The Hardness of Heart

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. 

Elijah responds:

1 Kings 18:18–19 (ESV) And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Now, the next moment is well known: Elijah's showdown on Carmel with the prophets of Baal. Though they cry out to Baal, the dead god is unable to do anything with the sacrifice. Elijah, in true showmanship, has them water down the altar and calls on God in dynamic prayer. The fire falls and the people immediately turn back to God crying out "The Lord He is God!" THEN Elijah tells Ahab there will be rain again, prays and the rain was great!

Yet in spite of these incredible acts of faith and power, Ahab and Jezebel are moved toward vengeance instead of repentance. She puts a bounty on Elijah's head and seeks to kill him. 

1 Kings 19:1–2 (ESV) Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”

We will circle back to the showdown in the next post but I wanted to bring us to this moment because it underscores a reality Christians have GOT to catch. The world is so full of evil, so turned against God that those who are sent to help them in the Name of Christ are going to be treated as trouble makers and problems. 

The fact is, those who are led by God and serve Him are seen as a threat to those in the world. Why? Because scripture makes it clear: this world is under the control of the devil. He is the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). He is the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4). He is the ruler Jesus cast down at the Cross (John 12:31). Only those who IN CHRIST are freed from his terrible reign and mind-closing blackness. 

That's why conversion MUST be the WORK of the Holy Spirit, a supernatural act of God on the heart. If you know someone so hard-hearted, my advice to you is STOP arguing with them, stop debating them, stop trying to convince them with human reasoning. My advice is to PRAY for them. Ask the God of creation to change them and bring them out of darkness into His light.

The bad news is most people are like Ahab to some level or another. The good news is NO ONE is beyond the power of God to save.