Broken Kingdoms: WK3 - WED
King of all kings - 1 Kings 18:1, 16-21, 36-39
18:1 Later on, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!” 2 So Elijah went to appear before Ahab.
16 So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
18 “I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead.19 Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
20 So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.
36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.
38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
A sure fire way to know you need more humility in your life is whether or not someone else is always to blame for the hardships you face. If that’s the case, you may need to clean your mirror.
During the third year of the drought in Israel, while King Ahab and his wife continued to lead the people in prayers to Baal, and his mistress Asherah, for rain, God sends Elijah with good news; rain is on its way.
But Elijah knows that the last three years hasn’t change the heart of the king and queen at all. He continues to have his allegiances divided, giving more voice to God’s enemies, than God. God could have simply sent the rain, but he knows Ahab and Jezebel would likely have seen it as Baal finally answering their prayers. Something beyond obvious was needed.
So a showdown that would make the producers of World-Wide Wrestling jealous, was coming, and from all appearances, it was a very lopsided showdown. 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah, against one, lonely, prophet of Yahweh.
I encourage you to read the whole chapter of I Kings 18. As you do, you’ll see how the story goes. No matter how much the prophets of Baal and Asherah yell and scream and seek to appease their god, nothing happens. Elijah even taunts them a bit, but then tells them it is time to stop wavering back and forth between Yahweh, and other gods. Either Yahweh is, or isn’t, God. They must decide.
The people’s response fascinates me. We’re told, “the people were completely silent.” Why silent? Did they know something was wrong but they were afraid to go against the king and queen? Were they too exhausted from trying everything they could think of to fix their problems, to bring rain, to put food back on their tables? Why were they silent?
Then Elijah steps up to the plate (yes, it’s baseball season and yes, I will sneak in baseball metaphors as much as I can). And just to make sure the people know he has no tricks up his sleeve, he makes an impossible situation even more impossible. Ahh, but we serve the God of the impossible. Elijah prays to Yahweh, and Yahweh delivers in dramatic fashion, exposing Baal and Asherah as frauds, and showing beyond any shadow of any doubt that He alone is God.
I wish I could report that after this incident, everyone went back to worshipping Yahweh alone as the one true God, but nope. The people continue to struggle, Israel continues to have one bad king after another, and God’s heart continues to ache as His people continue to suffer.
There are times when I read through the Old Testament and I struggle. Why couldn’t the people learn? Why did they keep making the same mistakes? Couldn’t they see that it was their choices that kept leading them to one bad circumstance after another? Then I realize, they are me. How many times do I have to learn that God is God and I am now? How many bad and harmful choices do I have to make before I repent? How many? I don’t know about you, but I’m so tired of having to relearn the same lessons.
Thankfully, we serve a God of grace. A God who puts out this beautiful invite to us each and every day…
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
I have stolen a line from Eugene Peterson’s version of this verse, from The Message, and made it into a daily prayer. “Lord, help me learn to live freely and lightly in your unforced rhythms of grace.”
18:1 Later on, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!” 2 So Elijah went to appear before Ahab.
16 So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
18 “I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead.19 Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
20 So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.
36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.
38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
A sure fire way to know you need more humility in your life is whether or not someone else is always to blame for the hardships you face. If that’s the case, you may need to clean your mirror.
During the third year of the drought in Israel, while King Ahab and his wife continued to lead the people in prayers to Baal, and his mistress Asherah, for rain, God sends Elijah with good news; rain is on its way.
But Elijah knows that the last three years hasn’t change the heart of the king and queen at all. He continues to have his allegiances divided, giving more voice to God’s enemies, than God. God could have simply sent the rain, but he knows Ahab and Jezebel would likely have seen it as Baal finally answering their prayers. Something beyond obvious was needed.
So a showdown that would make the producers of World-Wide Wrestling jealous, was coming, and from all appearances, it was a very lopsided showdown. 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah, against one, lonely, prophet of Yahweh.
I encourage you to read the whole chapter of I Kings 18. As you do, you’ll see how the story goes. No matter how much the prophets of Baal and Asherah yell and scream and seek to appease their god, nothing happens. Elijah even taunts them a bit, but then tells them it is time to stop wavering back and forth between Yahweh, and other gods. Either Yahweh is, or isn’t, God. They must decide.
The people’s response fascinates me. We’re told, “the people were completely silent.” Why silent? Did they know something was wrong but they were afraid to go against the king and queen? Were they too exhausted from trying everything they could think of to fix their problems, to bring rain, to put food back on their tables? Why were they silent?
Then Elijah steps up to the plate (yes, it’s baseball season and yes, I will sneak in baseball metaphors as much as I can). And just to make sure the people know he has no tricks up his sleeve, he makes an impossible situation even more impossible. Ahh, but we serve the God of the impossible. Elijah prays to Yahweh, and Yahweh delivers in dramatic fashion, exposing Baal and Asherah as frauds, and showing beyond any shadow of any doubt that He alone is God.
I wish I could report that after this incident, everyone went back to worshipping Yahweh alone as the one true God, but nope. The people continue to struggle, Israel continues to have one bad king after another, and God’s heart continues to ache as His people continue to suffer.
There are times when I read through the Old Testament and I struggle. Why couldn’t the people learn? Why did they keep making the same mistakes? Couldn’t they see that it was their choices that kept leading them to one bad circumstance after another? Then I realize, they are me. How many times do I have to learn that God is God and I am now? How many bad and harmful choices do I have to make before I repent? How many? I don’t know about you, but I’m so tired of having to relearn the same lessons.
Thankfully, we serve a God of grace. A God who puts out this beautiful invite to us each and every day…
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
I have stolen a line from Eugene Peterson’s version of this verse, from The Message, and made it into a daily prayer. “Lord, help me learn to live freely and lightly in your unforced rhythms of grace.”
- What burdens are you carrying right now that you need to let go of?
- Is there an area of your life that you need to fully surrender to God right now? If so, what is it and what can you practice that may help you let God be God in that area of your life?
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