Elijah - a fascinating story
Explain who Elijah was and where he fell in the history of Israel.
Explain the spiritual state of Israel at the time of Elijah.
(This is a different kind of sermon intended to be part one of two. In order to deliver this message I will read 1 Kings 17:1 - 1 Kings 19:18 enough times so that I can tell the story as a narration. The highlights are listed below for prompting. This will most likely take about 15 minutes or so …)
OK … Elijah
- Faceoff with Ahab - no rain unless I say so!
- The LORD then tells E. to head east - brook for water - ravens bring food
- Brook dries up - Yahweh sends E. to Sidon - a pagan city
- Meets the widow (tell story of flour and oil)
- Death and restoration of the life of the widow’s son
- Yahweh sends E. back to Ahab
- Obadiah
- The challenge
- The defeat of the prophets of the false god
- The prophesy of rain
- Climbing the mountain again
- Jezebel’s threat
- E. runs for his life, fed and watered by an angel, 40 days
- Horeb, the mountain of God, spending the night in a cave
So, what happens next is very important …
1 Kings 19:9b
“And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
That’s a REALLY great question, isn’t it? “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The Word of the LORD came to Elijah to …
Go hide in the Kerith Ravine
Go at once to Zarephath
Go present yourself to Ahab
We can see that the LORD was directing Elijah where to go and when
When Elijah ran from Jezebel there was no “word of the LORD”.
Even though Elijah was fleeing out of human fear the LORD:
Fed him to give him strength for the journey
Guided him to Horeb - the Mountain of God over 40 days and nights
Allowed him to have a night of sleep before speaking to him
Next week we’ll be taking a look at 1 Kings 19:9-18 but today we need to ask ourselves, “Are we where Elijah was on that day in the cave?”
Are we somewhere spiritually or physically during the week or mentally where we should not be?
Are we at a place of our own choosing and not where we would be if we listened to the voice of God?
Are we making excuses to the Lord as to why we are where we are?
Perhaps you are neglecting your spiritual life. You do not have a desire to be with God or with His people.
His presence has ebbed out of your life and you are spiritually dry inside.
Perhaps you have an excuse as to why you are where you are.
Perhaps you have unforgiveness in your heart toward someone who has hurt you in the past and the Lord is asking you, “Why are you here?” I, the Lord, have forgiven you.
Perhaps you are drifting back into a sin which imprisoned you in the past and the Lord is asking you, “Why are you here?” Don’t you remember all of the turmoil and grief that sin caused you in the past? Don’t you remember the times of fellowship between you and the Holy Spirit when you were freed from that sin? Why are you here?
Let’s use this week to examine our hearts and ask the Lord to reveal to us if there is ANY area of our lives where we are out of fellowship with Him. If there is any place in our lives where we should not be?
Invitation if the Holy Spirit leads.
Benediction
