Broken Vessels: Prophets, Part I

Welcome as we continue in our series entitled Broken Vessels, where we have considered the good, the bad, and the ugly in the lives of people God used, willingly or unwillingly, to serve His purposes in the history of Israel. And the history of Israel is really the history of everyone, as it was through this line that Jesus, the savior of all nations, came into the world.

The titles of the messages for the last several weeks has been Kings, and we have started to progress through the history of the kings the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In Judah, there have been some good kings and some bad kings, but in Israel it has been all bad. Last week we talked about Asa, king of Judah, one of the relatively good kings, although he did not finish well, refusing to seek the Lord in sickness. Today we are going to look at Ahab, an especially rotten king in the line of rotten kings of Israel, and as our title says, we are going to look more deeply at the lives of prophets who lived during these kings. Today we are going to focus on the prophet Elijah. Let’s pick up the story with the introduction of King Ahab in I Kings 16.

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. – I Kings 16:29-33

As we saw last week, Ahab’s father, Omri, was the previous “champion of evil”; it says of him earlier in I Kings 16 that Omri did more evil than all of those before him. So the son basically picked up where the father left off, and went further than even his own father. Now, this is not all that uncommon. Apart from the redeeming work of Christ, the restoring work of Christ, there is a tendency for dysfunctional families to produce even more dysfunctional children. This is the sad reality of the price of sin. I don’t view it, in general, as God punishing people for their sins, although there may be cases when that is true. Instead, I see this as natural consequences.

We will learn more about Jezebel later, but her wickedness may have exceeded even her husband’s. But Ahab seems to have completely abandoned God. He has embraced Baal worship, even going so far as to build a temple of Baal. We are not told how elaborate this temple was, but the fact that Ahab is worshiping Baal and worshiping at Asherah poles – basically anything but worshiping the true God – reveals his heart.

I want to continue on with this passage, but first I want to jump back about 600 years or so to the time of Joshua. I am sure you all remember the story about Joshua and his people and the fall of Jericho. You remember; circling the city seven days, going around the city seven times that last day, shouting and blowing trumpets the last time, and watching the wall encircling the city collapse – going in and taking the city. It’s a great example of God giving his power to those who are powerless in their own strength. But the passage I want to look at is something that happened right after the city was taken.

I believe it is clear that at that moment, Joshua became one of God’s prophets and spoke God’s truth. Here is what he said:

At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the Lord is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates." – Joshua 6:26

Now I don’t know how well known that passage was in Ahab’s day, but given the state of the kingdom, I suspect it was treated as an “old wives’ tale,” a bunch of superstitious nonsense. But you should know that everything God says will happen, will happen. In fact, there is nothing more certain than God’s Word. It is more certain than your next breath. So here is what happened, 600 or so years later:

In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun. – I Kings 16:34

Hiel in Hebrew is probably short for Y’chiel, which means, appropriately, “God lives.” If Hiel had thought more about his name, perhaps he would not have chosen to undertake the rebuilding of Jericho. But he did, and he lost two sons over it, exactly as prophesied by Jericho.

Now as we continue with the passage, we will see more about what it was like to live as a prophet of God in Ahab’s Israel.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." – I Kings 17:1-4

Do you notice that Elijah uses the same words as Hiel’s name? “As surely as God lives,” he says. For Elijah the prophet, these are not idle words – he believes these are true. Now why does God tell Elijah to go to the Kerith Ravine? To hide. To be a prophet of God does not mean that God will make you rich and powerful. There is no “Your Best Life Now” for an Old Testament prophet of God. God promises to supply our needs in this life, and He promises much more than that in the next. But there is a big different between our needs and our comforts, between our needs and our wants. Elijah gave God’s message, and God does protect Elijah, but certainly not in comfort.

Now, it is not a coincidence that God pronounced to Ahab that it would not rain. From sources I have read, the Phoenician Baal at this time was the god of rain. Even today, the Arabic word ba’l refers to land fed by subterraneous waters other than rain. So this was God’s way of showing Ahab and the people of Israel that the gods they worshiped were powerless. Another important detail: Baal worshipers believed that during the dry season, their god “died,” and through worship and sacrifice could be brought back from the dead. Thus, Elijah’s phrasing, “as surely as God lives” is even more powerful and is itself a repudiation of the false god Baal.

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. – I Kings 17:5-6

Again, why did God have Elijah hide? Well, it takes time for a drought to have its effect. And we know, as people that have had some significant droughts recently, droughts are a big deal. This drought, though, was total. What would be the result? Famine. Hunger. And who would be blamed? Elijah. Rather than repenting and seeking God, the people would blame Elijah for their troubles. It was for his protection that God had him hide and be provided for.

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." So he went to Zarephath. – I Kings 17:7-10

Where is Zarephath of Sidon? It’s not in Israel! In fact, it is in Sidon, not far from where Jezebel’s father lived. It is the center of “Baal territory.” Throughout history, people have believed that there gods are local, that in the center of their territories, their gods are strongest. Elijah may have been hiding from Ahab, but God wasn’t really hiding him; He was taking Elijah to their turf.

When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread." "As surely as the Lord your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die." – I Kings 17:10-12

This woman was not an Israelite, but a Phoenician. Yet she says, “as surely as the Lord your God lives.” She seems to have been one, perhaps like the Ethiopian Eunuch, whose heart had been made soft to the Lord in advance of her encounter with Elijah. We have every reason to believe that she was telling the truth – it was hard enough to be a widow in the good times; now that this drought had been going on (and it had been going on – that is why the brook dried up), she was literally down to last meal. Do you think the timing of this was a coincidence? Certainly not! God has orchestrated all of this to teach this “pagan” widow – and Elijah – more about the power of God.

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.'" – I Kings 17:13-14

She was told to take a little of the little there was and make it for Elijah, and take more the little (but not all) and make it for themselves. And she would find the next day, that there was more there than there should have been, and she could do it again. Each day, not only were her supplies replenished; so was her faith. Each day she saw a daily miracle, providing for her needs. Does it remind you of anything? It reminds me of the Israelites in the desert and manna.

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. – I Kings 17:15-16

Each day she received her daily bread. Remember how Jesus taught us to pray? “Give us each day our daily bread.” There is such an important lesson for us in this. We are to have daily dependence on God. Not weekly. It’s great that we are here together, meeting together, having fellowship, but this is not enough. We are to have daily dependence on God. Daily interaction with Him. In a very real sense, we should be using up what God gives us each day – His daily dose of love for others, of the fruits of the Spirit, of the strength to resist evil and do what is right – we should be getting empty and being refilled every day.

Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" – I Kings 17:17-18

The widow’s life, and that of her son, had already been saved, from certain starvation. And yet now, her son was dying. Her response is interesting. “What do you have against me?” Who is she blaming? Elijah. Maybe blaming is too strong a word – but she sees him as one who has some control over this situation. “Did you come to remind me of my sin?” This reveals that she knows she is a sinner. Perhaps she feels unworthy of the daily provision – perhaps taking the son is the counterbalance to the unmerited good she has experienced.

Many people think like this, in one way or another. The eastern concept of karma is related to this. I hope you don’t think like this. We can’t think like this. The unmerited good we have is so good, it is off the charts! It is infinite good – eternal life, life in heaven, with Jesus – do you really think there is anything bad enough in this world to possibly balance that out?

Not only this, but this is not how our God works. He doesn’t do bad things to us to remind us of our sin. If we have confessed our sin, that sin is gone. It has been paid for in full. It is as far from us as the east is from the west. It is even forgotten. Why would the God who chooses to forget our sin, thanks to the blood of Jesus, want to remind us about it?

Don’t feel guilty for the good stuff – whether it is the good stuff in this life or eternal life to come. Simply accept it, joyfully, thankfully, expressing love to our Creator and Redeemer. And when the bad stuff happens, don’t think of it as payment for past sins! This is “stinking thinking.” Now consequences of our sin do happen, but consequences are related. I am talking about something unrelated here. God allows bad things to happen to us for many reasons, including testing our faith, building it, removing our idols, making us better able to minister to others – and many other reasons. Usually God doesn’t give us the reason – not now, anyway. But someday we will see God’s good and perfect plan, and it will make sense. In fact, it will be so awesome that all we will be able to do is fall down and worship Him.

"Give me your son," Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?" Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this boy's life return to him!" – I Kings 17:19-21

That word “also” is interesting. What did Elijah mean by that? I think what he meant is that he was wondering if the drought, which was punishing not just Israel but the Baal worshipers in the surrounding lands, was part of a universal punishment for all people, including this widow and her son. He was asking, “These people too, Lord? I thought You were making an exception for them.” Now Elijah is not perfect – he is a broken vessel. This is one reason I like him so much. In some ways he is the Peter of the Old Testament. I think Elijah went a little too accusatory with how he worded this. We have seen much better examples in our series of crying out to God without the accusing part. It would have been better to simply tell God, “Please Lord, don’t let him die!” – essentially what he cried out the three times.

The Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!" Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth." – I Kings 17:22-24

The parallels of this passage and the gospels are profound. The miracle here, just like Jesus’ miracles, verify that the person really is from God. No doubt, the miracles Jesus did among the Jews brought back this very story, and the people thought, “Wow, this guy is just like Elijah!” They even said this, and in the gospels, it says that some people thought Jesus was Elijah. Elijah is a “type” of Christ – he performs miracles; he brings salvation to the Gentiles; and the parallels go beyond this, as we will see.

After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land." So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. – I Kings 18:1-3

While Jezebel was killing off the Lord's prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) Ahab had said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals." So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another. – I Kings 18:4-6

There a lot here in these verses. We learn a lot about Obadiah, Jezebel, the and the current situation in Israel. First, Obadiah is an interesting person. He is a “devout believer” working for the most sinful, ungodly king Israel has ever had. Obadiah’s faith had to be something he kept secret. Next, Jezebel is perhaps more evil than her husband. Like Darth Vader killing off the Jedi, she is killing off the Lord’s prophets. She apparently wants to kill all of them. So much for tolerance in Israel. We have gone from a multicultural, relativistic culture in which you can worship whatever deity works for you into a situation in which worship of the one true God is not only unacceptable; it is met with the penalty of death. Obadiah manages to sneak away a hundred prophets and hide them in caves. This brings to mind a passage from Hebrews: The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. – Hebrews 11:38.

Finally, we see that the drought has become so severe, even the King himself is hunting for land with any grass on it to help keep his animals alive. Obadiah is helping him do this.

As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, "Is it really you, my lord Elijah?" "Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, 'Elijah is here.'" – I Kings 18:7-8

Obadiah balks at this request. He explains that if he does so and Elijah disappears again, he will be killed. He presumes that Elijah would never willingly present himself to Ahab, because Ahab would kill him. After all, Ahab and Jezebel are killing all of the prophets. Elijah replies that he will surely present himself to Ahab this very day. I hope you appreciate how bold Elijah is being in the Lord here – he is literally risking what should be certain death, but for the Lord. But he has complete confidence and faith in the Lord, and he will deliver his message – he has waited over three years for this day.

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed the Baals. – I Kings 18:16-18

Now, of course Ahab was wrong to blame Elijah for the drought. Elijah is just the messenger. And it is not a new message! Read Leviticus 26:1-5 and you will see that a reward for following the Lord’s commands is that there will always be ample rains, and good crops and harvests. Read Deut. 11:10-17 and Deut. 28:15-26, and you will see that the punishment for not following the Lord’s commands is that there will be horrible drought.

Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. – I Kings 18:19-20

Reading on, although the prophets of Baal came, I don’t think the prophets of Asherah did. It was Jezebel who primarily worshiped Asherah; Ahab worshiped Baal. I think Jezebel didn’t want to even recognize Ahab as having any authority at all. Now it is not entirely clear why Ahab agreed – he could have just had Elijah killed. Whether it was curiosity, or he had enough sense to see that something had to be done to stop the drought, and since (in his mind) Elijah started it, he could stop it, Ahab did what Elijah said to do.

Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. – I Kings 18:21

Just like my classes on campus! The people say nothing. I feel for Elijah. The silence is deafening. God was clear in Exodus and Deuteronomy – you cannot worship God and… You cannot “hedge your bets” with God. You’re either in or you’re out. Faith in God, by definition, is exclusive. For much of the world, this is such a hard thing to grasp – they are so used to picking and choosing their family gods, that it is hard to get them to understand that you cannot add Jesus; you must have only Jesus.

Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good." – I Kings 18:22-24

Of course it is good – they have nothing to lose! When had God “answered by fire” before? With Moses at Mount Sinai – Ex. 19:16-19, with Moses and Aaron at the Tent of Meeting – Lev. 9:23-24, and with David, after he had sinned by taking a census, and he built an altar to appease God – I Chron. 21:26. It’s a short list. This is going to be a historic moment – if anything happens.

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. – I Kings 18:25-26

Now why exactly would dancing help? Do you need to make Baal happy enough? Is he grumpy? I’m just asking.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. – I Kings 18:27-28

You remember what I told you about Baal sleeping and needing to be wakened? This is not something Elijah made up, but part of their religious beliefs. This was how they explained Baal not delivering rain in their dry season. Elijah knew what he was talking about. One of the meanings for “deep in thought” is quarreling – it makes me think of the airline pilots who overflew their destination by a huge amount because they were arguing about something. They didn’t listen to the repeated attempts to contact them either. Forgive my bluntness, but Elijah is blunt. Where’s your god, guys? What’s he busy doing? Maybe he’s in the bathroom! No wait, he’s traveling! What – did he forget to bring a cell phone? That’s the spirit of this taunt. They respond by getting more and more desperate, to the point of shedding their blood in a frenzy. The result: nothing. Eventually, exhausted, after doing this all day, they give up.

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." – I Kings 18:30-31

What a bittersweet moment. It is as if he is teaching the people the most basic facts about who they were, who they really are, who they were meant to be in God. How far they have fallen! By the way, how many stones? Twelve. Not ten? You mean he didn’t exclude Judah and Benjamin? That’s right. He is thinking of the unified Israel as God had meant it to be, not the fractured kingdom.

With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood." "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. – I Kings 18:32-35

Three and a half years is a long time to wait. It all came down to this moment. It had to be emotional for Elijah. All he had gone through, all he had seen, seeing the evil in his land, by his king and queen, by his people, hiding out, being miraculously fed by ravens, the widow, the miraculous flour and oil, the miraculous healing of her son – it all came down to this day, this moment.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You are turning their hearts back again." – I Kings 18:36-37

This has to stir you up. Don’t you wish you could do this for the people you love who don’t know the Lord, or who have turned away from Him? If you could pray, and they would see fire literally fall down from heaven and burn something that cannot burn? Or any other miracle, but something that is indisputable? How I wish I could do this for my family members who don’t know the Lord! How I wish we could do this – as a church – for the people in the community of Clemson!

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The Lord – He is God! The Lord – He is God!" – I Kings 18:38-39

The meat: gone. The wood: gone. The water: gone. The dirt: gone! The stones: gone! God is so patient with these people – He didn’t have to do this. He should have had His fire consume every one of these fickle, unfaithful, sinful people who had turned away from God. He should have burnt up the whole nation of Israel, and Judah, too. And of course, He should have burnt all of us up too. We deserve no different.

But our Lord is merciful. This incredible scene was just a foreshadowing of the real day when fire came from heaven – maybe not an elemental fire, but a fire just the same. And this sacrifice didn’t contain a bull, but God’s own Son, God’s only Son, whom He loved. I don’t think God is going to call down fire from heaven on a sacrifice ever again, because God has already consumed the Sacrifice of Sacrifices. His full wrath, infinite, unlimited, was released on His Son, who died in our place. How can we not worship and say, “The Lord – He is God! The Lord – He is God!”