INTRO
Today is the 4th of July.
When I was teaching at Bluffton College, I sometimes gave a test to my students to see how well they were listening. Here are some of the questions:
1. Does England have a 4th of July?
2. How many of each animal did Moses take into the ark?
3. How many 2-cent stamps are there in a dozen?
How well you answer depends on how well you listen.
And I also gave my students a perception test to find out what they saw in this figure: (Figure of Greek vase)
Many times it is important to be able to see something in two different ways. It is helpful to see things from the point of view of someone else. Wednesday evening we learned that in real fellowship, people experience sympathy for each other. The Bible tells us to share each other’s troubles and problems. How can we do that if we can’t see what they see or walk where they walk?
The test in today’s scripture passage, though, has no ambiguous answers. In some ways it is like a final exam. The lessons have been presented and it is time for the test. And there is no fudging on the answers.
Beginning of story
We have been preaching through the Bible and today we come to this story in I Kings 18 in which the prophet Elijah conducts a test on Mt. Carmel, the results of which are so dramatic that the people who experience it can come to only one conclusion, that the Lord indeed is God. Are you able to say that this morning?
The story really begins at the end of Chapter 16 where we read about King Ahab. The author of I Kings doesn’t mince words about Israel’s kings. As we pointed out two weeks ago, all of the kings of Israel disobeyed God and led God’s people into sin. But we read at the end of Chapter 16 that “Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.” (33) He not only married pagan queen Jezebel, he built a place of worship for her gods, and even went to worship there. As a result, the people of Israel were led down the path of disobedience and unfaithfulness.
Now before you drift off and say, “This doesn’t apply to me. I’m not a king, nor do I have that kind of power over others,” let me remind you that everyone of us has some kind of influence. Someone looks up to you. When you help someone make a decision about what to eat or what to buy or what to wear, you have influence. When you make a decision to attend church, you have influence. So you need to have your heart turned in the right direction and your head screwed on straight or you will send someone down the wrong road.
God used King Ahab’s disobedience to remind him of the authority of his Word. God sent his messenger Elijah to say that as a result of his sin, “there shall be neither dew nor rain except by my word.” In other words, expect a long dry spell.
Challenge to Baal
Three events highlight the contrast between God and Baal. The first is Elijah’s message that there would be no rain. This announcement served as a direct challenge to the so-called gods that Jezebel and Ahab were worshipping. These gods were more materialistic than spiritual. People who believed in these gods were supposed to prosper materially. If you worshipped them your crops would be great and you would become rich. The Baal god they claimed to follow was a storm god. This god was seen as the one who provided the rain for the crops. This god was supposedly in charge of nature’s forces that made things grow. But now God said there would be no rain. So who is really in charge- Baal or Jehovah God?
As you can tell, a contest was already shaping up. Who has the power to create this world? Who provides life and energy and growth? Who sends the rain? Until Ahab understands that the gods of this world have no power, that the Lord indeed is God, Ahab’s political power doesn’t mean a thing. And we too need to realize that God is the source of our blessings. The Bible says, “God provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (I Tim 6:17) Have you counted your blessings today?
Story of the widow
Last week we read the story of the widow in Ch. 17, who was also feeling the effects of the drought. This is the second event that contrasts God and Baal. Elijah asked this widow to make some bread for him even though she had only a little bit of meal and oil left. Even though she was not an Israelite, by faith she did as Elijah asked, and God rewarded her with enough oil and meal to keep her household going.
The gods of Baal could not reverse the drought. The gods of Baal could not provide food when people were starving. But this widow found that even when things look bad, and God shows his hand, she could see unmistakably that that the Lord indeed is God.
Dead son
The rains had stopped. The heavens had dried up. Food was scarce. What could be next? How about illness? Here we see the third event. We read that the widow’s son became ill and died, so she went to Elijah in her anguish. Did Elijah throw up his hands in despair? No. Elijah prayed to God to restore her son’s life. The widow knew what God could do. Elijah knew what God could do. And since the resurrection of Jesus, we know what God can do.
Raising a dead person is not something the gods of Baal could do. Baal’s domain was the wind and the rain and the storms. Who gives life? In whose image are we made? Who holds the power of life and death? Once again we see that the Lord indeed is God.
Seeking grass
With all of these events, and surely Ahab had heard about these things, Ahab still doesn’t get it. There is an ironic scene in 18:5 in which Ahab and his palace manager go out into the countryside to look for grass. The drought has had its effect. There isn’t even any grass for the animals. But think about it. Rather than looking for food to feed his people, he wants to find grass for his horses and mules. His military equipment is more important to him than are the people he is supposed to be ruling. He’s got his priorities upside down.
Ahab was not the first or the last king to do that. Kings and rulers throughout history have paid more attention to their war engines than to the needs of their people. Just take a look at the budgets of nations today and compare the priorities of their spending. Many of them spend far more on things that make for war rather than peace.
And it is not just kings who spend their time looking for the wrong things. How many people do you know who are spending money for things they don’t need while their families go hungry? How many fathers are looking for ways to get out of their obligations to support their children? Unfortunately, some people value their cars and material possessions more than eternal things. Jesus said, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt. 6)
The test on the mountain
In the Bible, God seems to allow confusion about who he is to last only so long. Eventually, the issue has to be settled. And so Elijah went to Ahab with a request to gather the 450 prophets of Baal along with an additional 400 prophets to meet him on Mt. Carmel.
When we read chapter 18, we see that the action of the story slows down as the details of this confrontation begin. Elijah lays out the question: “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? “If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him.”
I know sometimes it seems lonely to stand up against what you know is wrong. But if you think you are standing alone against your friends sometimes, think about Elijah. He stood up to 850 prophets.
As preparation begins, we see that everything is stacked against God and what’s more the prophets of Baal get to go first. They put their sacrifice on the altar in the morning and begin calling out to this storm god. If Baal really is a storm god, it should have been easy to answer with a bolt of lightning to burn the sacrifice, even if the sky was clear. The followers of Baal cry out in a frenzy all morning. At noon Elijah mocks them, “Maybe your god has gone on a trip or sleeping.” They cut themselves with knives most of the afternoon.
Finally, Elijah calls a halt. It is his turn. First he repairs the altar. Remember, it has not been used for awhile because they had drifted away from God. Then he puts the wood and the sacrifice on the altar. He digs a trench and fills it with water, so much water that everything is drenched. Then Elijah prays. (read) His prayer was a dignified prayer. And that is all he did.
And we read that the fire of the Lord fell and consumed not just the offering and the wood, but it licked up the water in the trench and even the stones of the altar disappeared. When fire falls from heaven, it convicts people of their sin. No one could doubt who is the real God. Baal is no god; he is a joke. When the people saw what happened, they fell on their faces in repentance and proclaimed that the Lord indeed is God. When people are convicted, they fall down before God.
And the next thing we read is that rain begins to fall. The long drought is broken. If you forget everything else, remember the three falls: fire falls from heaven because God hates sin and loves righteousness. People fall on their faces in repentance and worship when they recognize who God is. And then the rain comes and the blessings fall. And I believe God wants to send blessings on each of us, on our families, on this congregation.
Our God is an awesome God, but his power is not for just to entertain us or to wow us with shock and awe. God’s actions are always redemptive because he wants us to align our lives with his high and holy purposes, to live according to his commandments.
Are you living that way?
