Confrontation on
This study in 1 Kings 18 is
extremely relevant in light of the national moral decay we have witnessed in
our nation over the past 30 years.
For most
people today, even if they believe in God, He is not a real issue in their
lives and a large portion of the population does not believe in absolutes.
What is
desperately needed in our society today are more men and women who, like
Elijah, can have an Elijah-like impact on this society. Elijah was used to turn the hearts of the
people back to the Lord.
In the next
section of chapter 18, verses 30-46, we get a glimpse of Elijah as a man of
prayer.
In this section,
we see:
(1) His Preparation For
Prayer in verses 30-35;
(2) His Public Prayer and Its
Results--Fire From Heaven, Hearts Returned to the Lord, and the Baal Prophets
Removed in verses 36-40; and
(3) His Private Prayer and Its
Results: Rain From Heaven and Special Strength in
verses 41-46.
Why do you suppose Elijah called the people to come near? Because what he was about to do, his preparation and his prayer, was designed to be instructive. It was doctrinally significant and important to faith and effectual prayer.
What an important act! Elijah teaches us we must come to God on His terms and through His means of access.
Need to note
two things:
1. One of the words used for
offering a sacrifice in the Old Testament was qarab. It meant "to
come near, approach, draw near," and then, "to offer, bring."
Another word used, alah, meant literally, "to go up, ascend, climb." The ascent of the smoke of the sacrifice symbolized access to God through a sacrifice that satisfied God's holiness in anticipation of the substitutionary death of His Son..
2. Repairing the Lord's altar
depicted coming to the Lord on His terms by confession, and restoring the areas
of access we have neglected as had been the case--not with Elijah--but with
Application: For God to hear our prayer, we need to ensure that there is
nothing to hinder fellowship with Him. That is that there is no sin not dealt
with in the life. Some very important
passages:
Isaiah 59:1-4; Psalm 66:18; Proverbs 28:9; Proverbs
28:13; 1 Peter 3:7; 1 John 1:9;
Note also how Elijah repaired the altar--he used 12 stones.
Believe this
demonstrated that God had never accepted this division.
Elijah’s
detailed preparation was all done for the purpose of verifying the reality that
it was God who answered.
How we need
to give evidence that our lives are unexplainable apart from God who lives
within us.
"Then it came about . . ." This little clause is again
instructive.
It should
remind us that what specifically came to pass was a product of the work of
God. Elijah, only the
agent.
What happened here was doctrinally motivated; it was the work of God through the Word.
As a testimony
to the power of the Word, Elijah wanted the people to see that his life,
everything he did was ordered by God's Word.
Please note
the following important points:
1. The TIME of his prayer was
the time of the evening sacrifice as prescribed by the Old Testament.
2. The PLACE where he offered his prayer was near the altar where the
bullock lay. [Knew the
message of Leviticus.]
3. These were both symbolical
acts indicating Elijah's faith in God's truth, what he had said.
4. Elijah was acting according
to the revelation of the Lord in the Old Testament Scripture. HE WAS STANDING ON THE PROMISES.
What can we learn from Elijah's actions? There is no access to God and thus no prayer
heard apart from God's prescribed sacrifice and access.
But remember
this Old Testament sacrifice (as with all Old Testament sacrifices) was a shadow or type of Christ and God's
sacrifice for the sin of the world through His Son (Heb. 10:5-10; John
1:29).
What does this
mean for us today now that Christ, God's Lamb, has come and borne the sin of
mankind?
1. All must come to God through
faith in the person and work of Christ who died in our place to bear our sin:
(cf. John 14:6; Acts
2. We are to pray to the Father
in the Name of the Son, [Eph.
3. We must be in fellowship or
our first prayer needs to be the prayer of confession by which we honestly deal
with the reality of our relationship; indicator is our overt behavior (Ps.
66:18; Prov.
28:13; 1 Jn 1:9).
4. It also means the believer
who publicly prays in the name of Jesus Christ who loved us and gave Himself
for us stands out as a testimony and as a condemnation of the ecumenical spirit
of the day where prayer is made merely in God's name or in the name of some
deity.
He said, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac
and
This
proclaimed Yahweh as the God of the covenants and promises addressed to the
nation
First, when he addressed God as Yahweh,
he was:
(1) Relying and counting on God
as "I
Am," the eternal, immutable, and independent God of the universe
with whom all things were possible.
(2) He was relying on God as
the One who revealed Himself to the nation through Moses and the Law, and who
had redeemed His chosen people for a three-fold purpose:
(a) to be the custodians of the Word;
(b) to be the channel for Messiah, the Savior
of the world; and
(c) to be a light and a blessing to the nations (Gen. 12:3; Ex.
19:4-6; Deut. 4:6-8; Rom. 3:2; 9:4-6).
Second, when he addressed God as the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and
(1) God would not forsake His people;
(2) they
were to be a nation of priests to the nations of God's salvation in the coming
Messiah;
(3) they were to avoid
idolatry at all costs;
(4) for obedience there would
be blessing but for disobedience there would be cursing or the cycles of
discipline as spelled out in Deuteronomy 28-29 and Leviticus 26;
(5) and
they were to be a people of the Word of God.
This was to be their daily diet that they might remember the mighty
works which He had done. In other words,
Elijah's prayer was motivated and directed by the principles and promises of Scripture. [as all prayer
should be]
He said, "Let it be known." Elijah had four concerns and each of them
concerned the glory of God and the well being of His people. Here are four great things we need to see and
know.
1. "That Thou art God in
2. "That I am Thy servant." This statement shows us:
(a) Elijah wanted the people to see that not only was Yahweh real, but
he (Elijah) was real also.
(b) Also he wanted them to see the truth of God which he held and
believed and which had transformed his life.
This truth had brought the power of God into his life.
3. "That I have done all these things at Thy Word."
4. "That Thou hast turned their heart back again."