16So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him where Elijah was. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, "Shout louder, for he is a god! 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. 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Observe his character: He feared the Lord greatly (1 Kings 18:3; 1 Kings 18:3), was not only a good man, but zealously and eminently good; his great place put a lustre upon his goodness, and gave him great opportunities of doing good; and he feared the Lord from his youth (1 Kings 18:12; 1 Kings 18:12), he began betimes to be religious and had continued long. But the primary attraction to Baal wasnt a pretty statue; it was an economic promise. 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. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. Indeed, giving back to God and to his people is part of our DNA, a sign of our family resemblance to our generous Creator. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. Their heart is divided (Hosea 10:2), whereas God will have all or none. Why did king Ahab have to die? And they limped [they hobbled] around the altar that they had made." I don't think those two uses of the word limp or hobble are an accident. 23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: 24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. What was the result of this fair trial. 2. This is the right method. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient. Those that were firm for God doubted not but it would end to his honour; those that were indifferent were willing to be determined; and Ahab and the prophets of Baal durst not oppose for fear of the people, and hoped that either they could obtain fire from heaven (though they never had yet), and the rather because, as some think, they worshipped the sun in Baal, or that Elijah could not, because not at the temple, where God was wont thus to manifest his glory. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. Go tell your master that I am here., 9Then Obadiah said, What wrong have I done for you to hand me over to Ahab like this? In Pauls opinion, love of money wounds the worshiper, woos them away from the faith, and wells up in all sorts of other evils. All rights reserved. 3. Pray louder! he said. 32Elijah used these stones to rebuild the altar in honor of the Lord. 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. As he had shown the tenderness of a father to the sons of the prophets, so he showed the reverence of a son to this father of the prophets; and by this made it appear that he did indeed fear God greatly, that he did honour to one that was his extraordinary ambassador and had a great interest in heaven. 41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. Compare Psalms 135:7. Yet, bad as things were. Idols had always threatened to steal the love, trust, and service God deserves and demands.By equating greed with idolatry, Paul provocatively told the church they didnt have to go into a rival temple to worship another god. (5.) 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). Let us therefore never despise the day of small things, but hope and wait for great things from it. The people must be brought to repent and reform, and then they may look for the removal of the judgment, but not till then. God reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets; and yet, without a revelation, we may foresee that when man's judgments run down like a river God's mercy will. I would have healed Israel, but they would not be healed. There needed no proof of the fact; all Israel were witnesses of it: and therefore Elijah (acting still by an extraordinary commission, which is not to be drawn into a precedent) orders them all to be slain immediately as the troublers of the land, and Ahab himself is so terrified, for the present, with the fire from heaven, that he dares not oppose it. He writes that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil that has led some to wander from the faith and pierce themselves with many griefs (v. 10). He knew, by the Spirit, where to meet him, and we are here told what passed between them. Elijah Kills the Prophets of Baal - During the third year without rain, the LORD spoke his word to Elijah: "Go and meet King Ahab, and I will soon send rain." So Elijah went to meet Ahab. 33Elijah put the wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Yahweh would have none of it. Yet his guilty conscience gave him little reason to hope for it, but, rather, to fear some other more dreadful judgment. III. shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 5Ahab said to Obadiah, Lets check every spring and valley in the land. [2.] He repaired this altar with twelve stones, according to the number of the twelve tribes,1 Kings 18:31; 1 Kings 18:31. Follow Christ's journey to the Cross. 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. 1. Report. Paul declares that greed is idolatry, that to be greedy is to worship other gods (see Col. 3:5; Eph. 10As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has sent people to every country to search for you. He ordered his servant to bring him notice as soon as he discerned a cloud arising out of the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, which he had a large prospect of from the top of Carmel. What occasion for addition to that which is perfect? 25:3146). He is there in the presence of Ahab, the 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of the groves and a company of people from all Israel. Elijah, like himself, boldly returned the charge upon the king, and proved it upon him, that he was the troubler of Israel,1 Kings 18:18; 1 Kings 18:18. He went in quest of grass, and found him from whose word, at God's mouth, he must expect rain. VI. He could not bring them to the altar at Jerusalem unless he could unite the two kingdoms again (which, for correction to both, God designed should not now be done), therefore, by his prophetic authority, he builds an altar on Mount Carmel, and so owns that which had formerly been built there. 732 views, 45 likes, 11 loves, 7 comments, 73 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from : 22 2023 . Deserters must not look for God's favour till they return to their allegiance. 39When all the people saw this, they fell down to the ground, crying, The Lord is God! Compare Mark 9:38; Mark 9:39; Matthew 21:30. Through Elijah, God declared that Baal couldnt deliver the goods and his people couldnt have it both ways. Providence ordered it so, that Ahab might, with his own eyes, see how bad the consequences of this judgment were, that so he might be the better inclined to hearken to Elijah, who would direct him into the only way to put an end to it. Hence we read of those that hide themselves in the top of Carmel,Amos 9:3. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. We may suppose it was a great surprise to Ahab to hear that Elijah, whom he had so long sought and not found, was now found without seeking. Six times his servant goes to the point of the hill and sees nothing, brings no good news to his master; yet Elijah continues praying, will not be diverted so far as to go and see with his own eyes, but still sends his servant to see if he can discover any hopeful cloud, while he keeps his mind close and intent in prayer, and abides by it, as one that has taken up his father Jacob's resolution, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. 4. Elijah told him to go and look again. Thither all Israel must come, to give Elijah the meeting; and the prophets of Baal who were dispersed all the country over, with those of the groves who were Jezebel's domestic chaplains, must there make their personal appearance. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. Elijah does not say, "The God that answers by water" (though that was the thing the country needed), but "that answers by fire, let him be God;" because the atonement was to be made by sacrifice, before the judgment could be removed in mercy. Showdown on the mount At the same time Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bent down to the ground with his head between his knees. He insists upon it that we mortify our lusts and corruptions; but corporeal penances and severities, such as the Papists use, which have no tendency to that, are no pleasure to him. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 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. Even on Baals home turf, people starved while waiting for Baal to bring his promised abundance. The time was that of Ahab, king of Israel. He will put me to death. [1.] 19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. There he set himself, as it were, upon his watch-tower, like the prophet, Habakkuk 2:1. 3King Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the kings palace. When we worship money, it mauls us. 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. 3:24). 21Elijah approached the people and said, How long will you not decide between two choices? No one answered; no one paid attention" (v. 29 ESV).. Had he, by his spies, surprised Elijah, he would have triumphed over him; but, now that he was thus surprised by him, we may suppose he even trembled to look him in the face, hated him, and yet feared him, as Herod did John. Ahab and the people expected that Elijah would, in this solemn assembly, bless the land, and pray for rain; but he had other work to do first. Prophets should be called seers, and shepherds, and watchmen, and ministers, rather than lords, as those that mind duty more than dominion. Great blessings often arise from small beginnings, and showers of plenty from a cloud of a span long. He withdrew to a strange place, to the top of Carmel, which was very high and very private. 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. 23Bring two bulls. His new conquest will be lost if he do not look about him quickly." But when we worship the idol of money, when our lives are oriented primarily toward earning, getting, and keeping, we become deformed, reflecting not the image of Yahweh, Lord of heaven and earth, but money, the god of me and mine. 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. Bread and water were now scarce commodities, yet Obadiah will find a competence of both for God's prophets, to keep them alive for service hereafter, though now they were laid aside. ly. The manager of God's cause was but one man, lately a poor exile, hardly kept from starving; so that God's cause has nothing to support it but its own right. 18During the third year without rain, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: Go and meet King Ahab, and I will soon send rain. 2So Elijah went to meet Ahab. 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