365 Reflections

Remember how we talked about Elijah's boldness before Ahab? Remember how it says Elijah prayed 3.5 years for no rain in Israel and that his time in prayer steeled his heart by the presence of God so that he was not at all affected by the presence of Ahab? Well, it doesn't take long for us to wonder where that Elijah went. By the time he confronts Ahab at the end of the drought, the years of listening closely to God must have made him feel a bit self-important. Notice the way he begins the conflict with the prophets of Baal: 1 Kings 18:22 (ESV) Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Now this phrase is not true and Elijah knows it. We know he knows it because we read earlier in the chapter that Obadiah had been hiding and caring for 100 of the Lord's prophets in caves.  1 Kings 18:3–4 (ESV) And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly, 4 and when ...

If a man does not want God, he will never see him. That is the case of many in the world. Ahab the wicked king of Israel is the arch-type of this man. He did more evil than all the kings before him. He sought to thoroughly wipe out the worship of Yahweh from Israel and married the wicked Jezebel furthering that venture faster. And when Ahab sees the man who could help him he identifies him as the exact opposite. 1 Kings 18:17 (ESV) When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” How hard-hearted to you have to be to suggest that the man who is obviously empowered by God to do the works of God is your troubler? Ahab should have fallen to the ground and sought salvation from Elijah's hand. The drought could have ended and Ahab could have enjoyed national prosperity as King.  But none of this happens. Instead, Ahab calls Elijah a troubler and scorns his arrival. Many people are so stubborn they lash out at the very hand sent to save them....

Obadiah in 1 Kings 18 is a curious figure. He's not to be confused with the prophet who wrote the book, Obadiah. This one is very different. At one moment he's at the side of Ahab carrying out his instructions and doing his bidding. On the other hand, he's secretly hiding the prophets of Yahweh and feeding them. At times he shows great boldness and other times he seems jumpy and skittish. When Elijah is sent back by the Lord to confront Ahab, Obadiah is searching for green grass to save the horses of Israel at Ahab's behest. Elijah sees him and tells him to inform Ahab he's returned. This is Obadiah's response: 1 Kings 18:9–12 (ESV) And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And ...

One consistent refrain from scripture is that many times bad things happen to really good people and we need to learn how to NOT give up when it does. 1 Kings 17:17–18 (ESV) After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” The words "after this" mean we MUST connect what just happened to the tragedy about to occur. What just happened was the miracle she received of unlimited oil and flour because she listened to the Word of the Lord through Elijah. Now she experiences the seriously tragic event of a dead child. Here was a woman who not only feared the Lord but who was well aware that she needed God's grace. Notice if you will that last line:  "You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death o...

1 Kings 17:3–7 (ESV) “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. What is interesting is to see how the Lord provides for Elijah after he boldly confronts Ahab and his abominations. Elijah must hide and be fed by ravens. The Word of the Lord leads Elijah to a place where someone would never NATURALLY go. Perhaps this is the first rebuke Elijah brings to Israel. When you walk with God, you don't follow the natural instincts of human nature. Israel was following the lusts of their flesh. The name "Cherit...

The book of 1 Kings has shown us a long list of terrible kings in the Northern kingdom of Israel. On to the scene as Israel endures her 7th and most idolatrous king bursts Elijah the prophet. I am sure that if you aren't an avid Bible reader, his name is the only one familiar to you thus far in the book which speaks to a powerful truth underlying this narrative's message: It is not the powerful kings that move Israel along, it is those prophets who speak for God without fear, who challenge power and let God take care of the rest. But before he was ever a prophet, Elijah was a prayer warrior. 1 Kings 17:1 (ESV) Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”  What we are asked to see immediately is where Elijah is from rather than WHO Elijah is from. All the kings of Israel were identified by their father, even the wicked Ahab. Elij...

In 1 Kings 16 we have seen Israel (the Northern Kingdom) degenerate from one king to another, through betrayal and coups. Now we see even the northern kingdom which first divided from the Southern kingdom of Judah further divides into two factions: 1 Kings 16:21–22 (ESV) Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. It's interesting to see how sin affects an entire nation. We tend to think that sin is a personal issue alone. "Don't judge me!" we like to say to others who may dare to question what we want to do in the privacy of our lives. But Scripture is clear page after page, sin is a communal infection that destroys the fellowship we are made to have both with God and one another. What does the exploitation of the poor do to a co...

In 1 Kings we have a divided nation of Israel. If we continue the premise from my previous post that the southern kingdom of Judah represents those under the lordship of Christ and the northern kingdom of Israel represents those under the lordship of Satan, we get to see how these kingdoms play out over the course of human history. So what should we expect from the kingdoms of this world? 1 Kings 16:8–10 (ESV)  In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. 9 But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. Elah dies what is perhaps the most ignoble death possible. While his army is out fighting Elah is drinking himself into a stupor...