Read:1 Kings 18: 20-40
If you have time, please do read your Bible. And tonight before we dive into what we are about to talk, what we are about to devote ourselves, and what we are about to meditate, allow me to just share to you what had taken place before Elijah came to Sidon, what happened to him, and where did he come from.
So in 1 King 17:1-24, there was a divinely ordained drought which is climatic demonstration of the truth about God and His will to take place.
So before this chapter, Elijah was commanded by God to go to the brook of Kerith, on the east of Jordan.
So in there, he was fed by the ravens and he drank from the water of the brook. Then after a while, the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.
So what happened before this was that Elijah said to King Ahab in verse 17:1 “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain all these years, except by my word.”
So Elijah prophesied to Ahab that there will be no rain according to James 5:17 "There was no rain for three years and six months"
So after the raven fed Elijah, the Lord said to Elijah in 17:8 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
So he went there again to Zarephath in Sidon. Then all the things spoken by the Lord took place - he was fed by a widow who had a son who died. But in the latter part of chapter 17, Elijah healed and brought the widow's son back to life.
And thus, chapter 17 ended amazingly:
"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 true.'"
Then in the first part of chapter 18 (before the verses 20-40), Ahab and Obadiah went separate ways to look for grass just to feed their horses or mules in order for them not to die due to the drought in the land.
(A/N: Obadiah is a minor prophet who wrote prophecies about the ancient Edom. He has a book written in the Old Testament - the shortest book in the Old Testament which is composed of 21 to 23 verses.)
What's unique was the way that Obadiah met Elijah.
In verse 7:16, Obadiah was telling Elijah: Why would I tell Ahab that you are alive? Ahab would kill me.
Obadiah was hiding the prophets of the Lord in a cave because King Ahab was killing them.
So when Ahab and Elijah met, Ahab's welcome to Elijah was, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”
And Elijah said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals."
And there he told Ahab to gather the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah in Mount Carmel.
Thus, in verses 20 to 40, Elijah didn't tell Ahab that he and the 850 prophets will have a show down. It's not because Elijah just wants to boast, but he wants to prove these prophets that the god they're worshiping is false.
This is done not out of pride, and not out of pin pointing straight to their faces that what they are worshiping and doing is wrong. But God, through Elijah, wants His people back. Through what has taken place in verses 20 to 40, the evidences of how sovereign, how omniscient, how omnipotent, how omnipresent God is, are really shown.
According to Crossway ESV study bible, in the Canaanite religion in Sidon, they believed that Baal had the authority over rain and the fertility. And there is a time in a year where in times of drought, they believed that Baal is going to the god of dryness, then after some time it will again rain because of what Baal has done.
But what really took place is the LORD, not Baal or any other gods, who takes control both life and death. As what had happened, Elijah mocked their saying in verse 27 “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."
So tonight, I would like to remind all of you. He is not at your back, He is in you, right?
And it's just amazing that there maybe times in our life that we thought God is very far. We may thought that we worship a God, and pray to a God who is far, far away. But through meditating and reading God's Word; through praying; through meeting him everyday in my quite time; and through the studying His Word, we would really know God - that he is not far away. He is never really far, and that He is just there waiting for us to come.
Maybe you feel like He just doesn't care at the moment or He is silent. But all these circumstances should draw you closer to God.
So brothers and sisters, tonight as we are about to proceed to our prayer time, I would just like to encourage you to listen to God when you will have your personal confession. Tonight, just try to listen to him first, do not say a word, do not ask anything from Him. Just listen to Him for awhile. May it be not
only tonight but may you start it every single day. Ask God to unfold His beauty to you, and His magnificence to you. Then, you will just be on by it.
So that's it. Let's close this with a prayer.
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