GOD’S RESPONSE TO AN EVIL KING

I typically try to inscribe three chapters a day in my granddaughter’s Bible. This morning it was my delight to cover I Kings 17-19.

After trudging through chapters about the early kings of Israel and Judah, these three chapters give a delightful break!

The last king mentioned is Ahab.  He is described:

Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before GOD than anyone yet – a new champion in evil…He made the God of Israel angrier than all the previous kings of Israel put together.  [I Kings 16:30,33]

 

[All quotes from The Message Bible unless otherwise noted]

Upon reading of the continual descension of the faithfulness of israel’s kings, it would be appropriate to ask the question: HOW WILL GOD DEAL WITH SUCH AN EVIL KING AS AHAB?

The answer to that question is clearly given in chapters 17-19.

God responded to the evil king Ahab – and his even more evil wife, Jezebel – by sending an unknown prophet, Elijah, to Ahab with a message.

It’s a perfectly logical response!  Ahab is the epitome of evil!  Elijah is a picture of humility, submission and obedience to God! 

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For those who haven’t read these chapters recently, here’s a synopsis:

God sent Elijah to tell Ahab that as punishment for his evil ways, Israel would experience a three-year draught with absolutely no rain!

After delivering this message, God sends Elijah into a wilderness area near a stream and has birds bring him food to eat every morning and evening!  This sounds preposterous, doesn’t it?  But my response is one that comes from a chorus I learned when I was young:

“God said it!

I believe it!

That’s good enough for me!”  😊

When the brook dried up [due to the draught], God sent Elijah to a nearby village where he was to meet a woman.  Upon his arrival, Elijah found a woman preparing to bake a loaf of bread for herself and her son from the last of her flour and oil. Elijah asks her to first make him a bisquit and then prepare the rest for her and her son.  She explained to him that she sincerely expects that they will then die of starvation.

However, Elijah assures her that her jar of flour and bottle of oil will not run out until God sends rain on the land and ends the draught.  Elijah was cared for by the widow after that until her young son became sick and died.  She carried him to Elijah in anger that he had died.

Elijah prayed earnestly for the boy and he came back to life!

When three years had passed, God sent Elijah to talk with Ahab.  Ahab and his servant, Obadiah, had been vigorously searching everywhere for Elijah!  Obadiah was a God-honoring man who had protected a large group of prophets during the draught by hiding them away and bringing them food and water. 

AN INTERESTING FOOT-NOTE:

I find it interesting that God had planted a righteous man in close proximity to King Ahab!

I wonder how many world leaders have godly men or women in their midst as an influence?

A couple of years ago, I came across a news report about a Chinese evangelist named Zhou Jinxia who was arrested after trying to share the Gospel with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan.  ChinaAid says Jinxia frequently holds evangelistic signs outside a gate the couple regularly passes through. She is described as “an unbreakable, irrepressible Christian woman.” 

God always has a plan!  God plants Christian people near world leaders all of the time!  😉

Elijah meets Obadiah and has him deliver a message to King Ahab. Ahab is to call all of the people of Israel – including the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah together at Mt. Carmel.

When this gathering takes place, Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest to see whose God is the real god!  Elijah challenges the Baal prophets to build an altar and make a sacrifice BUT NOT TO LIGHT IT ON FIRE!  They are to pray for their god to light the sacrifice on fire!

Being a gentleman, Elijah let the prophets of Baal go first!  He teases them as they pray and cry out to their god all day long! Then, he builds his own altar using twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel.  He prepares the sacrifice and then drenches the altar with buckets and buckets of precious water.  Finally, Elijah prayed:

“O God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I’m doing what I’m doing under your orders. Answer me, God; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God, the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance.”

 

Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.

All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, “God is the true God! God is the true God!”   [I Kings 18:37-39]

 

After killing all of the prophets of Baal, Elijah prays for rain! He repeatedly sends his servant to the cliff to look out over the sea.  Repeatedly the servant returns with a report of no sign of clouds.  But finally – the seventh time – the servant returns and reports that he sees a cloud…very small, no bigger than someone’s hand, rising out of the sea,

Elijah warns Ahab to run for cover because a great storm is about to arrive.

There’s more to this story, but I’ll let those of you who are interested to pick it up and read it in I Kings 19.

 I suppose you’ve gotten the message.

 WHAT IS GOD’S RESPONSE TO AN EVIL KING?

 A RIGHTEOUS, HUMBLE AND OBEDIENT SERVANT!

Someone just like you or me!  Someone who believes and obeys God!  Someone who acts when God speaks!  Someone whose influence is impeccable!  A man or woman of courage and conviction! 

Don’t dare limit what God could accomplish through you – if you would just submit to His leadership in your life!