"Elijah, What’s Your Final Answer"
For the next couple of weeks we are going to be in a series called "Real People - True Stories..." (Now, I’ve always liked true stories - whenever I watch a movie and I know it’s true - I find it more interesting...)
My goal during this mini-series is threefold: I Want;
. To try to bring to life some of the great stories in the bible
. To introduce you to some of the heroes of the faith
. To blow you away by how these stories apply to our lives...
"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Romans 15:3
Today, we are going to meet Elijah in a message called, "What’s Your Final Answer..."
How good are you at making choices? Choices, are a part of everyday life. Choices are a part of the new ABC hit, "who wants to be a millionaire" -- This week on the show it was celebrity week - and I saw a little bit of the show on Tuesday night. Drew Carey was playing for a charity and had won $500,000 - and then he was asked the million dollar question...
Who was the first athlete to do the Disney commercial - "Hey you just won the super bowl - what are you going to do now, I’m going to Disney World..."
A. Doug Williams
B. Marcus Allen
C. Phil Simms
D. Joe Montana
Well, Drew Carey had a choice to make - either he was going to give his final answer or he was going have to take the money & stop - he stopped....
The first real choice I remember making, was as a 5 year old kid - I’ve told some of you this before - it was the choice between having a chocolate ice cream cone before dinner and not having one... Pretty easy choice right... But there was something that went along with the ice cream cone that make the choice a tough one - For you see, my grandad was the one taking me and my mom didn’t know about it - and the only way for my grandad to get rid of the evidence (a messy mouth) was to spit on his handkerchief and wipe my mouth... Tough choice, huh? But all I can say is I ‘really’ like ice cream...
The Story
The real story I want to tell you today takes place in I Kings Chapter 18 - it is one of the great stories of scripture... AND at it’s core it is about life’s ultimate choice.
The Background
Before we begin let’s do a little bit of background together, to set up the text....
Okay we all know King David - he was the great king of God’s people - and after David died, his son Solomon became the king... And Solomon for the most part was a pretty good king. But after Solomon died things in the kingdom of Israel got pretty bad, so bad in fact that the kingdom actually spilt in two - into a Northern & Southern Kingdom...
The event we are talking about today takes place about 60 years after that split.... And the King of the north at the time is not a good guy - His name was Ahab - now Ahab was bad enough on his own (scriptures says "he did more evil in the eyes of the lord than any before him.. 1 Kings 17:30), BUT to make matters worse, Ahab, hooked up with the wrong woman - a woman whose name was Jezebel.
And what Jezebel did, was she got Ahab - to build her temples and altars to Baal, a pagan God....
So Ahab and his not so lovely wife - led the Northern Kingdom down the road away from God....if God was worshiped at all - it was only as an after-thought.
Well, in chapter 17 God calls on a man named Elijah to become His prophet >>> this is the first mentioned of Elijah in the bible - he just kind of pops in on the scene out of nowhere - and his very first job (did you ever get a tough first assignment in a new job?) Elijah’s very first assignment was to go to the wicked King Ahab and tell him - "Okay King you’ve turned BOTH your back, and the nations back on God - well here is what the God of Israel is going to do -- for the next several years there will not be any rain in the land until I say so..."
Now, I don’t ‘really’ think that Ahab & Jezebel, at that time, were all that bothered by this nobody making such a threat...After all they were the king & Queen of a nation. "Yeah sure, whatever you say Elijah, now be gone..."
BUT by the time the drought had reach it’s 3rd year (and Ahab himself is reduced to scouring the country-side looking for a plot grass to fed his animals - or else they would die) - Elijah was no longer a nobody... In fact he was the regular & permanent feature on "Samaria’s Most Wanted..." Elijah was a hunted man and the God of Israel was a hated God.
So intense was this hatred that Jezebel went on a killing spree, hunting God’s prophets down and killing them with the sword.
Then, in 1 Kings chapter 18, Ahab and Elijah are again face to face; when Ahab sees Elijah he says; "So it’s you, is it? The man who brought disaster upon Israel!"
"Ahab, are you talking to me - are you talking to me - King you really ought to be talking to yourself..." Elijah answered, "Your the one who caused all this trouble - you and that wicked woman you call ‘your’ queen... You think I don’t know what she has been doing - tracking down God’s prophets, her sword still dripping with their righteous blood, testifies against her...
I know you want me dead - I know you’ve been hunting me for 3 years - well here I am - And listen, O King, if these so called gods of your wicked queen are so bad - and if their prophets are so powerful, come on let’s see what they’ve got."
"Hey, if they want me & you want me, then here is what you need to do - Bring all the people of Israel to Mt Carmel, with all 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who supported by Jezebel...AND let’s throw down and when the dust clears, we’ll just see who is the one still standing..."
And so the 850 false prophets and the people of Israel gathered on Mt Carmel to meet the prophet of God. The clock is ticking and the showdown has begun.
Picture the scene in your mind - one lone prophet of God - 850 false prophets - a wicked King & Queen - AND - thousands of people gathered for a showdown... (the ultimate ‘cage match’).
Though the text doesn’t go into detail I imagine that the 850 prophets were pretty cocky & arrogant dressed to the hilt, strutting around like they were , ‘all that,’ AND I picture Elijah just kind of chilling calmly on the side lines.....
The Choice
Listen to 1 Kings 18:20,21
"So Ahab called all the Israelites and those prophets to Mount Carmel. Elijah approached the people and said (and this guy gets right to the point - he doesn’t hold back any punches...you guys want to know why I asked you here today - Elijah says to them)-- ‘How long will you not decide between two choices? If the Lord is the true God, follow him, but if Baal is the true God, follow him!’ But the people said nothing." (20,21)
"How long will you not decide between 2 choices? If the Lord is the true God, follow Him, but if Baal is the true God, follow Him!"
Elijah is placing before the people a clear choice.
"YOU’VE BEEN TAUGHT TO WORSHIP THE LORD ONLY, TO WALK IN HIS WAYS, FOLLOW HIS PATHS -- TO HAVE NO OTHER GOD’S BEFORE YOU.. AND NOW THIS JEZEBEL COMES ALONG AND SHE INTRODUCES YOU TO BAAL WORSHIP. AND IT IS SENSUAL AND EXCITING.
AND YOU HAVE STARTED THINKING THAT MAYBE WE’VE BEEN TOO RESTRICTIVE IN WORSHIPING ONE GOD... AND YOU HAVE DECEIVED YOURSELF INTO THINKING THAT IT IS OKAY TO WORSHIP BOTH...
YOU DON’T REALLY WANT TO GIVE UP GOD, THE TEMPLE AND THE FESTIVALS. BUT YOU ALSO DON’T WANT TO GIVE UP WORSHIPING THE BAALS...AND YOUR SOLUTION TO THIS DILEMMA IS; `HEY WE’VE DECIDED THAT IT’S OKAY FOR US TO WORSHIP GOD AND TO WORSHIP BAAL ALSO...’
BUT YOU ARE DEAD WRONG.... YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS-- IF GOD IS GOD THEN FOLLOW HIM AND IF BAAL IS GOD THEN FOLLOW HIM....
BUT, MAKE UP YOUR MIND, MAKE A CHOICE. GET OFF THE FENCE, QUIT PLAYING GAMES....
QUESTION; HOW DO YOU THINK THE PEOPLE RESPONDED TO ELIJAH’S WORDS?
The Bible says that the people said nothing.. The just sat there. Probably with a stupid look on their face. They didn’t respond to Elijah.
Why didn’t they? Because they were a bunch of cowards and they didn’t want to be forced into making a choice. Sometimes silence is golden, but sometimes silence is just plain yellow..
The Challenge
After Elijah told Israel to make a choice... He then offered them a challenge, a challenge designed to give a visual demonstration of the superiority of the God of Israel. A test that would show who really is the true God.
Elijah walks up to the false prophets, "Okay boys, you ready to play - here are the game rules -- go get 2 bulls. I will prepare one for sacrifice to my God, and you 450 prophets of Baal you prepare one for your god.
We’ll do all of the necessary preparations, but we will not set the bull on fire. And after both bulls are ready, you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord -- The god who answers by fire is the true God.... SO are you boys game or what..."
And the people said "that sounds good to us Elijah, let’s do it."
(YOU KNOW AS A SIDE NOTE, IT IS KIND OF SAD THAT THE PEOPLE DIDN’T SAY, "NO ELIJAH YOU DON’T NEED TO DO THAT, IT’S NOT NECESSARY -- WE KNOW THE LORD IS GOD..." BUT THEY DIDN’T. I GUESS THEY LIVED IN SIN SO LONG THAT THEY WEREN’T SURE ANYMORE WHAT THEY BELIEVED..
And Elijah said to the 450 prophets of Baal, "SINCE YOU GUYS LOOK SO PRETTY AND GOT ALL DRESSED UP - FOR THIS AND YOUR KING & QUEEN ARE WATCHING (ELIJAH POINTS HER WAY AND THE WICKED QUEEN NODS HER EVIL HEAD) ...I’LL EVEN LET YOU GUYS GO FIRST.."
AND FROM MORNING UNTIL NOON THESE 450 PROPHETS CALLED ON THEIR GOD. "O BAAL ANSWER US, O BAAL ANSWER US, SEND DOWN FIRE AND BURN UP THIS OFFERING" AND FROM MORNING UNTIL NOON THEY DANCED AROUND THE ALTAR CRYING OUT TO THEIR GOD, BUT THERE WAS NO RESPONSE.
Now Elijah was standing off to the side and he was really enjoying this -- and let me tell you those prophets were beginning to look pretty silly. And finally Elijah couldn’t stand it any longer so he begin to taunt them... (verse 27)
"HEY GUYS MAYBE YOU NEED TO SHOUT LOUDER, MAYBE BAAL IS HARD OF HEARING. SURELY HE IS A god. HEY I KNOW WHAT’S WRONG, BAAL MUST BE IN DEEP THOUGHT, OR MAYBE HE IS GOING TO THE BATHROOM OR MAYBE HE IS ON A TRIP (I HEAR CEASAREA IS NICE THIS TIME OF YEAR). OR THEN AGAIN, BAAL MAY JUST BE A LATE SLEEPER AND NEEDS TO BE AWAKENED..."
And the 450 prophets shouted louder and louder and they grab their swords and began cutting themselves until the blood flowed, hoping this act of mutilation would attract the attention of their god.
(Boy these guys were sincere, and they were stubborn too, not wanting to give up on their god.)
And verse 29 reads, "MIDDAY PASSED, AND THEY CONTINUED THEIR FRANTIC PROPHESYING UNTIL THE TIME FOR THE EVENING SACRIFICE. BUT THERE WAS NO RESPONSE, NO ONE ANSWERED AND NO PAID ATTENTION."
And then Elijah said to the people, "OKAY, IF YOU ARE READY TO SEE THE POWER OF A REAL GOD - COME HERE TO ME", and they did.
And Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord which was in ruins. At one time it had been a genuine place of worship but it had been so long since the Lord was worshiped there that it had become dilapidated. Elijah then took 12 stones to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, and piled them up for the altar (I am sure that he picked 12 stones for a reason - to remind the people, that God’s people were to be 12 tribes all in one nation not 2 nations....
Elijah then dug a trench around the altar, arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. And then Elijah told the people to take 4 large jars of water and pour them on the sacrifice and on the wood. And when they had done that Elijah said "do it again", and after they had poured the water on the altar a second time, Elijah said "do it again." And after pouring out the water the 3rd time the altar wood, and sacrifice were soaked and the water flowed down and even filled the trench around the altar. You see, Elijah left no room for false fire. There was no trickery here.
(You know, I’m glad Elijah commanded for water to be brought in and poured over the altar. No doubt if he hadn’t there would be liberals today who would write doctrinal thesis suggesting that the fire was a result of some latent spontaneous combustion from the sparks left by the swords that the prophets of Baal had used in their frenzy). Elijah was so confident that God would answer by fire that he made it as difficult as he could for God to respond.
And with the people and the 450 prophets of Baal looking on, Elijah stepped forward and prayed:
"O LORD, GOD OF ABRAHAM. ISAAC AND ISRAEL, LET IT BE KNOWN TODAY THAT YOU ARE GOD AND IN ISRAEL AND THAT I AM YOUR SERVANT AND HAVE DONE ALL THESE THINGS AT YOUR COMMAND. 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..."
And immediately after Elijah prayed this prayer on Mt Carmel... the Bible says, "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..."
What a contrast. 450 prophets in a frenzied state, begging their god -- pleading for a response... from morning till evening, with nothing happening. Compared to Elijah calmly asking God to respond and receiving an immediate answer.
Question; What do you think the response of the people was to this powerful event?
"WHEN ALL THE PEOPLE SAW THIS, THEY FELL PROSTRATE AND CRIED, "THE LORD HE IS GOD! THE LORD HE IS GOD!" (Their hearts were turned back to God)...
The Consequences
Now unfortunately for the false prophets the story doesn’t end there - with them be humiliated before the entire nation... For you see, In this chapter we are vividly shown the truth - that there are severe consequences for following false gods.
Listen to verse 40, "THEN ELIJAH COMMANDED THEM, `SEIZE THE PROPHETS OF BAAL. DON’T LET ANY GET AWAY." THEY SEIZED THEM AND ELIJAH HAD THEM BROUGHT DOWN TO THE KISHON VALLEY AND SLAUGHTERED THERE."
He executed all the prophets. He killed them. He was working under orders of God. Now, that sounds extremely severe to us because we’re not used to justice. We’re familiar with suspended sentences, plea bargaining, early paroles. But God is a jealous God. He deals severely with sin. All rivals to God are to be overthrown. There is severity in Love. A cancer surgeon who operates may remove an arm or a leg to save a person’s life. God was amputating a portion of the people in order to save the whole nation.
So What?
You’ll notice the words, ‘so what?’ In your outline.... Remember the verse we read
as we began today
"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Romans 15:3
We Too, Have A Choice To Make
Suppose Elijah was somehow brought to the 20th century.. And saw all of the things we do and say... how we live. I am convinced that he would say much the same thing that he said on Mt Carmel, that he would demand that we make the same choice.
If the Lord is God then follow Him... BUT if you want to make materialism your god, or pleasure your god... then follow that, but quit playing both ends against the middle, How long will you waver between 2 opinions, stop riding the fence .. quit pretending!
The story is told of a circus that had an ape that died. The owner panicked. He had to have an ape. So he skinned the ape and found a man desperate for a job. He dressed him up in an ape costume. "I want you to play an ape. All you need to do is prowl around and grow at the people." The man gave it a try. He had a great time, scarring people, eating bananas, growling. It was a blast. But one day when he took a break in the awkward ape custom, he stumbled into the lions cage.
The lion roared at him. And the ape began to call out, "HELP, HELP, HELP -- GET ME OUT OF HERE! Then the lion said, "shut up you fool or you’re gonna get us both fired."
A lot of Christians are pretending just like that. They put on and take off their Christianity like an outfit, and they figure if they just keep quiet they can keep their job. They can be popular. They can do whatever they want. But Elijah is saying "We have to make up our minds, we must make a choice.." If you want to play around with pleasure, drugs, alcohol, sex, materialism and good times -- if you want to make them your gods -- then follow them -- make up your minds... And quit making yourself miserable by toying with Christianity also.... Make your choice --
Jesus said, "NO ONE CAN SERVE 2 MASTERS (ARE YOU TRYING TO SERVE 2 MASTERS; YOURSELF AND GOD?) FOR EITHER HE WILL HATE THE ONE AND LOVE THE OTHER, OR BE DEVOTED TO ONE AND DESPISE THE OTHER..."
-- MATTHEW 6:24 --
And let’s not ever forget how Jesus feels about the fence riders, the Sunday only Christians, the game players, the chameleons who blend with their surroundings; here is how Jesus feels about those who think they can play in the world and still follow God, WHO THINK THEY CAN STAY IN TH PIG PEN AND STILL BE AT HOME WITH THE FATHER...
Jesus says, "I KNOW YOUR DEEDS (I SEE WHAT YOUR DOING, I KNOW WHAT’S GOING IN YOUR LIFE AND IN HEART -- YOU CAN’T FOOL ME) I KNOW THAT YOU ARE NEITHER HOT OR COLD (YOUR TRYING TO RIDE THE FENCE). I WISH YOU WERE EITHER ONE OR THE OTHER! BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE LUKEWARM -- NEITHER HOT OR COLD -- I AM ABOUT TO SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH!"
Listen it is not okay to live 2 different lives -- to wear our Christianity like custom that we can take on and off depending on the situation and who we are with.... IT IS NOT OKAY, to THINK WE CAN HAVE OUR CHRISTIANITY/OUR SALVATION, AND OUR SIN TOO! LISTEN; YOU can not walk on the broad road and still enter the narrow gate.
Christianity is a commitment of one’s life to Christ. AND we like the Israelites must make a choice...IF GOD IS TRULY GOD AND JESUS CHRIST IS TRULY HIS SON AND IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD - IF HE TRULY IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH & THE LIFE.... THEN FOLLOW HIM!!!
BUT YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE...
AND IF THE gods YOU HAVE FASHIONED FOR YOURSELF ARE TRULY GOD -- THEN GO FOR IT FOLLOW THEM...
We Too, Have Been Given A Challenge
And I think Elijah would offer us the same challenge as well, Okay, people let’s see what your so called gods can do...
Listen to the words of God in Jeremiah [2:27,28]
"They say to the wood, ‘You are my Father, and to stone, you gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say come save us!" Where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble!"
Now we in the 20th century are much to sophisticated to fashion an idol of wood aren’t we?... You see our idols are much more subtle.... And much more deadly -- For you see, since we don’t build an altar for them and dance around them we find it easy to deny that we worship them at all....
But they are there nevertheless, and they are just as offensive and detestable to God....they get the first fruits of our time, talents, passions, energy and treasure.
The idols we build are: idols of pleasure (alcohol, drugs, sex, good times , do our own thing..etc) , idols of worldly riches (we just have to have more and more things), idols of power of fame and popularity... And we offer our lives to these idols hoping they will give us life, make us feel good...give us happiness and peace... but the happiness they give is only temporary, the happiness they offer is like trying to hold water in your hands... no matter how hard you try it slips through your fingers...
These gods don’t give -- they take....and they demand more and more from us. They leave us empty and we try to numb this emptiness with other false gods... because one false god, just won’t do.
(Total - "I hope you’re hungry...")
Elijah’s words challenge us today, Where have your gods really taken you? Are they delivering what they promised? Do you really feel better? Are you really happier? OR have they turned your life into a virtual dry and barren wasteland -- forcing to search for a plot of grass so you won’t die. Have they really given you peace? Have they done you any real good? Can they deliver you from trouble? Can they save you from sin? Can they take you to heaven?
And one thing you’ll find out if you haven’t found out already, is that your follow idol worshipers are in it for themselves just like you are ... And if you hit bottom and fall down.... They won’t take the time to pick you up BECAUSE they are to worried about themselves...
These gods can not compare to God? They are less than a cheap substitute...
We Too, Face Consequences
And like the false prophets on MT Carmel that day - the story doesn’t end for us with just the choice and the challenge >>> FOR We must understand that the consequences are severe for not following God.
And we must also understand that by avoiding to make the decision, we are not avoiding the consequences.
We can’t say, "WELL I KNOW I AM FOLLOWING OTHER gods AND THAT I AM NOT FOLLOWING GOD ALL THE WAY -- BUT I AM STILL FOLLOWING HIM A LITTLE -- I HAVEN’T TOTALLY REJECTED HIM.. SO I AM STILL OKAY WITH GOD." God made it clear from the beginning, when he gave Moses the law... He burned these words into stone with his own finger,
"YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER gods BEFORE ME. YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF AN IDOL OF ANYTHING... YOU SHALL NOT BOW DOWN TO THEM OR WORSHIP THEM, FOR I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD..."
Let’s not deceive ourselves bros. OUR GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD -- AND HE WILL NOT SHARE OUR AFFECTION WITH ANYONE OR ANYTHING -- HE WILL ALLOW NO RIVALS. DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE IS THE SAME AS IDOLATRY. THE SAME AS OUTRIGHT REJECTION!
AND THERE ARE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT FOLLOWING GOD...
JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW CHAPTER; MANY IN THAT DAY WILL SAY, "LORD, LORD -- BUT HE WILL SAY DEPART FROM ME I NEVER KNEW YOU...." YES THE CONSEQUENCES ARE SEVERE.
(ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD -- HELL)
And another major consequence, is that when we do not follow God 100% - when we are not radically sold out for him - we miss out on God’s positive presence and influence in our lives...
Question; why does God want us to choose Him?
So he can bless us
take care of us
provide for our needs
be active in our lives
give us hope & peace
WE LIKE THE ISRAELITES MUST MAKE A CHOICE
HAVE BEEN GIVEN A CHALLENGE
AND MUST UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES
YOU SEE WE ALL HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE: REMEMBER THE WORDS OF JOSHUA, IN JOSH 24:14.
IF GOD IS TRULY GOD THEN FOLLOW HIM....
IF SOMETHING ELSE IS GOD FOLLOW THAT....
WHAT’S YOUR FINAL ANSWER....
