God of Elijah / Consuming Fire

[00:00:01] Hello and welcome to Tal Paul's preaching. You are listening to episode 20, which was originally recorded on Sunday, October 13th of 2019. [00:00:14] This episode is titled God of Elijah Consuming Fire. [00:00:20] And today we take a look at the famous showdown battle between Elijah and the 850 false prophets. [00:00:28] Because Elijah the prophet does not have his own book of the Bible. If you want to get your Bible ready. We find ourselves covering four different chapters in First Kings, starting with the end of chapter 16. [00:00:43] Well, let's jump right in starting after worship where we sing those good old hymns. [00:00:51] Oh boy, the weather has been bitter and cold Already been knocking on our door no, we're gonna blow your house down this winter like the big bad wolf knocking and boy, I'll tell you, that's one of my favorite little nursery books to read to kids. You know, the Big Bad Wolf. And that's just one of my favorites to read. [00:01:20] But have you ever thought, why did the three little pigs leave their family home in the first place? [00:01:31] Well, the way I heard it, their father was a terrible boar. [00:01:44] Well, good morning. I'm Tall Paul, of course, and my wife and my mother are here today with me. [00:01:52] And as always, we'll open up in prayer. [00:01:57] All right, well, let's pray. [00:02:00] Oh, heavenly Father, we come before you and we claim and trust and know that you are so good and you love us so. And we just want to cling to that, Lord. [00:02:15] We pray for our nation and we need to turn turn back to you and use your guidance on where we should go and how we should act and what we should do, Lord. So we just pray. [00:02:30] Lift up our nation's leaders to you, Lord, and would you turn their hearts back to you. [00:02:37] We just praise you and lift you up and thank you for all that you've given us, Lord. Will you open our hearts and seek. Send that holy spirit to us, Lord, that your word would be opened up to us and that we would grow closer to you. That's our prayer. In Jesus name, Amen. [00:02:58] Today we are going to look at a strange event in Elijah's life. Now, regarding Elijah, he's had some very interesting things occur in his life, but he doesn't have a book of the Bible, you know, and so he's not as well known as Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel or Daniel even, you know, those guys have their own books. And so we've got to rely on some of the other books of the Bible to get the stories about the prophet Elijah. [00:03:31] So we're going to read about an event and it's in First Kings. [00:03:37] And we're going to cover four chapters, chapters 16 through 19. And if you want to turn to First Kings and follow along, that's great. However, I will obviously be doing a lot of summarizing and paraphrasing for time's sake to cover those four chapters. [00:03:56] First, some background into the event. [00:04:00] After King Solomon died, Israel was divided into two kingdoms. [00:04:06] One to the north, and that was generally called Israel. [00:04:10] Then one to the south, and that one was generally called Judah. [00:04:15] Now, both kingdoms are still composed of God's people and the Israelites, and God still loves both of those nations dearly. [00:04:27] However, the nations have turned their back on God, especially Israel to the north. [00:04:34] Each kingdom, they have a king that rules over them. And at this time, King Ahab is ruling to the north in Israel. [00:04:45] Now, Ahab was very bad news for the kingdom. He had tossed aside the foundation that God had laid out for his people, and he fundamentally remade Israel in his own image. And God's laws and God's ways, they became outdated to people like Ahab, and they thought to change what God had clearly established. [00:05:14] So we're going to start in 1 Kings, chapter 16, way down in verse 29, the end of the chapter 16, there, verse 29. And in the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah, began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned in Israel 22 years. [00:05:35] And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. [00:05:45] He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, but he also took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served BAAL and worshiped him. [00:06:01] And he reared up an altar for BAAL in the house of BAAL which he built in Samaria, and Ahab made a grove. And Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. [00:06:19] Not a great upstanding guy. [00:06:21] Now, God did not want for the people of Israel to be unequally yoked. [00:06:27] And so he didn't want them marry people that were not Israelites. And the reason was to prevent exactly what Ahab demonstrated here. [00:06:37] See Ahab, who was king and ruler of the nation. You know, people look up to the king and the ruler, and he married outside of the kingdom and began to adopt the ways of his wife, her gods and their religion. And he disregarded what God had established in Israel, and he probably just thought he was making progress for a better tomorrow. But God's laws are not subjective. God's laws are not relative. [00:07:09] They are absolute truth. [00:07:11] And so a spiritual cancer or a moral cancer has been planted in Israel through Ahab and Jezebel his wife. [00:07:21] If not dealt with that, it grows and it spreads until the kingdom dies. And society will decay when it leaves that foundation of God. And we can see that in our own nation. [00:07:35] The further we get from the foundation that God laid, the worse our society gets. [00:07:42] It won't be long before God's judgment is pronounced and the northern kingdom will be wiped out by the Assyrians. [00:07:50] But because of Ahab's wickedness, you know, it did not go unnoticed by God. God notices everything. [00:07:57] Well, God sends Elijah to tell Ahab of his impending judgment and to give him and the people an opportunity to turn their hearts back to God. [00:08:10] You know, anytime we call out to God and even wicked Ahab, everyone, if anyone were to repent and turn back to the living and loving God, God's right there, you know, that's what he wants. But Ahab, unfortunately, does not repent. And even though God moves mightily in his life, as we're going to see, and now we're in chapter 17, first kings 17, starting in verse one. [00:08:40] And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there will not be dew nor rain these years. [00:08:56] But according to my word, wow. [00:09:00] Not even dew on the grass, let alone rain for years. [00:09:07] In fact, this is going to last for three and a half years. [00:09:11] Now, that is a bad drought. [00:09:15] Now, Elijah mentions at the end of that that it will not rain again until he says so. [00:09:23] So now Elijah has got to get out of Dodge. He's got to split down. And so Elijah flees and hides out by a stream. [00:09:33] And God sends ravens morning and evening, and they bring him food, and he's able to drink of that brook and the stream. [00:09:44] And God sends birds morning and evening to feed them. [00:09:49] Wow. Amazing. [00:09:52] Eventually, the stream dries up. [00:09:54] And so after the stream dries up, Elijah goes to live with a Gentile woman, and she lives alone with her son. She's a single mother, and God has compassion on her. [00:10:08] In those days, single women weren't able to work on their own. And she's got a little boy, and he's obviously not able to go out and work and sustain them. So God sends Elijah to her. [00:10:23] And when he gets There, she says she's only got one meal left, and she's going to prepare it and eat it with her son and then die, she says. I mean, she's just really dramatic. [00:10:35] She's just going to eat and die. Yet God provides for her through Elijah. [00:10:43] And God promises her that her barrel of grain and her barrel of oil will not run out until it rains again. [00:10:54] Well, unfortunately, her son dies. You know, we talked about that. While Elijah is there. And Elijah pleads with God, and God hears Elijah's faith and revives her son. [00:11:10] Well, he's there. And it's almost three and a half years have passed since Elijah told Ahab that it wouldn't rain. [00:11:18] Well, now God has him. Go back to Ahab. [00:11:22] Now we're in 1 Kings chapter 18. We're flying along verse one. [00:11:29] And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, go and show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. [00:11:41] So Elijah goes looking for Ahab, King Ahab, and he runs into this guy named Obadiah. [00:11:49] Now, Obadiah and Ahab, they'd split up and they were desperately searching the land for any water or any green grass to feed the cattle, to sustain them. [00:12:02] Now, Obadiah, he was a good man. [00:12:05] And when Jezebel went out and she killed the prophets of God, well, Obadiah hid a hundred of them in caves, and he brought them bread and water to sustain them. So he's a good guy. [00:12:19] Now, notice that the prophets of God are hiding in caves while the prophets of BAAL are living in the palace, the government's dime. [00:12:31] So Elijah tells Obadiah that he wants to talk to Ahab and he sends Obadiah to go tell Ahab that he's here. [00:12:41] Obadiah says, oh, no, no, no, my friend. [00:12:44] Are you trying to get me killed? [00:12:47] Down in First Kings 18:10, Obadiah explains, as the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my Lord has not sent to find you. [00:13:02] And when they said he is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation that they found you not. And now you say, go and tell your Lord. Behold, Elijah is here. [00:13:14] And it will come to pass as soon as I am gone from you that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you where, I don't know. [00:13:21] And so when I come and tell Ahab and he can't find you, he will kill me. [00:13:26] But I, your servant, fear the Lord from my youth. So Obadiah says to Elijah, not so fast, you're going to get me killed. [00:13:37] But in verse 15, Elijah says, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him today. [00:13:47] So Obadiah goes and gets Ahab and Elijah and Ahab meet. And verse 17 continues with this. And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, are you he that troubles Israel? [00:14:05] And Elijah, he answers, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house, and that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed Balaam. [00:14:18] Verse 19. Now therefore, send and gather to me all of Israel unto Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal, 450 and the prophets of the Groves, 400 which eat at Jezebel's table. [00:14:33] So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. [00:14:42] That's going to be a showdown. [00:14:46] Now remember when we started and we talked about the wickedness of Ahab? Well, he made a house and altar to BAAL and he built this grove. [00:14:58] And that was to support these 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the grove. [00:15:06] It mentions that all of these, the 850total, they are all living off the government dime. [00:15:14] Now, just to mention it, going forward, it is no longer going to separate those out. It is no longer going to say the 450 profits will be Baal and the 400 prophets of the grove. It just takes too long. So they are just picking the largest group. And it is going to say the 450 prophets of Baal going forward. [00:15:31] Well, so everyone is gathered at Mount Carmel. Ahab, Elijah, the false prophets, and many of the people of Israel. [00:15:41] Imagine the faith Elijah had in God to challenge not just one person, but 850 publicly. [00:15:53] He's going to put God to the test. And Elijah trusts in God. [00:15:58] And really, it only takes one person to get God's attention. [00:16:04] God is always interested in us. [00:16:07] The real question is, are we interested in God? [00:16:12] Verse 21. [00:16:14] And Elijah came unto all the people, and he said, how long will you waver between two opinions? [00:16:21] If the Lord be God, follow him. But if BAAL then follow him. [00:16:27] And the people answered him. Not a word. [00:16:31] There is no other God or religion that truly gives people freedom to choose. [00:16:39] Not like our living God does. [00:16:41] See, God's not fearful that there are other gods out there. [00:16:47] He knows and he says there aren't. [00:16:51] God gives everyone freedom of choice. It's also called agency. We have agency. [00:16:58] Whosoever will come to me, God says, whosoever believes in Jesus will not die, but has everlasting life. John 3:16 says, I'm a whosoever, and I'm sure all of you are whosoevers too. [00:17:17] The only problem with God giving us that agency, that freedom to choose, is that there's a time limit with God. Today is the day. Choose this day today to serve Him. [00:17:31] Because there will come a day when we're no longer here and able to make that choice. [00:17:38] God accepts your rejection. He's strong enough and he's secure in himself. [00:17:44] He knows he is God. [00:17:46] Do we? [00:17:48] And our freedom to choose is moment by moment as we walk with God through this life and we choose to do his will daily. [00:18:00] Well, when Elijah says, if the Lord is God, then follow him, we must remember that we are choosing an existing God, not one. We're going to make up or mold into what we want or whatever our desires hold. See, God does not change. And God is a person. [00:18:21] He's got his likes and dislikes and laws and principles, and he has opinions. [00:18:29] We're not choosing God and then adding what we want or taking away what we don't like about Him. We choose God because of who God is. [00:18:41] And that's our choice. [00:18:43] Notice also Elijah says, if the Lord is God, follow him. [00:18:48] We are to follow and serve God, not select a God and command, hey, God, give me this or do that. [00:18:57] We are the servants and we forget that. [00:19:01] But that's why the apostle Paul said that he was a slave by choice to the living God. [00:19:09] We all serve something, even if it's ourselves. [00:19:15] The choice is what or who are we going to serve? [00:19:20] Well, Elijah sets up a contest. [00:19:23] He tells everyone the rules. And this is to establish who is the true God. Is it BAAL or is it our Lord God? [00:19:35] And Elijah and the other prophets are to take a bowl and they're to dress it and lay it on wood. [00:19:42] But neither team, if you want to call them teams, can light fire to the wood. [00:19:48] And then each is to call out to their God. And whichever God answers by fire, that God will be the Lord. [00:19:58] And everyone thought what Elijah said was a great and acceptable contest between gods. [00:20:05] And that could be the danger of deception. [00:20:10] When you say or you think a lie long enough that falsehood becomes a truth in your mind. [00:20:19] These prophets, they. [00:20:20] They really think that their made up gods are real. [00:20:26] Well, we're about to find out. [00:20:29] And since there were so many of the other prophets and only one Elijah, the false prophets went first. [00:20:37] And they called out to BAAL from morning until noon. And nothing answered. And there was no fire. [00:20:46] Not a surprise to us, but I am sure it was frustrating to them. [00:20:50] So they yelled and they pleaded and they jumped around and ran around and still they got no reply. [00:20:58] Down in verse 27, chapter 18, Elijah starts trash talking them. [00:21:06] He's got some spunk here, he says, yell louder. Maybe your God is talking or, or using the bathroom, or he's on a long journey and gone, or maybe he's sleeping. Elijah taunts them. [00:21:21] So the false prophets, they went into this frenzy and they even started cutting themselves trying to get their God to pay attention who wasn't there. And their gushing blood is just a mess. [00:21:36] But even into the evening, they still heard back, nothing. And there was no fire started. [00:21:44] Well, it's Elijah's turn in this showdown. And Elijah repairs an old altar to the Lord and gives instruction on how to prepare the sacrifice. [00:21:54] He said, Take 12 stones which represent the 12 tribes of Israel. [00:21:59] He said, dig a giant trench around this altar. [00:22:04] And then he handicaps God. [00:22:07] He makes it harder for God, he says to take four barrels of water and to drench the whole thing. [00:22:18] Wow. And if that wasn't enough, he says, do it three times. [00:22:25] So they drench it three times. It's soaked through, it's just waterlogged. It's so much water, it fills that trench. [00:22:33] Boy, God's got his work cut out for him now. [00:22:37] You know where they got that much water after three and a half years of drought? I don't know, but I can just imagine those people standing there watching this, going, oh, look at that water. And he's just pouring it on the ground. What a waste. [00:22:55] I can imagine what they were thinking, but our God is a consuming fire. [00:23:02] 1st Kings 18:36 and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things and at your word. [00:23:29] Verse 37. Hear me, O Lord, hear me that these people may know that you are the Lord God and that you have turned their heart back again. [00:23:42] Notice the whole point. The goal of all of this is for the people to turn back to God. Elijah pleads twice, hear me, O Lord. [00:23:54] He prays that God would reveal himself to the people so that the hearts of the people would turn back to God. [00:24:03] Verse 38. [00:24:05] Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. [00:24:17] And when all the people saw it, they fell, fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is the God. The Lord, he is the God. [00:24:29] Wow. [00:24:30] Did God come through or what? [00:24:33] God delivers. And the pun is intended on that one. [00:24:39] Was there any doubt on our part? No, not really, because we are on the other side of the event. But the people, right then and there, wow, what a sight to behold. [00:24:51] Because God not only consumed the sacrifice, but notice the fire that came down. [00:24:57] It consumed the wood and the stone and the dust and the water. [00:25:04] And that fire that came from above, it wasn't started from below. It wasn't ground up. It was heavenly fire. [00:25:11] God proved to the people and everyone that was there that he alone is the true God. [00:25:19] What does that mean for us? Well, that our God is living and true and is a consuming fire. [00:25:27] See, that righteous fire from God burns up the things not of God and refines those things that are. [00:25:36] God removes those things from our lives that hurt us when we submit to him. [00:25:43] And those good qualities, those attributes, those gifts that God gives us, God purifies those with his fire and makes them even better. [00:25:57] Oh, I know it's uncomfortable in the heat. [00:26:01] It's not easy to address the mess of our lives. [00:26:06] But I say to God, let your fire burn up inside me, melt me down, mold me and make me into something better than I am right now. [00:26:20] We need faith. [00:26:22] We need to know God's character, that trust in his love and his goodness, that he has a desire for good with us. [00:26:33] If we submit ourselves, we offer ourselves up as living sacrifices. [00:26:39] God will send the fire and refine and cleanse us. [00:26:44] If we are offering our lives to false gods like the false prophets here, then we're just wasting our time and our energy and we're becoming exhausted, running around and frustrated and helpless, and we're hurting ourselves. [00:27:00] The end of that wasted life is death. [00:27:06] At the end of the contest, Elijah had all the people hold the false prophets and Elijah himself slew them by the brook. Kishon Elijah then waits and he prays and has his servant checked seven times for the coming rain clouds. [00:27:23] He knows they are coming. [00:27:25] The seventh time, when his servant sees the rain coming, Elijah runs ahead of Ahab to the palace in Jezreel, where while all the while it is pouring rain. [00:27:37] Now, Elijah thought now that the true God was revealed that everyone would turn back to God. [00:27:48] That's why Elijah is so excited and runs all the way to the palace. He was expecting a party. And for joy. [00:27:57] Elijah was wrong. [00:27:59] Ahab. And Jezebel's heart did not turn back to the Lord. [00:28:05] In fact, Jezebel swears to kill Elijah because he defeated he killed all of her pet prophets. [00:28:14] I don't understand why Elijah was so scared of Jezebel. But after defeating 850 false prophets, but yet he was see that spiritual cancer had spread farther and deeper than imagined. [00:28:31] Poor Elijah, he's expecting a parade. And he ends up fleeing for his life as he ran a day's journey into the wilderness. Because Jezebel says that she will do to him just as he had done to her pet little prophets. [00:28:47] So he's in the wilderness and he just wants to die because he failed. And he claims he was no better than his fathers. All those prophets that went before him, that tried to turn the people back to God, and they failed. And Elijah thought, oh, I can do it. [00:29:05] But he didn't. [00:29:07] And while he was asleep under a tree, an angel wakes him twice to feed him in preparation. Because Elijah is going to go 40 days and 40 nights on a journey to the mount of God in Horeb, 1st Kings 19:9. [00:29:26] And Elijah came there unto a cave, and he lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And God said to him, God asked Elijah, what are you doing here, Elijah? [00:29:40] Chapter 19, verse 10. And Elijah said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel, have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. [00:30:00] Poor Elijah. [00:30:02] He thought he was the only one left that still believed and served God. [00:30:07] So God has Elijah go outside. [00:30:10] And the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountain and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. [00:30:23] And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. [00:30:28] And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire either. [00:30:34] And after the fire, a still, small voice. [00:30:39] And that still, small voice from God repeats the question again, what are you doing here, Elijah? [00:30:46] And Elijah repeats his lamentation that he's the only one left. [00:30:54] But God tells Elijah what his will is for him and what he should do. [00:31:01] He's going to go anoint and team up with Elisha. [00:31:07] And God assures Elijah that God has 7,000 others out there and that Elijah is not alone in his service to God. [00:31:20] We are not alone. Either. [00:31:22] I have been to a lot of churches in the area, a lot of different churches and there are many like minded Christians all around us in this area. [00:31:34] Do not think for a second that we are all alone and that we are few in number. [00:31:40] Well, here we have Elijah not hearing God in the storms and the chaos, but he heard God in his still small voice. [00:31:52] And that certainly can be true in our own lives. [00:31:57] We settle down and listen and read and pray that we can hear God speak to us in that still small voice. However, we must be careful not to put God in a box and limit our mighty Lord. [00:32:14] We can do that by saying God can only or will only speak to us in that still small voice. That's just simply not true. [00:32:23] Because you know, just because God did that 3,000 years ago in one situation with one guy, doesn't mean God can't or will not speak to us in a different manner however he chooses. [00:32:38] You know, if we're in the midst of a storm, God is capable. He is able to do anything he pleases. [00:32:46] God is in complete control. [00:32:50] He's got it. [00:32:52] So choose God today. [00:32:55] Make the sacrifice to do God's will. [00:33:00] Follow God, hear His voice and walk with God daily and serve God. [00:33:08] Let God be in control of your life. Let his fire cleanse you and refine you. [00:33:15] And if for some reason you have drifted away from God, turn your heart back to him today. [00:33:23] God loves you. [00:33:27] Let's pray. [00:33:29] Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and the examples to follow. [00:33:36] And Lord, we just want to turn our hearts back to you, no matter where we are, if we're close or far. [00:33:43] Because you're it, Lord. [00:33:45] You're where goodness flows. You're our first love, Lord. [00:33:51] And so we just want to turn to youo and trust in youn and believe in youn and see what yout would have for us today, Lord. [00:34:01] And we know we're not alone. [00:34:03] We know youw are strong and mighty and able to save to the utmost, Lord. And I praise that wonderful praise report of the offerings that we have here, Lord. And we just ask that you would just work mightily through that small little offering that we have to offer, Lord, and that you would multiply it and your will would be done. And Lord, that you would be glorified in our offerings, our lives that we offer to you. [00:34:39] Pray all this in Jesus name. [00:34:42] Amen. [00:34:47] Thank you for listening to this message. [00:34:50] We hope you enjoyed it. [00:34:52] Our prayer is that the message in some way or another helped in your walk with God and that your relationship with God was strengthened, grew more intimate. [00:35:05] If you would like to contact us with questions or comments, you can email us at the following address. [00:35:13] That's meredletters.com or me-l e t t e r s.com thank you.