Impotent Evil

1 Kings 18:1-46

Chapter 18 of 1 Kings is one of the most fun chapters in the Bible. I think one of the reasons is that rarely do we see a battle between good and evil so clearly defined. The sides are clear, and the results are clear: evil (Satan) is defeated and good (God) triumphs. We also like it because it?s one lone guy against an entire army of priests and entire cultural system entrenched in idolatry. The little guy wins because he?s got Yahweh on his side. It gives us courage as we face our own battles against sin and evil in us and in the world around us.

1 ? 6

It?s going to be God, not Ba?al, who supplies rain for Israel. God tells Elijah to tell Ahab thus. Now remember, right after proclaiming the drought three years before this, Elijah was nowhere to be found, first in a gorge east of the Jordan, then up in Phoenicia. Ahab, he?s scrambling to find any other way than bowing before Yahweh, so he sends out his chamberlain, Obadiah, to find water and fodder for his horses and mules (what about the people.). It?s funny how much people will do to keep from having to admit their sin and their need of a savior.

What Ahab apparently doesn?t know is that Obadiah is actually a Yahweh lover who protected the priests from being slaughtered by Ahab?s wife Jezebel who was a radical non-believer.

7 ? 16

Poor Obadiah. He?s caught between serving Ahab, serving God, and wanting to preserve his life in the process.

17 ? 19

It?s like Ahab is saying ?It?s your fault we?re in this mess.? Is that not a typical answer for someone running from accountability to God? ?If you Christians wouldn?t always run around saying ?repent? we wouldn?t have to worry about sin.? Not talking about sin doesn?t make it go away. Real trouble always comes when we turn our back on God?s word. Elijah isn?t there just to declare truth to Ahab, he?s calling out Ahab?s God to a fight to see who really has control. 850 prophets vs one prophet of God.

20

Mt. Carmel is near the border of Phoenicia in northwest Israel. It was a stronghold for Ba?al. Just like Elijah, God came to the world, the stronghold of Satan, to show whose really boss and to rescue us. But just like with Jesus, there was only one who was truly free of influence and power of the enemy, and that was God?s Son.

21

Is this not the cry of everyone who shares the gospel? Jesus said you can?t serve God and Mammon. He said you cannot serve two masters, you will hate the one and love the other. No one answers Elijah?they wanted to ride the fence, have it both ways, get the benefits from Yahweh and of Ba?al, serve God and the world?they didn?t want to choose, as many in the world today. They like the ?pleasures of sin for a season.? (Hebrews 11:25)

22

Elijah will say this to God in the next chapter. It wasn?t actually true. What about the 100 priests that Obadiah had hidden? God will also tell Elijah that 7,000 had not bowed to Ba?al. But here, in a real sense, Elijah is saying ?no one here wants to claim allegiance to Yahweh, so I?ll go at it alone.?

23 ? 24

This test actually has some scriptural precedent. In Leviticus 9, Aaron and his sons presented the sacrifice of a bull before the Lord and God showed he accepted it by consuming it with fire. The people are so arrogant that they actually accept the challenge. It?s amazing to me that people completely discount the miracles God did in the past, and the miracle of the resurrection, to trust in false gods that they think do them good.

25 ? 29

The ESV says the priests ?limped? around the altar. The Hebrew word can also mean ?hop.? It?s also translated ?dance.? How more insulting could Elijah get? Apparently it was not that uncommon for pagan deity to be called away. That?s what you get when you aren?t omnipresent.

And I love this: ?no one answered, no one paid attention.? In reality there is no one else out there that really means anything other than the Lord. And in reality even the demons and Satan could care less about your needs, they are only focused on hurting God by hurting you.

30 ? 35

This is very symbolic. While everyone is running after Ba?al, the worship of Yahweh has so fallen off that the altar that had been there was all in disarray. The more we run after satisfaction for our wants and needs from a source other than God, the more our relationship with him falls into disrepair and we even find it hard to talk to him and worship. Notice how the altar had been ?thrown down.? They hadn?t just ignored Yahweh, they?d rejected Him!

Elijah takes 12 stones, which was part of God?s displeasure with Jeroboam?s schism in breaking Israel apart into two pieces. Then he dug a trench. 2 seahs would be about 3 ? gallons. He has them drench the sacrifice, the wood, and fill the trench with water. If you?ve ever tried to start a fire with wet wood you know how hard it is. Elijah wants there to be absolutely no doubt about what is happening here. No magic trick by the prophet could light this sacrifice.

36 ? 37

In contrast to all the ?limping? and ?cutting? of the prophets of Ba?al. Elijah prays a simple prayer. You know, there are no rituals we have to undergo, no magic incantations or special words, only our hearts reaching out to the Lord. The message is simple: you are God, I?m simply obeying your word?answer this prayer to show who you are to all these who have turned their backs on you.? Is that not the prayer for all of us, that those around us who have rejected the Lord will see who God is and their need of Him?

38 ? 39

Leave it to God to make a point. Not only the sacrifice but the wood and the stones and even the dust under the altar are destroyed. What the prophets of Ba?al could not do by lots of energy over hours, Elijah did in less than a minute by calling on the one true God. Then the people fall on their faces. That wasn?t enough, though. God demands total commitment, and those that led the people away from God needed to pay. The consuming of the sacrifice showed that God would forgive and receive his people back if they just repented.

40

Does this seem extreme to you? Why couldn?t he have just given them a stern talking to? Thing is, these people made several ongoing conscious choices to turn away from God and towards Ba?al. Not only that, they?d actively brought others into that same worship. God had already put the gods of that land under a death penalty so now the people carry out that sentence while Elijah stays behind and confronts the evil king who allowed it all to happen. (See Deut 13:13, 17:2-5)

41 ? 46

Ahab is told to act on what God is going to do?bring rain, and thus food?back to Israel. I think God wants Ahab not to be impeded by the coming flood so that he can be a witness to others of God?s power. One scholar suggests that the communication to Ahab also showed that Elijah didn?t dislike Ahab as a person, only his idolatry, and that his desire was for repentance.

Elijah goes to the mountain and prays?the seven times probably represents God?s perfect and complete work. Perhaps it?s for Elijah?s benefit as well. It?s not him determining whether it rains or not, it?s God. It also shows Elijah?s heart of concern for his people and the land. Not only does the rain come, but Elijah puts on his Nike?s and outruns a chariot!

Conclusions

When it counts the enemy is impotent.

The world represents itself as filling every desire, but when push comes to shove it is useless. The enemy can?t heal, can?t save, can?t really help. This is just a great visible showing of that.

Even when no one else trusts the Lord, there is always the opportunity for the individual to trust him and act on that trust.

Obadiah didn?t blast Ahab, confront Jezebel, or foment rebellion. He knew the killing of the prophets was against God?s Word so he did what he could in hiding them. When all those around us are saying that acknowledging Jesus as Lord is foolish, we have a choice to make. We might not blast them with judgment scriptures, but we can live our lives in faithfulness to God anyway.

Even a massive demonstration of the power of God will not turn a heart that is set against him.

God showed Ahab that his worship of Ba?al was completely wrong. Did Ahab change? No. God worked more wonders for Ahab in defeating the Syrians later on. Did that change Ahab?s heart? No. He became even worse. 21:25 ?(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab??