1 Kings 17:1-7. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 05, 2017.
Today we are beginning a series looking at the Old Testament prophet, Elijah. Prophets in the Bible always appeared when God’s people needed instruction, or when they needed correction. Always, they prophets would declare to the people what God was saying, whether about past, present, or future events. That said, the prophets are most concerned about the present. Knowing what God says about the past, present, and future, will you not walk in faith now, in the present? We should never lose sight of this prophetic imperative. It comes to us in the now in order to encourage or change our present activity.
Historically, this idea that God does speak through individuals to the greater body of believers has led to lots of abuse by false prophets who had not been sent by God. Instead they are enamored with the idea of having power and wielding it over those around them. Their inflated egos lead them to do what no normal person would do, pretend that they have a word from the Lord for other people. That said, it would be easy to reject the idea of prophets altogether. Some do this completely by rejecting the idea that any person has ever really had a “word from the Lord.” Thus they view the Bible as a man-made document that is only worthy of respect as a specimen of literature. Others will say that God no longer uses prophets. Thus they accept the Bible as the proven Word of God, but reject the idea that God speaks through others today. I would challenge you to recognize the spiritual maturity that we are called to. The spiritually immature easily accept everyone who comes along with a “Word from the Lord.” But to reject the idea of prophets out of hand is no great maturity itself. It refuses to deal with the hard issues of spiritually mature individuals recognizing the Holy Spirit (or lack thereof) in another person’s words. False prophets always have red flags that the spiritually mature will pick up on. More than this, the words of a prophet of the Lord will always prove true in the end. Otherwise they have not spoken from the Lord, but in presumption have made up words from their own mind and heart.
Elijah is one of the true prophets whose declarations of God’s Word proved to be true in the end. As we will see throughout this character study, the prophets were rarely well received and respected by the people during their life time. Instead we find them harassed and threatened, rejected by the powerful of their day, and often by the average person too.
As we walk through the ministry of Elijah, we want to focus on what God is telling us and not what our flesh wants to focus on. In this way we will be led by the Spirit of God and not by our flesh. Let’s look at our passage today.
Elijah confronts King Ahab
In verse 1 we find two characters, Elijah and Ahab. Although we are jumping into a running account of the Kings of Judah and Israel, this is the first point that we see the prophet Elijah. So let’s remind ourselves of the setting of this meeting between Elijah and Ahab. Israel had existed as 12 (13 counting Levi) tribes under the help of judges whom God raised up for their help. Until King Saul, Israel did not have a king. Eventually, though, God allows them to have a king, but warns them that it will not lead to good things in the end. So Saul became the first King of Israel, followed by David and then his son Solomon. After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam took the throne. Through poor counsel and poor character, Rehoboam threatened to raise the heavy taxes that Solomon had levied, which led to the 10 northern tribes breaking off from the tribe of Judah (only the tribe of Benjamin remained with the tribe of Judah). This split in Israel wasn’t healed over time. Thus the two Kingdoms were referred to as Judah and Israel. It is important in the Bible to pay attention to what is meant by Israel in the context. Sometimes it refers to all 13 tribes and sometimes only to the northern 10 tribes that broke off from Judah. This split happened roughly around 930/925 B.C. Ahab is a king of Israel, as in the northern 10 tribes, about 70 years after this split. Due to wickedness and power plots there have already been 6 kings and thus Ahab is the 7th king of northern Israel. We are told in 1 Kings 16:31-33 that King Ahab was very wicked. “And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat [the idolatry of the first Northern King], that [Ahab] took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.” Under Ahab, the northern tribes had not only mixed the worship of God with idols, but had now completely gone away from God; and had begun worshiping a foreign God called Baal (typically pronounced in English as the word “bail”). It is in this context of a King of Israel who is leading the nation away from God and towards a false God that prophets like Elijah stepped forward on the scene. God was not going to just lay down without confronting such betrayal. However, we don’t see these prophets in league with each other like some kind of ancient “Occupy Samaria.” The prophets were not a human, conspiratorial group, but rather, a group of divinely instigated individuals who remained true to God as the One to whom all allegiance should be held.
Elijah does not rebuke Ahab for his idolatry at first, at least not as we see him in the Bible. Rather he first establishes that he is a prophet of God by giving Ahab a powerful sign. Elijah tells Ahab that the country will not have rain or dew until Elijah commands it to come. Now this would be an incredibly arrogant statement to make, but it is also the type of thing that a false prophet would be very cautious about saying. Who can control the weather? Definitely, a person can’t do so. Notice that Elijah warns him in advance and not after the fact. So there is nothing right off the bat to make Ahab think there is anything to this. However, over the years to follow (the famine would last over 3 years) Ahab would have to face the fact that Elijah claims to be able to make it stop.
Now we don’t typically think of famine as a miracle. We tend to think of miracles as good things. In this case the lack of rain would be a powerful sign to Ahab that God was backing up what Elijah was saying. All this time their prayers for Baal to help them would be impotent. Thus it is a miraculous work of grace to get Ahab’s attention and draw him back to repentance towards God. Not every prophet of the Lord did powerful miracles, other than speak the truth and have it prove true. There are no such stories of signs and wonders surrounding Jeremiah. However, the Word of the Lord that he proclaimed proved very true and this is what is most important. Elijah is what God has called him to be and Jeremiah was precisely what God called him to be. In this case God gives a powerful witness of who is on the right side through a time of famine in the land that starts and stops at the command of his prophet Elijah.
Now in case it looks to you like Elijah is just saying this and hoping God will back him up, notice the words, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand.” To stand before the Lord was a clear term that is synonymous to being summoned before the king. Elijah had been brought into the throne room of God surrounded by powerful spirit-beings. This heavenly or divine council of God is what we see in places like Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Most likely this would be in a dream or vision. So was Elijah really entering into the divine council of God and hearing God’s words and decrees, or was this all in his head? Though it sounds like the perfect con (anyone can claim to have been in God’s council chamber and have a word from him), it would also seem to be a dangerous thing to say that you speak on behalf of God. Throughout the Scriptures the prophets would sometimes do something miraculous to prove that God was with them. But always, the things they said that God said would always prove true. It wasn’t enough to be right part of the time, or at least better than 50/50. It wasn’t enough to be right over 75% of the time. If God really spoke the words then they would be right 100% of the time. Though a prophet can mature in how to be a better prophet, there is no maturing of how accurate the words will be. You either are hearing from God, a deceiving spirit, or your own imagination. You don’t mature in that. When someone is actually led by God, the things they say will prove to be true. Sure they might make a mistake like getting angry at the resistance of those you speak to and strike out in anger. But the words themselves will prove 100% accurate. Elijah didn’t just arrogantly assume God would back him up. He is a man who has stood in the presence of the Lord, and is now confronting King Ahab with a powerful sign that only God could decree. Now at first Ahab has no reason to fear Elijah. Who does this guy think he is? Don’t you know who you are talking to? At this point in the story Elijah has only made a bold claim.
Now regardless of whether you are a great prophet of the Lord or not, this is a thing that God is doing. If He calls a prophet or many of them, it is for His purposes not ours. We must recognize that the United States of America is not Israel and God is not giving us more Scripture in the present. However, it is important to learn how to spend time in God’s presence and to be led by His Spirit and His counsel. It is irrelevant whether we have had a dream or a vision of the throne room. What is important is that by the Spirit of God we have entered into His presence and have received His word to us. This isn’t just something intended for men like Elijah who are doing powerful things. It is also for people like you and me who are just trying to raise our family for the Lord and be a witness to our friends and neighbors. We must be led by God’s Spirit and not our own fleshly desires.
Now in verses 2-7 we see again the leading of the Spirit of God. As the famine begins, Elijah is to go out into a wilderness place where God will take care of his physical needs. Also, he will be out of touch of Ahab’s power and control. When God makes things tough, He always has a plan for His people. It may not be the plan you were hoping for and at the level that you were hoping, but it is His plan nonetheless. He leads Elijah to a small brook that keeps running during the first part of the drought. He is also miraculously fed by ravens that bring him bread and meat two times a day. We are not told where they are getting this food, but I keep having this image of ravens descending on the table of Ahab and plucking food for Elijah. However, where they got the food is immaterial. This humbling means of being fed seems to be contradictory to the powerful prophet of God. But Elijah knew that he had no power but what God gave him. Elijah was not a superman. He was a normal man who was called by God and also believed God. It was God who was doing the heavy lifting of blocking the rain and dew for over three years. Remember that no matter how greatly God works through you, in the end you are simply a servant. It is God who is doing the hard work. You are simply trusting and obeying. That is nothing to get all high and mighty over. A lack of humility is a red flag that a person is not as close to God as they are putting on. Can I give thanks for God’s provision no matter how it comes? All throughout the Bible God keeps trying to teach us that those who belong to the Lord will be fed though they are surrounded by a desert, and they will drink though there is no water in sight. Yet, there is a spiritual lesson here as well. Lack of water and dew is a symbol throughout the Bible for a lack of the word of God. Amos 8:11 says, “’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the LORD.’” Perhaps this is why Elijah doesn’t say anything other than announcing the famine. It would be symbolic of God’s anger with Ahab and northern Israel. God was pulling away from them as a discipline upon the people. Even when a nation and its leaders are going the absolute opposite direction away from God, those who trust God will always find a place of grace in which He speaks to them and cares for them. This is the place we need to be.
Yet, even with all that said, we find in verse 7 that the brook eventually dries up. God does not always care for us the same way all the time. We can get so used to God caring for us in a particular way that we freak out when that particular source of grace dries up. God hasn’t forgotten about you and your needs. You do not need to fret. If one source dries up, God will provide another. Just trust Him and listen to His Spirit.
There are times when I wish we had such a prophet in our land. However, as Christians we are called to something similar and yet different. It is different in that we aren’t commanding it to quit raining or splitting red seas. But it is similar in that our lives become the thing that the world around us can’t just ignore. As much as the world plunges away from God and His Word and worships everything under the sun and in the heavens besides Him, God uses those who are in relationship with Him and receiving His word to be the stumbling block that brings the unbeliever up short. God in His mercy always sends a person who speaks and lives out the word of God as a mercy to those who have either tossed it aside, or never knew it in the first place. Let’s be a people who are standing before the Lord in prayer and meditation. Let’s be a people who are being directed by the Spirit of God and not the spirit of this age. The lives of others depend upon us.