Questions for Thought
1. There are many accounts of God’s people failing to obey God and then being restored only to fall again during the period of the divided kingdom. Why would God have those accounts saved for us?
2. How important is it for a county to have morally good leaders?
3. How important is it for parents to teach their children the Old Testament history?
In the last blog, we ended with the Nation of Israel divided with two tribes of the south, Judah and Benjamin, being known as Judah and the other 10 northern tribes referred to as Israel. We noted both Israel and Judah eventually ended up captured by other nations. During this period from about 913 B.C. to 586 B.C. God used several prophets to try to get the people back on track and in obedience to Him, but the people for the most part refused to hear the prophets. In this blog, we will begin looking at some of the major events which involved these prophets. The information for this blog will come from 1 Kings where we left off.
Throughout the Old Testament period, God used prophets to warn His people concerning their sins. Many times these prophets used miracles which served to confirm the fact they had been sent from God. Remember how Moses used miracles to show Pharaoh he was truly speaking for God. When Pharaoh’s magicians realized they could not bring forth the lice as Moses had done, they told Pharaoh in Exodus 8:19: “This is the finger of God.” But we know Pharaoh refused to hear Moses and we will see how the Israelites also chose not to hear and heed the prophets.
After Jeroboam’s reign over the northern kingdom, the next five kings were Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri. All of these kings were evil in the sight of God. After Omri, Ahab became the king and according to 1 Kings 16:30, he was more evil than all those who reigned before him. He was married to the evil woman Jezebel and he served Baal. During his reign, the prophet Elijah was very active.
In 1 Kings 17:1 we read Elijah told Ahab there would not be any rain for three years. Just after he prophesied this to Ahab, God sent Elijah to the brook of Cherith where he could drink from the brook and be fed by ravens during the drought. When the waters of the brook dried up, God sent Elijah on to Zarephath where God had commanded a widow to feed him. Elijah went to the widow and found her gathering sticks. When he asked her for some bread, she told him she did not have anything but a handful of meal and a little oil in a container and she was gathering sticks to make a fire so she could cook the last of the food for her and her son and then they would die. Elijah told the woman to do as she had said, but to make him a little cake first because the Lord God of Israel had said the barrel of meal would not go empty and the oil would not run out. The woman did as Elijah said and brought him the first bread and then she and her son had plenty.
While Elijah was staying with the woman, her son died and she went to Elijah asking him if he had come to kill her son. Elijah took the boy and carried him up to the loft and laid him on the bed. Elijah prayed to God and he “stretched himself upon the child three times…” I wonder if he was doing what we call CPR. He begged God to let the child’s soul come into him again and God answered by reviving the child. When Elijah gave the child back to his mother, she said “I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.”
Near the end of the three years, God appeared to Elijah and told him to go to King Ahab. In the meantime, Ahab had sent Obadiah, the one in charge of his house, out to find grass for the animals. Obadiah had previously hidden 100 prophets of the Lord and fed them with bread and water when Jezebel was killing God’s prophets. As Elijah was going to Ahab, he met Obadiah who knew him and fell on his face in front of him. Elijah told Obadiah to go and tell Ahab he was in the area. Obadiah was afraid to do so and asked Elijah if he was trying to get him killed. Obadiah said Ahab had been looking for Elijah everywhere and could not find him and Obadiah was afraid if he told Ahab Elijah was there, the Spirit of the Lord would carry Elijah away and Ahab would then kill Obadiah. Elijah promised Obadiah he would appear before Ahab that very day, so Obadiah went and told Ahab and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
When Ahab and Elijah met, Ahab asked if Elijah was the one troubling Israel but Elijah turned it back on Ahab and told him it was he and his father’s house who troubled Israel because they had forsaken the commands of the Lord and followed Baalim. Elijah told Ahab to gather all of Israel to Mount Carmel along with the prophets of Baal of which there were 450 and the prophets of the groves another 400. Ahab gathered all the prophets and Israel to the mount and then Elijah let them have it.
Elijah asked the people how long they were going to ride the fence between following God and Baal. He told them if Baal was God then to follow him but if not, then follow God. The people did not answer him. So Elijah told the prophets of Baal to get two bulls and choose one for themselves and give the other one to Elijah. He said for them to cut up their offering and put it on wood with no fire and he would do the same with his bull. Then the prophets were to call upon their god to consume his offering by fire and Elijah would do the same with his bull. The people were in agreement so the prophets chose a bull, cut it up and placed it on wood, and called upon Baal from morning to noon but there was no answer. Elijah mocked them and told them to cry aloud since Baal must be talking or on a journey or sleeping or busy with something else. The prophets continued to cry to Baal but to no avail.
When evening came and Baal had not responded to the prophets, Elijah told the people to come near to him. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken and he put the sacrifice upon the altar. Then he had the people put 12 barrels of water on the sacrifice until the water ran out and into a trench. Then Elijah called upon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel and said: “Let it be known this day that thou are God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou are the Lord God, and that thou has turned their heart back again.” (1 Kings 18:36-37) Then fire came down from the Lord and consumed the sacrifice and the wood and stones and even licked up the water. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and confessed God. Elijah told the people to take the prophets of Baal and they did and Elijah killed them.
Then Elijah told King Ahab to go eat and drink because there was an abundance of rain coming. Ahab went away and Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel where he told his servant to go look toward the sea. The servant did and he came back and said he did not see anything. Elijah told him to go again seven times and on the seventh time, the servant came back and said there was a little cloud like a man’s hand coming out of the sea. Elijah told the servant to go tell Ahab to go on back to Jezreel before the rain stopped him. Then followed a terrific storm and Ahab went back to Jezreel but the hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he ran ahead and beat Ahab getting to Jezreel. Ahab arrived and told his evil wife, Jezebel what Elijah had done to the prophets and Jezebel sent Elijah a message saying she would have him dead by the same time tomorrow.
Elijah fled for his life. While he was sleeping under a juniper tree, and angel touched him and told him to arise and eat. When he woke up there was food and water for him. He ate and the angel came again and told him to eat more. He did and that food sustained him for 40 days and nights while he went to Mount Horeb. At Horeb, Elijah stayed in a cave where he had a pity party for himself. The Lord came and asked him what he was doing. He told the Lord how he had been so zealous for Him and how he was the only one left serving God. God then told Elijah to go stand upon the mount before the Lord. He did and there was a great wind, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Then there was a whispering voice and when Elijah heard it, he went out to the entrance of the cave and a voice asked him again what he was doing there. Elijah again said how zealous he had been for the Lord, but the Israelites had torn down the altars and were seeking his life and he was the only one left. The Lord told him to go back to Damascus and anoint Hazael to be king over Syria and Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in place of Elijah. Then he told Elijah He still had 7000 in Israel who had not bowed unto Baal and not kissed him.
How often do we have that feeling that no one but me is serving the Lord? How often do we have a pity party for self? It does me good to see that even a prophet of the Lord could have these same feelings. We will pick up here in the next blog beginning with the call of Elisha as a prophet of God.
Christian Women's Responsibility in Sharing God's Word 