Jesse Tree: Elijah

Day 15:  Elijah (1 Kings 17:1-16; 18:17-46)

David was a good king – he remembered that God’s purpose for his nation was not to build them an ever expanding empire through war.  It was not to build up a large army so they could defeat others on their own strength.  In fact, God didn’t need them at all to bring about his purposes.  He brought them victory out of the most unlikely circumstances, this so they would know that YAHWEH was the true King, and David, the earthly king, was there to rule according to YAHWEH’s rule, and to act according to YAHWEH’s will. 

David was a good king - a “man after God’s own heart.”   YAHWEH was his God, and David did not chase after other false gods, but he was not called this because he followed God’s law perfectly.  He made grave mistakes.  Adultery and murder among them.  So how could God call him good?  Why would anyone consider him a man after God’s own heart? 

What made him good was not his perfect conduct, but the softness of his God-turned heart that could acknowledge the truth of his sin when Nathan, God’s prophet, confronted him.  He was filled with regret for breaking God’s law, and he repented of his sin. 

Later kings failed to be men after God’s own heart.  They did not trust in YAHWEH’s might.  They did not trust in his goodness.  They went about ruling their own way. 

David’s own son, King Solomon, built up horses for armies and made strategic alliances through marriage, adding wife after wife.  He also allowed his wives to bring their false gods with them. 

Solomon’s son, Jeroboam, didn’t fare much better.  He set up golden calves at their sites of worship to YAHWEH because he thought it would ‘make the people happy’… and led the kingdom to be split in two.  God’s holy people divided. 

But now, King Ahab, the seventh King of Israel (c.a. 874-852 B.C.) took the dereliction to a whole new level:  he personally worshipped Baal and set him up as YAHWEH’s peer.[1]  He allowed prophets to be massacred at his wife, Jezebel’s, orders.  And, after the following encounter he openly confessed himself that he hated prophets of Yahweh (22:8), such as Elijah – a ‘troubler of Israel.’ 

Ahab had been looking for him, with murderous intent, when God said “Go, Elijah.  Go to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”  Rain would have been a sweet message amidst severe famine, but God had more in mind than their relief.  He had in mind their allegiance. 

They came face to face, Ahab and Elijah. 

“Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”  Ahab asked.

“I have not made trouble for Israel,” He replied.  “But you and your father’s family have.  You have abandoned YAHWEH’s commands and have followed false gods.  You have followed the Baals.  Gather your prophets, all nine hundred and fifty of them, and we’ll see which God is worthy of worship.  We’ll see who the True God is.

They all assembled at the meeting place.  Mount Carmel. 

“How long will you waver between two opinions?”  Elijah asked them.   “ If YAHWEH is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

“I am the only prophet of YAHWEH left, and Baal has hundreds.  Bring us each a bull and may the true God prove himself.  We will each cut it into pieces and prepare the wood, but we will not light the fire.  You will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of YAHWEH.  Then we will know.  The God who answers by fire – he will be your God.

They all agreed.

The prophets of Baal went first.  They cried out to their god tirelessly, for hour after hour. “Baal, answer us!”  They called out again.   They called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, but no response.  No one answered.  So they began to dance.  They danced around and around the altar they had made.

“Shout louder!”  Elijah taunted.  “Surely he is a god!  Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling.  Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”  So louder they shouted, and louder they cried, and they danced a little harder.  They slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 

Noon 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.  Then Elijah invited all the people to come near to him.  He repaired the altar of YAHWEH which had been torn down in all the commotion, and he took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob.  With the stones he built an altar in the name of YAHWEH and he dug a trench around it.  He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on top, but he knew YAHWEH’s power, and called them to drench it thoroughly.  Twelve large jars of water they poured over top, soaking the offering and timber and stones. 

Filling the trench.

It was time for the sacrifice.  Elijah stepped forward and prayed this prayer:  “YAHWEH, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that YOU are God in Israel and that I am your servant.  I follow your commands.  Answer me, YAHWEH, so these people will know that you, YAHWEH, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

From the sky the fire of YAHWEH fell.  It burned up the sacrifice.  It burned up the wood.  It burned up the stones and the soil.  It slurped up the water surrounding the altar. 

“YAHWEH – He is God!  YAHWEH – He is God!”  They cried and fell flat on the ground in worship. 

“Seize the prophets of Baal” Elijah commanded.  And they were slaughtered for forsaking YAHWEH and leading the people to worship false gods. 

Elijah told Ahab that God was not finished yet.  Now that his people had returned to him, Ahab could go, and eat, and drink, because the rain was coming. 

The sky grew black with clouds.  The wind rose, and the rain came down heavily.  Ahab rode off through the rain to Jezreel.  But the power of YAHWEH came on Elijah and he ran ahead of Ahab and his chariot, beating him to his destination.

Wise men and women, old and young, whom do you worship?  For God is about to set Bethlehem ablaze with the light of a star!  Make your choice!  For there is yet a day still to come when Jesus will be "revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels" and all the world will be brought to its knees and cry out:  “Jesus, He is God!   Jesus, God is HERE WITH US!"

Let's join with the angels and sing:

"Holy, holy, holy is YAHWEH Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"

"The whole earth is FILLED with his glory!"

QUESTION: 

What altar are we dancing around?  Will we dance around the altar of money spent? Out-giving gifts? A party?  Chasing the high of a god that will let us take whatever we want?  Or will we kneel before the altar of the true flesh-wrapped God-child who can become our sin-soaked bodies burst into flame, leaving us purified of all unrighteousness?  Will we kneel before the God who could destroy us, but instead would give up everything – for us? 

Worship:   

Hallowed Manger Ground (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTDA_awnl8g)

O Holy Night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zh-yR0pbmU)
Filled with Your Glory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XZarrFpjg8)

What can you do to celebrate this today?    What is turning your head from Jesus this season?  Turn your eyes toward him!

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[1] The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 1