This sermon was done the day before my 60th birthday party, with all three of my sisters present. I was rather fearful...
Call to worship
1 Kings 18: 20, 21
20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets (of Ba’al) together unto mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came unto all t
he people, and said; “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
We've taken over putting the messages on the church marquee. It has become our little mission, taking pride in choosing the message, carefully getting the letters out of their bins to form the words. Sometimes, in attempt to speed the process, we leave letters, or even whole words there that we’ll need for the new message.
In our most recent experience, having left two “SS” from the word Moses, it was quite a quick realization that one must be careful just which vowel is left on the line ahead of those SS or passers-by’s horns begin to honk.
While researching for the next message, I fell upon one that struck me. It struck me that it must be similar to those times when we just let the Bible flip open to a page and read the first text as an inspiration, or for solace. Today, I will try to take heed of its advice.
"Biscuits and sermons are both improved by shortening"
Dearest Jesus,
Please give me the strength to deliver your message for I know that what I preach is not from myself, but by your grace, and that I am just your lowly messenger. God said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” so let his light shine through me this morning.
Amen
Ba’al Breaker
In 1st Kings 16 a story begins about a king of Israel thatwent astray. Ahab wasn’t the first king of Israel who went astray, nor was he the first king of Israel who went astray following a woman.
But 1st Kings 16 is one of those chapters somewhat
like the “begats” where unless you are trying to figure out a timeline, you pretty much skip over the someone “reineth for this many years” stuff. But it is also a time where this or that evil king besieged this or that Philistine encampment.
When I was young, whether I understood which king was which, I knew what “besieged” meant and my imagination conjured up all kinds of battles with swords and spears and a few catapults.
When I spoke a few months ago about Jonah, the King of Israel was Jeroboam the 2nd. His son, Nadab occupied the throne of Israel for only a few months when his general decided to slay him and take over.
The idolatrous worship introduced by Jeroboam had brought upon the guilty offenders the retributive judgments of Heaven; and yet the rulers who followed – Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri – during a period of about forty years, followed the same fatal course of evil-doing.
It continued to be pretty exciting, way better than most Hollywood epics. One King whipped another in a battle, only to have one of his trusted captains kill him. Then that guy got drunk and someone else snuck in with a dagger and set himself up as a ruler. One of these guys ruled for only seven days before he was off’d. It was a mess. Omri is said to have made Jeroboam look downright saintly.
King Ahab was the son of Omri.
By the way, Israel was split at this time, and over Judah was a God-fearing man named Asa – all of the texts in the books of 1st and 2nd Kings use the years of his rule as reference points.
Ahab took as a wife the daughter of the king of the Zidonians, a rather persuasive young woman by the name of Jezebel.
Zidon was on the Mediterranean coast, about 25 miles north of Tyre, 20 miles west of the Sea of Galilee, named for Noah’s grandson, Sidon, the first born after the flood. This was the land of the Phoenicians and Philistines, necessary to the area not only for fish but for corn and grain. King Hiram is referred to several times in the Bible, mostly in helping set up trade.
Historically, Phoenicia is known for a number of major inventions, developing methods for sailing vast distances and for the color purple. Important why? Because all of royalty needed their dyes to get their clothing just the right color. That highly sought dye actually comes from the mucus of the murex snail prevalent in the Mediterranean.
Both David and Solomon had made treaties with the area, more than likely looking for that very color dye that God called for in the temple drapes.
But back to our friend Ahab. To stay in Jezebel’s good graces, Ahab joined her church. He want so far as to build many altars and temples to Ba’al, and in a grove on the side of nearby Mount Carmel, he built a series of altars to Ba’al, where a long forgotten altar to God already existed. Mt. Carmel literally translated is “God’s vineyard.”
Throughout the Bible, the term Ba’al (pronounced bääl, bäl, bal) is used to indicate any number of false gods by the Hebrews. For our story, let me assure you that Ba’al is the storm and nature god of all Canaan, considered the “ruler of the universe.” Ba’al was the source of life and fertility, the mightiest, and the lord of war.
Comunities had his name as a prefix – Baal-peor, Baal-hazor, Baal-hermon, and powerful folk, had his name as a suffix – Hasdru-bal, Hanni-bal, and in the feminine, Jeze-bel. It was I suppose an automatic “in” with their god.
The same neology is pretty evident in the name Ba’al-zebub…
Now where have we heard that one before?
1 Kings 16:33 “…and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”
The next thing we read is that Elijah the Tishbite from Gilead is standing in front of Ahab.
According to the Books of Kings, Elijah lived in the 9th century BC during the reign of Ahab, his name means “Yahweh is my God,” and he was a prophet in Samaria. According to Wikipedia, “Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh over that of the more popular Ba’al.”
How Elijah walked into the palace so easily is beyond me, but there he was, suggesting that it was just about to get very dry in Israel. It was a bold move, but he did it, saying to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” 1 Kings 17:1
No sooner had he gotten the words out of his mouth, God whispered in his ear to get out of there, to go east, and it wasn’t long before Elijah had his sleeping bag rolled out beside a small stream that eventually flowed into the Jordan River. Ravens brought him bread and meat morning and night.
The drought that he had proclaimed eventually caught up to Elijah, and his own source of water dried. So God told him to head for Zarephath and there he asked a widow for some water. As she was getting it he called out and asked for a morsel of food as well.
I can see this poor woman pretty clearly. She didn’t know it, but here in front of her was the man that her entire country was blaming for the miserable famine. Ahab had sent spies and detectives everywhere in search of Elijah. She had the very man that topped the most wanted list. Had she known, she might have turned him in for the reward money. Yes, I can see her, hand on her hip, and with a full attitude, and deservedly so.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve!” she said to the road-weary traveler. “I have no bread. In fact, I’m out here gathering sticks to build one last fire. My young son and I have only a little flour and a little oil. I’m going to make a small loaf, we’re going to eat it and with nothing left, we will just wither up and die. And you are asking to take away even that!”
But Elijah coaxed her into making the bread for him anyway. His assurances were completed with: 1 Kings 17:14 “For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.”
And that’s just what happened. Every day, every meal, the minimal ingredients never ran out, and though the menu was meager, God never allowed them to go hungry.
Then the widow’s sickly son died. Of course, she cried out and threw Elijah directly under the bullock cart. He passed on her sorrow to God who saw fit to bring the boy back to life.
Even considering the months of bottomless oil and flour, when she saw what Elijah had done, the widow proclaimed, “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.”
Some time in the third year of the drought, God told Elijah to give Ahab the word that he would send rain. We live in an arid region ourselves, where water is not in huge supply. We have to conserve somewhat, with rationing on watering our most common factor. But consider three years without rain, or snow, or dew on the leaves. The small rivers and streams would be gone, and Washoe Lake would be but a memory.
There were still followers of God in Canaan, and Elijah ran into one. It was Obadiah who managed Ahab’s entire castle. He had saved over 100 of God’s prophets when this dry spell started, hiding them in caves from Jezebel’s pals.
Elijah told Obadiah to tell his master that he was ready for a sit-down meeting. Obadiah was skeptical. After all, King Ahab had sent word to every surrounding country to Get Elijah at all Costs. He’d heard stories of similar set-ups where Elijah failed to show up and the messengers had been killed. But Elijah gave his promise, and God’s word, that the time had come.
The promise was upheld and with cross-armed piety, Ahab said to Elijah, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” 1 Kings 18:17
I have this scene etched into my brain. Ahab rode up with a few hundred of his closest friends, all in full battle garb, pretty much ready to make Elijah a grease spot in the desert. Meeting this war party was a hairy little old man, in a tattered robe, leaning on his walking stick. One man against so many.
Elijah stood his ground in front of this great entourage and answered, simply, “I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and have followed Ba’al.” 1 Kings 18:18
Following that proclamation, which had to rock Ahab back on his heels and cause gasps from all of Ahab’s company, Elijah laid down a little challenge. Ahab nodded in agreement, and withdrew to put the plan into place.
The headlines in the newspapers were huge. “Broken Down Old Man Challenges Prophets of Ba’al!”
The newscasters interrupted “Good Morning Samaria”, “All My Deities” and the Grecian Game channel with special bulletins.
Ahab held press conferences.
The big showdown was to happen on Mt. Carmel.
When the big day arrived, thousands had made the trek to Carmel, with folding chairs, picnic lunches and their favorite beverages. Many purchased those horn noisemakers and T-shirts that already proclaimed Ba’al victorious.
Odds-makers felt it was pretty lopsided – one old geezer against 850 of Jezebel’s best. There were 450 prophets of Ba’al, ready to get under way, and another 400 prophets of the groves and altars to Ba’al. Unlike Elijah, they were well fed, well dressed, and well equipped. Of course, none had been able to bring rain over the past three years, even though countless offerings had been made to Ba’al.
But Elijah had an ace up his sleeve, an unseen ally that made him rather confident.
After the impressive marches and the playing of the national anthem, Elijah stood and reminded everyone of the rules, then said so the multitudes could hear, “If the LORD be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21
Then he sat down.
Elijah watched in bemused respect the ceremonial antics the many prophets of Ba’al performed. They chose a bullock, cut it into pieces, lay it on the wood on their altar but did not light it. They called on Ba’al, and any other gods that came to mind, but nothing happened. They danced, chanted, yelled and danced some more. They cried out, “Oh great Ba’al, source of all life, bring down fire and prove you are our mightiest hero!” Their gyrations became more and more passionate and outrageous. They leaped up on the altar. I have to believe several tried to throw lit matches into the kindling.
By noon, even dancing in shifts, the prophets of Ba’al began to tire. Elijah finally spoke up. His sarcasm is quite apparent even after 3000 years.
“Maybe you guys should shout louder? Perhaps your god is on vacation – a far-off journey and he just can’t hear you? Maybe he’s in the outhouse? Oh I know, he’s asleep – yell really loud so that he can hear you.”
It says in Patriarchs & Prophets page 109: “From the time of Jeroboam's death to Elijah's appearance before Ahab the people of Israel suffered a steady spiritual decline. Ruled by men who did not fear Jehovah and who encouraged strange forms of worship, the larger number of the people rapidly lost sight of their duty to serve the living God and adopted many of the practices of idolatry.”
Over and over, the Bible proclaims that there is one true God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, the life". John 14:6
That day, the assembly was witnessing a "my God is bigger than your god" showdown. They were seeing the manifestations of their incorrect choices.
Elijah sat back down and was amazed at the actions of prophets of Ba’al. They went at it for another six hours, and when Ba’al remained silent, they began to cut themselves with lances and knives as was the custom in their worship. Their frenzied behavior must have been a sight to see, a show worthy of “World’s Stupidest Human Tricks” or some such.
When the time came for the evening sacrifice came, Elijah silently stood, and quietly said, “my turn.”
He called out for everyone to come close. With help from believers, Elijah chose twelve stones, to commemorate the tribes of Israel and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been unused and broken down for so many years. He asked for a deep trench to be dug all around the altar. He stacked wood on the rebuilt altar, then placed the bullock on top.
While he worked, there was certainly a lot of mocking from all of those Ba’al prophets. “C’mon old man, show us what ya got! Your God ain’t nothin’! We’ve been doing fine without him.”
When the preparations were complete, Elijah uttered the strangest of requests. He wanted many barrels of seawater brought up on the mountain and poured on the altar. They did it three times so that everything was well soaked, and the trenches were overflowing.
The crowd murmured. The prophets scoffed. But when Elijah reverently approached the altar, everyone hushed.
There was no whirling, flailing or screaming. He turned his face skyward, raised his arms and in a loud voice, he began. 36 “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. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back again.”
It only took an instant, and thousands were awestruck at the sight of the few wisps of smoke rising from the little bit of nothing that remained. They fell on their faces in worship and began to chant, “The Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God.”
And yes, it rained that night, but that is another story.
God wants us to know that He alone is God. The Scriptures are full of examples that culminate in God's ultimate sacrifice through Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, there is another who desires to keep us following false gods, whether Ba’al or dragracing or television or the pursuit of anything that we place higher than our relationship with him.
2 Corinthians 4:4 The gods of this age have blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Christ’s Object Lessons Page 56 The Spirit of God is ever seeking to break the spell of infatuation that holds men absorbed in worldly things, and to awaken a desire for the imperishable treasure.
Heavenly Father, who has given us everything, create in us new and clean hearts, turn us away from our false and worthless gods, and let your light shine through us as we go from this place. We ask to be beacons of your love as we walk through this world of darkness. Let us in some small way share your glory that was so well portrayed on the face of your son, and my savoir, Jesus Christ.
Amen
