Worship the Lord God and Serve Him Only

Worship the Lord God and Serve Him Only

1 Kings 18:25-29

 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

Worship the Lord God and Serve Him Only: Elijah the Tishbite from Gilead, a hairy man who wore leather belt around his waist, a prophet of God, prophesied there would be neither dew nor rain for 3 years to King Ahab except at his word. During the drought, God send Elijah to Brook Cherith and ravens brought him food and water and he drank from the brook. When the brook dried up, God sent Elijah to a widow in Zarepath, in the region of Sidon, who had a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar. Elijah told her to not to fear, but make small cake from it first and bring it to him and afterward she should make some for her and her son.“ She took steps of faith, believed the words of Elijah, she and her household ate many days. “Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” The Lord God glorified His name through Elijah by multiplying a hand full of flour that sustained them until the day the Lord send rain on the earth and the Lord God also revived the widow’s son soul back to him to live for His glory, renounce and praise. Jesus said: Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” 

Pause & think

• Who was Elijah, why is he significant in the bible?
• What influenced Elijah faith in God?
• How did the widow in Zerapath demonstrate faith in God?

In the 3^rd year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying go present yourself to king Ahab in Samaria- which had severe famine – and tell him it will rain again. Elijah met Obadiah, a man in charge of the house of Ahab on his way to see King Ahab, and told him to tell Ahab “Elijah is here.” Obadiah in fear responded by saying, have I sin against you that you are delivering me into the hands of Ahab to kill me?  Obadiah said this because Ahab had a search warrant on Elijah to hunt for him. Obadiah was concern the Spirit of the Lord would carry Elijah to a place where he did not know, and when he told Ahab: “Elijah was here” and if he did not find Elijah, Ahab will kill him. Elijah in faith said as long as the Lord of Host lives before which I stand I will surely present myself to him today. So Obadiah, took steps of faith, encouraged by Elijah confidence in God and went to meet Ahab, told him and Ahab met Elijah.

 “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God."

Worship the Lord God and Serve Him Only: Ahab, the son of Omri, married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidonians,they served and worshiped Baal. Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord God of Israel and provoked Him to anger more than all kings of Israel. When Ahab saw Elijah he said to him: is that you, O troubler of Israel? Elijah, rebuked Ahab for forsaking the commandments of the Lord to follow Baal. He requested all Israel and the prophets of Baal and Asherah who ate at Jezebel’s table to gather at Mount Carmel.

“He who rebukes a man will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.”

Elijah challenged all Israel to decide whom they would serve and worship by asking a probing: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow Him, but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.“The people fear choosing between the ruling authorities gods, and the Lord God of Israel, considering, the children of Israel had forsaken their covenant, Jezebel had massacred some prophets of the Lord, and Elijah said he was the only prophet of the Lord left, even though Obadiah, a reverent servant of the Lord who worked in the king’s court, hid 100 of the Lord’s prophet, 50 to a cave and fed them with bread and water. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.”

“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Elijah told the prophets of Baal to choose one bull and prepare it first, because they were many, a eight-fifty to 1 ratio, he told them to call on the name of the their god but put no fire under the wood. The prophets prepared the bulls, call on the name of their god, from morning to noon, and leaped about the altar. There was no voice, no answered from their god.  At noon, Elijah in sarcasm told the prophets of Baal to cry aloud to their god saying perhaps he is mediating, busy, on a journey, sleeping and must be awakened. So they cried aloud, cut them-selves, as was their custom, with knives and lances until blood gush out on them. They prophesied until the evening sacrifice but there was no voice, no answered, no one paid attention. Jesus said: But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”

Pause &think

• How did Ahab and Jabez worship of Baal provoked the Lord to anger?
• What are components of Elijah prayer and how does this change our prayer approach?
• Contrast Elijah and Obadiah faith in God and how did Elijah encouraged Israel to repent and worship the only true God?

1 King 18:30-35

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down.Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

Worship the Lord God and Serve Him Only: Elijah beckoned the people to draw near to him, as he repaired the altar, broke it down, to distinguished between the altar of the Lord from Baal’s. He took 12 stones, which represented the 12 tribes of Israel, to remind Israel of their covenant with God through Abraham. He built an altar in the name of the Lord and made a trench around it. He put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and lay it on the wood. He poured water on the burnt sacrifice 3 times until the trench was filled with water.

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Pause & think

• What covenants did God established with Israel and how do they impact believers?
• Why did Elijah repaired the altar and renamed it ?
• What is a burnt sacrifice and how does Jesus fulfills this sacrifice today?

1 king 18:36-39

And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

During the evening sacrifice, Elijah pray in faith and said” Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me that this people may know that you are the Lord and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and dust, and it licked up the water what was in the trench”

Elijah went boldly before the altar to obtain mercy expecting the Lord to answer, for our God is a consuming fire .The Lord God is active and alive to watch over His word to perform it. He call on the name of the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, the God of the living, to remind Israel, the Lord does not break His covenant.  He reminded Israel who they are and whose they are in the Lord with a purpose of turning their heart to the Lord. “And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ Jesus said the greatest commandment : ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“…You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Elijah asked the Lord to let be known He is God and besides Him there is no other. He asked the Lord to let the people know He is a servant of the Lord, who spoke the word of the Lord. Jesus said: For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” Elijah asked to Lord to answer his prayer by evidence of fire and he asked the Lord to turn the heart of the people back to Him. “Repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord”. Elijah seized the prophet of Baal and brought them to Brook Kishon and executed them there to the glory and victory of God.

"---thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Pause &think

• What does God is a consuming fire means and how did Elijah bring Him glory ?
• What is the greatest commandment and how does this influence our life pursuit?
• How does Elijah teaches us how to live a life committed to the will of God?

When fire descended from heaven, in the presence of the Lord, the sea of people bowed their heads and faces to the ground and proclaimed with one voice: The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God.  All Israel ascribe glory to the Lord who marched in the wilderness and the earth shook, who led them by clouds by day and pillar of fire by night and in whose presence mountain melts like before fire. Parallel to Solomon’s prayer in the temple, when fire descended from heaven, burns up the burnt offering and sacrifices as the glory of the Lord filled the temple. When Israel saw the fire coming down from heaven and the glory the Lord filled the temple, they bowed their faces to the pavement, worshiped and give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His mercies endures forever.  May we draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to us, bear fruit keeping with repentance, abide in His presence and worship and serve Him only.