ELIJAH: An
Introduction and Historical Setting
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
I.
Introduction
1. The story
of Elijah
and the nation of
a.
built around the exploits of the main character, Elijah.
b.
It is the story of a man raised up by God
1.
in a time of conflict in his community,
2.
in a time of spiritual and moral degeneracy.
2. He was
there to
bring the nation back to God,
a.
to turn them from their idolatry to a vital faith in the true
God,
b.
the God of
3. In heroic
narrative,
the story focuses on the central figure or hero
a.
and his conflicts and encounters
b.
as the story moves toward the goal of the narrative.
4. The goal
of the
narrative and the high point of the story
a.
is found for us in 1 Kings 18,
b.
the challenge and contest with the prophets of Baal
c.
before the people on
5. The
purpose of this
high mark in the story
a.
is spelled out for us in two verses (Read
b.
Chapter 17 is the preparation for this event.
1. It is showing us God's preparation of Elijah and the nation
2.
for what will happen on
6. Then
chapter 19 is
the aftermath‑‑
a.
the effects of this event on the nation and on Elijah, the hero.
b.
What we must not miss is the fact that the hero
1.
or heroine of heroic narrative is a representative person.
2.
In other words, the story and its hero
3.
capture the universal human situation.
7. The
historian tells
us what happened,
a.
but literary narrative in the Bible tells us more.
b.
It shows us what happens in life.
8. The hero,
then,
becomes a model, an example for faith,
a.
for spiritual experience and life, and the conflict he is in
b.
becomes an illustration of what we face in life.
9. Values and
virtues,
failures and weaknesses,
a.
strengths and abilities of the hero
b.
and the conflicts he and his society faced
c.
show us this is the way life is.
1.
They reveal what we need to know, to appropriate,
2.
and to avoid as we live in our society.
10. Thinking about
the impact
the life of Elijah should have on us
a.
in the day in which we live, we should be reminded
b.
of another passage that asks an important question.
c.
The question was being asked of David by his friends.
11. The story of
David is
another of the heroic narratives of Scripture
a.
and this question forms a fitting introduction for the study of Elijah.
b. The question is found in Psalm 11:3, "If the foundations be
destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
12. David's friends
had
become fainthearted
a.
and depressed over national conditions.
b.
They were suggesting that David should flee to the mountain
c.
where he fled from Saul (Ps. 11:1).
13. The question
relates to a
time when law and order were being destroyed.
a.
It may have been when Absalom, David's own son,
b.
was seeking to usurp his throne.
1.
Or as some suggest, it may have been when Saul
2.
was seeking to kill David.
14. Regardless, the
foundations refer to the law and order of society
a.
based on the Lord's protective rule
b.
through the absolutes of the Word.
15. This asks
a
question we are facing in our nation today
a.
because our country is under the countdown
b.
with its foundations being destroyed by godless humanism.
16. David's answer
is given
in Psalm 11:4‑7 (READ).
a.
In short, David's focus was above.
b.
He contrasted the problems on earth
1.
with the sovereign and exalted position of the Lord
2.
who sits in heaven, the place of authority and power.
17. The point we
need to
understand is that the sovereign Lord
a.
sits on His heavenly throne, not indifferently, but observantly.
b.
He is working out His purposes on earth.
18. Though
transcendent, God
is also intimately
a.
and immanently involved with mankind,
b.
especially those who trust Him.
19. David then
reminds us
a.
that while the Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
b.
He never forsakes the righteous who can, by faith,
c.
behold His face and thus experience His strength and courage.
20. The righteous
can
experience His peace now in the midst of any situation
a.
and will one day experience His presence and blessings
b.
in God's eternal kingdom.
21. What does this
mean to us
in our day?
a.
It means that the righteous need to know what to do and then do it,
b.
because they know and believe that God sits in the heavens observantly.
22. Withdrawing,
becoming
bitter, angry, depressed,
a.
diseased in our attitudes, or seeking sinful ways of escape
b.
is not what the righteous should do.
23. You might ask,
“what does
all this have to do with a study of Elijah?”
a.
Well, he too lived in dismal times.
b.
They were times of spiritual apostasy and moral decay.
24. But we find in
this
colorful and powerful prophet
a.
a wonderful illustration of what the righteous should do
b.
when the foundations are destroyed.
25. Elijah is one
of the
prominent figures in the Word of God.
a.
His significance is evidenced
b.
by more than 20 direct references to him in the New Testament,
1.
and by his appearance in the transfiguration of the Lord
2.
with Moses, the great Law giver (Matt. 17; Mark 9; Luke 9).
26. However, to
gain greater
insight from the example of his life,
a.
we need to understand the historical setting
b.
in which this great man of God
c.
abruptly and suddenly appeared on the scene.
II. The
Historical
Setting
1. In the day
in which
Elijah lived and ministered,
a.
the foundations had crumbled far beyond
b.
what King David experienced in his day.
2. As we
study the
Word, we must always remember that the Bible
a.
was written to and about living people in real‑life situations.
b.
It does not represent just a group of heavenly, religious,
1.
and proverbial sayings
2.
thought up by a group of religious hermits
3.
who were isolated from people and from life.
3. Rather,
through the
Bible as the Word of God,
a.
God has revealed HIMSELF historically,
b.
setting forth His eternal truth to real people in real‑life situations.
4.
Practically
speaking, what does this mean?
a.
It means we dare not divorce our study
b.
from understanding the historical setting of every passage of Scripture
1. if we are going to come to grips
2.
with the truth and message of the Bible.
5. Much of
its
relevance and application to us personally in our need
a.
is derived from our understanding of the historical setting
b.
in which a passage is written.
1.
This is undoubtedly why many of the Psalms
2.
begin with a reference to some historical situation.
III. A Nation in Decay
1. The books
of 1 and 2
Samuel record the establishment,
a.
consolidation, and extension of the Theocratic
b.
in the reigns of David and his son, Solomon.
2. It was a
glorious
time - a time of great prosperity in the nation.
a.
This was the result of God's blessing for obedience
b.
to the holy absolutes of His Word,
1.
or His covenant with
2.
for the nation among the nations
(cf.
Ex. 19:4‑6 with Deut. 4:6‑11 and Deut. 28‑30).
3. Though
Solomon began
well,
a.
about the middle of his reign he began to act foolishly.
b.
As is so often the case, in his spiritual decline,
c.
his country was gravely influenced as well.
4. He brought
upon
himself the disfavor of God
a.
by permitting the thinking and customs of other nations
b.
to influence his decisions and manner of life.
5. This
situation developed
as a result of the following:
a. He allowed idolatry to invade his
kingdom
through foreign marriages,
b.
a practice forbidden by the Word (Deut. 17:14‑20; Neh. 13:23‑27).
6. Marriages
were
commonly seals of foreign alliances.
a.
He had Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Zidonian, and Egyptian wives
b. and this suggests alliances with all these nations.
7.
Furthermore, he
levied excessive taxes and labor constrictions
a.
on the people, without pay, because of his own selfish extravagances.
b. These included some of the very things Deuteronomy 17 warned
against.
1.
In other words, rather than remaining distinct
2.
and separate from the nations,
3.
Solomon became like the nations.
IV.
Contrasting
David and Solomon
1. David had
been
raised in the open, watching sheep,
a.
and later experienced the testings of a fugitive life.
b.
Solomon, however, had known only the ease of the palace,
c.
with its attendant luxuries.
2. David
became a king
of action, aggressive and efficient,
a.
who could personally lead armies to victory.
b.
Solomon became a king of peace, happy to stay home
c.
and content merely to retain the land his father had gained.
3. David's
court never
grew larger than the requirements of his government.
a.
Solomon became lavish to suit his tastes and expensive appetites.
b.
As a result, he needed more revenue and raised taxes.
4. David was
more a man
of the people.
a.
Solomon was a man of the court.
b.
More significant, David maintained a vibrant faith in God
c.
as a "man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22)
5. Solomon,
began well
in spiritual devotion,
a.
but failed to maintain this basic relationship before God.
b.
He fell into sinful ways and finally came under God's censure.
6. When
Rehoboam,
Solomon's son took over the throne of his father,
a.
the ten tribes of
b.
sought a solution to this heavy taxation
c.
through the leadership of Jeroboam.
7. Rehoboam
was a young
man accustomed to extreme prosperity and luxury.
a.
Rather than cut back on the heavy taxation
b.
and labor constriction imposed by Solomon,
c.
he acted selfishly and foolishly.
8. He refused
the
counsel of the older men to cut back,
a.
and threatened to increase taxes
b.
because he wanted to continue enjoying a lavish court.
1.
As a result, the ten tribes seceded immediately
2.
and there was a division of the kingdom.
9. Jeroboam
then became
king of the northern ten tribes of
a.
Rather than seeking the glory of God and the benefit of his people,
b.
he followed his own selfish agenda
c.
and committed gross sin in the sight of God.
10. He established
a
substitute worship for his people,
a.
two new worship centers, one at Dan and another at
b.
As symbols for the new places of worship,
c.
he made golden images of calves.
11. His proposed
aim was to
worship Yahweh,
a.
but his real motive was political and selfish.
b.
He wanted to keep the people from going back to
1.
because of his fear they would eventually
2.
want to reunite into one kingdom.
12. He put his own
desires
ahead of God's will and the good of the people.
a.
Of course, this was in direct violation of the Law of Moses.
b.
His error caused the
c.
the true worship of God with the fertility cult of Baal.
13. Without doubt,
this new
worship of Jeroboam
a.
paved the way for the introduction of Baal worship
b.
under Ahab and Jezebel in the time of Elijah.
14. In the southern
a.
there were occasionally kings who did good in the sight of the Lord,
b. like Uzziah and Hezekiah.
15. In the northern
kingdom,
there were no good kings
a.
of whom it could be said in the record of Scripture,
"they
did that which was right in the sight of the Lord."
b.
In fact, all eighteen of Jeroboam's successors
1.
continued his substitute form of worship
2.
which God held against each as a serious sin.
16. The descriptive
sentence,
"And he did evil in the sight of the LORD
and
walked in the way of his father and in his sin
which
he made
a.
is repeated with variations of most of Jeroboam's descendants
(1
Kings
b.
Not only were these kings evil, but there was a continuous decline.
17. Scripture
indicates that
the next king was worse than his father.
a.
There was continual spiritual and moral erosion,
b.
much as we have seen in our nation.
18. With the rise
of Ahab in
the time of Elijah,
a.
things had reached an all time low.
b.
Fifty‑eight years had passed since the division of the kingdom.
19. Seven kings had
reigned
and all were evil.
a.
All were idolatrous, but with Ahab
b.
idolatry reached an all‑time high
1.
even to the point of seeking to stamp out
2.
the worship of Yahweh altogether.
20. How? Why?
a.
Because Ahab married Jezebel, the famed princess from
b. daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre.
21. Again,
following the poor
examples that preceded him,
a.
his aim was to seal a pact with
b.
for profitable political reasons.
c.
His trust was in his own schemes rather than in the Lord.
22. The weak Ahab
allowed
Jezebel to introduce the worship of the satanic
a.
and idolatrous cult of Baal‑Melqart into
b.
The worship of Baal, a Canaanite deity,
1.
had been observed by Israelites in the days of the Judges
2.
and before the establishment of the kingdom.
23. David rid the
land of
this dirge,
a.
but now it was resurrected on a new scale, larger than ever,
b.
and this was done by the government, the king.
24. Likewise today,
we have
seen every conceivable cult
a.
introduced into our society along with the New Age movement.
b.
In many ways this too is being promoted by our government,
1.
while at the same time Christianity is hindered
2.
under the ploy of separation of church and state.
25. Not only was
Jezebel
persistent, but she was highly dominant
a.
and held a great amount of influence over Ahab.
b.
Jezebel did not want Baalism to coexist with the worship of Yahweh.
1. She wanted to completely stamp out the worship of God.
2.
This is precisely the way Satan and his world system works.
26. People are
often broad‑minded
with the varying religions
a.
and philosophical ideas of the world, but never with the truth.
b.
Thus, Jezebel slaughtered every prophet she could get her hands on
(1
Kings 18:4).
27. Today, humanism
and the
New Age movement
a.
would like nothing better than to stamp out Christianity
b.
because it stands in the way of Satan's world wide purposes.
V. An
Explanation of
Baalism
1. Baal, a
Semitic word
that means "lord, master, or owner,"
a.
was the chief god worshiped by the Canaanites
b.
at the time of
2. The head
of the
Canaanite Pantheon of gods was called El,
a.
who was regarded as the father of 70 elim or gods.
b.
The most popular of these gods was called Baal.
3. Baal was
the most
popular because he was considered
a.
the god of fertility in all aspects of life - human, animal, and
vegetable.
b. Production and prosperity were dependent on Baal.
4. The Ras
Shamrah
text, an important archaeological find,
a.
praises Baal as the god who has power over rain, wind, clouds,
b.
and therefore over fertility.
5. Baal was
also
worshiped as the weather god,
a.
the god of storm, of rain, and good crops.
b.
As you will see, this is very important
c.
to the background of 1 Kings 17‑19
d. with the story of the drought and the contest on
6. Worship
was
localized so that each area worshiped its own Baal.
a.
A name from the city or place where Baal was being worshiped
b.
was frequently added.
1.
This resulted in a variety of names like Baal‑Meon,
2.
Baal‑Hermon, Baal‑Hazor, Baal‑Zebub, Baal‑Marduk,
3.
and Baal‑Peor.
7. In
Elijah's time,
a.
because this was the form of Baalism worshiped at
b.
Jezebel, a Tyrian princess,
c.
introduced the worship of Baal‑Melqart into
8. Baal
worship
included the following:
a.
The offering of incense and burnt sacrifices (Jer. 7:9);
b.
Sometimes the offering of human sacrifices (Jer. 19:5);
c.
It especially included licentious sexual activity - including sodomy
(cf. 1 Kings 14:23‑24;
9. The
slaughter of
innocent children and sodomy
a.
are sure indications that the
b.
foundations of a society have crumbled.
10. We can
obviously see the
clear parallel to our country today
a.
with the very political homosexual movement
b.
and the slaughter of millions of unborn children
c.
(called FETUSES by those who call themselves Pro-Choice).
1.
These are two terms designed to hide the fact
2.
they are killing babies in the womb and are really anti‑life.
11. Remember, in
the Old
Testament Pentateuch
a.
(which was the Bible of Elijah),
b.
God had a special purpose for
12. God had
promised blessing
for obedience, but cursing for disobedience.
a. The curses included shutting up the heavens,
b.
and no rain meant no production (Deut. 11:8‑17; 28:1f, 23‑3‑24).
13. An interesting
historical
reference is found in 1 Kings 16:32‑34 (READ).
a.
First there is the statement of how Abab provoked the LORD
b.
with his idolatry more than all the kings of
14. This is
followed with a
seemingly out‑of‑place reference
a.
to the death of the two sons of Hiel who fortified
b.
All this forms a fitting introduction to 1 Kings 17
c.
and the appearance of Elijah.
15. It was a
reminder that
God's promises and warnings are true.
a.
They do come to pass.
b.
As Hiel had disregarded God's sure curse on anyone
c.
who fortified
d.
the promised discipline of God for disobedience (Deut. 11:8‑17).
16. Here God gave
a.
that not only is God's Word true,
b.
but God is involved in the life of the nations (including
c.
and
17. That's not all.
a.
With Elijah's sudden, dramatic, brave, bold entrance
b.
and declaration to Ahab: (Read 1 Kings 17:1),
1.
we have a direct confrontation between Yahweh,
2.
the living and true God of Scripture,
3.
and Baal‑Melqart, one of the heathen deities of ancient
18. This
confrontation comes
about through God's prophet, Elijah,
a.
an obscure prophet who suddenly,
b.
like lightening out of the blue, confronted a godless Ahab.
19. God was
dramatically
challenging Baalism,
a.
or the belief of the people in Baal,
b.
on the very thing they worshiped Baal for - RAIN!
20. On the one side
there was
Ahab the King,
a.
the ruthless and notorious Jezebel,
b.
the impotent and false god Baal, and the Baal priests and priestesses.
21. On the other
side was
Yahweh and a single servant,
a.
the prophet Elijah, a man of faith, deeply committed to God.
b.
It was a question of authenticity and power.
Conclusion
1. As we dig
into this
story, please note that Elijah's prayer
a.
for the cessation of rain in the land
b.
was according to the warnings of the Word.
2. Elijah was
not going
out on a limb.
a.
He was acting on the promises, or in this case,
b.
the warnings and principles of the eternal Word of God.
1.
He knew God's Word was true
2.
and he was standing firmly on the propositions of Scripture.
3.
Furthermore, this
prayer for the cessation of rain
a.
was designed to bring
b.
to bring the nation back to Yahweh, the true God.
4. Elijah
burned with
concern for God's glory and for his nation.
a.
He was also available to the Lord to be used as part of God's solution.
b. Certainly, as Elijah faced the rigors
1.
and crumbling foundations of his day,
2.
he had his ups and downs as you and I do.
5. It is
through God's
work in Elijah,
a.
a man of like passions with us (James 5:17),
b.
that we can learn how to handle our ups and downs,
c.
fears, and times of discouragement in our day of fallen foundations.
6. In Elijah
we can
grasp
something of what God is calling us to do.
Questions:
1. Do we really
know God in
such a way that, as Daniel declared,
a.
we will display strength and take action?
b.
Are we willing to pray like Elijah and follow God's direction?
1.
Or are we more concerned for our pleasure
2.
and business as usual than we are for God's glory
3.
and revival in our nation?
2. Are we
willing to
take a stand against the forces stacked against us
a.
because we are standing on the promises of God
b.
and resting in the assurance of His presence and provision
1.
regardless of how overwhelming the situation looks
2.
from our viewpoint?
3. Are we
like the men
of Issachar,
a.
who joined with David to form an army of God
b.
in a time of national need to serve the Lord and their nation,
c.
because we understand the time and know what we should do?