December 11, 2021
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Reading along with us in 1 Kings? Here’s today’s reading:
1 Kings 18 (NIV)
Elijah and Obadiah
1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.).......Continue Reading
Our God is an awesome God and can do ALL things including sending fire on a soaking wet altar. Elijah had such faith in the Lord and knew this example of God’s power in front of these disobedient people was going to happen that he even teased the prophets of Baal.
Also a great reminder in this chapter that we must choose a side! We can not claim to follow God and yet keep our feet in the things of this world. We are either all in or not!
1 kings 17&18
1 Kings 18
How challenging it must have been for Obadiah to maintain his faithfulness to the things of God while serving in the palace of Ahab and Jezebel. One wonders what opportunities he may have taken in word to confront the evil or promote the worship of God in addition to protecting these prophets covertly. It is an example we can be cogniscent of if we find ourselves in a situation where there is wrong going on all around us and yet we maintain our faithfulness to God and find ways to provide for godly ends as opposed to running away. Obadiah expresses great faith if taking care of the prophets especially in a time of drought but then loses courage to confront Ahab directly in mentioning Elijah.
And I just love the rest of this account. How easy it is for unbelievers to blame believers for the mess that their choices have created? And what faith Elijah has to make this challenge…and what a fitting one it is. The proof is in the pudding, If Baal is god, then let him prove it. And what a valuable principle is found in the reality, that if something is false, no amount of effort can make it true. And if something is true, then you can put obstacles in its way and it will still be shown as true. You just have to love all the efforts put forth by these prophets of Baal and Elijah just taunting them about their false God. And then the boldness of Elijah to say, when it comes to God, no amount of water could hinder His power to fire up the altar. And once the fire comes, the decision is clear. It is God who is God, so something has to be done about it. The evil has to be eradicated and God is to be worshipped and followed. It’s a fitting pattern for our lives when we come to see that God is real and if He is, then He is to be followed.
And then, just let the rain come…..
Poor Obadiah functioning covertly in the belly of the beast!
“Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.”
Deflection. I think we are seeing this today. Those who are the real problem are doing the very thing that they accuse others of. Satan is the father of lies.
Love the story of Mount Carmel:
“And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”