Confrontation on
Neither Ahab
nor the people were in any way ready for the blessing of rain. The Lord had them under judgment for neglecting
His Word and for their idolatry, which they had as yet failed to
acknowledge.
We’re looking at
1 Kings 18:21 in four parts: (1) the
problem, (2) the question, (3) the issue, and (4) the silence.
The basic
problem is seen in words "hesitate
between two opinions." "Hesitate" is the Hebrew pasach. xs;P' "to limp, be lame, or be
crippled."
It is like a
person who limps and hesitates between steps.
It gives us a striking picture of what we are like when we are
double-minded about our commitment to the Lord.
Here in 1
Kings 18:21, it means "to limp"
and refers to the unsteadiness of a person because of indecision.
The Spirit of God and their conscience warned them against Baalism and pulled them toward the Lord, but their fear of men, persecution by the queen, and their attraction to the immorality of the cult pulled them in the other direction.
We cannot walk the fence with the Lord. Scripture and a true grasp of who the Lord is
demands our full commitment.
Anything else
leads to serious consequences that affect every aspect of the life.
Scripture
speaks clearly on this:
1. Matthew 6:24--"No one can serve two masters; for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
This warns us that half-hearted commitment to the Lord leads to no real commitment at all. We end up choosing against the Lord in the crucial issues of life.
2. Matthew 12:30--"He who is not with Me is against Me; and he
who does not gather with Me scatters."
In practical terms, either we are with
the Lord 100 percent, walking by the Spirit, in fellowship or we are standing
against Him and His plan and purposes for us as His people.
3. James 1:5-8--Teaches us that failure to completely rest one's life
in God's hands leads to instability that touches every area of the life.
With the
words, "How long" the
prophet was asking them what it was
going to take to wake them up.
The question
here relates to two things:
(1) It relates to time.
"How long" brings out the
principle of the hardening of one's heart as time passes (Heb. 3:7f Today if
you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…)
(2) It relates to the effect,
just limping along with a walk that is lame and weak. It calls attention to a walk far from God's
plan of abundant living for believers.
The first "if" calls attention to the
reality of the God of the Scripture. The reality that God, who is the Creator
and Sovereign, demands that mankind, the creature, trust Him and then follow
Him.
The second "if" challenges them and us to
acknowledge the fact we can and many have placed their faith in a false
god.
Think about it, two religious systems that are diametrically opposed might possibly be right if God was not God, if there was no God, but not if God exists and has manifested Himself clearly in human history and in His revelation.
Application: If God is God (and He is),
follow Him. Don't try to sit on the
fence or pursue what is clearly false.
The text
tells us "But the people did not
answer him a word."
They had no
argument that would make sense against this challenge of Elijah, and neither
do we.
There is no
argument, at least not one that logically makes sense, against total commitment
of our lives to follow the Lord, to rest in Him completely. Any other decision is not in our best
interest at all.
He says, do
not lay up earthly treasure, but lay up heavenly treasure. We might prefer it to be a question of
both/and whereas He shows us it is an either/or from a priority
standpoint.
Not that you
can't have things, its what drives you, motivates you in life, what is the
center of your life.
The
principle of 1 Kings 18:21 and that of Matthew 6:19f means that as long as the
idols of this world fascinate us, i.e., the things we think we must have to be
happy--money, power, praise, attention--we are going to find life
miserable.
The Confrontation on
18:23-29 The Ineffectual Prayers of the
Baal Priests
But why is
it illogical and foolish to follow our man-made idols? Well, that's the point of this passage and we
will let the passage speak its bold message to us.
This passage
gives us a test between the idolatrous systems of Satan and mankind, and the
plan of God.
The test
faced by Elijah and how he deals with it illustrates for us the effect and
power any believer can have when they, like Elijah, become confident of their
tremendous resources in the Lord and stop operating by their own idolatrous
solutions.
In this
chapter we have three illustrations of prayer:
1. The Prayers of the Baal Priests: But NO Answer from Heaven
(vss. 26-29)
2. The Public
Prayer of Elijah: FIRE from Heaven (vss. 30-40)
3. The Private
Prayer of Elijah: RAIN from Heaven (vss. 41-46)
It is
important to note the particulars of what Elijah did:
(1) To remove any possible excuses and to show the complete futility
of their faith, he let them go first and gave them plenty of time.
(2) Later in the day he added some cold and cutting sarcasm, he did
this to highlight and make the issues dramatically conspicuous.
(3) Furthermore, note the odds.
Elijah made this entire scene as difficult as possible, not only for the
prophets of Baal, but also for the LORD.
So
What's the Point? God does not
ask us to give Him a hand with the impossible.