ELIJAH:
The
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
TEXT: 1 Kings
Introduction
In our last study
we left
Elijah with a challenge to the people of
This passage gives
us a test
between the idolatrous systems of Satan and mankind, and the plan of
God.
Standing boldly for the True God is Elijah, a man of God who
uncompromisingly
believed God's Word. As a representative person in heroic narrative,
the test
illustrates the testimonial effect and power any child of God can have
when
they, like Elijah, become confident of their mighty resources in the
Lord and
stop operating by their own idolatrous solutions.
In this chapter
we have
three illustrations of prayer:
1. The Prayers of
the Baal
Priests: But NO Answer from Heaven (vss. 26-29)
2. The Public
Prayer of
Elijah: FIRE from Heaven (vss. 30-40)
3. The Private
Prayer of
Elijah: RAIN from Heaven (vss. 41-46)
Elijah Proposes
the Test
of Fire (
The Procedures
for the
Test
It is important to
note the
particulars of what Elijah did: (1) To remove any possible excuses and
to show
the complete futility of their faith, he let them go first and gave
them plenty
of time. He gave them all day to pray and go through their religious
routine.
(2) Later in the day he added some cold and cutting sarcasm, but he did
this to
highlight and make the issues dramatically conspicuous. (3)
Furthermore, note
the odds. Elijah made this entire scene as difficult as possible, not
only for
the prophets of Baal, but also for the LORD. The Prophet was neither
people-oriented, nor problem-oriented. He knew there was no problem too
big for
the Lord. The issue is never EVER the size of the problem! The issue is
knowing
and acting in faith on God's will regardless of the outcome.
What is our
tendency? It's to
be either people-oriented or problem-oriented, or both. We tend to
gather all
the data we can on the problems, and then start telling ourselves how
this or
that is simply not going to work. We back off because our lack of faith
views
the problems as too great for God to handle. It seems as if we don't
want to
get the Lord in a bind. Certainly we need to gather the data to know
the score.
That's why God sent the 12 spies into the land at Kadesh Barnea. The
goal,
however, is not to get our eyes on the problems, but rather to know the
problems so we know what to trust the Lord for, if we are confident God
is
telling us to do it.
Three times Elijah
mentions
putting no fire under the sacrifice (twice in verse 23 and once in
verse 25).
So what's the Point? God does not ask us to give Him a hand with the
impossible. Sometimes we are guilty deforming God into our own little
helpless
idol who must be helped along by the fires we build under Him to
consume our sacrifice.
Does this mean we are to sit by and do nothing? Of course not! Elijah
repaired
the altar and prepared the sacrifice, and he did it according to the
principles
of the Word. But he put no fire under the sacrifice.
Illustration: God wants us to study, pray, and instruct by
life and
lip, but we can't make people believe or change. That's God's job (cf.
1 Cor.
3:6-7), and he doesn't need our manipulative schemes to accomplish the
job He
sends us to do. A classic illustration of this is a wife who has a
disobedient
or unbelieving husband. The typical pattern for many wives in this
situation is
to badger their husband about spiritual things or manipulate him into
going to
the church building for worship. This is building a fire under her
sacrifice,
but it's neither the method nor the means prescribed by Peter in 1
Peter 3:1-6.
The Purpose of
the Test
The test was
obviously
designed to manifest and prove the true God. Was it Yahweh, the Lord of
Application: There is an obvious lesson here. We each need
to
examine the authenticity of our own spiritual lives. Who and what is
the object
of our worship? How can we test that? Simple! By the effectiveness of
our
Christian lives when measured by the principles and tests of the Word.
There are two
general tests
to consider:
1. Am I really
saved? Have I
put my trust in Christ by faith. Have I obeyed the Gospel of Christ?
(cf.
2. But a child of
God, a true
believer in the person and work of Christ, can also fail to experience
God's
power in his or her life in authentic, transformed living. This occurs
when we
fail to walk with the Lord in the light of His Word by faith in His
provision
and power. Some important questions we might ask are: (1) Am I growing
and
changing? (2) Are there marks of Christ-like change taking place in my
life?
(3) Do I manifest the fruit of the Spirit? (4) Am I consistently
faithful to
God and others? (5) Am I learning to control my temper and my tongue?
(6) Are
my values and priorities in line with heavenly treasure? (7) How is my
relationship with my spouse, with my children, with those at the office
and in
the church? (8) Am I ministering to others, sharing the Gospel, etc.?
In other
words, is there bonafide fruit? (cf. John 15:1-8; Gal. 5:20ff; Matt.
The test of the
reality of
our fellowship is the primary message of 1 John. It is written to test
our
claim to fellowship (1 John 1:5-10), not relationship or salvation, but
fellowship. It tests our claim that we are walking in the light when in
reality
we might be walking in darkness - in a state of carnality and
dishonesty with
God and ourselves. 1 John 5:11-13 is a message of assurance based on
personal
faith in Christ, but this is not the theme of the book.
There is,
therefore, the need
to ask the question: Does my life demonstrate the marks of a life of
faith and
fellowship with the Lord? And we are not just talking about overt
behavior -
conforming to a set of do's and don'ts, or going through some religious
routine. We are talking about the inner life - our faith and attitudes
that
form the foundation for actions.
The test consisted
of an
answer "by fire." Elijah declared, "The God that answers by
fire, He is God." But why fire? (1) Baal was worshipped as the Lord of
Fire, the Lord of the Sun. Some even worshipped him by passing their
children
through the fire (2 Kings 16:3). So the failure of Baal to bring down
fire
would demonstrate the fallacy of their beliefs about Baal. (2) In
Scripture,
fire is used symbolically to communicate certain spiritual principles
according
to the contexts:
1. In the Old
Testament fire
was a sign of the presence and supply of the Lord (e.g., the burning
bush in
Exodus 3:2, and the pillar of fire in Exodus
2. Fire was a sign
that God
had accepted the priests, their sacrifices, and their service, and that
Israel
could have access to God through the priestly ministry inaugurated in
the Old
Testament (Lev. 9:1-24). After the sacrifices were prepared and offered
according to the prescribed ritual of God's Word, the priestly service
was
inaugurated in Leviticus 9. It was then the glory of the Lord appeared
to all
the people and fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt
offering and
the portions of fat on the altar (vs. 24).
3. Likewise, the
fire in 1
Kings 18 would also demonstrate God's acceptance of Elijah's sacrifice
and
ministry and His rejection of the Baal prophets and their sacrifice.
4. Fire was viewed
as a means
of cleansing (Num. 31:21-23). Perhaps the Lord was showing
5. Finally, fire is
a sign of
divine judgment and wrath against sin and rejection of God's plan. Over
and
over again it is a picture of God's wrath (Isa. 26:11; Heb.
Summary: The answer of God by fire to consume the
sacrifice
would clearly demonstrate that (1) Yahweh was the only true God, (2)
that God
had completely rejected and judged Baalism and the Baal prophets, and
(3) that
access to the true God could come only through the prescribed
sacrificial
system of the Old Testament that foreshadowed the person and work of
Christ as
the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
The Baal
Prophets Prepare
the Test and Call on Baal (
The activity of the
Baal
priests was a total waste, an exercise in utter futility, and it
illustrates
the futility of all false religion and all forms of idolatry. False
religious
systems are futile for two reasons.
First, they are
futile
because they cannot give access to God. They can and do give access to
demonic
or satanic powers, but not to the living and true God. In this scene,
we have
all the ingredients of false religion. We have religious priests, we
have a
sacrifice, an altar, prayer, religious ritual, and religious zeal to
the point
of lengthy activity (from morning until
The religions and
idolatrous
systems of the world may vary in their particulars, but they all have
certain
ingredients in common that demonstrate they are false. These we need to
know so
we can recognize them for what they are.
* They have people
working to
“earn” their salvation (cf. Eph. 2:8-9). There is a basic trust in
mankind and
his works of merit, and a failure to see the awesome holiness of God
along with
our sinfulness. This forms a barrier of separation between God and us.
To get
God to answer, the Baal priests worked themselves into a religious
dither.
Elijah, on the other hand, prayed a short and simple prayer. He prayed
in faith
while resting in God's grace and covenant promises.
* They reject the
person and
work of Christ as God's one and only means of reconciliation and
salvation
(John 14:6). The Baal priests built their own altar while Elijah
repaired the
altar of the Lord, a shadow of the cross and a portrait of coming to
God
through Christ. The Baal priests rejected God's solution while Elijah
trusted
in it.
* They tend to be
ecumenical
(eclectic or syncretistic). They readily combine and accept many
beliefs as
legitimate means of access to God. They may accept Jesus as one of the
great
religious leaders or prophets, but not as the Son of God and the one
and only
Savior of the World. Many of
* While friendly to
those
religions that are eclectic, they eventually become hostile and engage
in some
form of persecution against those who proclaim the truth. But Scripture
and
Jesus Christ Himself emphatically declare that there is only one way to
God
(Acts 4:12; Matt. 7:13-14).
The second reason
all false
religious systems are futile is because they fail to give access to the
true
God. They are also futile to meet man's needs. They can't save from
either the
penalty or power of sin. They can't deliver from the power and darkness
of
Satan. They can't give the Holy Spirit (the earnest of our salvation –
Eph.
The Mockery of
Elijah (
Note the cutting
sarcasm here.
"Occupied" probably means in the Hebrew "he is relieving
himself." This reminds us that to worship what is false, worship in a
false way, or in disobedience to the Word, deceives our hearts and is
an
exercise in futility. Scripture repeatedly warns us that there are many
hindrances to prayer and bonafide worship even for those who know the
Savior.
The Bible teaches
us there
are many forms of idolatry including greed and covetousness (Eph. 5:5;
Col.
3:5). Actually, anything mankind worships or depends on for security,
significance, or happiness, other than the Lord, becomes a form of
idolatry.
Today, people do not generally construct gods of wood and stone, but
they do
make gods out of their own ideas, opinions, and strategies for life.
All false
religions and forms of idolatry, including our strategies for handling
life,
are the products of the vacuum action of the soul. They are the
workings of our
own blindness to provide substitutes to fill the void in our lives and
are substitutes
for God's plan for life (Rom. 1:18ff; Eph. 4:17ff).
What are some of
the forms of
idolatry we might engage in? What are these gods of idolatry? They
consist of
the things we devise by which we seek security, happiness, or which we
seek to
meet our needs apart from a faith relationship with the true God. These
idols
may be religious, philosophical, or materialistic. They may be any of
the
strategies by which people seek to meet their needs as they envision
them.
Some important
questions
we might ask ourselves.
1. Is pleasure and
comfort
our god? Do we set our hearts on having fun and being comfortable? In
other
words, do these dictate what we do so that they keep us from ministry
or
availability to the Lord. Do we determine whether we will “go to
church,” or a
fellowship group by what's on television or whether the fish are biting?
2. Is business or
mammon our
god? Do we set our hearts and security on making money and spend all of
our
energy and time in the pursuit of climbing the ladder of success so
that it
interferes with our ability to carry out other priorities such as
family,
church, and community?
3. Is social
standing and
position our god? Is our life, our schedule, our time dictated by a
desire to
become accepted among the social elite or among a particular peer group?
4. Since
covetousness is a
form of idolatry, an important question to ask is who and what we are
coveting
or depending on to meet what we envision as our needs and believe will
fulfill
our desires. What do I tell myself I must have to be secure, happy, or
significant? Is it people, things, position, acceptance, comfort, or
just what?
Satan, as the
deceiver, is
powerful and can bring some answers to man's prayers, but only under
the
permissive will of God, and never to man's true blessing or benefit. He
undoubtedly had the power to bring fire from heaven in answer to the
ravings of
the Baal priests just as the magicians in
Jesus said, "Peace
I
leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I
give to
you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John