In 1 Kings 18, we see Elijah confront Ahab and the prophets of Baal. In the first portion of the chapter, we read of Obadiah, Ahab’s chief officer, and how he had protected 100 prophets of the LORD, when Jezebel had the prophets killed. We’re given this information, because the LORD sent Elijah to confront King Ahab, and as he travelled he met Obadiah. Elijah told Obadiah to go to King Ahab and tell him Elijah was coming. Obadiah begged Elijah not to have him do it, because Obadiah believed the Lord would take Elijah somewhere else in the Spirit, and then Ahab would kill Obadiah. But Elijah did go to see Ahab. When Elijah showed up, Ahab asked, “It it you, you troubler of Israel?” Interesting how from Ahab’s perspective it was Elijah who was troubling Israel and not the other way around, but Elijah told Ahab he was Israel’s troubler, and he had come to set up a contest between himself and the prophets of Baal and Asherah.
The “odds” were against Elijah. The prophets of Baal and Asherah numbered 850. Elijah proposed the contest be for each “side” to build an altar, then to put a bull on the altar, and then for the true God to send fire to burn up the bull. The people agreed this would be a great contest. Elijah had asked the people how long they would go limping back and forth between two opinions, that if the LORD was God they ought to follow Him, and if Baal was god to follow him. The image of a person jumping back and forth from one foot to the other is the image Elijah intended. The people seemed to have turned from God, but Elijah gave them the benefit of the doubt. As the contest began, Elijah gave his opponents first try. He let them call out to their god from morning until evening. He made fun of them after a while, asking them if their god was on vacation, or going to the bathroom or taking a nap. Finally, when evening came, Elijah had the altar prepared, the bull prepared, and then he had them pour gallons and gallons of water on the sacrifice. Then Elijah prayed to the LORD and asked Him to show the people He was the true God and that Elijah was His prophet. The LORD answered, and the people were convinced. Their God had answered with fire, and was the true God. In the frenzy that followed, Elijah had the people gather up all the prophets of Baal and Asherah, and he slaughtered them.
Next, Elijah told Ahab the rains were coming. He prayed seven times, and each time had his servant go to look to see whether the rains were coming. On the seventh time, the servant said there was a cloud the size of a man’s hand, but that was enough for Elijah. He warned Ahab to return to his palace before the rain was so hard that he couldn’t ride his chariot. Elijah’s great faith in the LORD is evident throughout 1 Kings, but as we will see, even Elijah faltered in his faith at times.
In 1 Kings 19, we read of Elijah’s faltering. After all he had just seen God do, we would think nothing could cause Elijah to fear King Ahab or Queen Jezebel, but when Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done, she sent him a message saying she was going to kill him before the same time the next day. Rather than stand up to Jezebel, Elijah ran for a day. He was tired so he sat down and asked God to take him, because his life wasn’t worth living. After that he fell asleep. When he woke up, an angel had food and water for him. After he ate, he fell asleep again. Once again the angel came and gave him food and water. After this Elijah rose and ran for forty days and forty nights. After that he hid in a cave. The LORD spoke to Elijah and asked him what he was doing in the cave. Elijah said he was the only one left who hadn’t deserted the LORD, and now everyone was trying to kill Him. The LORD corrected Elijah’s perspective. He pointed out there were 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed their knee to Baal. He sent Elijah outside and sent a howling wind, and earthquake and a fire, but the LORD wasn’t in any of these natural events. Then the LORD whispered to Elijah. Why did God whisper? In one of his books, Steven Furtick, answers, “Because He is so close.” I love that answer. In the whisper, the LORD sent Elijah back to anoint a couple kings, and to anoint Elisha as prophet. Elijah responds and as the chapter ends, both Elijah and Elisha are ready to serve the LORD. We do well to read these two chapters together, as they show us both the power of God in times of great corporate challenge, and the power of God in times of great personal challenge. In both types of time, He is more than ready to help us!
In 1 Kings 20, we read of King Ahab’s two battles with the King of Syrian, Ben-hadad. King Ahab was willing to give up his wives and his servants to Ben-hadad, but after he did so, Ben-hadad sent his men again to get more from Ahab, and Ahab told the elders of Israel about it. They recommended that Ahab not give any more. This time Ben-hadad sent a message that his army would pulverize Israel. King Ahab sent a return message, “Let not the one who puts on his armor, speak as the one who takes it off. In other words, don’t brag until after the battle is over. God gave the Syrians into Ahab’s hands. The next spring, the Syrians attacked again, and Ahab’s troops won again, but Ahab let Ben-hadad go. A prophet of God came and told Ahab, because he had done this, the LORD was going to exchange his life for Ben-hadad’s. That the next battle Israel would lose and Ahab would die. We might think it was good for Ahab to show leniency, but the LORD’s purpose was to demonstrate the authority of His people over a pagan nation.
In Matthew 4, we read of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness after His baptism. Before, Jesus’ ministry started in earnest, He endured a tremendous set of three temptations. Before the temptations Jesus fasted for 40 days. That made the first temptation significant: The devil tempted Jesus to turn a stone into bread. This temptation shows us the devil recognized Jesus as God’s son. After all, it wouldn’t be much of a temptation for you or me to turn a stone into bread, would it? Jesus responded to the temptation by quoting Scripture, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Next, the devil tempted Jesus to go up on top of the Temple and jump down. The idea was God would send his angels to save Jesus, and seeing this, people would worship Him. Jesus responded by quoting Scripture, “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.” Finally, the devil showed Jesus all the nations of the world, and promised to give them to Jesus if He would only bow down and worship him. Again, Jesus responded with Scripture, “You shall worship the LORD your God and Him only will you serve.” We learn something vital from this passage: The best way to deal with the devil is to know and quote Scripture to Him. Don’t argue–quote!
After this experience, Jesus started preaching that people needed to repent, because the Kingdom of God was near. (This was John the Baptist’s message, too.) Then Jesus called His first four followers: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were all fishermen. Jesus promised if they left their nets, He would teach them to fish for people. We’re told Jesus then went to the synagogues and taught. He also healed the sick and cast out demons. Jesus’ public ministry was underway. The details are a bit different than Mark and John, but the focus is the same: Jesus came to call people to repentance, to preach, teach, heal, and cast out demons. As Jesus followers in the 21st century that is also our focus and task. As we carry out that focus ad live into those tasks, people will come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. That has been His plan for the past 2,000 years!