Matt Parry - Class 3: A Contest on Carmel

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   All right, everybody. It is now past one o'clock, so we are going to get started with our third class. All right, so for our third class, our brother Matt has requested that we read 1 Kings chapter 18, and I've asked our brother Rory to read that for us, 1 Kings 18.

2. 0:30

   1 Kings chapter 18. And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth. So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab, and there was a severe famine in Samaria.

3. 0:46

   And Ahab called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, for it was so, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden them, 50 to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water. And Ahab had said to Obadiah, Go into the land and all the springs of water and all the brooks, and perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so we do not have to kill any livestock.

4. 1:14

   So they divided the land between them to explore it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him. And he recognized him and fell on his face and said, Is that you, my lord, Elijah? And he answered him, It is I. Go, tell your master Elijah is here.

5. 1:38

   So he said, How have I sinned that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me? As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you. And when they say, He is not here, he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you.

6. 1:56

   And now you say, Go, tell your master Elijah is here. It shall come to pass as soon as I am gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I don't know. So when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord my God from my youth.

7. 2:14

   Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord? How I hid one hundred men in the Lord's prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water. And now you say, Go, tell your master Elijah is here. He will kill me. Then Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.

8. 2:36

   So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is that you, O troubler of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, and that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.

9. 2:55

   Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, and four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Ashtorea who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people and said, How long will you falter between two opinions?

10. 3:14

    If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him. But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left, the prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore, let them give us two bowls, and let them choose one bowl for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.

11. 3:37

    And I will prepare the other bowl, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, he is God. So the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

12. 3:52

    Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bowl for yourselves, and prepare it first, for your many, and call on the name of your God, and put no fire under it. And they took the bowl which was given to them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice.

13. 4:12

    No one answered. Then they leaped about the altar in which they had made. And so it was at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a God. Either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.

14. 4:27

    So they cried aloud and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me.

15. 4:47

    So the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Israel shall be your name. Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two seahs of seed.

16. 5:09

    And he put the wood in order, cut the bowl in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, Fill four water pots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time. And he did it a second time. And he said, Do it a third time.

17. 5:23

    So he did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass, in the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

18. 5:46

    Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

19. 6:01

    Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape. So he seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and executed them there.

20. 6:19

    Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat, and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel, and he bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, Go up now and look toward the sea.

21. 6:39

    And he went up and looked and said, There is nothing. And seven times he said, Go again. Now it came to pass on the seventh time that he said, There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising out of the sea. And he said, Go up. Say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.

22. 6:55

    Now it happened, and in the meantime, the sky became black with clouds and wind. And there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Thanks, Rory.

23. 7:19

    And we'd like to call upon our brother Matt to give to us his third class of the day, which is titled A Contest on Carmel. Brother Matt. Okay, so now we come to one of the famous parts of Elijah's life. We've all had a delicious lunch. Thank you for that. We're all ready to play some football.

24. 7:45

    So bear with us as we look at this. Hopefully there's plenty of excitement and drama in the chapter that we're going to look at to keep our interest, and we can focus on this before we get out to the football. But coming now, we saw Elijah had converted the Gentile woman. His role there had been complete.

25. 8:06

    And God had been working in Elijah, hadn't he, to try and instill a feeling of compassion and care for people, trying to teach him this need to save and to want to work with people. And so he'd been with that family for two years, maybe three years, and now God sends word for him to appear before Ahab.

26. 8:25

    And we had that read for us. In verse one there, it came to pass after many days. The word of Yahweh came to Elijah in the third year, saying, go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth. So he rushes to do that. Elijah went to show himself, and there was a sore famine in Samaria.

27. 8:45

    So this famine had gone on for three years, and that's a long time, particularly in a time where there isn't irrigation, there isn't desal plants, they don't have tinned food. To not have any rain for three years is a really serious thing. This economy is crippled, as we saw before at last, people are dying, they're struggling, they're in an extremely bad state.

28. 9:09

    The word severe is, sore, sorry, sore famine, is severe or mighty famine. This is really serious. If we look at verse eight, what's Ahab doing? Ahab said unto Obadiah, go into the land for all the fountains of water and all the brooks. Per eventually we may find some grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not the beasts.

29. 9:32

    So he's out there looking for any little brook, any little stream, any little source of water that's left. That's how desperate it has become. And this is the king, has all the resources, and he's out now. He's used up all of his resources. Looking for any skerrick of water or feed for his animals.

30. 9:50

    Now, as well as showing how bad a situation is, it also, once again, gives us a snapshot into how messed up Ahab is. He's the king, the shepherd of the nation. His people are dying of thirst, spiritually and literally. And what's he doing? He's running around, wondering about his own personal possessions and trying to find some water to keep his flocks alive and things like that.

31. 10:12

    His priorities are completely messed up for what he should have been doing. And we see this is in complete contrast. Once again, we have all of these contrasts in this story of Elijah. Here we have the contrast to Obadiah. Ahab is off feeding his horses. What's Obadiah feeding? Well, verse 3, he called Obadiah, which was governor of his house.

32. 10:33

    Now, Obadiah feared Yahweh greatly. For it was so when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took 100 prophets, hid them in a cave, and fed them with bread and water. So he's feeding the faithful of the land while Ahab's off worrying about feeding his animals. And this is a fairly formidable thing, isn't it?

33. 10:54

    How do you hide 100 people for three or more years? Where does that food come from? How do you keep that kind of thing a secret? Obviously, Obadiah used his position with Ahab and his authority in the palace to be able to get the resources to feed these people. Some commentators say there was no way he could have done it without Ahab knowing, you know, just feed 100 people without sort of someone noticing that food's going missing.

34. 11:20

    So once again, maybe this shows the spinelessness of Ahab, that he allowed this to happen. He knew it was right, but he wouldn't stand up to his wife, Jezebel, publicly. But either way, Obadiah was doing an incredible thing. And these two are in complete contrast that the record goes to pains to show us how different Ahab and Obadiah are.

35. 11:41

    The people, as we'll see later, are also... Sorry, in contrast to each other. People oscillated in their way, as we'll see. The nation wasn't sure who was God. But Obadiah was very clear what he was doing. He was the opposite. If we look at verse 6 here, we talk about Ahab and Obadiah.

36. 12:00

    So they divided the land between them to pass. Ahab went one way by himself. Obadiah went another way by himself. He's someone that was completely contrast. The story is introducing another person here as well that sustained someone, didn't he? Obadiah is feeding these people with bread and water, just like the ravens did for Elijah.

37. 12:21

    So we have the ravens. We have the widow that sustained Elijah. And here we have another servant of God. And that's what Obadiah's name means, servant of Yahweh. He was one of those people. He is another raven. And surely this is all building up, I think, to show us that Elijah would be fascinated, would be so excited to meet someone like this, another raven.

38. 12:44

    Someone else that was sustaining and looking after other people. Someone else that was working to save these people. But unfortunately, the excitement of being called back to face up against Ahab and this whole contest that he'd been looking forward to for three years. Unfortunately, I think Elijah has forgotten his experience with the Gentile family.

39. 13:04

    He's forgotten the power of the still small voice. He's forgotten that individual people do matter to God. And so he only sees what he wants to see. Here he sees a royal servant of the palace. And as far as he's concerned, anyone that's with Ahab is not on God's side. And so he's very dismissive of Obadiah.

40. 13:23

    After all of this setup, the Bible spends time in these verses setting up how amazing Obadiah is. And then only to see Elijah's reaction. Look at verse 7. As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him and knew him and fell on his face and said, Art thou my lord, Elijah? It's obvious.

41. 13:40

    Even if you didn't recognize him, you would see clearly from his mannerisms that this is someone that's faithful. And what's Elijah's answer? I go tell thy lord, behold, Elijah. As we said, Obadiah's name means servant of Yahweh. He greatly fears God. He calls Elijah Lord. We couldn't get a more righteous man being introduced here.

42. 14:03

    But Elijah doesn't want to see it. As we said, his blunt words here. And then verses 9 to 14 is it's almost the rambling of a fearful man. And, you know, Obadiah is worried. With this gruff approach, he's worried that, well, you're just going to disappear and Ahab's going to kill me. And don't you know?

43. 14:20

    And he tells him, I hid all these people. I've looked after him. He's scared. This isn't someone, you know, standing before God's representative in a joyous meeting of minds. Two men working to save God's people. Looking after the remnant. It doesn't read like that at all, does it? And that's a problem with Elijah's approach.

44. 14:41

    And we'll see that graphically tomorrow with the earthquake and the wind and the fire. It drives people away. It introduces an element of fear and uncertainty. And that's exactly what we're seeing here with Obadiah and Elijah. And so Elijah says, as Yahweh of armies liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him this day.

45. 15:03

    Because as we said, Obadiah is fearful that Elijah will disappear again. So even when Obadiah tells him about, oh, you might not know. Fair enough. You've been hiding. But, you know, if you didn't know, I've actually been looking after these prophets and I'm on your side and I've been doing all of these things.

46. 15:17

    Even when he explains it to him, there's no congratulations from Elijah. Or tell me about these prophets. How are they going? How are they faring? Don't worry. It's going to be over soon. This is my plan. And this is what we're going to do. None of that. Instead, he says, you know, he swears on Yahweh of armies, gives you an insight into where Elijah's mind is.

47. 15:38

    Didn't have to use that term, but that's what he's thinking. He's looking for a fight. He's here to have a fight. He's not interested in, you know, working and building up. This is his moment, what he's been waiting for. So Obadiah goes to get Ahab and tells him and Abahab comes up to meet Elijah.

48. 15:53

    And we looked at his response last class, didn't we? Verse 17. He said unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel? Once again, a contrast between Ahab and Obadiah. Obadiah dropped down. He fell on his face. My Lord Elijah. Ahab comes up. Why are you causing this trouble? Why are you doing all these things to me?

49. 16:14

    The word troubler of Israel is actually the word Achan. And in 1 Chronicles 2 verse 7, Achan was called the troubler of Israel. We talk about Achan in our first class. But Ahab is actually the one that's being Achan, isn't he? He's actively going out of his way to bring idolatry, that accursed thing, into the nations.

50. 16:35

    He's refusing to take responsibility for his actions. Refusing to examine himself and acknowledging that this drought was due to him and his need to repent and turn back to God. And so God is punishing because of this accursed thing that he's taken in. This idolatry was destroying the nation. Just as God warned.

51. 16:53

    Just the whole reason he said, do not build up Jericho again. This thing will destroy you. And that's exactly what we're being seen here. And that's exactly what Elijah tells Ahab. Verse 18. He replies to him, I'm not the troubler of Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that you forsook the commandments of Yahweh and has followed after Balaam.

52. 17:14

    And here Elijah uses the plural form of Baal. Baal just means lord. You know, you have lord of the flies, Beelzebub, things like that. And that was the nation's whole problem. They followed after many lords. This is plural of Balaam. They mixed up religion. They wanted to have a little bit of everything.

53. 17:30

    There was a little bit of Jeroboam that wanted to water down, a little bit of Ahab that wanted to bring in idolatries as well. So we can't have this mix of religion anymore. This is what it's all building to. If God is God, then choose God. And so Elijah puts this in front of him.

54. 17:46

    He said, therefore, verse 19, gather to me all Israel and unto Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal 450 and the prophets of the grove 400, which eat at Jezebel's table. Come up. We're going to have this contest. Excuse me. Now, why would Ahab agree to this event? I think, once again, it shows that there's something in his mind there.

55. 18:08

    He didn't just dismiss this as absolute rubbish. He didn't say, well, here's Elijah. Let's quickly grab him and kill him. Our problems are over. He's been searching for him for years. But he gives in. He agrees to have this contest. So I think there must be some doubt in his mind. It hasn't rained for three years, just like Elijah had said.

56. 18:29

    Baal hadn't brought any rain. If I kill Elijah, maybe no rain will ever come. And so he acknowledges, I think, to some degree that God is real. And so he agrees to this challenge. Sorry, I'm just going to grab my drink.

57. 18:46

    Excuse me. Sorry. So he agrees to this challenge, and they're going to put it out there. So we read verse 20. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and to gather all the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. Now we read, skim down, see verse 22, that only the 450 prophets of Baal came.

58. 19:10

    The rest didn't. And it's suggested that this is a contest to try and convince the people's mind. As we've seen in a minute, jumping between two. And therefore, for those who was no doubt in their mind, there was no reason for them to come. And so Jezebel and her special prophets never even bothered to come.

59. 19:27

    It was never a contest as far as they were concerned. There was never any doubt. But he's going to bring the rest of the nation to try and show and provide answers for these people. And so he does this here on Carmel there. He calls everyone up there. This was a mountain that jutted out of the sea.

60. 19:47

    Carmel means fruitful. It was one of the greatest, the greenest parts of this land. And now it would have been dry and brown, a stark reminder to everybody that there had been no rain, just as Elijah had promised. And so he brings them to this focal point to remind them that we're here because God had not brought rain.

61. 20:08

    You can see it all around us. And so verse 20, all the people gather. Verse 21, Elijah came unto all the people. And he says, how long halt ye between two opinions? If Yahweh be God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him. And the people answered not a word. You may not halt between two opinions.

62. 20:30

    Young's literal has that hop between two branches. We would have seen birds hopping and jumping from branch to branch. Never sitting, never committing on a particular branch. He said, that's what you're exactly like as a nation. You're trying to have both things. You're trying to keep God. You're trying to keep some idolatry.

63. 20:49

    You're not being pure about the way that you worship God. You're having a little bit of everything. You're hopping from one branch to another. And this is not Elijah being extreme or full on here as he can be. This is a very clear biblical principle. That's a powerful reminder for us as well.

64. 21:08

    Here's some quotes here that talk about this. And once again, we could have picked many others. Matthew 6, no man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one or love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and man. 2 Chronicles.

65. 21:27

    Do not be, Corinthians, not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship is light and darkness? What accord was Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share in an unbeliever? And then in John. Love not the world, neither things in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

66. 21:49

    Pull that in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And they're clear contrast. This is what Elijah is telling them. This, as I said, isn't Elijah being extreme. This is God. You can't do both. You cannot hop between two opinions.

67. 22:04

    You cannot try and have both. It's a really important point that comes from the life of Elijah. We've seen, haven't we, and we'll see tomorrow that Elijah has issues. He struggles to deal with people. He has some misunderstandings about God. But we cannot fault his dedication to his God and his lesson here as well.

68. 22:28

    And it doesn't mean that there's any watering down of God's position on separation or utter dedication to God. On this point, Elijah is absolutely correct. And so he says to them, if Yahweh be God, follow him. If Baal is the God, then follow him. But you cannot have both. It does not mix.

69. 22:46

    It does not work. And sometimes we can make that same mistake as the people, thinking that there is a third option. Sometimes we think, well, maybe there's one in the middle that we can take. Elijah is reminding us there is no third option. Now, God's not asking us to be perfect, as we know, but he is asking us to pick a side.

70. 23:07

    We will fumble. We will have difficulties in what we choose. But it doesn't mean we jump between two. And we're seeing as well, Elijah wasn't perfect, but he knew who his God was. He picked that side and he dedicated himself to it. And it's what God is asking of us today as well.

71. 23:23

    Which side are we on? Because you cannot have both. There's no third way. And so he says to the people, you know, he puts this before him. Who are you going to follow? Who's it going to be? And the people don't answer. And they couldn't to some degree. It's not just a matter of turning on a switch.

72. 23:41

    They needed to be reminded, again, that God was God. Remember, this was 60 years these people have been dealing with idolatry and watered-down religion and persecution of the believers. This is a really struggling ecclesia and a nation here. They needed to be reminded about that God was God. They didn't know what was what.

73. 23:59

    And this is what Elijah was about. So verse 22, he said unto the people, I, even I, only remain the prophet of Yahweh, but Baal's prophets are 450. And I think here in this instance that Elijah wasn't being dramatic. He's somewhat justified in that. You know, he literally was standing here by himself.

74. 24:19

    The nation is silent. Over there is 400 other prophets. He was alone. But as we'll see, unfortunately, Elijah took this a little bit far. He started to think that literally he was the only one left. He knew there was others out there. Obadiah, for one. Obadiah just told him about another hundred of prophets that were there.

75. 24:39

    So he knew there were believers. But I think he discounted them. They didn't live like him. Obadiah hadn't left his job in the palace. He hadn't come out to the wilderness to live the way that I live the truth. So he couldn't be as dedicated to me. I'm the only one left is how Elijah started to think.

76. 24:55

    He was dismissive of the people that weren't exactly like him and didn't live to his high standards. And we'll see tomorrow how God deals with that. So he sets up this contest. And he's going to let the prophets of Baal go first here. Now, everything he does is to remove any doubt or any concern that this is him doing some magic trick or something like that.

77. 25:17

    We're going to see that there's no way that that human could do what Elijah's about to do. And so everything he does is to set up. Everything he does is to give Baal the best of everything. No one could complain that this wasn't a fair contest. He wants to impress that this is God.

78. 25:32

    And there's no unfair. There's no trick to any of this, as we'll see. He lets them go first. He lets them pick the bullock. He lets them have the hottest part of the day. All of this. It's all in their benefit. So no one could complain. So he says, verse 23, let them therefore give us two bullets.

79. 25:52

    So they can pick which one. It's up to them. You pick. Let them choose one for themselves. Cut it in pieces. Lay it on the wood, but don't put any fire under it. And then the one that I didn't pick, I will do that. I will dress it and I'll put no fire under it.

80. 26:06

    And then you call on the name of your God and I'll call on the name of Yahweh. And the God that answers, let him be God. And the people said, yep, that's fair. We agree to this. We think this is the right thing to do. And then I just want to pause here because we're going to start to see a side of Elijah that I alluded to earlier.

81. 26:25

    And that's going to start to play a big role in why Elijah does things and the decisions and how he sets that up. And it's his admiration of Moses. Moses was Elijah's role model. We have Bible characters that we like and that we think of. Well, that was the same for Elijah. His Bible character that he liked to follow was Moses.

82. 26:45

    He based his whole life almost around that. When the wheels fall off, he goes down to Horeb, just like Moses did. The last events in his life, he goes to where Moses was. He patterns his life and his thoughts on Moses. And that's what we're going to see here. So where did Elijah get this whole idea of a contest and this whole idea of fire coming down from heaven?

83. 27:09

    He's had three years to plan out what he was going to do. Of course, he took it from Moses. Come across to Leviticus chapter 9. And we can see why is he choosing this way? What's in Elijah's mind here? So if we look at verse 6 of Leviticus chapter 9.

84. 27:33

    In the life of Moses. And Moses said, verse 6 of chapter 9. This is the thing which Yahweh commanded that you should do. And the glory of Yahweh shall appear unto you. And Moses said unto Aaron, go unto the altar and offer thy sin offering and thy burn offering and make atonement for thyself and thy people and offer the offering of the people.

85. 27:53

    Make atonement for them as Yahweh command. So this is the very start. They're going to set up the worship now. So he goes and gets that. And his glory shall appear to you all. Verse 23. Go down there to verse 23. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation and came out and blessed the people.

86. 28:11

    And the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the people. And there came fire out from before Yahweh and consumed the altar and the burnt offering and the fat. And when everyone saw it, they shouted and they fell on their faces. And this is exactly what Elijah wants to happen here. He thinks, this is great.

87. 28:30

    We're going to do exactly the same thing. We'll get the same reaction. The people will fall down and worship God. And it's true. That's exactly what happened, didn't it? They all fell down. They shouted out exactly as Elijah said. But Elijah forgot to turn the next page. Because what's the events in chapter 10 here of Leviticus?

88. 28:50

    You flick over. It's the incident of Nahab and Abidu. And where they completely disregarded God's holiness. Where they went totally against him and fire came down and consumed them. You see, this wasn't an everlasting thing. It wasn't like a permanent thing that they would all fall down. And from then on, they worship God.

89. 29:09

    That's what Elijah was thinking would happen. He thought, this is it. I'll show all the people. Fire will come down. They'll fall on their faces. They'll turn to God. And that's it. The people are convinced. We've converted the nation. And we can all move on. But it doesn't work that way. It didn't for Israel under Moses.

90. 29:27

    And it's not going to work for Elijah either. But this is what he expects. And it's why he struggles with it when things don't go the way he planned. But even in Moses' day, the next event shows that they hadn't all converted forever. But this is what he's basing it on, I believe, and wanting the reaction.

91. 29:42

    So if we come back to 1 Kings, let's look as he sets up this contest. So 1 Kings 18, verse 25. And Elisha said unto the prophets of Baal, as we said, choose one bullock, dress it, get it all there. Okay? So verse 26. And they took the bullock which was given them.

92. 30:02

    They dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. Okay? So everything is in their favor. They've got the animal. They go first. You know, it's fire from heaven. I mean, Baal was the god of the weather and all of that. So that's right in his backyard.

93. 30:20

    They got to go in the heat of the day. That aligns to that. They got to pick their altar that they wanted. Where did that come from? Obviously, Ahab had allowed them to build an altar. But everything's there ready for them. Now, I want you to picture this. I want you to put yourselves here into what's happening on that afternoon.

94. 30:38

    It's such an emotional roller coaster. Think about it. You're the children of Israel there. You're watching this day. And this is going to go on for hours. You know, and it would have been the excitement and the tension there. You know, as they get ready, they prepare everything. And then they start to charm.

95. 30:56

    And for the first hour or so, the electricity in the air and everyone's waiting for something to happen. And then by sort of the second hour, you're starting to look at your watch and still nothing's happening. And sort of by the third hour, you're wishing you'd brought a camp chair because it's still going on.

96. 31:12

    And these people are jumping around. Nothing's happening. And it's starting to get, you know, embarrassing to some degree, isn't it? These pathetic profits are still going hour after hour, trying all these things. And the more pity you would have felt for this, the harder that you would have tried. It would have been a really pathetic scene after hours and hours of nothing.

97. 31:32

    And it's also, what do you expect is going to happen now? Like you've been another hour. Is something going to happen? But it would have kept going. And they would have tried harder. And it says there, verse 27, but there was no voice nor any that answered. And literally is, there was no reply because there was no one there.

98. 31:52

    And it's a pointless and a hopeless scene as they're shouting out to the sky, to nothing, to an empty room, as it were. Someone dancing around, calling out to an empty room. And then it came to midday, the very time when the sun is at its hottest. And this is their moment. This is their last chance.

99. 32:10

    They're desperate. It says there that they jumped on the altar. What would have happened if the fire had come down while they were on the altar? They would have been burnt up. But that was what they were doing. They were jumping on and, you know, take me, Baal, destroy me. And sort of awkwardly hopping off as nothing sort of happened and getting back on again, slinking around.

100. 32:29

     It was embarrassing. They were throwing themselves out there. And sheepishly, nothing was working. And then Elijah is to some degree goading them on here in verse 27. I'll read it from the ESV so you fully understand. It says, At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he's musing or he's relieving himself or he's on a journey.

101. 32:51

     Perhaps he's asleep and might be awakened. These are obviously not godly things. I don't think Elijah here is being vindictive. I think he's trying to get through to the people just how ridiculous this is, that the stupidity of this scene, to show how pointless this Baal is, that nothing is going to happen.

102. 33:09

     And now, verse 28, they cry aloud. They're cutting themselves after their manna with knives and lancets. Blood is gushing out for them. You know, they knew that they were losing the people, so they're trying hard. In frenzy, they're cutting themselves. They have small little whips and they would whip themselves. Blood would be everywhere.

103. 33:27

     Some of them would be passing out now from dancing around for hours and just laying around. Blood everywhere, nothing there. And Elijah is continuing his theme of giving them every chance, giving them hours after hours and still nothing. There's nothing there. And then verse 29, it came to pass when midday would now pass, so that the heat of the day is gone.

104. 33:49

     It's all down from here. That they prophesied until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was neither voice, nor any that answered, nor any that regarded. Once again, we have this summary of these events. There was no reply, no answer, no one paid attention. It's literally what it is. And that's God's view of idolatry.

105. 34:13

     Yes, back then, but even now, as we talked about earlier, we still have idolatry in our lives now. We chase all of these things. We pursue these ridiculous things. I think it's what God's trying to show here, the emptiness, the pointlessness of all of this, of what the world has to offer. We pursue what?

106. 34:31

     Money, careers, power, lusts, temporal things. We think that they're going to bring us happiness. We think that the answers lay in those things. There's nothing there. There's no reply. It's an empty room out there. That's what it's like. And sometimes it's good just to consider it from this perspective. We get so caught up in anything.

107. 34:56

     This is where everything is. There's so much fun out there. There's all of these things that I can have. It's empty. There's nothing. There's no reply. That's the perspective here that the children of Israel, it was uncomfortable. It was embarrassing. You can think about it in our own life. When we step back out, really, you're giving up eternal life for that, for that person, that job, for whatever it is.

108. 35:21

     We know what it is in our lives. Really? That's worth eternal life? This empty thing? There's nothing out there. There's no reply. There's no answer. So Elijah, verse 30 says, unto the people, come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And isn't it interesting, this gross show of desperation, all this blood and this chanting, it had pushed the people away.

109. 35:48

     It was disgusting. They didn't want anything to do with it. And now Elijah's going to say, look, come forward, come back to me. So they come and the people come near. And he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was broken down. It's time for the evening sacrifice. The sun is almost set. It's late in the evening.

110. 36:06

     Once again, there's no, this is the worst time of the day. So this is the worst time for Elijah to do this. And he's going to show them there's no human intervention here. I picked the worst time and we'll see he makes it even harder for himself. But it says here, he's going to repair the altar.

111. 36:21

     The word there, most, the majority of times means healed. He's going to heal, going to bring them back to God. These people are broken. And he's going to heal them and bring them back. And so verse 31, he took 12 stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Yahweh came saying, Israel shall be their name.

112. 36:42

     So Elijah specifically chooses 12 stones, represent the 12 tribes, reminding them of their history and of their past, that God was their people. The 12 stones they had put in the land as they came out of, out of the water and into the land, God had brought them in. He was their God.

113. 36:59

     He had done the impossible for them. He was reminding that. It says there as well, with 12 stones. Once again, it's all about Moses. Come back to Exodus 24. Let's see what Moses said about these 12 stones and why he built this up.

114. 37:21

     Exactly the same phrase there, according to the 12 tribes of Israel. Exodus 24 verse 3. And Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which Yahweh has said, we will do. So when the law was given, when he paused on his judgments, the people said, yes, we commit to God.

115. 37:43

     We're going to do this. All the people in one verse. And how did Moses celebrate that? He wrote all the words of Yahweh on the tablets and rose up early. He built an altar under the hill with the 12 pillars, 12 stones, according to the 12 tribes of Israel. Exactly what Moses has done here.

116. 38:00

     He's reminding them. Remember, we committed. We said with one voice, all that Yahweh will do, we will do. We said that. What were the words that they agreed on that day? We'll come back to 23 verse 23. What did they all agree to? Well, next is 23, 23. For my angel shall go before you and bring thee into the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites and I will cut them off.

117. 38:29

     Thou shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them nor do after their works but thou shall utterly overthrow them and break down their images. You shall serve Yahweh your God. Sound familiar? And he shall bless thy bread and thy water and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

118. 38:47

     And then if we go down to verse 32 there, thou shalt make no covenant with them nor with their gods. Thou shalt not dwell in thy land lest they make, thou shalt not dwell in thy land, they shall not dwell in thy land. His Ahab has made a covenant with Jezebel, brought her into the land lest thou make thee sin against me for if thou serve their gods it will surely be a snare to them.

119. 39:12

     And they all said, we don't want that. And Elijah is reminding them of what God had said. Once again, he keeps bringing it back to their history. Now, interestingly enough there, it makes a comment about Israel and the change of Israel's name or why we're close. Come across to Genesis 32. What happened there?

120. 39:31

     So remember the verse in Kings said the tribes of the sons of Jacob unto whom Yahweh came saying Israel shall be thy name. Why did he reference this? Well, in Genesis 32 verse 24, actually look there, verse 32, 24 is when God says you shall no longer be called Jacob, you'll be called Israel.

121. 39:52

     But he keeps calling him Jacob later on. It's not until we actually come across the chapter, sorry, 35 of Genesis that his name is actually changed. This is the first time. Genesis 35, and let's look at verse 20 there. And Jacob set a pillar, sorry, 19, and Rachel died and was buried. And then what happened?

122. 40:13

     Verse 20, Jacob. So he's still called Jacob. Jacob set a pillar upon her grave and that pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day. And then Israel sojourned and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edah. So what changed the name? What made him change it? Well, there's a few things. Verse two of that chapter, chapter 35, then Jacob said unto his household, to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you, be clean and change your raiment.

123. 40:42

     And then we just read before verse 19, and Rachel died and buried her and then his name became Israel. So what did he do? He got rid of all the idols that were in there and his wife that was holding him back, that was keep leaning him back to idolatry, she died. And once those two influences were removed, he moved from Jacob to Israel.

124. 41:03

     And isn't that exactly, he would have been looking at Ahab when he was talking about these things. You have this woman here that's affecting you, you have these idols in your house, you need to get rid of them and you can move from Jacob to Israel, back to God. He's being very pointy, trying to press upon the people, this need to reverse and come back.

125. 41:21

     We've done it previously in our history as a nation and we can do it again. Okay, so let's come back to first to Kings 18. What happens next? So he's built this up, he's healed the altar, he's reminded them of their history and what they had promised to do. He'd put all his lessons in front of them.

126. 41:39

     He'd been planning all of this out the last three years. Every word he chooses, every action is specific and vital as he's trying to make a point. He's planned this all out. So verse 32 of 1 Kings 18, and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh and he made a trench about the altar as great as could tame two measures of seed.

127. 42:02

     He put wood in order, in order, sorry, cut the bullocks in pieces and laid them on the wood and then he said, okay, now take, fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice of the wood. And he said, do it a second time and a third time, et cetera.

128. 42:17

     And he did it there until the water ran around the altar and filled the trench. Okay, four barrels of water three times, 12 barrels of water, okay, just like there was 12 stones. Everything he's doing is to impress it. And as I said, he's to do this to show it's not some trick.

129. 42:36

     You know, when the first barrel of water went on, there would have been a groan from Israel. I was like, oh, probably wouldn't have done that myself. But, you know, there's still some dry bits. We might still be able to get this alight. You know, this is going to work. But barrel after barrel after it's drenched.

130. 42:50

     Water is everywhere. There's just no way this could humanly be lit. There's no chance whatsoever that this is Elijah's trick. Okay, so it's all set up now. And here he goes. He's ready now to talk about it. So verse 36, it came past at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Yahweh, Elohim of Abraham, Isaac in Israel, let it be known that thou art the God in Israel.

131. 43:19

     Stressing again all of these connections, these Old Testament references. It says, you're the God and I am thy servant and I have done all of these things at your word. You know, Elijah, it's not about Elijah. Okay. Yes, he said, I only am left, but that's not pride. This has nothing to do with him.

132. 43:37

     He's passionate. He's singularly focused on the people and bringing them back to God. This is what it's. I'm just the servant. I'm here doing this for you. I'm trying to bring you back to God. There's no pride in Elijah, I don't think. He had weakness, but not pride. It's all about I'm just a servant trying to do this.

133. 43:54

     It's all about Yahweh. And so verse 37, hear me, oh Yahweh, hear me, that these people may know that thou art Yahweh and that thou have turned their hearts back again. That's been the driving force of everything that Elijah does to turn the people. It's the whole reason he prayed for the rain.

134. 44:12

     Yes, he tried to sort of force them back, but the fact that he even wanted to turn their hearts back is what this is all about. If you remember our quote right from the start here.

135. 44:28

     Work something. That's okay. It's not all right. But it's Deuteronomy 11. Here we go. This is what it's all about to turn the people's heart back. You know, why did he want to shut up the heaven because there was no rain? This is all about turning the hearts back. Everything that he had done had been fought for this part.

136. 44:52

     And then if we look at verse 13 of this as well, it says, then it shall come to pass. You shall hearken diligently unto my commandments. Serve me with all of your heart. I will give you the rain in your season. This is what it's all about. I stopped the rain so I could turn your hearts back to God so that we can bring the rain back.

137. 45:10

     This is what it is all about. And so this time now, there isn't hours of thrashing around. There isn't crying out and cutting yourself. What happens? As soon as he had finished this prayer, verse 38 of 1 Kings 18, soon as he'd finished, then the fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, everything, and licked up all the water that was on the trend.

138. 45:38

     Once again, it wasn't just this sort of feeble thing. It was a miraculous fire that just cleaned up everything. An undeniable divine act. A resounding victory for God over Baal. And exactly like Elijah planned, just like they did in Moses' day, the people fall on their faces, verse 39. And when the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, Yahweh, he is God.

139. 46:03

     Yahweh, he is God. They're exactly as their response. And capitalizing on the momentum, Elijah takes control and commands that the people grab the prophets and that they be killed. So they take them down the mountain to the brook there and they kill all that. 450 prophets. That influence is wiped out. And then verse 41, Elijah said unto Ahab, get thee up, eat, drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

140. 46:32

     Get thee up in verse 42 is the same word. It means to walk up as they walked up out of the brook. So this isn't like a sit up and let's have a meal, but come back up. So Ahab had physically gone down to the brook Kishon. He had consented to the slaying of the prophets.

141. 46:50

     This wasn't a situation that got out of hand and people did this. No, he's wrapped up in all of this as well. The king there is part of this all. He consented to the slaying. He went down with all of the people. He was a part of this. And I think that's what gets Elijah so excited.

142. 47:07

     The nation has acknowledged God, that the king has repented and turned back to God for the first time that the ruler and the people are on God's side. Everything's worked out exactly as Elijah thought. This has all gone perfectly to plan. It's exactly what I wanted. And so he shares a fellowship. Once again, this isn't just a great, let's have a picnic after we've killed all these prophets.

143. 47:29

     No, it's a time for the evening sacrifice. It's the time now to share fellowship. And so he joins him. This is the man as we've seen that couldn't even peaceably speak to Obadiah who he thought maybe was attached to Ahab's house. So for Elijah to sit down and share a fellowship meal with the king, he obviously thought that some change had here.

144. 47:49

     It was genuinely was. I think he was, as we've seen. Ahab flipped between both. I think he was genuinely convinced he was part of this. And Elijah saw that and shared a meal with him. So all that's left now for Elijah is for the rain to come. And it's a certainty in Elijah's mind.

145. 48:07

     No one else could hear it because there wasn't any. But as far as Elijah's faith in God, it was already raining as far as Elijah was concerned. Everything had gone perfectly. The hearts of your people will turn back. The rain's going to come. That's the faith that Elijah had in God and his plan coming.

146. 48:24

     So Elijah goes up to the top of the mountain and he throws himself down. And it doesn't say it here, but Elijah tells us that he, sorry, James tells us that he prayed for the rain to come again. And so, verse 43, he said to his servant, go up now, look towards the sea.

147. 48:42

     And he went up and looked and said, there is nothing. And he said again. So seven times he goes up and he tries these things. Keep checking. Tell me as soon as you see it. There's going to be. So there's no doubt in his mind. Even though no one could see it, Elijah knew it was coming.

148. 48:57

     As James said, he's praying for this. Verse 44, came to pass on the seventh time and he said, behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand. And he said, go up, say unto Ahab, prepare thy chariot and get thee down. And so the rain doesn't stop you.

149. 49:17

     So as I said, as far as Elijah's concerned, it's already raining. Let's get going. Let's get the people going. We can't get trapped here. He's preparing for it. And here Elijah had to pray for seven times. He had to pray three times for the resurrection. Seven times he prayed here for the cloud.

150. 49:36

     Things don't happen right away. It's a good lesson for us of the need of patience and to trust in God. Things aren't meant to be. Then if things aren't meant to be, then that will happen and that will happen when God knows it. But it says here that the cloud appeared like a man's hand.

151. 49:55

     And why does the servant go up seven times to do this? What's the connection here? Well, seven typically is the number of the covenant and it speaks of complete, of finished. On seven day, God completed his work and rested. Under the law, things were sprinkled seven times. It's complete. It's absolute. So the people have just experienced the power of God.

152. 50:17

     They're publicly being confirmed in front of everyone as the true God. And now Elijah is looking to complete this national conversion. And so seven times he sends up the seven. Seven times he comes back. And then we see this little cloud. The word is a thick cloud. Once again, we would expect to find it in the life of Moses and we do.

153. 50:39

     Keep your hand here. Come across to Exodus 19. Where is this cloud also appearing in Moses' life? We talk about this covenant change that Elisha is trying to work in the people. Bring back the covenant that they had rejected. He's bringing this change on them. Well, Exodus 19 and verse 1, they're in the Sinai desert.

154. 51:02

     This is where the people are. If we look at verse 3, and Moses went up unto God and Yahweh called unto him out to the mountains saying, thus shalt thou say unto the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel. So the same words that Elijah used at the start. Verse 4, you have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and I bear you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself.

155. 51:24

     So you've seen the miracles that I've done. I've just sent fire from heaven. Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, this is the covenant that he's trying to keep, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people for all the earth is mine and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

156. 51:44

     These are the words which I shall speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all of these words and all the people answered and said, all that Yahweh hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto Yahweh.

157. 52:01

     And Yahweh said unto Moses, lo, I came unto thee in a thick cloud. It's that same word, that hand, that cloud. And the people may hear what I speak unto thee and believe forever. And Moses told the words of the people unto Yahweh. And so here we are, Elijah's trying to do the same thing.

158. 52:18

     He shows them the miracles and he wants them now. They confess and say, this is it, make a covenant with me. And they would do this. So Moses is trying to reenact this. The cloud has appeared, God has forgiven and now Elijah's thinking this is it. Verse 9, the people will believe forever.

159. 52:35

     That's it, I've done my thing, they're going to change and now they will believe forever. And that's what Elijah's thinking and that's why we'll see tomorrow why the wheels come tumbling off and he struggles because that's not exactly how it worked out. That's what is in his mind. We've done it, the clouds appeared, the people are going to believe forever, I've been a success.

160. 52:55

     And so back in 1 Kings 18, Elijah now is done. He's done his work, the clouds appeared, the covenant's been established, the king has been converted, the people now have all destroyed the prophets. And so verse 44, he rushes back to the king and he urges him to get in the chariot. We've got to get going.

161. 53:15

     You know, before we get bogged down, everyone's looking like, what are you talking about Elijah? The sky is blue, but as I say, he knew it was going to rain. And so they started to run down the mountain and just as the fire from heaven was a sure sign that God was in control, now at Elijah's word, he was telling everyone the rain was going to come and then all of a sudden the heavens open and the rain comes down exactly as Elijah had prophesied.

162. 53:42

     It stopped on the day that he said it would and it started on the day that he said it would, further cementing this sign that God was in control and there is nothing there for Baal. And so after three years of him telling them that the rain was stopped, it now comes, a visible sign that God was in control.

163. 54:00

     Verse 45, we see that it came to pass that in the meanwhile that the heavens were black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain. Can we picture that storm that would have come after three years, this sign across the whole nation of what had happened and Ahab rode and went to Jezebel and the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

164. 54:25

     You may have a note but running before a chariot was a sign of respect and honour. So here's further another proof that Elijah believed that Ahab had converted, that he had changed. In honour, he runs before his chariot here and that's where we'll leave Elijah today. He's bubbling over with passion and excitement.

165. 54:47

     This amazing transformation had occurred exactly as he'd been laid out to do. Everything in Elijah's plan had happened and we'll see tomorrow. We'll leave him here on his height as unfortunately it comes crashing down and we'll consider that God willing tomorrow. Thank you.