| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Kings 17
|
||
1 Kings 18: Showdown at Mt. Carmel 1Kings 19: Failure and Discouragement |
This Bible Study is also available on Audio
Tape Introduction We begin a series on Elijah and Elisha, two of the greatest figures of the Old Testament. We'll begin with Elijah, who was the older and more famous of the two. His story begins in 1 Kings 17:1, where Elijah bursts on the scene to precipitate a conflict with the king of Israel, Ahab. Let's spend a few minutes understanding the setting of this remarkable person. The year is about 870 BC. Israel has been split into two kingdoms for over sixty years: the southern kingdom, Judah (Jerusalem), and the northern kingdom, Israel (Samaria). Ahab is the latest in a series of kings who don't follow YHWH, the one true God. In fact, he has led the Israelites into the deepest apostasy yet (read 16:30-32). Ahab not only imitated the sin of Jeroboam by permitting the worship of false gods; he also married the Sidonian princess Jezebel (forbidden) and actively promoted the worship of Baal, which involved (among other things) offering infant children on the glowing bronze arms of the idol. "Elijah" literally means "YHWH is God." Elijah is a prophet, an official spokesman for God to remind his people of the covenant they entered into with him, and to call them back to him. He was from Tishbe, a city in the sticks, but he stormed into Ahab's presence in Samaria to announce that God was bringing a drought to Israel because of their apostasy. Where did Elijah get this idea? God had warned Israel of this in Deut. 11:16,17. Elijah was merely God's spokesman who was announcing the fulfillment of this prediction. Thus begins a conflict between Ahab and Elijah--which personifies the conflict between YHWH and Baal--and which will reach its dramatic, public climax on Mt. Carmel three years later when Elijah takes on Ahab and several hundred prophets of Baal. In between, though, God not only hides Elijah from Ahab; he also sends him to "boot-camp." Boot-camp is where the comforts of civilian life are removed and replaced by simulated conditions of battle (EXAMPLES). Soldiers don't like boot-camp, but that's not the goal of boot-camp. The goal is to train and fashion people into soldiers who can effectively carry out their roles in battle. God has a boot-camp for each of us, too. And by studying Elijah in boot-camp, we can learn a lot about the pattern of God's training process for our lives. This pattern consists of four elements, and I suggest that you write them into your Bibles. SITE #1: Cherith The first thing Elijah receives is a COMMAND from God which subjects him to a test (read 17:2,3). Cherith means "to whittle" or "to file down"--which is probably not coincidental. Cherith was in a desolate place (MAP), and God evidently ordered him to go there without any provisions and for an indefinite period of time. With the COMMAND, God also gives Elijah a PROMISE (read 17:4). He is aware of Elijah's physical needs, and he will provide for them through both natural (brook water) and supernatural (roast ravens?) means. In 17:5, we see Elijah's response (read). It is a response of FAITH. He trusted God's promise by obeying his command. What if Elijah had replied, "I believe you will provide for me"--but then went to Jerusalem, or brought a wagon-train of goods? We know that Elijah trusted God's promise because he obeyed his command. In 17:6, we see the result (read). He didn't have to eat crow, after all. The ravens brought him sandwiches twice a day. The point is that Elijah EXPERIENCED the fulfillment of God's promise, and his faith in God's reliability was strengthened by this. Eventually, the drought that God had brought on the land through Elijah's word dried up the brook, so God moves him to SITE #2 of boot-camp. Notice the same pattern of training . . . SITE #2: Zarephath God issues Elijah another COMMAND which subjects him to yet another test (read 17:8,9a). "Zarephath" means a "crucible" or "smelting place." Going to Zarephath (MAP) required Elijah to travel right through Israel, where Ahab was hunting for him (18:10). And Zarephath was in Sidon, right in the heart of Baal country. Once again, along with the command, God gives Elijah a PROMISE (read 17:9b). He will provide for him through a widow there. 17:10a narrates Elijah's response of FAITH (read). He trusts God's promise to provide for him by obeying his command to go to Zarephath. What follows is fascinating and instructive (read 17:10b-16). Elijah not only EXPERIENCES the fulfillment of God's promise (17:16). He also teaches the widow, who is probably a Baal-worshiper (see 17:12 - "as the LORD your God lives"), how to relate to him through the same process. Point out the same four elements in 17:13-16. This begins to move her toward personal faith in YHWH (read 17:24). So through these two tests, Elijah learns on a deeper level that God will provide for him and protect him, and that God will work through him to influence others to turn to him. These are exactly the things Elijah will need when he squares off against Ahab and the whole Baal-worship system on Mt. Carmel and challenges Israel to return to YHWH. Elijah had no knowledge at this point that God would call on him to do this--but God knew, and he was carefully preparing him for it. Without chapter 17, chapter 18 would read very differently . . . So what? What does all this have to do with us? It depends on how you look at it. On one level, Elijah was a unique person with a unique role in a unique period of history. So it would be wrong-headed for us to focus on the details of this passage and expect them to be duplicated in our own lives. But on another level, he was a man just like us (read Jas. 5:17)--and the Bible teaches that God works with us in essentially the same way he worked with Elijah. First, God has the same basic purpose for your life as he did for Elijah. He wants you to know him personally as the only true God and experience his faithfulness, and he wants to uniquely demonstrate the reality of his existence through you to a lost humanity. Second, God leads us into his purpose through the same process that we saw in this passage. If you want to see how God is working in your life, you need to look through the "lens" of this process. It is never mechanical because God is a Person and relates to you as a unique person; but this personal relationship takes place within a certain framework that we can understand and cooperate with. He is going to speak his COMMANDS and PROMISES to you through his Word, the Bible. As you expose yourself to the Bible, God's Spirit will draw your attention to the COMMAND and PROMISE (in either order) that relate to your life right now. Then God gives you the freedom and dignity to choose--to put your FAITH in him, or to choose some other path. If you choose to trust God in this way, then you will EXPERIENCE the FULFILLMENT of his promise in your life. How about coming to know God--forging a relationship with God for the first time? Many of us have seen that this is exactly how it works. Some of you are considering this issue for the first time. Through some means (a friend, a teaching, own study), you have become aware of God's PROMISE to give you forgiveness, eternal life, his Spirit, rebirth, etc. through his Son Jesus Christ. And because of need in your own life, and perhaps because of the evidence of another person's changed life, this PROMISE has begun to become appealing to you. Through similar means, you realize that this PROMISE is connected to a COMMAND: to humble yourself and admit that you need Christ's forgiveness, to turn from living autonomously from God to submit to him, to ask Christ to come into your life, etc. If you consider this message from God very long, it will precipitate a crisis of decision. Will you choose to trust God's PROMISE of salvation by obeying his COMMAND to receive Christ, or will you turn away? I turned away the first two times I was at this point, and God graciously gave me another opportunity. But when I finally received Christ, the very first thing I wished is that I would have responded this way the first time. Why? For the same reason you'll discover if you respond to God's COMMAND today. Because you will EXPERIENCE the FULFILLMENT of God's promise!! Christ will come into your life and cleanse your guilty heart, give you hope for the future, establish peace with God, etc. Now let's consider growth into spiritual maturity. The point is that growing in Christ occurs through the same process as coming to Christ. That's what Paul means in Col. 2:6 (read). We need to learn what God's Word teaches us about his PROMISES and COMMANDS in area after area of life. This is why it's so important to get into the Word--without it, you won't know God's will for your life and the provisions he makes for you. You won't have any solid basis for your faith. But simply knowing God's Word is not sufficient for spiritual growth into maturity. As James says, "Be not merely hearers of the Word, but also doers . . . that you may be blessed." In situation after situation as you turn to God, he will remind you of his Word and he will call on you to take a "scary step of faith" in him. Maybe the issue you are struggling with is personal loneliness. You have learned that God will be with you to meet your relational needs (Heb. 13:5; Ps. 23). But now he is convicting you to turn away from a sexually immoral relationship to trust him to provide a mate for you in his way and timing. Or he may call on you to come out from your isolation and begin to build Christ-centered friendships. Perhaps the issue is sharing your faith in Christ. You have learned Acts 1:8 or Phil. 4:13. But now God is calling you to get baptized, publicly sharing how Christ has changed your life. Or maybe he is strongly urging you to share your faith with a friend or relative. Maybe God is putting his finger on your material anxiety. You have learned Matt. 6:33 and Phil. 4:19. But now God is challenging you to trust his material provision by making a commitment to give regularly and generously to advance his kingdom (financial giving; missions). Perhaps the issue is personal ministry. You have learned 1 Cor. 12 and Rom. 12, and you have evidence that you may be gifted in a certain area. Now God has shown you a concrete opportunity to serve in this area, and he is calling on you to step out to do it. This is something very personal between you and the Lord. You will most likely feel afraid and weak, and part of you will argue that you'd be crazy to trust God with this. But it is these decisions that open the way to EXPERIENCE God's faithfulness in new and exciting and life-changing ways! And even more wonderful is the gradually deepening confidence in God's faithfulness as we build our own personal history with him in this way year after year, in area after area of our lives. NEXT: Showdown on Mount Carmel |
|
 |
|
|
