Cage Match

Drought and Fire

As I’m sure you are all aware, Colorado is in the middle of a pretty major drought. In late December we graduated from “severe” to “extreme.”

This leads to awful destruction and damage, much like the recent Marshall fire, over 1000 homes destroyed. Costliest fire in the state’s history.

Heartbreaking loss and damage, let’s continue to pray for all those affected.

And the drought goes on. Our little piddly snow yesterday, that’s just not enough to touch it.

God bring the rain. Or snow. God bring the precipitation.

Life Drought

Anyone feeling the drought? Physically? Metaphorically? Spiritually?

We have had some seasons of drought, haven’t we. (I imagine you all nodding your heads).

We’ve had drought in my family, some relational brokenness, hurt and hurting.

I have had seasons of drought in my marriage… where it was so hard to love and be loved and find one another again.

We have had seasons of drought here in our church. In so, so many ways. It’s a little death when a family leaves the fellowship, whatever the reason. It was literally barren and empty in here through much of 2020, preaching to a camera… kind of like right now.

There is nothing fun about drought.

Praying for God to send the rain. What is He waiting for?

He is waiting for a cage match, obviously.

Cage match: YHWH vs. Baal

Recall that Elijah has already showed up to condemn Ahab, King of Israel, worse than all the 6 kings of Israel before him.

Why is Ahab so bad, so evil, worse than all the others so far?

1 Kings 16:30–33 ESV

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.

So he led them in worship of Baal, the storm God, bringer of rain and thus a Canaanite God of fertility. Zeus meets Thor, but with more sex.

Add to that Asherah, a fertility goddess.

Both fertility gods, worshipped with sex among other things, but fertility wasn’t just about making and having babies. It is fertility of the land, it is prosperity. It is growth and the resulting wealth.

So maybe Ahab gets a bad rap here. He wants to grow, he wants his people to grow, his kingdom. He sees that the surrounding peoples are having success with this “Baal” and “Asherah” strategies.

Elijah prophecies drought and then hides out while the drought hits Israel for quite some time. Fed raven bread and then widow pancakes, God takes care of Elijah.

And in the meantime, the nation thirsts.

Why does God use drought? This is supposed to be Baal’s thing, bringer of the rain! God shuts down their “success” strategy completely!

When the time is right, Elijah sends word to King Ahab via his servant Obadiah and they setup a meeting. It’s time for a cage match:

Confrontation:

1 Kings 18:17–19 ESV

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Who’s influence is behind the Asherah worship? Oh… Jezebel!

This is their strategy for prosperity, remember. Baal and Asherah are going to make the kingdom, and especially the king and queen, rich and powerful and successful and SUPER fertile.

The Challenge:

1 Kings 18:20–24 ESV

So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

You go first

1 Kings 18:25 ESV

Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”

Baal’s turn

1 Kings 18:26 ESV

And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.

Why did they limp? No idea. But it’s a funny picture. Maybe it’s a gansta limp? Part of attracting Baal’s attention?

Maybe they limp because they are walking in circles from morning until noon, so their outside leg gets kind of tired? That’s why the roller rink has you switch directions!

Around and around and around they go...

1 Kings 18:27 ESV

And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

Oh the sweet, sweet mockery.

Maybe he is thinking.

Or “relieving himself.” (That’s a euphemism… it means going potty, #2, deuce, aka pooping). Can I say that in church? It’s in the Bible, so… yes!

Maybe he’s gone, maybe’s he’s asleep, so many options. All pointing at the real answer: maybe he is hollow, empty, powerless.

1 Kings 18:28–29 ESV

And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

No one. Nobody home.

Now it’s YHWH’s turn. And just showing up isn’t enough, Elijah is going to up the challenge level!

YHWH’s Turn

1 Kings 18:30–35 ESV

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

The scene is set. Way harder than what was setup for Baal.

1 Kings 18:36–38 ESV

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

BOOM! Cage match Victory!!! Absolute devastation.

And this reveals the glory of God to all the people! They repent and they worship.

1 Kings 18:39–40 ESV

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

And then God sends the rain.

Elijah speaks

1 Kings 18:41 ESV

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.”

… and starting with a little cloud, and the cloud grows

1 Kings 18:42–44 ESV

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’ ”

Look again, and again, and again, and again. And… here it comes.

1 Kings 18:45 ESV

45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.

God brings the rain. (Little ominous there at the end).

Look

There are a lot of takeaways from this. One of the GREAT stories of the Bible. So many sermons here… so let’s preach all of them!

Power Encounter

Elijah stacks the deck against Yahweh in favor of Baal... to let God show off a bit. (It isn't that other "gods" aren't real, or there aren't other powers and forces in the Universe. It is that God, Yahweh, declares Himself God above all.)

Ahab’s Proof - Elijah’s Faith

God proves Himself to the nation of Israel, brings them to worship, and then brings the rain.

God proves Himself to Ahab. Repent, look, I am God and more powerful and better in every way than the lousy God you’ve been following!

God proves Himself to the people!

But do they have lasting repentance? Having seen the sign, undeniably, do they stay to follow after God?

Where did we leave Ahab? Going back to Jezebel. Hint: that isn’t going to go well. Elijah flees because they aren’t going to honor God and honor him… they are going to kill him. The people aren’t going to rise up against Ahab, they will return to the worship of Baal.

And that is always the way of signs. It is an opportunity, an invitation to true and lasting repentance. But even people who saw and touched Jesus, watched him heal the blind, the sick, raise the dead… most of them believed for a minute and then fell away… and then crucified him.

We think we want God to show up in the “undeniable” way we imagine that we couldn’t deny. But our hearts are wicked and our brains are creative, and if we don’t want to follow God we will find a way.

May we have the confidence of Elijah rather than the shallow what-have-you-done-for-me-lately "faith" of Israel.

Elijah knows God is going to show up. He fearlessly mocks the empty god Baal, knowing he has no power. He fearlessly makes the “challenge” harder, knowing that this “miracle” is nothing to the Creator who invented fire and crafted the mountain the altar is on.

It isn’t “God, show up like you did to Israel...” because that didn’t work.

God lead me into the relationship you had with Elijah, that I would know you and trust you like that. In a way that lasts, in a way that matters. And, oh, by the way, that’s where the power and authority is.

Finally: God bring the rain.

The Way

The nation of Israel just wants to "grow" and "prosper" and be creative in the ways they pursue that. AKA Baal and Asherah. These are popular and powerless. By the grace of God, this leads to drought and failure.

Where we are Israel and chase after any other "way", may God strip us of our idols and bring us back to the Way, the Truth and the Life.

I have a lot of “ways” I think will work.

To be successful in work

In family, in parenting

In relationships

In my marriage

In my spirituality

In eternity

In our church

I get input from books and podcasts, advice from friends and advice from Oprah.

And we all get bombarded with “success” strategies that are really people selling to us for their own success story. “Do this” and you’ll get rich, but really make me rich in trying.

Send me $20 and I’ll tell you how to get rich quick!

God bring the drought and God bring the rain.

God, may my own efforts be fruitless and barren.

Don’t let me be fooled by the “success” of my neighbors, my friends, my family if that isn’t the path that leads to you.

Don’t let me be content with powerless gods and empty idols.

Where I stray from you, I pray for dead ends, for drought that calls me back.

I pray for fire from heaven if that’s what it takes to fix my eyes on you and bring me to my knees.

And then, with my eyes on you, God, bring the rain.

I pray for the rain of blessings on me and my family.

I pray for the rain of blessings on this church, on those listening, on your people.

I pray for the rain of blessing, only and always if it comes from You and only as it leads us back to give you all the glory, Lord.

Above all, I pray for the blessing of You, more of You, Lord. Your Spirit upon us and within us, leading us and reshaping us.

Jesus, bring the rain.