Open:
What was your favorite “hideout” as a kid? Why?
Back Ground Comments:
You will want to take a moment to read (1 Kings 18-19) to get familiar with the whole story. Meanwhile here is a short summary of what has taken place.
The kings of Israel and Judah, both good and evil, had prophets sent by God to advise, confront, and aid them. King David had a faithful friend in God’s prophet Nathan; Ahab could have had an equally faithful friend in Elijah. But while David listened to Nathan and was willing to repent of his sins, Ahab saw Elijah as his enemy. Why? Because Elijah always brought bad news to Ahab and Ahab refused to acknowledge that it was his own constant disobedience to God and persistent idol worship, not Elijah’s prophecies, that brought the evil on his nation. He blamed Elijah for bringing the prophecies of judgment, rather than taking his advice and changing his evil ways.
Ahab was trapped by his own choices, and he was unwilling to take the right action. As king, he was responsible to God and his prophet Elijah, but he was married to an evil woman who drew him into idol worship. He was a childish man who brooded for days if unable to get his own way. He took his evil wife’s advice, listened only to the “prophets” who gave good news, and surrounded himself with people who encouraged him to do whatever he wanted. But the value of advice cannot be judged by the number of people for or against it. Ahab consistently chose to follow the majority opinion of those who surrounded him, and that led to his death.
It may seem nice to have someone encourage us to do whatever we want because advice that goes against our wishes is difficult to to accept. However, our decisions must be based on the quality of the advice, not its attractiveness or the majority opinion of our peers. God encourages us to get advise from wise counselors, but how can we test the advice we receive? Advise that agrees with the principles in God’s Word is reliable. We must always separate advice from our own desires, the majority opinion, or whatever seems best in our limited perspective, and with it against God’s commands. He will never lead us to do what he has forbidden in his Word - even in principle. Unlike Ahab, we should trust godly counselors and have the courage to stand against those who would have us do otherwise.
King Ahab, influenced by his wife Jezebel, had led Israel into idolatry. (Idolatry is giving worship to anything other than the one true God. Idolatry is the spiritual worship of an idol. Many idolaters literally serve idols. In ancient Egypt statues of gods were regularly clothed and fed ...) Just before this scene, the power of God had come upon Elijah in amazing ways: (1) in a contest with the prophets of Baal, (Baal was the most prominent Canaanite deity. As the fertility god of the Canaanite pantheon (roster of gods), Baal’s sphere of influence included agriculture, animal husbandry, and human sexuality. The word “Baal” occurs in the Old Testament in combination with other terms, such as place names (Baal-peor, Hosea 9:10; Baal-hermon, Judges 3:3), or with other adjuncts as in Baal-berith (Baal of the covenant, 8:33). Baal worship became prominent in the northern kingdom of Israel during the days of King Ahab (ninth century BC) when he married Jezebel of Tyre, a city in Phoenicia (1 Kings 16:29-33; 18:19-40). Elijah demonstrated the Lord’s superiority over Baal - resulting in the execution of the false prophets: (2) after a long drought God sent rain in response to Elijah’s prayer; and (3) the Lord empowered Elijah to outrun Ahab’s chariot.
Sunday’s message will focus not so much on Ahab and Jezebel but on Elijah and the stress that was brought on by doing the right thing. In the later part of the passage we find him forgetting the victory God had just given him, fearful of Jezebel, fatigued after out running Ahab’s chariot and feeling like a failure. All these were real sources of the stress he experienced.
Explore:
Why did Elijah run to the desert and pray to die?
Get it:
What did Elijah need the most?
What was God saying to Elijah through the gentle whisper?
Apply:
When you experience stress or a let down, what helps you recover?
What message is there in this story for you?
What do you need the most right now?
Has your life taken a discouraging turn lately or are you stressed out about anything?
Does God seem to care at all in your struggle? How can you be helped?
Has God ever asked you “What are you doing here”? What was your answer?
Quoted from”Life Application Bible”, and Serendipity Bible
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