Monday, May 18

1 Kings 17:1-7

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” The word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.  You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.  But after a while the wadi dried up because there was no rain in the land.

Yesterday, Pastor Paul shared a story about Elijah, the Old Testament prophet. This week we will take another step in learning about Elijah.

Elijah lived in the ninth century BCE. Israel had was into the northern kingdom called Israel and the southern kingdom called Judah. Ahab was the king of Israel when Elijah was alive. Ahab committed more evil acts than all the kings who had come before him. (1 Kings 16:30)

Elijah is mentioned quite often in the New Testament. Because of prophecy in the book of Malachi in the last two verses of the Old Testament, people thought that Elijah had to come before God would come (Malachi 4:5-6)

In this story Elijah told Ahab that there would be a drought.

He fled from Ahab when God told him to flee.

Elijah had constant conversation with God. His conversation was more than prayer—it was an active conversation.

Do you find yourselves having moments when you have active conversations with God? These conversations are a form of prayer, but they are more than prayer. You are talking and learning from God. This might seem strange to some people, but for others it is quite natural.

What are your thoughts about having these conversations with God? Please share.

Tuesday, May 19

1 Kings 17:8-24

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there, for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”  As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”  But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”  Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days.  The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.  She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”  But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed.  He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son”? Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”  The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.  Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

These two stories about Elijah are significant. The widow was ready to die (1 Kings 17:12). Because of the drought (which Elijah predicted), the woman was running out of food. She was preparing her family to die.

But Elijah had other ideas. He had the audacity to ask this woman—who had no food—to bring him some food. The idea might go through our heads that Elijah was taking the last food that the woman had. But Elijah promised that the jar of meal would not be emptied and the jug of oil would not fail until God sent rain to the earth. (1 Kings 17:14)

In the second story Elijah brought back the widow’s son from death. Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were the only people in the Old Testament to bring people back from the dead.

This was a miracle. When she saw her son and knew that Elijah had brought him back from the dead, the woman knew that Elijah was a prophet.

What are your thoughts about this story? Please share.

Wednesday, May 20

1 Kings 18:1-19

After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.  Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah revered the Lord greatly; when Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)  Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive and not lose some of the animals.”  So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.

 As Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him; Obadiah recognized him, fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”  He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.”  And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ahab to kill me?  As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you, and when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would require an oath of the kingdom or nation that they had not found you.  But now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.’  As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where; so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth.  Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets fifty to a cave and provided them with bread and water? Yet now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here’; he will surely kill me.” Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”  So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” He answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

God told Elijah to go to see King Ahab. And Elijah obeyed God’s direction. This took courage from Elijah as King Ahab wanted Elijah killed.

In the last part of this story Elijah met Obadiah. This is most likely not the same person who wrote the Old Testament book called, “Obadiah.” Elijah told Obadiah to tell King Ahab that Elijah was alive. Obadiah was hesitant to do this as Obadiah thought that Ahab would kill Obadiah if Obadiah shared that news.

When Ahab saw Elijah, he immediately put Elijah on the defensive. “Is it you, [Elijah] you troubler of Israel. Elijah responded by saying he had not troubled Israel, but that King Ahab had.

Elijah told King Ahab to assemble the four hundred prophets of Asherah and the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Something significant was about to happen.

What are some of your learnings from this story? Please share.

Thursday, May 21

1 Kings 18:20-46

So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel.  Elijah then came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word.  Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty.  Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood but put no 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 is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”  So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made.  At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”  Then they cried aloud, and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them.  As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me,” and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down;  Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”;  with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed.  Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”  Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding.  Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust and even licked up the water that was in the trench.  When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”  Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” Then they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and killed them there.

Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of rushing rain.”  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees.  He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” Then he said, “Go again seven times.”  At the seventh time he said, “Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.” Then he said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”  In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel.  But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

This is one of the most significant stories in the Old Testament and is worth our study. We learn quite a lot about God through this story.

Elijah and the prophets of Baal and Asherah were going to have a fight unto death. Each set of prophets were going to demonstrate that their God was more powerful.

Elijah won this demonstration. Nothing happened when the prophets of Baal and Asherah acted. In verse 38, we read that “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench.” When the people saw that they knew that Elijah had the power of a prophet while the prophets of Baal and Asherah did not have that power, they rushed towards the two sets of prophets and had them killed.

This is a gory story. It might be hard for some of us to accept that God wanted Elijah to kill these two sets of prophets. But Elijah was able to demonstrate that God was in charge.

What are your thoughts about this story? Please share. 

Friday, May 22

1 Kings 19:1-18

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”  Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”  Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”  He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again.  The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.”  He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.  At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake,  and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”  Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.  Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.  Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill, and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill.  Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

We heard part of this story this past Sunday when Pastor Paul preached on disillusionment. Elijah became disillusioned. For all he had done for God, for all the successes he had achieved, Elijah still faced danger. Jezebel wanted Elijah killed. And we can get a sense of Elijah’s pain in verse 10. Elijah had been zealous for the Lord, but the people still wanted to have him dead.

We get a sense that Elijah was wondering about what he had accomplished. He was ready to give up.

But God was not ready to give up on him. Three times a significant event happened as Elijah stood in front of a cave. There was an earthquake—but God was not in the earthquake; there was a fire—but God was not in the fire. Then there was a sound of silence. God was in this still, small voice. God gave directions to Elijah. He was to anoint Elisha as his successor and anoint Jehu king of Israel.

What are your thoughts about this story? Please share.

Saturday, May 23

2 Kings 2:1-12

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.  Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.  The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.  The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.  Fifty men of the company of prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.  Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.

 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”  He responded, “You have asked a hard thing, yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.”  As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.  Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Like many other stories in this cycle, this is a powerful and painful story. Elijah and Elisha knew that Elijah was going to depart from the earth.

Verse 11 is worth pondering, “As [Elijah and Elisha] continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.

Along with Enoch, Elijah is one of two Old Testament prophets who never died. Read about Enoch in Genesis 5:24. Elijah ascended into heaven before his death. Because he did not die people believed that Elijah would come back to the earth. This was the expectation that people had when John the Baptist and Jesus were adults.

What are your thoughts about this story? Please share.