New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon 1 Kings 19:10-21 “Elijah - Zealous for the Lord”
May 26, 2019
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This is my second in a series of sermons drawn from the life of the Prophet Elijah. Elijah was called by God to deal with a problem King and Queen, Ahab and Jezebel. They were so terrible God had to send the greatest prophet he had to try to bring them to repentance. Today we will see what happened, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Ahab and Jezebel were the worst king and queen ever.
1 Kings 16:29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.
So, here we have a problem king. Ahab has turned his whole country away from God. He has them worshiping Baal, the god of nature, and Asherah, the goddess of sexuality. God will do something about this. God will give Ahab the opportunity to repent and return to Him.
As we saw last week God sent the prophet Elijah to Ahab to propose a test. This test would be to see which god, Baal, the god of nature, or Yahweh, the God of Israel, answers prayer. And in a most spectacular way, Elijah proved that only Yahweh, the God of Israel, answers prayer.
King Ahab, King of Israel saw all of this. Certainly, he repented and returned to the God of Israel. Right? Well, no. Ahab did not turn from the gods of nature and sexuality. He did not return to God. Rather, he turned to his wife, Queen Jezebel.
1 Kings 19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
Jezebel could have killed Elijah if she wanted to. She could have sent her army and they would have returned with his head. But she didn’t. She didn’t want to kill Elijah because that would turn him into a martyr. And martyr can be very dangerous to a king. So what she did was what tyrants always do. She intimidated him. Jezebel wanted Elijah to be so afraid of her that he would no longer bother them with prophecies. And her intimidation worked. Elijah was scared to death.
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
Elijah was so afraid he ran away and gave up. He got out of Israel as fast as he could, fired his assistant, and went a days journey into the desert without food and water to die.
God needs courageous prophets. But Elijah’s courage had failed. Elijah needs some encouragement. So God dispatched an angel.
5b All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank.
God started his encouragement of Elijah by preparing him physically. God made sure that Elijah had enough sleep and plenty to eat because there was something big God wanted Elijah to do.
8b Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
When you see the number 40 in the Bible remember that it always refers to a time of preparation. Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the 10 Commandments from God. The Israelites wandered for 40 years before entering the promised land. Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days before beginning his ministry. The forty days and nights Elijah spent on a journey was preparing him to take on Ahab and Jezebel. The purpose of these forty days was to give Elijah the courage he needed to bring about reform in Israel. And this courage would be tested on Mt. Horeb. Mt. Horeb is the mountain of God when Moses had received the 10 Commandments. On this mountain, Elijah’s courage will be tested.
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
Was Elijah afraid of the hurricane? No. Was Elijah afraid of the earthquake? No. Was Elijah afraid of the fire? No. Did Elijah run away and give up after any of these? No! Elijah’s courage has been restored. And he is ready to receive God’s instructions.
12b And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
Now we know how Yahweh, God of Israel will deal with Ahab and Jezebel, King and Queen of Israel. God has demonstrated his power to his king with a draught, but Ahab refused to repent. So now God will remove the Omri Dynasty from the throne of Israel. Elijah will anoint Jehu to lead a revolution that will topple the king. He will be assisted by Hazael, the King of Aram. And they will have a prophet to lead them, Elisha. This is God’s plan to deal with the evil king and queen, Ahab and Jezebel. They will lose their thrones because they led the people astray toward the gods of nature and sexuality.
This is a warning to all those in power who seek to lead people away from God. Anyone who leads a nation toward the worship of nature and sexuality risks losing their power to an angry God.
We Christian must be courageous. We must proclaim the truth no matter the cost. We must constantly call people back to the one true God, whom we know as Jesus Christ. God will encourage us through our spiritual practices of worship, prayer and Bible study.
Elijah never saw the end of the Omri dynasty. He was gone before the revolution. But he knew that through his courage he was helping implement God’s plan for the world. So too with us. If we act courageously to witness to God’s amazing love and call people to faith the fruits of what we do may not be known in our lifetimes. But rest assured that God is using your courageous work to bring his glorious plan into fruition. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven we thank you for the courage you give us. Help us to hold fast to your truth and proclaim it to a world hungry to hear it. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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