It’s Time To Stand Up

1 Kings 17:1 (NKJV)

1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."

1 Kings 18:1, 17-19 (NKJV)

1 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year (drought), saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."

17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that you, O troubler of Israel?"

18 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.

19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table."

20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.

21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.

22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.

24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."

King Ahab was an evil man.

1 Kings 16:33 (NKJV)

33 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.

He was a man who had no restraints, no morals, no fear of God and no sense of guilt. He was the kind of man who took no blame for his sorrows but blamed everyone else. Elijah is a mighty prophet of God, raised up to speak out against the sins of Israel and its leaders. The first mention of him is in chapter 17 as he pronounces judgement on Israel. Judgement has come because of the great sins that King Ahab has committed. From chapter 17 to chapter 18, three years have passed since Elijah said that there would be no rain. But in the first verse of chapter 18 God tells Elijah that He’s ready to send rain on the earth to stop the famine, but in order for that to happen, Elijah must face his enemy, King Ahab. As Elijah comes to meet Ahab, the first words out of Ahabs mouth are words of accusation as he blames Elijah for the famine and the drought. But Elijah looks at him boldly and says... I have not caused this but your sins have brought this on the nation of Israel. As I began to study this story, it wasn’t long before I began to see a modern day version of it playing out in our nation today. If you are keeping up with the news at all, you have had to of noticed that Christians are being blamed for a lot of the misery around the world. They are saying because we have a religion that is not all inclusive that we are creating an atmosphere of hatred and bigotry. They say that our stand against homosexuality and abortion in particular is a narrow minded stand and that our beliefs have, as King Ahab put it, troubled the world. There are certain ministers that have been crucified in the media because they have spoken out against an immoral society that has legalized pornography and exploited our children and they say to these ministers... you have troubled our nation. There’s a song from years ago entitled "Living Life Upside Down"...

"LIVING LIFE UPSIDE DOWN"

John has a new way of looking at life

He’s tired of his job, his kids and his wife

He says the secret to his success

Was in leaving and finding himself

Now he’s someone to somebody else.

And you say we’ve risen to a new age of truth

You’re calling it a spiritual Godly pursuit

But I say, I say,

We’ve got a program for saving the earth