ELIJAH: The
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
TEXT: 1 Kings
Introduction
As we move forward
in God's
primary purpose in the expression of the abilities God gives, we each
face many
smaller events in the circumstances of life. These mini-events are like
threads
woven into a tapestry that combine to create an elegant and beautiful
picture.
By themselves, they may not appear significant, but they are all vital
to the
overall plan of God. In this lesson we will view more threads woven
into the
picture of the great confrontation that takes place on
The great display
of the
power of God later in this chapter is set against the impotence of
Baal. It is
designed to teach the people and King Ahab that the three-and-a-half
years of
drought followed by the coming rain was the work of Yahweh, the only
true God.
The drought was discipline for disobedience to God's Word and the rain
was the
provision of His grace. In the unfolding of this drama, several scenes
occur
that are important because of the lessons we can learn by pointing out
the
contrasts between those who walk with God in faith, trusting Him rather
than
their own plans, and those who do not.
In addition, 1
Kings 18:16-24
presents us with confrontation and conflict. We simply do not like
that. Our
natural tendency is to avoid confrontation and conflict. It's so much
easier to
swim down stream or float with the tide than it is to confront issues,
problems,
or whatever may be causing conflict.
Confrontation is rarely painless, never easy, often rejected, and always risky. But in some conditions it is commanded by Scripture, illustrated in Scripture, and often essential to spiritual growth, godliness, and biblical change. Of course, confrontation needs to be done according to biblical principles, in a biblical way, for biblical reasons, and out of right motives. We usually avoid it for selfish reasons - out of fear of the consequences to ourselves. Such a response is neither faith nor love. It is cowardice. It is pleasing ourselves rather than acting in faith and love. "Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy" (Prov. 27:5-6).
Scriptural
Illustrations: (1) The
prophets of old were often confrontational.
They regularly faced people with their sins of independent living and
called on
them to face their need. (2) The Lord Jesus and his apostles did the
same.
Remember, it was Jesus who called the Pharisees "hypocrites" and
"white washed mausoleums" (Matt. 23:13ff). He confronted the woman at
the well with her adultery (John 4), Nicodemus with the emptiness of
his
religion (John 3), and Peter with his denials (Matt. 26:69-75). (3)
Paul braced
Peter to his face for his religious duplicity mentioned in Galatians
2:11-14.
The Bible is not
only
confrontational but also comforting. It not only confronts us with our
self-centeredness, sin, rebellion, and independent ways, but it offers
us
grace, reconciliation, power, and many other blessings of the Gospel
given to
bring forgiveness, designed to change us, and designed to lead us into
God's
spiritual blessings and protection. Nevertheless, because of the
hardness of
our hearts, because we love darkness rather than light and are so
committed to
living by our self-protective solutions, we are sometimes faced with
the need
of confrontation, resistance, and conflict.
Still,
confrontation that
challenges our commitment, our sources of happiness, significance, and
security
is essential and basic to the nature of the Word of God and the
condition of
men and women. Certainly, confrontation can be sinful depending on the
method,
the manner, and the motivation. When confrontation is biblical,
however, it is
a great act of love that demonstrates obedience to God and faith in Him
regardless of the consequences.
First Kings
Principle: Obviously we must deal with people
differently and one
of our tasks in ministering to others is to be discerning, to listen,
and seek
to understand the needs of the other person.
Elijah Meets
Ahab and Is
Accused by the King (
Ahab's reaction and
accusation
illustrate a fundamental truth: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is
he" (Prov. 23:7). Or as our Lord put it in Matthew, "You brood of
vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth
speaks out
of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure
brings
forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings
forth what
is evil" (Matt.
A heart filled with
resentment or any kind of "stinking thinking" is like a volcano ready
to erupt. All it needs is the right situation - and bang! The mouth
speaks out
the corruption that has been smoldering and festering within. This
picture of
treasure used by the Lord in the Matthew passage suggests the following:
* The Lord compares
the
thoughts we harbor in our hearts to treasure. We store and keep them in
our
minds because we value them and put our trust in them. We keep them
because we
think they will provide us with our needs and wants. We think they will
solve
our problems. We think they will handle our pain or meet our needs as
we
perceive them.
* It is obvious
some
treasures of the heart or mind are evil. "Evil" is the Greek poneros
which refers to what is toilsome or worthless like bad or spoiled
fruit, or
dangerous animals. It is that which is opposed to God. This is the word
used of
the Devil as "the evil" (John
* Such thoughts are
equivalent to "vain thinking" which rises up like a fortress against
the knowledge of God. It is against who and what He is to us and needs
to be
torn down, destroyed like a condemned building. As a treasure of the
heart, it
needs to be devalued, condemned, and thrown away as worthless (cf. 2
Cor.
10:4-5). These evil treasures represent our human strategies by which
we seek
to handle life independently of faith in God and His principles of
life.
"Vain thinking" is faith in ourselves and unbelief in God and His
solutions. And that which is without faith in the right object, God, is
sin
(Rom.
* On the other
hand, the
treasure of the heart can be good. "Good" is agathos which is used of
intrinsic good, of that which is truly valuable like good fruit, or
gold that
gives purchasing power or brings blessing (cf. Phil. 4:8).
Ahab's heart was
filled with
evil treasure - with resentment, hatred, the desire for revenge, and
with his
solutions for dealing with Elijah. So, immediately, when he saw Elijah,
his
volcano of corruption erupted in accusations, name calling, maligning,
criticism, and blame. We need to keep a close check on our hearts, our
focus,
and on the nature of what we store up as treasure. In Matthew
"Is this you, you
troubler of
Application: Oh how this scene has been repeated
throughout
history. Whenever people disturb our comfort zones, challenge our
opinions,
values, and sources of trust with the truth of God's Word and His
calling, we
often react in resentment and self-denial. Then, as a protective
mechanism, we
label them as "troublers" rather than dealing with our own hearts.
The great pity of
this scene
is that there was no confession or repentance. Even after
three-and-a-half
years of famine, which was declared to be God's judgment by the word of
the
Prophet, there was still only cold rebellion and hostility. These years
had
demonstrated the impotence of Baal and the Baal prophets, yet Ahab
still
refused to turn to the Lord. He refused to confess his sin and instead
used
another strategy from his evil treasure or bag of tricks. He turned to
the old
game of casting blame, hoping to cover his own tracks and guilt.
Application:
* How typical of
people in
religious and cultic apostasy, or of people as a whole when they pursue
a course
contrary to God's plan. Even when faced with the impotence of the way
they have
chosen, people typically refuse to face the music and tenaciously cling
to
their own ways of handling life.
* When we are
confronted by
godly examples and biblical truth, rather than responding with
repentance and
belief, do we react with conflict and unbelief? Do we resort to our
protective
solutions and attack the messenger God has sent to protect and bless
us? (cf.
Gal. 4:16; Heb. 13:17).
* And who are these
messengers? God's messenger may be a Gospel preacher, a close friend, a
parent,
a husband or wife, an elder or deacon, etc. But to the unrepentant and
hard of
heart, the messenger becomes a "troubler," a disrupter of families
and tradition. He is one who disturbs our comfort zones and as a result
is
often maligned, shunned, criticized and more.
How did Elijah
respond to
King Ahab's accusation? What should be our response when facing such
blame and
accusations? Do we compromise the truth? Do we run and hide? Do we
react or
retaliate or do we level with people? Do we communicate the truth in
love?
(Eph. 4:15).
Elijah Answers
the King (
Though outnumbered
(in man’s
eyes) and facing the King of Israel, Elijah confronted him with the
biblical facts
and issues. This was not retaliation, but an act of courageous love for
King
Ahab and all concerned.
"I have not
troubled
Elijah had the
boldness to
confront because his confidence was in the Lord. He was an ambassador
and
servant of the King of Kings, the Sovereign of the universe, Yahweh
Elohim, the
One who holds all kings in His hand. Elijah was one who stood boldly
aware of
this as his comment in
Elijah was counting
on the
fact no one could touch his life unless the Lord willed it and then,
his loss
would really be his gain (cf. Phil.
This gave the
prophet
boldness and courage. But there was another reason for his boldness and
confidence - he was a man with a conscience void of offense. Though not
sinless
(as none of us are), he knew he had not compromised with Baalism. He
had stood
boldly against it and had been faithful to pray for the people.
Faithfulness to
the Lord gives us courage to minister and to confront from right
motives.
Remember Paul's words in Galatians. 6:1 "You who are spiritual restore
such a one in a spirit of gentleness . . ."
Elijah's answer
shows us it
is not wrong to answer false accusations for the sake of protecting
one's
ministry and promoting the truth. But by this denial, he was not simply
trying
to protect his ego or meet some need for praise and applause to feel
good about
himself (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1-5).
Elijah Confronts
the King
with the Issues
"But you and your
father's house…have…" Elijah could have said, you are the real troubler
of
Cause: "You have forsaken the commandments of the
Lord." In other words, you have ignored and rejected the Word of God.
You
have sought to live independently of God's wisdom. This is always the
root
problem, the cause of all else - trusting in one's own resources. King
Ahab was
living independently of God and His principles for life. This type of
living
began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3). Let's compare some other passages:
* Hosea said to
* Isaiah wrote to
Judah, whom
he described as a "sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity,"
and said: "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of
* Jeremiah had the
same
message for
Effect: The effect of turning away from the Word is
seen in
the next clause of Elijah's indictment of Ahab, "and you have followed
the
Baals." Remember Baalism was an idolatrous cult that was popular, in
part at
least, because it included gross immorality. It appealed to the flesh
and the
sexual appetites. But above all, idolatry represents the substitutes of
man's
empty imagination when he attempts to live apart from God.
When we turn away
from
following the Lord through fellowship with Him in the Word, we
experience what
we can call the vacuum action of the soul, or the pursuit of life
through our
own devices and the substitutes offered in the world around us. When we
turn
away from a personal relationship with the Lord, from depending on Him
through
His Word, we naturally turn to what we think will make us happy,
secure, and
significant. The Bible defines this as vain imaginations or futile
speculations
of the heart (Rom.
When we turn away
from the
Word and its careful application, we turn to our (or the world's)
solutions in
an attempt to handle our fears, our loneliness, and our pain. Some
people turn
to materialism, some to the occult. Others turn to false religion and
ritualism.
Some become workaholics and pursue the corporate ladder in search of
position,
power, and prestige. In the midst of all of this, people use their own
defense
and escape mechanisms to deal with rejection, fear, personality
conflicts,
family problems, and even our national problems.
All these futile
attempts to
handle life constitute independent living, living apart from faith in
the Lord
and His principles for life given to us in the Scripture. All false
routes to
joy have one thing in common: they represent strategies for living that
in some
measure we can control. They do not require us to yield our core
commitment to
independence. However, God's message is consistent: utter dependency on
Him is
the true route to satisfaction.
In James 1:21-27,
we are
warned about the subtle self-deception of our religious practices. We
can be
very religious. We can be Bible-believing, Bible-toting, Bible-talking
believers who rigidly hold to the Bible, who talk about trusting the
Lord and
even admonish others to do so, while still living by our own protective
inventions in self-willed independence. Note what James says in
The Point: These are self-protective inventions of our
mind in
which we trust, but like a person leaning on a pointed stick, they
damage
rather than support. They are strategies of independent living. These
are not
actions of faith and God dependence. So James quickly adds: "…but
deceives
his own heart, this man's religion is worthless." In such cases, our
religious activities have only deceived us. Why? Because we are not
really
walking by faith in God's presence and supply
(cf. 2 Cor. 5:7).
We are
living by faith in our own schemes.