Dueling Prophets

1 Kings 18

“And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said The Lord He is the God; The Lord He is the God.” 1 Kings 18:39

Elijah, having just raised the widow’s son back to life, and having fulfilled his mission with her; The Word of The Lord came again to him. This time however, Elijah was to inform the wicked king Ahab of the rain that was headed for Israel. Again, the whole reason there was this drought in the first place was Ahab had initiated a kingdom of tolerance for heathen religions, and where Baal worshiped reigned supreme. Baal, the god of storms had failed his followers miserably these last three years and it was time for a showdown of the gods. Israel had not repented yet, and it was time to force a battle between the powers of evil and the righteous power of God.

Jezebel, the queen of Israel, had succeeded in killing many of the followers of Yahweh in an effort to create this tolerant society toward her favored religion, and to appease her own god (the god Baal).

We now have an interesting character come into the story, and his name is Obadiah. Obadiah is a fervent worshipper of Yahweh, and has used his connections as king’s steward to hide 100 of the prophets of God by 50’s in caves. The study today takes him out across the land looking for water as the drought had dried up all available resources for quite a ways. It is on this venture that Obadiah meets Elijah as he comes out of hiding for the first time since the drought began.

Elijah tells Obadiah to let Ahab know that he is in the area and would like to see him. Obadiah trembled at the thought of delivering that message, (1) because Elijah was a prophet of God and Jezebel wanted his head, (and 2) because Elijah had a knack for disappearing into nowhere only to be found when the time was right.

Obadiah’s words were, “I will tell Ahab that you are here and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and carry you away to a place that I know not of”.

Only when Elijah promised that he would see Ahab, did Obadiah consent to giving Ahab the message.

Ahab couldn’t stand Elijah’s presence due to the righteousness of Elijah condemning the unrighteousness of Ahab. Also look at 1 John 3:12 1 Peter 3:16 2 Timothy 3:12 Cain was infuriated by Abel’s righteousness.

Ahab knew Elijah was a prophet of God, yet he blamed him for the trouble that had befallen Israel. Ahab’s kingdom was built around tolerance of the Zidonian god Baal and goddess Ashteroth and he assumed that as god/goddess they would take care of him, yet these last three years they had failed him as this “trouble” had fallen upon Israel. He assumed this “trouble” was brought on by Elijah’s insistence in worshipping the One True God, and his own gods had removed their blessing. We could say that Ahab was a spiritual man, even that Jezebel was a spiritual woman; but their spirituality resulted in idolatry, which is rebellion of God’s ways, which is witchcraft. Behind every idol is a demon receiving the worship that is given it.

Our children are those in our little domain, just like Ahab as king of Israel had his kingdom of people who were looking to him for guidance. If we as parents are not an example of serving God, whether it’s by losing our temper, disrespect of our leaders, or fellow church members, or whether we are halting between two religions; these could all give rise to a generation of people who are disillusioned having a tainted view of who God is. If we as parents are super concerned with things pertaining to us, be it our hurts, our gifts, or how we expect that men should treat us; then we are selfishly expecting to have our rights upheld. The Bible says offences will come and “Woe to whoever shall give them”. Our children will see who we respond to situations that are less than ideal, and we will make or break their view of God and His ways! Their blood will surely be on our hands if they lose out spiritually due to our lack of spiritual discernment. Matthew 18:6

During the reign of Ahab, many Israelites tried to worship both God and Baal in order to please the prophets and the rulers. This is a compromise of faith and it is clear through the Word of God that compromise of faith will always be sin and will be judged. Revelation 2:14 - Joshua 24:15

So, who really was troubling Israel? When God said in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.”; He made it clear that certain requirements need to be met or they would be judged along with their land being cursed for their sake. God was not just “troubling” Israel, but was wanting them to see the futility of their worship in an inanimate god. This trouble was self-inflicted because of their rebellious heart.

Today, Do you feel like God is inflicting you? Before you blame God for it, take a look at your life. Are you in whole obedience to God and what he has revealed to you? Also understand that if you are walking in complete obedience to God, Satan would love to sift you as wheat. Further still, Recognize that this may not be a personal struggle, rather this earth is cursed generally, not to make it hard for you, but because of the sin of the world that men and women may realize their need of surrendering to God.

When we forsake the commandments of the Lord, it is clear we will bring “trouble” on ourselves.

What does it mean, “Thou hast followed Baalim”? Is this just a variant of the name Baal? Baalim, according to the Strong’s Concordance is the plural form of Baal.

As Elijah meets with Ahab, he gives this call to worship. It is a contest of worship to see which (G)god is going to come through for their prophets(s). It is time for the showdown. Israel had not repented from following Baal, but they were going to be forced to see that God/Jehovah is the True God and that Elijah is His messenger.

Elijah called them to this contest on Mt Carmel. Now Mt. Carmel was a beautiful Mountain that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. It was believed to have been the home of the god Baal. Baal was in a sense challenged to a duel on his “home turf”. Elijah was outnumbered 850/1 by the prophets of Baal, plus if you would count the rest of the worshippers of Baal, that number would have risen tremendously.

Israel has been trying to have a tolerant stance toward this false religion, and as anybody can guess true tolerance of anything whether it is a false god or an ideology always end up biting you in the end. There is no such thing as true complete tolerance.

Elijah built the altar with 12 stones to remind the Israelites they were part of the 12 tribes of Israel and that God has chosen them as His people. This symbolized a return to the worship of the true God as the altar had been in disrepair until now.

The Israelites needed to acknowledge that Jehovah is God (the only God) before the drought could end. Leviticus 26:40-45 by the same token, our spiritual drought can be reversed by recognizing that God alone is God and by following in obedience.