Dueling Prophets

1 Kings 18

“And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said The Lord He is the God; The Lord He is the God.” 1 Kings 18:39

Elijah, having just raised the widow’s son back to life, and having fulfilled his mission with her; The Word of The Lord came again to him. This time however, Elijah was to inform the wicked king Ahab of the rain that was headed for Israel. Again, the whole reason there was this drought in the first place was Ahab had initiated a kingdom of tolerance for heathen religions, and where Baal worshiped reigned supreme. Baal, the god of storms had failed his followers miserably these last three years and it was time for a showdown of the gods. Israel had not repented yet, and it was time to force a battle between the powers of evil and the righteous power of God.

Jezebel, the queen of Israel, had succeeded in killing many of the followers of Yahweh in an effort to create this tolerant society toward her favored religion, and to appease her own god (the god Baal).

We now have an interesting character come into the story, and his name is Obadiah. Obadiah is a fervent worshipper of Yahweh, and has used his connections as king’s steward to hide 100 of the prophets of God by 50’s in caves. The study today takes him out across the land looking for water as the drought had dried up all available resources for quite a ways. It is on this venture that Obadiah meets Elijah as he comes out of hiding for the first time since the drought began.

Elijah tells Obadiah to let Ahab know that he is in the area and would like to see him. Obadiah trembled at the thought of delivering that message, (1) because Elijah was a prophet of God and Jezebel wanted his head, (and 2) because Elijah had a knack for disappearing into nowhere only to be found when the time was right.

Obadiah’s words were, “I will tell Ahab that you are here and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and carry you away to a place that I know not of”.

Only when Elijah promised that he would see Ahab, did Obadiah consent to giving Ahab the message.

Ahab couldn’t stand Elijah’s presence due to the righteousness of Elijah condemning the unrighteousness of Ahab. Also look at 1 John 3:12 1 Peter 3:16 2 Timothy 3:12 Cain was infuriated by Abel’s righteousness.

Ahab knew Elijah was a prophet of God, yet he blamed him for the trouble that had befallen Israel. Ahab’s kingdom was built around tolerance of the Zidonian god Baal and goddess Ashteroth and he assumed that as god/goddess they would take care of him, yet these last three years they had failed him as this “trouble” had fallen upon Israel. He assumed this “trouble” was brought on by Elijah’s insistence in worshipping the One True God, and his own gods had removed their blessing. We could say that Ahab was a spiritual man, even that Jezebel was a spiritual woman; but their spirituality resulted in idolatry, which is rebellion of God’s ways, which is witchcraft. Behind every idol is a demon receiving the worship that is given it.

Our children are those in our little domain, just like Ahab as king of Israel had his kingdom of people who were looking to him for guidance. If we as parents are not an example of serving God, whether it’s by losing our temper, disrespect of our leaders, or fellow church members, or whether we are halting between two religions; these could all give rise to a generation of people who are disillusioned having a tainted view of who God is. If we as parents are super concerned with things pertaining to us, be it our hurts, our gifts, or how we expect that men should treat us; then we are selfishly expecting to have our rights upheld. The Bible says offences will come and “Woe to whoever shall give them”. Our children will see who we respond to situations that are less than ideal, and we will make or break their view of God and His ways! Their blood will surely be on our hands if they lose out spiritually due to our lack of spiritual discernment. Matthew 18:6

During the reign of Ahab, many Israelites tried to worship both God and Baal in order to please the prophets and the rulers. This is a compromise of faith and it is clear through the Word of God that compromise of faith will always be sin and will be judged. Revelation 2:14 - Joshua 24:15

So, who really was troubling Israel? When God said in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.”; He made it clear that certain requirements need to be met or they would be judged along with their land being cursed for their sake. God was not just “troubling” Israel, but was wanting them to see the futility of their worship in an inanimate god. This trouble was self-inflicted because of their rebellious heart.

Today, Do you feel like God is inflicting you? Before you blame God for it, take a look at your life. Are you in whole obedience to God and what he has revealed to you? Also understand that if you are walking in complete obedience to God, Satan would love to sift you as wheat. Further still, Recognize that this may not be a personal struggle, rather this earth is cursed generally, not to make it hard for you, but because of the sin of the world that men and women may realize their need of surrendering to God.

When we forsake the commandments of the Lord, it is clear we will bring “trouble” on ourselves.

What does it mean, “Thou hast followed Baalim”? Is this just a variant of the name Baal? Baalim, according to the Strong’s Concordance is the plural form of Baal.

As Elijah meets with Ahab, he gives this call to worship. It is a contest of worship to see which (G)god is going to come through for their prophets(s). It is time for the showdown. Israel had not repented from following Baal, but they were going to be forced to see that God/Jehovah is the True God and that Elijah is His messenger.

Elijah called them to this contest on Mt Carmel. Now Mt. Carmel was a beautiful Mountain that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. It was believed to have been the home of the god Baal. Baal was in a sense challenged to a duel on his “home turf”. Elijah was outnumbered 850/1 by the prophets of Baal, plus if you would count the rest of the worshippers of Baal, that number would have risen tremendously.

Israel has been trying to have a tolerant stance toward this false religion, and as anybody can guess true tolerance of anything whether it is a false god or an ideology always end up biting you in the end. There is no such thing as true complete tolerance.

Elijah built the altar with 12 stones to remind the Israelites they were part of the 12 tribes of Israel and that God has chosen them as His people. This symbolized a return to the worship of the true God as the altar had been in disrepair until now.

The Israelites needed to acknowledge that Jehovah is God (the only God) before the drought could end. Leviticus 26:40-45 by the same token, our spiritual drought can be reversed by recognizing that God alone is God and by following in obedience.

The Prophet And The Widow

Rehoboam (Solomon’s Son) and Jeroboam (one of the Head Craftsmen), faced off about the high taxes that the Israelites had to pay the to the Order of the Kingdom of Israel. This resulted in a disintegration of the kingdom of Israel, and 10 of the Tribes or family groups went with Jeroboam to form a splinter, a big splinter of the kingdom.

As we saw before Jeroboam was concerned more about his power than his people and set up idol worship as a means of controlling whether they should see what true worship is like in Jerusalem. After The Northern Kingdom went with Jeroboam, they had a series of bad kings with one rising up and taking the previous one down, or by inheritance.

Today, we go into the study of the kingship of Ahab and the Prophet of God during his reign, pulling out some key elements to display God’s Message.

1 Kings 17:1-12

Prior to 1 Kings 17 we know nothing about Elijah. Many people have speculated as to who he was and have come up with theories which cannot be proved or could be disputed. Some people believe that he was either God pre-incarnate or an angel in human form, but James 5:17 lays to rest either of those theories. Elijah is an example of faithfulness during a time of nationwide rejection of the truth.

We open up this study with a man appearing on the scene that we have no previous knowledge of, save that he was a Tishbite.

Now the name Tishbite, when broken down means sojourner, but could also refer to a location. Josephus refers to Elijah as being from Teshbon (a Country or Province in Gilead). The name Elijah means Jehovah is God and as the story ensues, Elijah’s life remains fairly close to the meaning of his name.

Ahab, was the son of a wicked king, who had done evil as had Jeroboam. The account we have before us says that Ahab was more evil than all who were before him. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, who was a king of Sidon, and together they built an altar to Baal the Zidonian god, and Asherah the Zidonian goddess. Ethbaal was a priest-king of Baal, and his daughter Jezebel had picked up that spiritual power and transferred it into the worship in Israel. The name Jezebel itself means “where is the “Prince”? This is believed to be a direct reference to Baal who was a god of the underworld and their search for Spring and New Life! They believed that when Baal showed his face the crops and life itself flourished.

There is a few key points in verse 1 that we must not miss.

Elijah was addressing Ahab, that wicked king whose wife was a priestess of Baal, a god whose appearance was believed by them to bring New Life.

Elijah though facing a king who could have had his head, spoke the Word of The Lord.

Elijah stood before God, whose Message he brought to Ahab and Jezebel.

This drought that Elijah prophesied to the Israelites about had a previously issued warning in Deuteronomy 11:16,17 that when their hearts became deceived and they worshipped other gods, the wrath of God would fall on them and the heavens would issue no rain.

After meeting king Ahab in Samaria and giving him the warning about there being a drought, Elijah, under the command and provision of the Lord was told to escape Eastward and hide by the brook Cherith. Now Cherith was on the East side of the Jordan River, whereas Samaria was on the western side. God was preparing Elijah for a profound and miraculous ministry that required his complete trust in Jehovah. As Elijah lived by the brook, every morning and evening, ravens brought him bread and meat for his sustenance. “With God all things are possible.”

So where did these ravens get these tidbits of food the for the prophet to eat? I sincerely doubt these were leftover crumbs that some caravan discarded. Why do I feel this was not an option? Food was scarce, so if you had it; you didn’t waste it.

I figure that this was probably bread and meat from heaven that was specifically sent for the nourishment of God’s Prophet.

Now when there is a drought in a place, eventually the rivers and the creeks dry up and the avenue that God had provided for Elijah had left as the last drop of rain water evaporated into the air.

Elijah’s time of preparation was over and God wanted him to move onto the next phase of his ministry. Elijah was sent to Zarephath, a city in Sidon near the place where Jezebel, that wicked queen hailed from. This was a Gentile city, that was in the heart of idol worship, yet here is where the call of God sent Elijah.

We don’t know for sure if she was a believer before Elijah met up with her or even if she had ever heard of the True God, but it would seem likely that she had heard about God from someone. When Solomon built God’s Temple in Jerusalem, and through the wisdom that God had given him, one would sure think that news like that along with the glory of the kingdom of Israel would have made it that far North (about 100 Miles or so). We do know that news had reached into the Land of Sheba, either known as Ethiopia or South Africa.

There was a widow in the city of Zarephath that God had prepared for this occasion and Elijah was sent to her, not so much for his benefit, but for hers. This widow, a citizen of that Gentile city was preparing to make her last meal and then she and her son would starve.

God’s people were forsaking him, yet among the Gentiles, there was a heart that was ripe for the Gospel Message, So God was moving in her heart and Elijah’s heart as they both were prepared for the meeting that was God ordained.

How far widespread was this drought? The rejection that Israel chose to send God’s way created a traumatic situation, not only for them but the neighboring countries around them. We notice that as far away as Sidon, their food supply was running out. The widow in our lesson shows us just how desperate things were for them as well as the Israelites.

Over and over again, God has displayed His mercy to a person who has humbled themselves before Him, no matter what background they come from. It had seemed clear, that the Israelites were God’s Chosen people, but once again, the popular belief was pushed aside so yet another soul could enter into God’s Kingdom. This was made available through the rejection of God’s Chosen People refusing to acknowledge Him as their Lord.

This widow’s obedience is amazing! She had no reason to trust Elijah and his God, but then what did she have to lose. Her whole life had been predicated on the lie that her god and goddess would bring the fruit from the ground, but when the time had come for a harvest these last 3 years; but alas, there was none.

As Elijah instructed her to bring him a cake first, she makes an interesting statement. She said, “As the Lord thy God Liveth”. First off, She is recognizing, There is a Living God. Secondly, she is recognizing Elijah as his Prophet. Thirdly, that she doesn’t know Him.

Elijah’s prophecy about her barrel of meal and cruse of oil came true and she began to warm up to the prophet and his God, the Living God who could create meal and oil from nothing. No matter how she scraped her barrel and cruse out, there was always some there the next time she needed it.

God’s provision for her, had brought her to the place of believing in Him.

The next step in this plan that God had for her and Elijah was one that had never been done before. Though it hadn’t been done before, Abraham had believed that God could do it for his son Isaac after he had sacrificed him. Hebrews 11:17-19

This widow, having lost her husband beforehand, now had he only child, a son, become sick and die. She immediately assumed that the grace of God was no longer on her head due to the entrenched ideologies that were ingrained into her belief system.

God understands the fears and confusions of our hearts. This woman was grief-stricken, and out of her grief, she spoke hastily. We, to speak hastily to the Lord at times when we don’t understand what is going on in our lives. We say things like “Why me Lord?”

We so easily forget the blessings of the Lord as soon as hardship comes. The Children of Israel forget the blessings of the Lord whether things were going good or badly for them. God is a Patient God and He was displaying His longsuffering nature to her so that she would understand more in depth who He is.

We may criticize this lady for accusing Elijah of bringing her son’s death upon her, but she was outside God’s chosen people. True she was serving the Lord now, and serving His Prophet, but how could she know that at some point her sins wouldn’t come back to haunt her? This was a legitimate fear for her. As a Gentile, she did not have the same rights before God as a born Jew would have, and any proselytized Gentile would have felt that. Today, through Jesus, all Gentiles have an open relationship with God, even to a greater degree than what the Old Testament Jews would have been able to have.

Sometimes when we experience traumatic incidents, we immediately assume that God has left us because of our unrighteousness. While that may be the case on occasion, God may actually be closer than we think. In the story we have before us, God had prepared this situation, not that He wanted her to experience her son dying, but that He wanted her to experience her son becoming alive again!

The purpose of this was to prove that He alone is God and that He creates Life!

The widow’s last testimony we read of is “I know that thou art a man of God, and the Word of the Lord in your mouth is truth”. She no longer is calling God Elijah’s God, but the grammatical sense is denoting ownership of God. In other words, she now was a personal believer in God.

‪#‎Godcreateslife‬ ‪#‎believerinGod‬ ‪#‎widowinZarephath‬ ‪#‎testimonyoflife‬

The Strategies of Two Kings

Shechem played a pivotal role in the history of the Jews that is often overlooked by Bible Commentaries.  Shechem was a city where Abraham was living nearby when he received one of God’s promises. Genesis 12:6,7  By the time Jacob came on the scene 200 years later had become a thriving city.  Now the word city in Hebrew means that this settlement was a walled settlement, and Genesis 34:20, 24 report that it had a gate.  

Shechem was home to Abraham, Jacob, it is where Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, Joshua was to read the law from the side of one of the mountains nearby once they had made the conquest into that region Joshua 7,8. and Jesus talked to the woman at the well there.  The city of Shechem was situated between two mountains and had a natural acoustic effect so one could be speaking on the mountain and be heard in the valley.  The source I got this information from also indicated that he had been on top of one of the mountains and could hear the children playing in the city, so the acoustic nature worked both ways.

You remember from our last study that Solomon had started out well as a leader, but then his heart wandered,and he became a self-serving king.  In other words, it was more of a tyranny as he pressed his very own people into slavery to him and his family.  Toward the end of Solomon’s reign the heart of the people had already started to shift, and when he died, Jeroboam, one of his well respected men had fled to Egypt after have to seek asylum there.

Now Rehoboam, who was Solomon’s son that should take on the kingdom, went to Shechem for his coronation.  The story that goes on from here expands yet again the history of the city of Shechem as this event takes on another pivotal role in the history of the Israelites.

We start out our Lesson with one of Israel’s well respected men in exile.

1 Samuel 8:11-18

11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

13 And he will take your daughters to be confectioneries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

We do not know that Solomon knew of the interchange between Ahijah, the prophet of God and Jeroboam, but he certainly must have suspected something. Jeroboam was an industrious individual who was a natural born leader. The Bible calls him a valiant warrior.  As Solomon was losing his grip on his people it seemed natural that someone as powerful militarily as Jeroboam would be a threat to Solomon's throne, and he moved to get him out of the way. Jeroboam sought asylum in Egypt.

1 Timothy 6:6-11

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

The presence of Jeroboam, a returned exile, by the invitation of the people should have been threat enough to this new king, and then to have him as the spokesman for the entire camp of Israel who was offering bargaining chips to the king really should have left no question in Rehoboam’s mind as to the danger of not hearing their request.

Any leader who is self-serving is headed for disaster.  The old men advised Rehoboam to be compassionate to the people of Israel and they would serve him forever.  A good leader would have heard his followers and would have consulted his advisers, not from a selfish standpoint, but one that would seek to serve his own people.  This was the downfall of Solomon and Rehoboam.

When there is a group of people who either won’t hear the advice of the older generation or isn’t surrounded with the wisdom of the older generation, where will that take them.  In Rehoboam’s case, he consulted with his peers, who were self-serving just like himself.  

Today as individuals, families, and the church we do have access to the Holy Spirit speaking directly into our lives so in one sense it is different, but should we be seeking advice for our lives corporately and/or individually?

God had given Jeroboam the greater portion of the kingdom of Israel and protected him from being killed from Solomon.  He had forgotten that God could preserve the kingdom as well as give it to him.

Jeroboam, as well as Solomon and Rehoboam, had proved that their heart cared more for their positions than the people.  You remember in our last study we talked about Israel worshipping God in high places, and it was in such a place that Solomon met God and got the promise of wisdom.  Though these high places were forbidden through the Law that was given by God,  it was something He winked at as they were still giving him lip service.  These same high places caused Israel to compromise their beliefs in God, because they weren’t entirely following His directives.

When Jeroboam lead the revolt against Rehoboam, only Judah remained with Rehoboam.  So now that Jeroboam had eleven tribes with him he didn’t wish to lose that power that all those people gave him.  This why he set up the golden calves in the high places of Dan and Bethel.  

Do we as leaders become so power hungry that we set up some kind of idolatry so we do not lose the power, the authority that we have gotten?  This could be true of us as fathers, or as leaders in the church.

Jeroboam’s quest for power began with hearing the voice of God and being appointed by God to lead the 10 tribes of Israel.  Jeroboam got the lowest of the people to be his new priests at the high places in the worship of the golden calves.  He tried to brainwash the people that these calves that he made were representations of God who led them out of Egypt.  He was playing on their need to worship something physical and trying to keep them out of Jerusalem.  He knew that Jerusalem was the place God had set up through David and Solomon as the place where His presence would be felt and where the voice of God would be heard, but he chose to withhold any real experience of worship from them so he could maintain his own kingdom.

There were a total of eleven tribes that went with him, but when the tribe of Levi discovered they weren’t needed for worship, they went back and joined up with Rehoboam and Judah.  

Solomon’s wives lead him astray as they became more important to him than God. 1 Kings 11:3,4

Rehoboam’s friends lead him astray by giving him poor advice.

Jeroboam wanted to keep the hearts of the people, and though there was no immediate threat to losing them, he took counsel and built idols so the Israelites would not go back to Jerusalem to worship. 1 Kings 12:28