Elijah: The Weatherman

1 Kings 16.29-17.1 Elijah: the Weatherman

This morning we begin a series of sermons on Elijah and then Elisha. Two characters from the OT which you may or may not know something, or a lot, about. We had a fantastic week teaching our children about them at the Holiday Bible club and just as way of encouragement to let you know that one of our children at the end of the week put their faith and trust in Christ. This morning’s sermon is going to be way of introduction to some of the general history and setting the stories of Elijah and Elisha and then a look at 17:1 and the statement of Elijah concerning the weather.

I want you to imagine the scene in Samaria. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel are holding court in the “ivory house.” The “ivory house” is completely inlaid and overlaid with ivory. If it were a house today we would say it was over the top and flaunting wealth for the sake of flouting wealth. A little bit like that chef, Salt Bae, who puts gold leaf on hist steaks and charges something like £350 a time for them. That is Ahab and Jezebel. A caravan laden with riches has just arrived from Sidonia, from Jezebel’s father. It is laden with gold, silver, fine jewels and the finest Persian chariot horses for Ahab. In return for such ahah sends wine, barley, wheat, olives, olive oil and grapes to Sidon. It seems a fair trade to him and to Ethbaal, Jezebel’s father. However, things are about to change but we will come to that in a moment but keep that imagery of opulence untold. If you are struggling to imagine such think of Smaug, the dragon in The Hobbit, lying on his hoard of treasure in the film.

Let me set, briefly, the history of how we have arrived at this moment in the life of Israel. Ahab is the 10th king of Israel. The book of 1 Kings opens with David on the throne. Although he was sinful and disobedient he was described as man after God’s heart. I think I am correct in saying he is the only one described thus in the Bible. David is followed by his son Solomon. Solomon starts brightly enough but because he took 700 foreign wives, in disobedience to God’s command, his heart was laid astray and he worshipped pagan gods. He is followed by Rehoboam, his son, but Jeroboam, a commander of the army, leads and unsuccessful rebellion and the kingdom is divided in to the 10 Northern tribes, Israel, with its capital Samaria. Jeroboam built shrines at Bethel and Dan. He is followed by his sone Nadab and we read in 1 Kings 15:26 that, like Jeroboam, he sinned against the Lord God. He was assassinated and replaced by Basha who we read of in 1 Kings 15:34 as a king who sinned against the Lord God. Elah succeeds Basha and is likewise described in 1 Kings 16:13. He was assassinated by Zimri, who only reigned for 7 days but is similarly described in 1 Kings 16:14. A king for seven days and the only epitaph of his reign “he sinned against the Lord God.” Omri succeeds Zimri and what a dreadful epitaph he is given in 1 Kings 16:25 - he sinned more against the Lord God than any of the kings before him. Omri is the father of Ahab and if it were possible 1 Kings tells us that he sinned even more against the Lord God. It is not the greatest picture is it?

Ahab marries Jezebel, a Sidonian, who worships Baal. ahah built a temple to Baal in Samaria and raised Asherah poles to the goddess Asherah. We are going to encounter Ahab and Jezebel quite a few times over the next few weeks as we follow the story of Elijah. This temple to Baal is an affront to the Temple of God in Jerusalem and by raising Asherah poles it just adds injury to insult. We are told that Ahab did all of this to please his wife.

In 1 Kings 21:25 we are told that no one else had devoted themselves so completely to doing wrong in the eyes of the Lord God as Ahab had. All of this because of Jezebel who arrived in her marriage with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah in tow. We also read in 1 Kings 18:4 that she persecuted, ie martyred, the prophets of the living God. All in all this is not a nice portrait of the kings of Israel till this point.

Baal - was a fertility god of the ANE. He was not just the god of the Sidonians but widespread in the ANE. In Deuteronomy 6:14-15 we read that the Lord God tolerates no rivals and in Deuteronomy 32:37-39 Did had given His people this warning upon entering the Promised Land. Baal worship was easy to understand and very attractive to the people of the Age, and even todayIn essence the more you gave to Baal in terms of sacrifice and worship the more he was expected to bless you, a very materialistic bargain. Sound familiar? Baal was considered the god of the weather and the weather was of key importance to an agricultural based society. He was also considered the god of fertility and his shrines had temple prostitutes both male and female. Baal worship appealed to human price and human lust. One further aspect of Baal worship, which no doubt will horrify us, was that human sacrifice was also part of the worship. Mostly infants were sacrificed for fertility blessings.