The Mountain of Battle
Today we look at two leaders with very different perspectives about God, Religion and Authority. Our study is not unlike the times we live in. Even in our present age we are faced with two powerful leaders who seem to be destined to square off over God, Religion and Authority. We have Christianity and Islam ready to fight it out on the mountain top.
But let us make today’s message personal. You see this battle is not so much about kingdoms and nations as it is about the individual. It was an individual King that led a people into Idolatry. It is an individual Prophet that does battle with this blasphemous king.
All around us in everyday life we can see the grand themes of evil and holiness played out. We see the results of saints and sinners and there virtuous or vileness acts. We live it seems in a constant battle between good and evil. We know this battle as the battle between God and Satan. It is a battle where the winner takes all. It is a battle for the hearts, minds, and worship of followers. This battle has continued since the time of the Garden of Eden. It will one day end not far from where today’s scripture passage takes place.
You see in today’s passage Israel had left the true God and followed after an impostor. Israel had fallen into Idolatry and sexual immorality and religious paganism as it followed its leader to what could have been certain disaster.
Just who are you following today? Have you made your own decision about who God is? What place does Jesus Christ hold in your life?
We are faced today with all kinds of alternative religious views. We are in fact encouraged, aggressively to investigate all other alternative religious views. It is as if we are all assembled once again a top the mountain and we are being asked which flavor of religion do you want to claim as your own?
Our world seems to be running, not walking towards the religious practice and belief of every other god except the true Living God we have come to know through our bibles and through the collective experience of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
What is going on? How did we come to this place and time in history? What are our choices? What are the consequences?
We who are the church must defend the faith by living it and sharing it from our everyday lives. The unfortunate thing about our Canadian society is that it is not Christian and it does not revere the God of the bible as Lord of the land as our national anthem suggests.
In Canada we have abandoned the true living God in the same way that Israel had so long ago. We are chasing after idols, things, pleasures and sexual immorality and religious paganism as we embrace our multiculturalism and oneness with the world at large. Yes Canada has sold out to the god of the present age. The church then which you and I represent must be willing to climb the mountain and do battle against those who oppose our God in favor of theirs.
Make no mistake Christian, you are in a battle whether you want to be or not, you are in a fight for your spiritual beliefs and practices. Now I challenge you to do up your boots and carry your backpack as we climb up this mountain.
Today we see radical change in our climate all over the world. We see floods, droughts, earthquakes, landslides and violent storms with near biblical ferocity. Our men and women of science tell us it is of our own doing that we have polluted the atmosphere to the extent that the earth is simply responding to our poor stewardship, maybe. Maybe?
Our political leaders of every stripe and from every great and small nation of the earth say we need to curb our greenhouse gases we need to limit the co2 output and they point to agreements and treaties and plans to put right that which is wrong. Well maybe there right? Maybe?
We have seen and heard arguments from both sides of the political and scientific community on this subject but still no one seems able to solve the problem and the problem seems to intensify with every passing day. We are bombarded with statements of Apocalyptic fear suggesting that sea levels will rise and our cities will drown as a result. Will maybe, maybe.
To top it all off we have the rhetoric of war on all sides echoing through the night relentless in its scream. The Koreans have the bomb, the Iranians, the Pakistanis or we might be faced with a scenario where terrorist produce a dirty little bomb that can be carried in a suitcase or briefcase and detonate it in a major city. Maybe, maybe.
Friends we are living at a time in history when all the powers that be political, scientific and even religious want us to abandon all hope and look to a Saviour. The crux of the matter is that the Saviour that they wish to produce will not be Jesus Christ. No Satan and his associates want to bring the world to a place where we are so fearful that we will abandon our God for his proxy.
Could it be that Satan has set in motion a course of events that seems to lead the world to a precipice that will leave us having to choose between only one of two alternatives? Could it be that Satan is once more taking us to the mountain top in the hope that this time we will choose his path and not that of the Living God? Could it be that the majority of people in the world do not believe in Jesus Christ but they are willing to believe in some other god that might avert the apparent obvious calamity that is about to befall us by way of the environment and or warfare?
Maybe, maybe.
You see friend what brought Elijah and Ahab to this battle on the mountain top was in fact an environmental crisis. Yes, believe it or not, it was about rain or the lack or it. You see friends it had not rained for three years, not three weeks or three months, but three years and everything that had life was at risk of loosing that life. We are talking about a desert climate with limited fresh water.
I’m sure that at that time there were scientists and politicians of the day arguing and debating how they had misused the precious resource of water and that they may have contributed to its disappearance because of their own poor stewardship. Maybe they over grazed their livestock, maybe they burned to many fires and heat the planet up? Maybe there were too many people consuming too much of a single resource? Maybe, maybe.
Maybe it was their sin and denial of the true and living God for the pagan god that the king had introduced and honored. Maybe they had gotten the attention of the Creator God who felt they needed to be reminded just who was in charge and to whom they truly owed their allegiance and honor and worship.
Maybe we in our modern age are guilty of the same kind of sin and foolishness. We may have abandoned God in a similar way and God may be dealing with us just as he did the Israelites so long ago? Is it time for us to search for God on our own? Is it time for us to stop trusting the political leaders who are leading us away from God? Is it time for us to throw cold water on their arguments and challenge them to a battle of faith?
Stand with me as we stand beside Elijah and be ready to let God prove His power and glory and sovereignty over us. You may suffer along with this faithless generation, you may know thirst or hunger or environmental disaster but be ready to acknowledge who is in charge, who is God.
You will friend be asked to make a choice and make a decision and it could be that your decision is between one of two faiths or one of two gods but know whom you have believed and trust your soul to his keeping whatever may befall you here on this earth.
Elijah was not popular with the crowds, his message was one that forced them to take sides.
Joshua 24:15 NIV
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Elijah on Mount Carmel
1 Kings 18:16-45
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORDs commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring 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 word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORDs prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God."
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs [a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
"There is nothing there," he said.
Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea."
So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, ’Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ "
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Background
Elijah
The incident described above occurred on Mount Carmel, near the modern-day city of Haifa. Elijah was sent to confront King Ahab of Israel and his infamously-wicked wife Jezebel. Together, the royal couple had corrupted the land with the pagan worship of Baal.
From the view from the top of Mount Carmel Elijah could easily look down on the coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Elijah was one of the most intense and enigmatic people of The Bible.
• Elijah the Tishbite is first mentioned in 1 Kings 17:
• In the Kerith Ravine, east of The Jordan, the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook." (1 Kings 17:5-6)
• When the prophesied drought dried up the brook, God sent him to live with a widow in Zarephath of Sidon, where he remained for over two years. During his time there, he miraculously provided a food supply during the famine, and raised her son, who had died from an illness, Back From The Dead (1 Kings 17:7-24).
• During the third year of the drought, The Lord sent Elijah back to appear before Ahab. The series of events that followed ended with a confrontation on Mount Carmel between Elijah and hundreds of pagan prophets of Baal and Asherah. The supernatural demonstration of the powers of the True God against the powerless frauds led the people to abandon their idolatry and turn back to The Lord (1 Kings 18:1-40). The end of the punishing drought then immediately came (1 Kings 18:41-46).
• After Jezebel discovered that all of her beloved pagan priests of Baal had been killed in the confrontation with Elijah, she attempted to have him killed (1 Kings 19:1-13).
• Elijah fled south to Beersheba where he hid in despair (1 Kings 19:3-5). An Angel appeared to him twice for strength, and brought him food (1 Kings 19:5-8).
• He then journeyed for 40 days to Horeb, where God Himself appeared to him (1 Kings 19:9-18).
• The Lord then sent Elijah back north to Damascus to anoint Hazael king over Syria, and Jehu king over Israel (1 Kings 19:15-18). It was during that journey that Elijah found and commissioned his successor, Elisha, as directed by God (1 Kings 19:16-21).
• One of the most controversial events of Elijah’s life occurred at the end of his ministry when he was transported away on a "chariot of fire" (2 Kings 2:11).
• Elisha was then promoted from being Elijah’s assistant, to Elijah’s successor (2 Kings 2:15).
• Elijah was a type of John The Baptist, in manner and appearance. John was the Elijah that "must first come" (Matthew 11:11, 14), the forerunner of The Savior as prophesied by Malachi (Malachi 4:5).
• Elijah appeared with Moses in the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13)
• James spoke of Elijah as an example of the power of prayer (James (5:17).
Ahab
Ahab, was the seventh king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The son and successor of King Omri, Ahab reigned a little over 20 years, approximately 875 to 855 BC. Although Ahab was one of the strongest kings of Israel, militarily and politically, he was also one of the most religiously and morally corrupt both from his own evil-mindedness and as a result of the influence of his infamously-wicked wife, Jezebel. To the Israelite Calf Worship introduced by Jeroboam (the first king of the ten tribes), Ahab added the worship of Jezebel’s favorite idol Baal, both of which provoked a response from the prophet Elijah who was active at that time.
Ahab and Jezebel
Ahab’s reign was filled with religious corruption right from the start:
"And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of The Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke The Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him." (1 Kings 16:28-33 KJV)
