It was strange that either he did not reform Ahab or Ahab corrupt him; but it seems they were both fixed; he that was filthy would be filthy still, and he that was holy would be holy still. Even Christ and his apostles were thus misrepresented, Acts 17:6. He thought Elijah was not in good earnest when he bade him tell Ahab where he was, but intended only to expose the impotency of his malice; for he knew Ahab was not worthy to receive any kindness from the prophet and it was not fit that the prophet should receive any mischief from him. He went in quest of grass, and found him from whose word, at God's mouth, he must expect rain. They got their sacrifices ready; and we may well imagine what a noise 450 men made, when they cried as one man, and with all their might, O Baal! Baal and his prophets were confounded. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. From Pretty Statues to Silver and Gold: Jesus or Mammon? Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. We may request cookies to be set on your device. if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. Idolatry is an economic issue. To win his people back, God demonstrated his power and mocked Baal along the way. This is the right method. Prophets should be called seers, and shepherds, and watchmen, and ministers, rather than lords, as those that mind duty more than dominion. Though he was not at the place appointed, he chose the appointed time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, thereby to testify his communion with the altar at Jerusalem. Ahab's care was not to lose all the beasts, many being already lost; but he took no care about his soul, not to lose that; he took a deal of pains to seek grass, but none to seek the favour of God, fencing against the effect, but not enquiring how to remove the cause. This happened seven times. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. God expressly forbade his worshippers to cut themselves, Deuteronomy 14:1. (2.) In it, Elijah, the prophet of Gd, puts to the test what was at the time perceived as the most supreme and powerful of all the godsBaal. He mentions this, not in pride or ostentation, but to convince Elijah that though he was Ahab's servant he was not in his interest, and therefore deserved not to be bantered as one of the tools of his persecution. Elijah first surrendered, or rather discovered, himself to Obadiah. Stop for a moment. " By afternoon, worshippers of Baal were cutting themselves up and ripping off their clothes, writhing in unspeakable suicidal frustration.When he called on them to shout and wake up . Joseph and Daniel were preferred because there were none so fit as they for the places they were preferred to. If, in this trial, they could but bring it to a drawn battle, their other advantages would give them the victory. And all the people came near unto him. 21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine plural, Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword, Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural, Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural, A verdict, a sentence, formal decree, divine law, penalty, justice, privilege, style, Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshed, Preposition | third person masculine plural, In the extremity of famine Elijah, sent to Ahab, meets good Obadiah, Elijah, reproving Ahab, by fire from heaven convinces Baal's prophets, Elijah, by prayer obtaining rain, follows Ahab to Jezreel, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, OT History: 1 Kings 18:28 They cried aloud and cut themselves after (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg). Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word | . Clarify That Elijah could have made such a run is assured in the Arab runners could easily cover one hundred miles in two days. (Patterson and Austel), 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. But this was not all; to complete the miracle, the fire consumed the stones of the altar, and the very dust, to show that it was no ordinary fire, and perhaps to intimate that, though God accepted this occasional sacrifice from this altar, yet for the future they ought to demolish all the altars on their high places, and, for their constant sacrifices, make use of that at Jerusalem only. How did the prophets tithe and to whom? Does God gives us political leaders or do we vote them by choice? Elijah ran on foot before him. God will first prepare our heart, and then cause his ear to hear, will first turn us to him, and then turn to us,Psalms 10:17; Psalms 80:3. But no voice was heard; Baal did not answer, and no one paid attention. 0 responses But God made them know the contrary, for the famine continued till Baal's prophets were sacrificed, and so great a scarcity of water there was that the king himself and Obadiah went in person throughout the land to seek for grass for the cattle, 1 Kings 18:5; 1 Kings 18:6. The people join issue with him: It is well spoken,1 Kings 18:24; 1 Kings 18:24. As for those who fall as victims to the fire of God's wrath, no water can shelter them from it, any more than briers or thorns, Isaiah 27:4; Isaiah 27:5. He causeth vapours to ascend, and maketh lightnings for the rain; for this rain he did both. I. Elijah reproved the people for mixing the worship of God and the worship of Baal together. Through Elijah, God declared that Baal couldnt deliver the goods and his people couldnt have it both ways. Do you believe that? That wanting to get rich inevitably causes such destruction? Mention is made of God's calling their father Jacob by the name of Israel, a prince with God (1 Kings 18:31; 1 Kings 18:31), to shame his degenerate seed, who worshipped a god which they saw could not hear nor answer them, and to encourage the prophet who was now to wrestle with God as Jacob did; he also shall be a prince with God. Wasnt killing too severe a punishment for the prophets of Baal? 21Elijah approached the people and said, How long will you not decide between two choices? Yet his guilty conscience gave him little reason to hope for it, but, rather, to fear some other more dreadful judgment. See how wonderfully God raises up friends for his ministers and people, for their shelter in difficult times, even where one would least expect them. ), St. Joseph New Catholic Version New Testament. III. Note, Those who profess religion should study to recommend themselves to the esteem even of those that are without by their integrity, fidelity, and application to business. And they did it the second time. We left the prophet Elijah wrapt up in obscurity. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? To Christians this is a. Elijah, doubtless, had a special commission from God to put it to this test, otherwise he would have tempted God and affronted religion; but the case was extraordinary, and the judgment upon it would be of use, not only then, but in all ages. 30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. The people, as the jury, gave in their verdict upon the trial, and they are all agreed in it; the case is so plain that they need not go from the bar to consider of their verdict or consult about it: They fell on their faces, and all, as one man, said, "Jehovah, he is the God, and not Baal; we are convinced and satisfied of it: Jehovah, he is the God" (1 Kings 18:39; 1 Kings 18:39), whence, one would think, they should have inferred, "If he be the God, he shall be our God, and we will serve him only," as Joshua 24:24. Ahab had made diligent search for him (1 Kings 18:10; 1 Kings 18:10), had offered rewards to any one that would discover him, sent spies into every tribe and lordship of his own dominions, as some understand it, or, as others, into all the neighbouring nations and kingdoms that were in alliance with him; and, when they denied that they knew any thing of him, he would not believe them unless they swore it, and, as should seem, promised likewise upon oath that, if ever they found him among them, they would discover him and deliver him up. Now in their experiment observe. Elijah swears by the Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hands, and is therefore able to protect his servants against all the powers of hell and earth. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. Prove that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant. As for why the worship of Baal and Asherah specifically was such a problem for Israel, there are several reasons we can cite: first, the worship of Baal and Asherah held the allure of illicit sex, since the religion involved ritual prostitution. There are those who trouble Israel by their wickedness, whom the conservators of the public peace are concerned to enquire after. What is the meaning of the parable of the rich man and his manager? He will kill me!, 15Elijah answered, As surely as the Lord All-Powerful lives, whom I serve, I will be seen by Ahab today.. Now Elijah shows them the absurdity of this. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient. IV. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah sought not his own glory but in subserviency to God's, and for his own necessary vindication. We are made in the image of this generous King, wired to reflect his generosity to the rest of creation. 38 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. There he would be alone. No one who was present that day missed the point. We dont know exactly why it was important to God for Elijah to reach Jezreel first; perhaps it was so that he would be the first to tell Queen Jezebel. The priests and the Levites had all gone to Judah and Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 11:13; 2 Chronicles 11:14), but, instead of them, God raised up these prophets, who read and expounded the law in private meetings, or in the families that retained their integrity, for we read not of any synagogues at this time; they had not the spirit of prophecy as Elijah, nor did they offer sacrifice, or burn incense, but taught people to live well, and keep close to the God of Israel. He stood by them, and patiently heard them for so many hours praying to an idol, yet with secret indignation and disdain; and at noon, when the sun was at the hottest, and they too expecting fire (then if ever), he upbraided them with their folly; and notwithstanding the gravity of his office, and the seriousness of the work he had before him, bantered them: "Cry aloud, for he is a god, a goodly god that cannot be made to hear without all this clamour. The edification of the people: "That they may know that thou art the Lord, and may experience thy grace, turning their heart, by this miracle, as a means, back again to thee, in order to thy return in a way of mercy to them.". The execution he did upon the prophets of Baal, 1 Kings 18:40. III. Above two years he had lain hid with the widow at Zarephath, after he had been concealed one year by the brook Cherith; so that the third year of his sojourning there, here spoken of (1 Kings 18:1; 1 Kings 18:1), was the fourth of the famine, which lasted in all three years and six months, as we find, Luke 4:25; James 5:17. Those that procure God's judgments do the mischief, not he that merely foretels them and gives warning of them, that the nation may repent and prevent them. The central story in the Torah portion is that of the Golden Calf, and thus the story of the haftarah serves as an obvious sequel to this unfortunate episode. 3. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. Compare Psalms 135:7. Otherwise, the rain will stop him.. As such he tries to counterfeit the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. 39When all the people saw this, they fell down to the ground, crying, The Lord is God! There was one very good man, who was a great man at court, Obadiah, who answered his name--a servant of the Lord, one who feared God and was faithful to him, and yet was steward of the household to Ahab. The Lord preserved Elijah's life for a reason. But it was utterly false concerning Elijah; so far was he from being an enemy to Israel's welfare that he as the stay of it, the chariots and horsemen of Israel. e. Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you: This was a word of faith from Elijah to Ahab. to please their deity, as Herodias did Herod, and so to obtain their request. Once we remember that the Jews saw idolatry as the ultimate sin that put one outside the community of faith, we can hear the full force of Pauls words. We are fairly put to our choice whom we will serve,Joshua 24:15. We have here the meeting between Ahab and Elijah, as bad a king as ever the world was plagued with and as good a prophet as ever the church was blessed with. He turned the hearts of his people back to himself. Get the BEST VALUE in digital Bible study as you prepare for Easter. Baals 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. Israel being thus far reformed that they had acknowledged the Lord to be God, and had consented to the execution of Baal's prophets, that they might not seduce them any more, though this was far short of a thorough reformation, yet it was so far accepted that God thereupon opened the bottles of heaven, and poured out blessings upon his land, that very evening (as it should seem) on which they did this good work, which should have confirmed them in their reformation; see Haggai 2:18; Haggai 2:19. 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 thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Is it really you, master?, 8Yes, Elijah answered. See 2 Kings 2:16. The prophets kept shouting louder and louder, and they cut themselves with swords and knives until they were bleeding. 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