-hair clothes, tied together with a leather belt - not Gucci leather, but leather scraps. John the Baptist was a rough, tough man who looked like he didn’t use sunscreen or skincare lotion. I have a feeling that Elijah didn’t look much differently).

Elijah, looking like a cross between Rambo, Bear Grylls and Jimmy Stewart – when he took on Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life” ….

… Elijah steps up to within feet of the throne - and challenges Ba’al by going after his most powerful representative in the nation - King Ahab himself - seated on his royal seat of authority.

“As the LORD (Yahweh) the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand ...”. Don’t miss that - Elijah’s saying, “There is ONE God who ALWAYS lives … and the LORD, not Ba’al, is His name.”

“… before whom I stand.” In other words, “I get my confidence to come and confront you today - not because I’m fearless, but because before I came to stand in your presence, I have been consciously standing in the presence of God himself.”

The verse goes on: “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.”

“You worship Baal as the god with power over rain. But you are about to see that Ba’al has no more power to bring rain than one of Jeroboam’s golden calf statues do. Things are about to dry up in Israel - and it’s NOT going be because of Ba’al’s absence in death … it’s going to be because of God’s PRESENCE in judgment that is going to be the cause of the infertility you will see.”

“In fact - not only is it not going to rain … but there won’t even be dew in the morning to moisten the grass. And it’s going to stay this way - until I say otherwise. I’m turning off the taps in the name of the LORD and I’m the only one who can turn them back on again.”

What an epic moment of truth speaking to power!

Or is it? What do you think Ahab thinks of the doomsday message? When Elijah the wildman, turns around and walks out the palace door, to disappear from sight and from the city .... how do you think the king responded? I think the king probably responded the same way our Prime Minister would respond if I walked into Parliament, straight out of a camping trip, smelling of campfire and with roasted marshmallow still stuck to my finger – and told him I was turning off the country’s electricity because God was mad at him.

I’m pretty sure Ahab laughed.

After all, he’s still on the throne. If he looks out the palace windows, the gardens are still blooming and the grapes are still being crushed to make wine. Surely - this is just the ranting of a madman!

3 GOD PROVIDES FOR THOSE WHO TRUST HIM, 17:2-6

No sooner does Elijah leave the presence of the king than the LORD gives him new orders:

READ vv. 2-4

The brook Cherith?! … but that’s barren wilderness. Sure, rain is not going to fall in Israel and the palace in Samaria is going to feel the barrenness … eventually. But God’s sending Elijah to go to a place that’s barren right now! Cherith is a narrow, winding brook, on the east side of the Jordan river, deep in a ravine, barricaded by rock walls on either side, towering above, smoothed by erosion and reflecting the sun to the canyon floor. There are no crops - no trees in sight.

If you end up here at the best of times, you take your pictures and get out as fast as you can, because the longer you are stuck here - the closer you come to death.

Forget the fact that there is no Walmart or Costco within driving distance - not even a 7-11 to buy a Big Gulp and quench your thirst. There’s nowhere to find food here - nothing to sustain life.

And Skip the Dishes being delivered by ravens? Birds are beautiful - at a distance, but up close - they scare me. The most terrifying movie I’ve seen in my life was, as a kid, when I turned the tv on and stumbled onto that Alfred Hitcock film, ‘The Birds’. I had nightmares for days. Ravens flying towards you – I don’t care what they’re bringing – that’s scary.

This is a test for Elijah. It’s one thing to give someone else a difficult message from God … but what do you to when God speaks a difficult message to you … when He sends you into a hard place?

Elijah doesn’t protest, doesn’t put up a fight … he heads for the desolate wilderness. And sure enough, God is faithful. READ vv. 5-6

Day after day - food comes by special delivery.

See here in these few verses - another WONDER about God: He doesn’t just control the rain .... He’s in control of the whole NATURAL order.

If this was only a story about God judging sin by turning off the rain and bringing a drought - you would only get half of the whole picture of His character.

God doesn’t just control the rain … He is in control of the WHOLE natural order. The LORD does more than just bring judgment on sin. In the very same story – see Him bringing life.

See Elijah there - … kneeling down, drinking deeply of the water from the rippling brook, running right past his camp. See him WAITING – not hunting, not trying to forage for food where there is none … see him just sitting stationary on a rock as the ravens bring in the morning’s bread and the evening’s meat.

Does this picture remind you of another provision from God for His people?

Remember the Israelites in the wilderness – before they even entered this land which Ba’al dominated even back then? Israel experienced the provision of Elijah’s God in a similar situation. They were wandering through year after desolate desert year – in a place hostile to life with nowhere near enough food or water to sustain a whole nation. The barrenness of the wilderness didn’t matter to God: miraculous food falls from the sky … water comes bursting out of rocks at God’s command. God has always been the great PROVIDER for His people.

And here – even more. When Israel was in the wilderness - the manna fell from heaven once a day … now God is bringing food twice a day. And He isn’t just doing it for a massive crowd

… no, there’s solitary Elijah …. One, single, person of faith … enjoying God’s provision.

While Ahab – with all the wealth and power of a nation at his disposal – while that king is getting parched in his palace … Elijah is feasting in faith.

Do you see what that means for you, Christian? “Jesus Christ I am the same yesterday, today and forever”, the Bible says.

And God always keeps His promises. Even when all the world around you is falling apart … when it seems so clear that God is giving our society over to the gods it has chosen to replace Him with - “Do you want to worship government? Do you want to worship at the altar of scientism? Go ahead and see how powerful your false gods are to save!

Even when the world around you is dis-integrating in sin … don’t fear, Christian! Don’t panic! And most of all – don’t miss the God who cares for His one, solitary trusting child by directing nature to meet his needs.

He loves and cares for you enough to have sent His Son to purchase you for Himself. Don’t think He’s going to consign you to purposeless despair now – no matter what’s going on in the world around us. God IS building His Church, Christian – and if you belong to Him through faith in Jesus’ finished work … He will give you everything you need to be used in His all-powerful hands – now.