Elijah's Breakthrough Series

Series: Breakthrough 2020 - Elijah’s Story

Opening Video Illustration from sermonspice.com/sermoncentral.com “Elijah”

Scripture texts: 1 Kings 16, 17, 18, 19; 2 Kings 1, 2

Key verses:

1 Kings 16:29-33: Ahab Becomes King of Israel

29In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.

1 Kings 17:1-6: Elijah prophecies no rain to Ahab and he is led by the Lord to a place where he is fed by Ravens

1Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” 2Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3“Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.” 5So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Sermon: Elijah’s Breakthrough

Thesis: Elijah was a prophet of God called out of obscurity to confront a wicked King and Queen of Israel. He became one of Israel’s most famous prophets and helped bring a breakthrough for the nation of Israel. His calling was to confront the leaders of the nation for their promotion of sin and to prove God is the true God to be worshipped.

Note: The bulk of this sermon is gleamed and quoted from Chuck Swindoll’s book Swindoll, Charles R.. Elijah (Great Lives Series) Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. Thank you Chuck for such a great book!

Introduction:

History is the study of individual lives, people groups, times, cultures and events. When you search through history certain people stand out like our hero Elijah. He is recorded in the annals of history of the Jewish nation of Israel. He was a real life person called out of seemingly a place called nowhere, to confront a powerful king and queen for their sins and for leading Gods people away from the truth.

Elijahs life was filled with breakthroughs – but those breakthroughs came at a cost. When we study men and women of history it’s important to note what was transpiring in their time. What price they had to pay for breakthroughs for themselves, for others and for their nation.

Elijah’s prophetic ministry is primarily linked to the reign of Ahab and Jezebel in Israel. He is the prophet who God raises up to confront their wickedness. So To understand the times in which Elijah lived, we need to know a few more details of the political climate and spiritual climate of Israel.

Religion from http://www.becomingcloser.org/elijah/elijah_the_prophet.html

The worship of Baal and Asherah (also Astarte, Astoreth and several other variants) is, for the most part, extinct in our culture today. (I exclude those radical feminists who now find Astarte so wonderful). Since these are not common in our time, we need a little bit of explanation to what these beliefs consisted of.

• Baal – is the primary male god of the Canaanite religion, centered around Sidon (from which Jezebel came). Worship of this god included such interesting features as infant sacrifice and cannibalism. Represented by the sun, he is the primary male symbol of fertility. He (and Asherah) give birth to 70 other gods who make up the pantheon of this worship style. The name is generic, and sometimes is applied to other, more particular gods.

• Asherah – is the primary female goddess of this religion. Her worship features temple prostitutes. She is represented by the moon. Lately, worship of this goddess has been revised by certain radical feminists.. In her Babylonian guise, she is the root of much of the “New Age” worship.

Quote: From Book by Kilpatrick - “Chariot of Fire”: “The story of Elijah is the story of Jezebel and the saga of Ahab. Elijah's long fought war, and his spectacular rapture . . . both hinged on his victory over evil, a triumph that had to be personal before it could be national.”