A Study in I Kings Week 18

I Kings 18 1-46 (More)

Few figures of the Old Testament have the power of identification that Elijah has. He seems to be a classic example of a prophet.

In some ways he is the Simon-Peter of the Old Testament. His bold, forthright faith epitomizes what we would like to be in our highest wishes.

Elijah comes on the scene when Ahab and Jezebel had taken the Northern Kingdom to its lowest ebb of idolatrous Baal worship. Elijah, whose very name means "Yahweh is my God," comes to stand in the gap and turn the tide.

The Verses

1-15 For three years there had been famine, as Elijah had predicted. Ahab summoned Obadiah to help out. Obadiah was faithful to God and had safely hidden hundreds of God’s prophets.

Obadiah and Elijah meet. Obadiah expresses fear when asked to go to Ahab to tell him of Elijah’s presence.

Doing what the Lord wants you to do can sometimes be a fearful thing, as it sometimes defies human logic.

16-19 Elijah confronts Ahab and reveals that it is Ahab who has brought trouble to the land by worshiping Ba’al instead of God.

This is one of the most spectacular chapters of Scripture. The meeting between Elijah and Ahab is again dramatic. Note the 3 times it is announced, “Behold, Elijah is here” (vs. 8, 11, 14).

The contest is sensational as Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal (vs. 21-24). It is Elijah versus 450 prophets of Baal.

John Knox was right — “One with God is a majority.” The prophets of Baal used every kind of incantation to bring fire down upon the offering in the name of Baal. Elijah looks on with a bored and skeptical eye. He uses the rapier of irony and sarcasm.

They yell louder and become more frantic but to no avail.

Like all false gods, their god was without any real power whatever. The Bible does not deny that the devil still has some power (Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8). Satan is much weaker than God is. Jesus, by his death, has already defeated the devil completely (1 Corinthians 15:55; Hebrews 2:14).

20-46 Elijah, after the prophets of Baal retire in defeat, repairs the altar of 12 stones, showing that the nation Israel is one.

He then arranges the wood and the sacrifice.

When barrel after barrel of water is brought up from the blue Mediterranean to Mount Carmel and poured on the altar, Elijah utters one of the great prayers of Scripture, brief but effective (vs. 36, 37).

After slaying the prophets of Baal, he announces the approach of a rainstorm from out over the Mediterranean Sea.

God told the Israelites to kill those who led them to worship other gods. We would not do that today, but, in Colossians 3:5 and 3:8, Paul uses a similar description. He is explaining how, with God’s help, Christians must end their own wrong desires.

Only the grace of God will allow you to do that.

A CACOPHANY OF EASTER JOY!

(From the 70s) HE IS ALIVE - From "Celebrate Life" by Buryl Red



AND NOW "HALLELUJAH" BY G.F. HANDEL!






HAVE A BLESSED RESURRECTION SUNDAY EVERYBODY!

A Study in I Kings Week 17

1 Kings 17 - 18

God say’s “I have had enough.”

Time of Elijah …God raised up Elijah to call the Israelites back to himself

17:1 Elijah brings drought to Israel (Deut. 11:16,17)
2-6 fed by ravens at the Wadi Cherith
7-24 lives with a widow in Zarephath
7-16 a jar of flour and a jug oil last until the rain returns
17-24 Elijah brings a dead child back to life

After 3.5 years of drought and hiding for Elijah, God says it's time to bring things to a head

18:1-46 Elijah confronts Ahab and defeats the prophets of Baal
1-2 Elijah sets out
3-15 Elijah appears before Obadiah in the road
16-39 Elijah wins the miracle contest with the prophets of Baal

The Baal prophets related to Baal through CHANT (18:26a), RITUALISM
(18:26b) and SELF_ABASEMENT (18:28). They did all these things to get
Baal's attention, to merit his favor, to manipulate him into doing what they
wanted.

By contrast:
Elijah talks to God PERSONALLY.
Elijah approaches God under GRACE
Elijah relates to God submitting to his WORD

40 Elijah has the prophets of Baal killed

41-46 rain returns and the drought ends

The people repent, delaying God's judgment (exile) for another 150 years.

HE DID IT FOR YOU

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF FAITH-Gaither Homecoming w/ David Phelps

A Study in I Kings Week 16

I Kings 16 1-34

The Verses

1-7 Baasha’s evil reign lasted for 24 years.

8-14 Elah his son succeeded him but reigned only 2 years. Zimri, a captain, slew Elah while he was drunk.

15-20 Zimri destroyed every male member of the house of Baasha. He reigned only 7 days, for Omri, captain of the host of Israel, besieged Tirzah and captured it. Zimri committed suicide by burning down the house in which he was.

21-28 The northern kingdom was divided between Omri and Tibni for 4 years. Tibni died and Omri reigned alone for 8 years. Omri built Samaria and made it the capital of the northern kingdom. He plunged Israel into the depths of evil (v. 25). His pattern was Jeroboam (v. 26).

29-34 Ahab, son of Omri, succeeded him (v. 28). He was worse than his father; he was the worst king of all (v. 30). He compounded evil by marrying Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians and high priest of Baal

Deuteronomy 7:3-4 had forbidden marriage with people from the surrounding nations. However, Solomon had openly and thoroughly violated that command of God.

No individual in Israel's history, male or female, was as aggressive in promoting Baal worship and persecuting Yahweh worship as Jezebel. Ahab did a previously unthinkable sin by "marrying the baalist daughter of a baalist king." Phoenicia was the center of Baal worship at that time, and Ahab's wife brought an evangelistic zeal for Baal with her.

What evil designs Ahab did not think of, Jezebel did.

Let’s look at what’s going on here.

The Jews were God’s chosen people. Why did God choose the Jews? Was it because of their goodness? Was it because He knew that they would always obey Him?

No, it was because He is God and He gets to choose. He could have chosen anybody. He chose the Jews.

What did He choose Israel to do? Did He choose them to show the world how to behave and how to faithfully serve God? Did He choose them because they were good writers and could “write the Old Testament for Him?”

No, He chose them to bring His plan of salvation to the world through Jesus, His Son, Messiah.

He gave them that honor, and when His plan of salvation entered the world, they rejected Him, ridiculed Him, attacked Him at every possible moment and had Rome crucify Him.

Other nations have remained jealous of Israel to this day, even though they don’t always know why. It is because they were not chosen, and they have not enjoyed the attention God afforded Israel.

Remember that there were not supposed to be any kings (I Samuel 8:4-22). But the people insisted, and it was all down hill from there.

Make no mistake, sin is a serious thing, whether you are saved or not.

Sin began in the Garden of Eden and its “spiritual DNA” has been passed from generation to generation.

Its result is eternal separation from God in Hell. Only Jesus can save you from that fate.

A Study in I Kings Week 15

 I Kings 15 1-34

Abijah, son of Rehoboam, succeeded his father on the throne of Judah (Southern Kingdom). He was as wicked as his father (v. 3). (Jeroboam became the standard of evil for the kings of Israel (Northern Kingdom.)

The Verses

1-8 Abijam was not like David. David continues as the standard of excellence for the kings of both Israel and Judah (v. 5). Abijam did not serve God. But because of David’s love for God, God allowed David’s descendants to continue to rule in Jerusalem.

Abijam seems to have expected God’s help because he performed all the “religious ceremonies” properly. But God is not pleased with ceremonies. God wants us to trust Him and Him alone.

9-24 Asa ( in the Southern Kingdom) compares to David (v. 11). He led in the first revival of the nation. First Kings gives only half a chapter to his reign, but 2 Chronicles gives three chapters (chapters 14, 15, 16).

Asa did have to bribe Ben-hadad, king of Syria, and he warred with Israel continually.

Jehoshaphat succeeded Asa as king of Judah.

25-26 Nadab, son of Jeroboam, succeeded Asa as king of Israel (Northern Kingdom). He was evil (v. 26).

04. 27-32 Baasha led a conspiracy against Nadab, slew him, and reigned in his stead (vs. 27, 28).
Baasha, in the Northern Kingdom, continued war against Asa, in the Southern Kingdom (v. 32).

Principles of Interpreting OT Biblical narratives:

1. Narratives rarely teach doctrine directly.
2. Narratives usually illustrate doctrinal truths that are taught directly elsewhere in the Bible.
3. Not every narrative has a "moral of the story." Some narratives present - without comment - behavior that is the very opposite of what we should do.
4. What people do in Biblical narratives may not be a good example. Just because a Biblical character did something does not mean that it is right.
5. No Biblical characters apart from Jesus were perfect, nor were their actions.
6. Narratives do not always tell whether an action or word was right or wrong.
7. Narratives will not answer all our questions. They are constructed to accomplish the author's purpose, not to answer our questions.
8. Narratives may teach directly or indirectly.
9. God should be understood as the hero of all Biblical narratives.
10. Try to discern how the OT narrative relates to the gospel and the coming of Messiah.

The Jewish had to constantly repent from disobeying God. As one Rabbi put it: "To sin and then say, 'I repent,' and to sin again, and again say, 'I repent,' repeatedly means that there is no repentance."

Only God could truly discern the hearts of the kings and the people and know if the repentance should or should not lead to restoration. As Richard Nelson states, "God keeps promises, but is not bound by human expectations."

Repentance is essential to salvation (John 13: 1-5). It is the recognition of the need for a Savior.

A CONVERSATION WITH A FALSE TEACHER

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF FAITH

Damaris Carbaugh and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir "He's Been Faithful"

A Study in I Kings Week 14

I Kings 14 1-31

This chapter, which describes the reigns of Jeroboam and Rehoboam, sets the pace for the sordid record of the kings of the divided kingdom.

There was not one good king in the northern kingdom of Israel. There were 19 of them, and all were bad.

In the southern kingdom there were 20 kings — 12 of them were bad. Only 8 of them could be labeled good kings. Out of the 8, only 5 were outstanding.

The Verses

1-20 King Jeroboam was concerned about his sick son, Abijah. He sent his wife, disguised as a peasant to Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh, who foretold to Jeroboam that he would become king (I Kings, 11:29) to find out what would become of his son.

When his wife came to the door, Ahijah, having been told by God she was coming, called her “Wife of Jeroboam.”

You can’t fool God, no matter how hard you try. Her disguise was useless.

Ahijah told Jeroboam’s wife that her child would die. But he would die for an unusual reason. That son had pleased God. In other words, the son was obeying God. So God would cause the son to die in order to save him from an awful punishment. Everyone else in Jeroboam’s family would die because of sin. People would not even bury their dead bodies because God was so angry with them. But that son was different. People would bury him in honor because he had pleased God.

Jeroboam’s son died. But Jeroboam did not turn back to God. Instead Jeroboam fought wars and he continued to rule by his own strength.

A man who lives by his own desires will die, because of his desires. But a man who lives by the Spirit will always live, because of the Spirit.’ (See Galatians 6:7-8.)

21-31 The Bible does not say anything good about Rehoboam. During his rule, the people turned away from God. They were worse than in the time of the Book of Judges.

The stones were like images of male gods. Both men and women offered their bodies for sex. They did this as part of their religion. People believed that this would give them good crops. The gods would send rain and sun.

Remember, Solomon had worshipped false gods when he was old. During Rehoboam’s rule, the people were following those evil religions and their wicked practices. These sins were terrible. They caused God to be angry.

Sin makes things worse, not better. ‘They said that they themselves were clever. They said that they understood many things. But really, they became fools. They refused to worship the great and good God who can never die. Instead, they made and worshipped false gods. Their false gods were like human people, who must die…They refused to believe the true things about God. Instead, they chose to believe something that is not true’ (Romans 1:22, 23, 25)