Sunday Morning Bible Study

June 30, 2002

Showdown at Carmel

We’ve started to look at the life of the prophet Elijah.  He was used at a time of great wickedness in Israel.  The king of the northern kingdom was named Ahab, and he married a princess of the Phoenician empire named Jezebel.  Through Jezebel, the worship of the pagan gods Baal and Asherah were introduced into Israelite society.  Elijah’s ministry began when Elijah announced to Ahab that there would be no more rain until Elijah said so.  Then Elijah promptly disappeared and hid for three and a half years.

:1-6 Ahab and Obadiah look for water

:1 the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

Elijah had said,

(1 Ki 17:1 KJV)  And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

But here we see that it wasn’t “Elijah’s word”, but “God’s Word” that really counted.

Sometimes it gets confusing, to be able to tell when it’s just a person that’s speaking, or when it’s really God speaking through a person.

I think that some of Elijah’s trouble is going to come because Ahab thinks that it really is just Elijah that is causing all this trouble, when it’s really God that Ahab has problems with.

:2  there was a sore famine in Samaria.

Samaria is the capital city of the northern kingdom.

:3 And Ahab called Obadiah

Obadiah – ‘Obadyah – “servant of Jehovah”.  He is in charge of Ahab’s affairs, his top aide.  And he is a believer.

:4 when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah  …fed them

cut off – karath – to cut, cut off, cut down; Jezebel had been literally killing God’s prophets (1Ki. 18:13). While Elijah was at “Cherith” (“cutting”), Jezebel was trying to “cut off” God’s prophets, trying to put them to death.

Obadiah had been able to take one hundred of the prophets, hide them, and feed them. During the 3 ½ years that Elijah was being fed first by the ravens and then by the widow, Obadiah had been feeding 100 prophets. We don’t have the actual account of this incident.

:6 So they divided the land between them

Ahab and Obadiah are out to look for places to put their livestock.

:7-16 Obadiah finds Elijah

:10 there is no nation …whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee

Elijah is at the top of Ahab’s “Most Wanted” list.

:12 …he shall slay me

Obadiah thinks that God is going to play some kind of cosmic joke on him.  He’s afraid that if he goes and tells Ahab to come and meet Elijah, that something will happen to Elijah and Obadiah will be in trouble.

:13 Was it not told my lord what I did …

slew – harag – to kill, slay, murder, destroy, murderer, slayer, out of hand

Obadiah shares how he has been faithful, trying to take care of the prophets.  He considers himself a “good guy”, and now he’s afraid that he’s going to be in trouble.

:16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him

Obadiah has been through some tough times.  There has been a horrible drought.  He’s tried to stay faithful to the Lord.  But he looks at Elijah as if Elijah isn’t someone he can trust.  He sees Elijah as someone who just causes trouble and heartache for people. He’s adopted some of Ahab’s views on Elijah.

Lesson

Don’t be afraid of God’s will

Sometimes we become like Obadiah, always afraid of what God is going to “do to us”.

Just like the widow when her son died, she said,

(1 Ki 17:18 NLT)  "O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to punish my sins by killing my son?"

Yet her son’s death had nothing to do with her sins.  In fact, God was planning on using Elijah to raise her son from the dead.

Paul said that to understand God’s will for our lives, we needed to give ourselves totally to God:

(Rom 12:1-2 KJV)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. {2} And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

When we let God have complete control of our lives, we will prove to others around us that God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect.

:17-20 Elijah’s invitation to Ahab

:17-18 Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

Lesson

It’s not my fault

A while ago there was a silly kid’s movie called “Rocketman” where the lead guy kept messing things up and then he’d say, “It wasn’t me!”

The reason for the drought was because of God’s judgment on the sin of Israel, the sin that Ahab led them to commit. But rather than admit his own part in it, Ahab wants to point the finger at Elijah.

Today we are getting better and better at pointing our fingers at other people rather than accept responsibility for our own behavior.

People will commit crimes and then plead “temporary insanity”.

I once had a brother share with me that he had hit his wife.  Then he told me that it was her fault, that she drove him to hit her.  He was unwilling to admit that it was his fault.  She may have been nagging him and bugging him, but there is absolutely no reason for a man to hit his wife.

The Bible says:

(Prov 28:13 KJV)  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

Are you involved in having done something that was wrong?  Are you admitting what you’ve done wrong, or are you making excuses?

:19-20 the prophets of Baal …the prophets of the groves

Elijah is going to have a “show-down” with eight hundred and fifty prophets.

Baal – Ba‘al – “lord”; The Hebrew noun ba‘al means ‘master’, ‘possessor’ or ‘husband’. Baal was the weather god associated with thunderstorms. Lightning was his weapon, he claimed to have invented it.  The windows of Baal’s palace were thought to correspond to openings in the clouds through which rain flowed. He was also highly immoral, and the worship of Baal was also just as immoral.

the groves –  ‘asherah –  “groves (for idol worship)”.  These were wooden poles carved to look like a goddess.  Asherah was one of Baal’s lovers. 

Carmel – A mountain on the northern coast of Israel, 31 ½ miles northwest of Samaria.

:21-24 The Challenge

:21 How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.

LORD – this is God’s name, Yahweh.

Lesson

“Undecided” is not an option

The button at the elevator door says either “up” or “down”.  There is no “undecided”.

You are either “for” God or “against” God.  There is no place for not being sure. To be “undecided” is to be decided against the Lord.

Joshua said,

(Josh 24:15 KJV)  …choose you this day whom ye will serve  …but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

:21 And the people answered him not a word.

Why are the people silent?

Perhaps they realize that they aren’t sure which one is really God.  Perhaps they didn’t realize that they needed to make a choice.  Perhaps they had always thought they could serve Baal and the Lord.

:22 I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD

Elijah is not correct.  He is not the only prophet of Yahweh.  There are others. Obadiah had been protecting one hundred prophets.  Later, when Elijah is feeling sorry for himself, God will tell him:

(1 Ki 19:18 KJV)  Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

These might not have been prophets, but Elijah certainly was not alone.

:23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks

bullocks – par – young bull, steer, bullock.  Each group will prepare a sacrifice, but without the fire.

:24 the God that answereth by fire, let him be God.

Elijah is challenging the Baal worshippers at the very core of their belief system.  If Baal is supposed to be the “god” who invented lightening bolts, then what better test than this?

Lesson

Miracles don’t start at Carmel

How can Elijah have the guts to do this?

Because he’s lived in Cherith and Zarephath, the places of “cutting” and “refining” (1Ki. 17).  In his hard times, he’s seen God provide for him, even if in small ways.

When David got to the point in his life where he faced the giant Goliath, he knew he could do it because he had faced a lion and a bear (1Sam. 17:37).

Elijah has seen God at work in his life in much smaller ways and has learned to listen to God and to trust Him.

Elijah has been living in a time of horrendous famine.  He has seen God provide for him.  I don’t get the idea that God dropped a huge feast on Elijah from the ravens.  I don’t get the idea that the widow woman’s pantry was suddenly filled with bushels of food.  But Elijah saw God provide a little each day, enough to survive.  He has learned to trust God one day at a time, for each day’s miraculous supply.

Too often we want to see the miracles of Mount Carmel, but we don’t want to live day to day in Cherith. We want to see the spectacular, but we don’t want to pay the price of having to trust God for each day in the hard times.

:24 And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

The people like the idea of a test.  People today are looking for the real thing.

:25-29 Baal’s turn

:25  Choose you one bullock for yourselves

Just to be sure that they don’t think that Elijah has some kind of trick-self-starting-fire-cow, he lets them have the first pick of the bulls.

:27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them …

These prophets have been going through their religious hoo-haw for several hours now. Elijah decides to have some fun with these prophets.

Cry aloud – or, “yell a little louder”

he is talking – siyach – meditation, complaint, musing.  (NLT) Perhaps he is deep in thought,

he is pursuing – siyg – a moving away, dross; “He’s in the restroom”

he is in a journey – derek – way, road;  “maybe he’s caught in traffic!”

he sleepeth – if they just yell a little louder, perhaps they will wake Baal up.

:28 cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets

Apparently it was part of the Baal rituals for the priests to cut themselves and bleed.

:29 until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice

They keep going until the time of the Jewish evening sacrifice, around 3:00 p.m.

:30-40 Elijah’s turn

:30 he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

he repaired – was there already an altar to Yahweh on Carmel, or is this figurative in that Elijah is going to restore the worship of Yahweh to the Northern kingdom?

:31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to …the tribes

When Jeroboam divided the kingdom of Israel, he wanted the people in his kingdom to forget about the two tribes to the south.  He was afraid that if the people went back to Jerusalem to worship, as a complete nation, twelve tribes, that he would lose control over his kingdom.

Yet Elijah reminds the people that God’s thoughts toward Israel have never changed.  Israel was made up of twelve tribes, whether the people realized it or not.

The church too is a little bigger than some people realize.  Sometimes we can get so closed-minded that we think only our own little group is correct.

Illustration

The story goes that a person died and went to heaven.  While Peter was showing the person around heaven, they came to an area that was surrounded by a wall.  Peter told the person to be quiet as they got close to the wall.  The person wanted to know why.  Peter said, “Well, behind that wall are the Calvary Chapel people, and they think they’re the only ones up here.”

Don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not saying that all roads lead to heaven.  The Bible does not teach that you can get to heaven through Buddha or Mohammed. 

The Bible makes it clear that we can only get to heaven through Jesus Christ.  We can only have eternal life if someone pays for our sins, and Jesus did that by dying on a cross in our place. 

But if a person will truly trust in Jesus Christ to forgive their sins, they will go to heaven, whether they go to the Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical Free, or Calvary Chapel churches.

:32 he made a trench about the altar…two measures of seed.

two measures of seed – c@’ah – seah, a measure of flour or grain.  Two seahs equaled about 13 quarts.

:33  Fill four barrels with water

If these barrels were similar to the ones that Jesus used at the wedding in Cana (John 2), then they were typically 20 gallons each.  Four barrels would be about 80 gallons of water.

:35 And the water ran round about the altar

The total amount of water that Elijah pours out could be something close to 250 gallons. Elijah is trying to make the point that if the wood on this altar is lit on fire, it is only because of God.

:36-37  Elijah the prophet came near, and said…Hear me …

and said –  ‘amar – to say, speak, utter.  The prophets of Baal were crying out, jumping around, and causing a big scene.  Elijah purposely prays a very short, quiet prayer.

Lesson

Your prayer doesn’t have to be long

God isn’t impressed by the length of your prayers.  He isn’t impressed by loud prayers. Jesus said,

(Mat 6:7 NLT)  "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again.

God is impressed by your heart.

:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell

I believe this is talking about lightning.

:39 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.

The people turn back to the worship of Yahweh.

Part of me looks at what Elijah does, and I want to make excuses as to why we shouldn’t be doing what Elijah does.  Yet I think in a sense this is exactly what ought to be happening in our lives.

Lesson

Let your life be the test.

I like Elijah’s chutzpah.  He has a very real, practical idea about who God is.  God isn’t some distant philosophy that Elijah has adopted to make him feel like he’s religious.  God is real.  God is powerful.  God works.

Is your life impacted by God in such a way that you can say to people, “Hey, compare my life to yours, look at the fire in my life”?

Spurgeon said that the preacher ought to get on fire for God, then the people will come and watch him burn.

Jesus said,

(Mat 5:16 KJV)  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

:40 Elijah brought them …and slew them

This sounds kind of harsh, but Elijah obeying the Lord.

(Deu 13:5 KJV)  And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

I kind of think some people think that it’s no big deal what people believe as long as they believe.  God is VERY concerned about what you believe.  He wants you to follow HIM, not some stupid idea.

:41-46 The Rain

:41 Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of  …rain.

There has been no rain for three and a half years.  There is not a single cloud in sight.  Yet Elijah knows that God is going to send rain so he tells Ahab that he better grab a quick burger and a coke and get ready to drive home because there’s a huge storm on the way. God is sending rain because the people have turned back to the Lord.

:43-46  And he said, Go again seven times.

The idea is that Elijah prays, then sends his servant to see if there’s any rain clouds coming.  The servant says there are no rain clouds, so Elijah prays some more.  They repeat this over and over again.

Lesson

Sometimes God doesn’t answer with fire

Sometimes He answers with rain.  Sometimes it takes a LOT of prayer before He answers.

Illustration

I have a son who had a wart on his finger.  We took him to a dermatologist who first tried to freeze it out with liquid nitrogen.  But it didn’t work.  The wart came back.  Then the dermatologist gave us a little cream that my wife was supposed to put on the finger every night.  She did this faithfully for a couple of weeks.  She didn’t think anything was happening.  But one day my son came running up to her excitedly because the wart had come off with the tape wrapped around his finger.  When they went back to the doctor, my wife shared how surprised she was because she didn’t think the medicine was working.  The doctor just laughed at her.  He said, “Well that’s because you’re not the doctor!”

God is the doctor.  He knows what it takes.  He may answer quietly, He may answer with fire. Keep praying.  God is at work.

Illustration

In Greg Laurie’s Harvest letter this month, he shares a story:

“I’m reminded of the story of George Smith, a missionary in Africa.  It would seem, from all outward appearances, that his ministry was a failure.  He had only been in Africa for a short time when he was driven from the country.  He left behind only one convert, a poor woman.  He died a short time later, on his knees, praying for Africa.  One hundred years later, a missionary agency traced more than 13,000 converts back to the ministry George Smith began.  While George Smith didn’t live to see the answer to his prayers, God still answered them.”

Sometimes God’s answers aren’t exactly what we think. Sometimes God’s answers take time.

:44  Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.

“You’d better get moving and get off this mountain or you’ll get stuck in the mud”

:46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Jezreel is about twenty miles from Mount Carmel.  Elijah had a little bit of a jog to keep up with Ahab’s chariot.

Lesson

If God calls you to minister to Ahab, you're going to have to hang out with him sooner or later.

For the first three and a half years, Elijah was hiding from Ahab, because of the drought.

Some people feel that this is the way ministry should be done:  “Preach and run”.

But sooner or later you're going to have their attention, and then you need to take advantage of the situation.

Put God to the test.

(Psa 34:8 KJV)  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Choose the Lord.