[0:00] 1 Kings 18. 1 Kings 18.
[0:19] We've been talking about Elijah meeting up with Obadiah. Obadiah was governor of Ahab's kingdom.
[0:33] And he was in charge of a lot of different things for Ahab. And they were out looking for water. And Obadiah meets up with Elijah.
[0:46] Elijah says, you go back and tell Ahab you found me. And you bring him back here. Tell him I'll be right here. You get to chapter 18. Look with me at verse 16.
[0:56] We're not going to read the whole incident of what happens here in chapter 18. But we'll read verse 16 through 24. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab. This is 1 Kings 18 beginning at verse 16.
[1:10] So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
[1:24] And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam.
[1:34] Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal 450, and the prophets of the groves 400, which eat at Jezebel's table.
[1:51] So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions?
[2:04] If the Lord be God, follow him. And if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him, Not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I, only, remain a prophet of the Lord.
[2:19] But Baal's prophets are 450. Let them therefore give us two bullocks, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it into pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under.
[2:31] And I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God.
[2:45] And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for this time we have together tonight, Lord. Pray that you would be with each one that's here.
[2:57] Help us to learn. Help us to grow. Lord, I pray for those who are not here tonight. And I know there's some that have physical issues and things that are not here. Pray that you would just watch over them, touch them, heal them.
[3:08] Lord, I know that some, because of the heat, have issues. And Lord, I pray that you'd be with them as well. It's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow. So, Lord, I pray that you would just help each one of our members, Lord, each one who comes, that you would help them to be protected and be steadied and be maintained in your word.
[3:29] Lord, be with us here tonight. Help us to have good fellowship together. In Jesus' name, amen. So, we've had the privilege of watching Elijah as we've been going through these lessons.
[3:43] We've watched how he has handled different trials and different things that have come into his life. How he has seen God work in each of those trials that comes to him.
[3:54] We've seen the contrast between Elijah and others who claim to know the Lord, but not necessarily follow him as they should. We've learned a lot about Elijah up to this point.
[4:06] You notice the title I have up there is called The Main Event. This is going to be, here in chapter 18, the big moment that Elijah is going to stand for the Lord. You notice the pictures I have up there.
[4:19] Both of those pictures are of Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel you see is a mountain with a very flat top. And that's what it looks like on top of it down there at the bottom. So, it's a big area, lots of room for this contest to take place.
[4:34] They have Elijah up there, 450 prophets of Baal. People who are up there watching what's going on. So, up on this mountain, there's going to be a contest.
[4:48] Elijah said, two bullocks. We both have them. Let's see which one gets burned up. Which one, their God sends fire down. All the training, all the trials and everything that he's gone through, he's come to this point right here.
[5:05] To display the power of God. Show what God can do and will do. And he's there to show the people of Israel that God is still in control and God is still in charge of everything in their nation.
[5:22] They're supposed to be God's chosen people. And he's going to show them that God hasn't forgotten them. That God knows exactly who they are. And he's going to show, remember, there's 7,000 others who have not bowed the knee to Baal, have not kissed the, you know, statues and things.
[5:45] Actually, matter of fact, while they're looking at chapter 19, verse 18. You're right there. Chapter 19, verse 18, it says, Yet have I left me 7,000 in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.
[6:01] So he says, there's Elijah, but there's 7,000 others who have not bowed down and worshipped this God. Things were so bad, though, that the ones who should have known better had been bowing down to Baal.
[6:17] That would be Ahab and Jezebel, the king and the queen. Their job was to keep the people focused on what God wanted them to do. Every king they had, except for David and kind of Solomon, did not do that.
[6:32] They all went their own way, did their own thing. They're promoting the worship of Baal. And God, remember, chose Israel.
[6:45] He led them out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the wilderness. All of these different things. Got them into the promised land. Did all these things, and they have forgotten everything that God has done for them.
[6:59] They have forgotten that God was in charge. But God never forgot about the plans that he had for them. So, he's prepared Elijah for just this moment.
[7:11] It reminded me, I've been looking at some material about Esther, thinking about maybe some things on Esther. And remember the comment to Esther was, the fact that maybe you're here for such a time as this.
[7:27] This is why Elijah's here. He's here for this time, for this moment that's about to take place. It takes great faith. It takes great courage. And God's been preparing him all along.
[7:38] So, you know, think about the church today. The church today, there's a lot of half-hearted service. There's a lot of being concerned about self. A lot of materialism.
[7:50] A lot of things about, you know, recreation. And all these different things. And pleasure. The same mentality that the world has, has crept into the church.
[8:02] We have the same type of idea that I can do it if I want to. I don't have to if I don't want to. It doesn't really matter. You know, all of these different things that the world kind of has.
[8:14] They're in the church today. So, Elijah's going to give them a challenge. So, number one, challenge extended. And he's going to challenge the potentate.
[8:27] The king. I'm using a P because some other words are coming up. But he's going to challenge Ahab. The meeting between Elijah and Ahab is an interesting one.
[8:40] Did you notice how it started out? Ahab's been following false gods. He's been doing all these different things. And Elijah doesn't even know what the word compromise means.
[8:54] He's going to do it this way and this way because this is God's way. And that's the way he wants to do it. He is completely sold out to God. Completely wants to do God's will and everything that he's doing.
[9:05] And so you can tell just by the way this starts out. These two guys are not best buds. Look again back there at verse 17.
[9:18] They are not going to agree on whose fault it is.
[9:38] So there's going to be a confrontation that's going to take place. There's a confrontation that's going to take place. When Ahab sees Elijah, he says, you're the one troubling us. You're the one causing the problems.
[9:49] It's all your fault. And it's interesting. The word that's used there for troubling, when he talks about troubling, it means the idea of someone who stirs something up or who causes a disturbance.
[10:02] Okay, that makes sense. Troubling. It's causing a disturbance, stirring things up. It can also mean something to do with a snake or a serpent. So basically what Ahab is saying is, you're causing all this trouble because you snake in the grass.
[10:21] He's not happy with Elijah. So there's no love lost between these two. You know, people get angry when truth is being taught to them, when truth is coming at them.
[10:38] When you go out and witness the people, and sometimes you're witnessing to them, and they don't react well to it. They don't like truth. What Elijah's doing here with Ahab is telling him truth.
[10:50] You need to know the truth, Ahab. It is your fault because you've allowed these things to come in. You know, truth has the power to set you free. Remember John 8.32?
[11:03] He talks about knowing the truth, and the truth shall set you free. And when people receive the message of God, when they receive the message of the Bible, when they receive what God has for them, life goes so much better for you.
[11:19] But in this case, Ahab's like, nope, you're the problem. So what does Elijah do? Elijah's going to give a condemnation. Verse 18, he answered, I have not troubled.
[11:33] You did. He says, look, Ahab, he looked him right in the eye. One of the things I like about Elijah, remember when he first started out?
[11:45] He goes to Ahab and he said, it's not going to rain until I say so. Looked him right in the eye and said, this is what's going to happen. So here he is again. They finally meet again.
[11:56] And what does Elijah do? You know what? This is the way things are going to work. You're the problem, and we need to get you taken care of. The drought is Ahab's fault.
[12:10] The drought that is taking place, that's affecting everybody, is his fault. In chapter 18, look down to verse 37. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
[12:26] He's there for the purpose of making sure that people understand God is in control. God is going to do what he wants to do. Someone has put it this way.
[12:38] Ahab was the troublemaker. Elijah was the troubleshooter. And so we're going to get this thing taken care of. You know, one of the problems is, and one of the problems for Ahab here is, we forget about the price of sin.
[12:58] When people sin, there's a price that is going to be paid. When people sin, there's going to be wrongs that have to be corrected. You know, we get surprised sometimes when God chastens us.
[13:11] For things. Proverbs 3.11. My son despised not the chastening of the Lord, need to be weary of his correction. He says, look, there's going to be times when correction comes.
[13:22] There's going to be times when correction has to take place. Don't be weary of it. Embrace it. Because what does that mean? God is your father. And God cares about what is taking place.
[13:37] The next verse, Proverbs 3.12. For whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth. Even as a father, the son in whom he delighteth. You know, if you love your kids, you're going to help them do what is right.
[13:51] You love your kids, you're going to correct them. I see a lot of kids who don't get a lot of correction running around Walmart and other places. We had a waitress.
[14:04] I was bringing my mother back and we went to a place yesterday and we had a waitress. She was funny. And she was talking about kids today. She's like, oh, there's just some awful ones that come in here.
[14:16] She said, she and another girl said, we have a policy. We don't tell everybody the policy, but we have a policy. If the kids are acting up and causing all kinds of problems and disturbances, she said, we don't even mention dessert.
[14:30] She said, there are certain kids that come in and they're just polite and they do things. And we go, how would you like some free dessert? And she said, she was talking about one kid who was in there one day and she said, he was just yelling at his mom and he'd call off and hit her a couple times and do things.
[14:48] It's like, we're both like, okay, we need to do something. Somebody needs to do something about this kid. See, God's our father and he trains us. Sunday, I mentioned, you know, Angela.
[15:03] Angela didn't get a lot of spankings and stuff. I'm like, I'm using you again, Ange. When we got home, she's like, I wish I had siblings so you could talk about them.
[15:15] Because what we did was, Angela, do not do that. If you do that again, this is what's going to happen.
[15:27] And when she did it again, that's what happened. And we only had to do that two or three times before she learned that when they say something, they mean it. And so I better just stop.
[15:40] Because we're going to take care of it if you don't. So God's our father. He tells us things. He says, look, this is what I want you to do.
[15:51] This is the direction I want you to go. Do that. So, there always has been, always will be a price to pay for sin. You're never going to get away with it.
[16:02] And then, there's a challenge. A challenge. Elijah commands Ahab. He says, okay, I want you to bring the 450 prophets of Baal up here.
[16:13] And we're going to have a thing. I want you to bring the 400 prophets of Astra. Those that, you remember he talked about the prophets of the grove, the one that worked groves. Astra was the consort, wife, whatever, girlfriend of Baal.
[16:29] So, 450 prophets, 400 consorts. You know, you think about it. He even points out something.
[16:40] Look again at verse 19 of chapter 18. Now send their sin and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel. And the prophets of Baal, 450.
[16:52] Prophets of the groves, 400. Which eat at Jezebel's table. Not only were they okay with promoting idolatry.
[17:04] They were encouraging it. They were paying for it. They were eating at Jezebel's table. He says, look, you're financing what's going on here.
[17:15] Not only are you allowing it, you're promoting it. You're paying for it. Elijah basically challenges these guys to a duel.
[17:27] You get one altar and a bullock. I get an altar and a bullock. Let's see what happens. Verse 20. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel.
[17:43] Ahab accepts. Ahab's got confidence in Baal. Just like those 450 prophets do. He says, okay, we're going to bring them in. We're going to see this. We're going to settle this once and for all.
[17:54] And he's figuring, here's Elijah. Here's 450 prophets of Baal. This guy's going down. When you stand with God, you have the majority. Dr. Bob Sr., when we were at school, one of his sayings was, you and God make a majority.
[18:12] Doesn't matter how many other people there are, you and God make a majority. God's got you covered. If you look and read through this passage, Elijah speaks eight different times.
[18:27] And every time he speaks, there's a commandment given. And Ahab, who's the king, is obeying the commandments. The prophets of Baal are obeying the commandments that Elijah's giving.
[18:39] I just find that really interesting. Everything he says is a commandment, and they're like, okay, okay. Not even realizing what they're getting into. Isaiah, you don't have to turn there.
[18:51] Isaiah 54, 17 says, No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
[19:02] This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. He says, I don't care what they bring against you. He says, I will take care of you. I will watch over you.
[19:15] So, verse 21. Notice what else Elijah did. And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye between two opinions?
[19:29] If the Lord be God, follow him. And if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. He challenges the people. Okay, people, you've been following this God along with all these guys.
[19:42] You haven't been following the Lord the way you should. I'm going to give you a chance to see what happens when Baal and God go head to head.
[19:54] It's interesting. Ahab got all those prophets of Baal there. He ignores them to start with. He's talking to the people of God. I want you guys to be ready.
[20:05] I want you to listen. I want you to see what's going to happen here. And what does he do? He gives them, first of all, a question. A question. It says, How long are you going to waver back and forth?
[20:18] How long are you going to wait? How long are you going to see God working over here and Baal doing whatever over here? And a lot of what was going on with Baal was not actually happening.
[20:30] I'll tell you some more about that before we're done here. He wanted them to see the best God could give them, and he wanted them to know that Baal worship was not going to amount to anything.
[20:42] Notice he uses the words, How long? How long are you going to do this? How long are we going to keep from doing what God wants us to do?
[20:53] How long are we going to ignore God and what his word says to us? You know, churches are a lot like that too. There's a lot of people. I'm going to do this.
[21:03] I'm going to do the other thing. I'm going to do my own way. You know, there are people, you know, they want heaven, but they want the drinks and the drugs and everything else.
[21:14] There are people who they want the Bible, but they want to go out and curse and run around and do all these other things. They want to be able to pray and see God answer their prayers, but they want to live by their own rules.
[21:30] They want to do what they please. You remember, I won't take time to go there tonight, but you remember in Revelation 3, verses 14 through 22, the church at Laodicea?
[21:45] What did God say about that church? You just keep doing following the world. You don't really follow me. You don't care.
[21:55] You just try to hit the middle ground. Bonnie was mentioning she had it. We have a fence in our backyard, and we had a big old gray squirrel, and he runs up and down that fence, and I don't know how he does it, but it's one of those things you're just waiting for him to kind of slip and stab himself or something because, yep.
[22:19] But it's just funny to watch that, you know, we, a lot of times, people try to do that. We try to run the fence. I can cut one foot over here and one foot over there, and I can kind of, I'll be okay.
[22:34] No. God says, don't forget. Sin always has consequences. Matthew 12.30 says this, He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
[22:52] Where do we stand in regard to the Lord? Where do we stand when it comes to the things of the Lord? Where do we stand in our relationship with him?
[23:05] And I'll stop there for tonight. Thank you.