1 Kings 17-19
Ahab versus Elijah! An evil king confronted by the righteous prophet! Ahab has a co-conspirator, his ultra-evil wife, Jezebel. Elijah works alone. Ahab and Jezebel have all the resources of Israel. Elijah has nothing and no one, except, of course, the Lord. These three chapters contain some of the richest, most powerful accounts of spiritual warfare in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The struggle begins with Elijah’s famous prayer that God would keep it from raining. After three years of drought, Elijah presents himself to Ahab and challenges his idolatrous prophets to a contest. Atop Mt. Carmel, the 450 prophets of Baal and the one prophet of the Lord meet. They are each to make a sacrificial offering; “and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” (1 Kings 18:24) All morning long, the prophets of Baal chant and cry out to Baal, while Elijah mocks them. On into the afternoon, they cut themselves in an effort to heighten the effect of their prayers; no response. When it’s Elijah’s turn, he soaks his sacrifice with gallons of precious water three times, prays, and, immediately, fire descends from heaven to consume the offering. Elijah seizes the moment and the crowd’s support to command that these prophets of Baal be destroyed. Having cleansed the kingdom of Baal worship, Elijah announces the return of the rain!
Elijah’s victory is short-lived. When he hears of Queen Jezebel’s intent to kill him, he descends into deep depression. We wonder how the mighty prophet who defeated the prophets of Baal so soundly could fall prey to a darkness based solely upon a threat. But such is spiritual warfare. How many of us have had our worst bouts of depression on the heels of great spiritual breakthroughs.
God is gracious to Elijah. He allows Elijah to run away, say depressing things, eat and sleep. Then God calls Elijah away to himself. And where do they meet? The same mountain upon which God met Moses! There God speaks to Elijah in a “still small voice,” corrects his mistaken, woe-is-me thinking, sends him back to work, and gives him a helper.
Enter Elisha!
Until Monday,
Pastor Gary
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