The Life of elijah (part 6)
Mount carmel - The stage is set,
the charge is laid.
1kings 18:17-24 ~ ted phillips
May 20, 2018
The Life of elijah (part 6)
This morning we’re going to continue with our study of Elijah. We come now to chapter 18 of first Kings verses 21 through 40. Up until now God had revealed Himself to Elijah at the brook of Cherith, and then again with the widow at Zarephath. The Lord God revealed His sovereign power and His faithfulness to Elijah at these times and He did this in order to prepare Elijah for this very time, the purpose that he had for Elijah at Mount Caramel. And it is here, then, where the Lord would then reveal His sovereign power and His faithfulness to the rebellious people of Israel.
I want to read starting in verse 17 of chapter 18 and just read down through verse 24 this morning. It says:
“When Ahab saw Elijah Ahab said to him, is this you? You troubler of Israel. and he said I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed the baals. Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Caramel together with 450 prophets of baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel, and he brought the prophets together at Mount Caramel. Elijah came near to all the people and he said, “how long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, if baal follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left, a prophet of the Lord. But, baals, prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen and let them choose one ox for themselves, and cut it up and place it on the wood but put no fire under it and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood and I will not put fire under it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” All the people said, “that is a good idea”.
Before we get into some of the specifics of this passage I want to make just a few observations about the setting of this event, of this really significant event. And it is it is a significant event, a very important event for Elijah and a very important event for the people of Israel, and I would add, it's an important event, even though it occurred 2000 years ago, its most important for you and I. I would remind you again what the apostle Paul stated, he said that,
“whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction.”
What happened at Mount Caramel the truths and the principles that we see worked out here, they are not just, they are I should say just as relevant today as they were then. God has not changed; His word is eternal. It does not fail. We need to consider this as we work our way through this passage, the Lord will indeed instruct us as His desire, and what a blessing it is to know that that is His purpose by the unfailing truth of His word, instructing us in the way of righteousness.
The first thing I want to point out about the setting of this event is the location, of course as we know that's Mount Caramel. It's estimated that up to a few thousand people were gathered that day on Mount Caramel. The location is really kind of interesting because Mount Caramel stood between the land of Israel and the land of the Phoenicians and that is to say it stood between the land that God had given to Israel and the land of those who worshiped baal. What is also important to know, is that the worshipers of baal they regarded Mount Caramel as a sacred place. It was a place where they believed that the god baal actually dwelt. Lightning and thunderstorms were apparently common on Mount Caramel and the worshipers of baal viewed them as manifestations of his deity. So, you put all this together, from a human standpoint, baal had the advantage in this confrontation. He was seen to have the upper hand, so to speak, but none of this of course is by chance. The Lord did not get outmaneuvered by baal in some way. And earlier, according to the word of the Lord, Elijah was the one who chose Mount Caramel. This is how the Lord works, and I think this is how the Lord works especially when He intends to show forth the fact that He alone is God, that He alone is sovereign.
That leads us to the next observation about the setting of this event, that is, Elijah was thoroughly outnumbered. In fact, you cannot get any more outnumbered than Elijah was at Mount Caramel. He stood alone. He stood alone as a man of God. He stood alone as a servant of God and he those who stood before him were all the rebellious people of Israel. And you add to that 450 prophets of baal, 400 prophets of Asherah, and they were nothing more than the servants of the devil, they were nothing more than workers of iniquity. So, Elijah stands there by himself extremely outnumbered. I would venture to say that everyone of us, as a child of God and living in a world that is the domain of Satan, every one of us has felt outnumbered at some point in our Christian life. Outnumbered and perhaps even overmatched, and maybe even outmaneuvered by those who live in darkness and hate the light of the gospel. I think it’s difficult at times not to be overwhelmed by this if we’re not careful. as you look at the news every day, it's hard not to feel as though Satan has the upper hand in all that we see this going on. But this is not something new. This is not something new. This is how it has always been with the people of God. Ever since God chose Abraham and set His affections upon him. God's people have always been the minority in this world. God's people have always been the enemy of the forces of evil in this world. I think in one sense the Lord delights in this, He delights in His people being outnumbered. He delights in the odds being against His people.
I want to give you an example of this, an example during the reign of King Jehoshaphat. At this time Judah was on the verge of being assaulted by three other nations and in second Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 12, they cry out to God, saying:
“Oh, our God, wilt thou not judge them for we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee.”
Judah was feeling overwhelmed by the multitude who was coming against them by the forces of evil, and then in verse 14 were told that the spirit of the Lord had come upon a man named Jahaziel and this is what he said, he says:
“Listen all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord, to you, do not fear or be dismayed. Because of this great multitude.”
Those are the words that they needed to hear. And those are the words that you and I need to hear. Do not fear, no matter how outnumbered we might be. Do not fear, why because he goes on, he says, “for the battle is not yours but God's.” The battle is not yours but God's. What a profound truth that is if you think about it. Then he continues on in verse 16 he says,
“tomorrow go down against them, behold, they will come up by the assent of Ziz and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel”,
And I want you notice what he says. Last of all. Verse 17 says,
“you need not fight in this battle. station yourself stand and see the salvation of the Lord.”
See, the Lord delights in being a stronghold for His people, especially when they are outnumbered, especially when the world sees that the odds are in their own favor, and they fully expect to be victorious. The Lord delights in making known the glory of His saving power. As the psalmist says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation.” As the God of our salvation, He desires that His people know the joy of that salvation, and that joy is our strength. When we are outnumbered that joy of God's salvation is our strength in the face of what appears to be certain victory for the enemy, the saving power of God produces joy.
Elijah knew this to be true. Elijah knew this to be true. That is what the last 3 1/2 years of his life were all about. That is how he was able to confidently stand alone, outnumbered by the enemy. In the book of Luke, the angel of the Lord talks about the spirit and the power of Elijah. This is the source. This is the source of the spirit and the power that he had, it’s the fact Elijah, just like David, he knew and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the battle belongs to the Lord. The battle is not ours to fight, it is under the sovereign control of our God. As we see the multitude of people in this world daily rising up against the Lord, rising up against the truth of God's word in rebellion, what a blessing it is to know that God is for us. God is for us, who could possibly prevail against us? God is for us.
Last thing that I want to note about this setting is that it's in public, very public. And that of course is to say that the rebellious sin of Israel and its king were dealt with in a very public way. There's not a hidden meeting between Elijah and King Ahab to come to some sort of agreement. There's no negotiation. There's no deliberation that takes place. The issue here was sin against God, and that was the reason, of course behind the drought. This was not a situation where a mutually agreeable solution could be found. Israel had disobeyed and they had defiled God. At the very first commandment that He had given to them. “You shall have no other gods before me.” For all intents and purposes, the worship of baal had replaced the worship of the Lord. And their transgression against the Lord was very obvious for all to see. If you think about it, the way of the world is to conceal much of what it does. That's the way of unrighteousness, to hide itself in order to avoid scrutiny, but in this case the Lord chose to deal with Israel's sin in a very public way and as we know He move the mind of Ahab to agree to gather the people at Mount Caramel. The Lord Himself had nothing to hide, of course this is the way of righteousness.
I think more to the point of this passage, the Lord dealt with Israel's sin in this very open way because the honor of His name was at stake. They had openly dishonored the name of the One who had called them and formed them into a nation and formed them into His very own possession. Before the world, before the eyes of all they had turned their back on Him. At times, it's needful for the church to deal with sin, it’s a very difficult thing to do. But as we see here with Israel, first and foremost, it is to be dealt with, so as to honor the name of the Lord. That is what should be important over everything else, that is to be the priority and it really should drive the process. But so often the tendency for the church is to keep sin under wraps. And the reason given much of the time is to protect their testimony in the community, but in reality, the community already knows. Sin is rarely kept silent. So as a result, the community sees the church as a group of hypocrites. I think that what is more important than whether or not the world learns of the sin within the church, is that they see how God's people deal with sin. What is important is that they see God's standard of righteousness is lifted up. Where in love, sin is called sin, it’s acknowledged and confessed before the Lord and then to see a life that has been cleansed and delivered from the power of that sin. What we see here is that the Lord is not ashamed to deal with His people, and specifically to deal with their sins in a very open and public way, and He does this for the sake of righteousness and for the sake of the glory of His name.
As we move into to verse 21, now I want to pay special attention to how it is Elijah addressed the people of Israel, that is God's people. As you see here, Elijah gets right to the very heart of the matter. He does not try to soften the blow or lesson the seriousness of this situation. He's in no way is trying to curry favor with the people, there's no manipulation going on here, he speaks the simple truth. The truth that is quite obvious. In verse 21 again, Elijah comes near to all the people and he says,
“How long will you hesitate between two opinions. If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if baal follow him.”
“How long will you hesitate between two opinions”. In every respect, this is a most serious charge that Elijah is making here. It's a charge that gripped the attention of the people. The last part of the verse it says the people did not answer him a word. They were silenced. They had no legitimate response to such a charge as this. I would suggest this morning that this is a charge that needs to grab hold of our attention as well. Its is not something that we dare to take lightly. There is an important instruction here for us to learn.
To fully appreciate the charge that Elijah is making, we need to understand that at this time in the history of Israel, not all, but most of the people saw the worship of Yahweh and the worship of baal as fully compatible with one another. In fact, that's the very thing that they were doing. Their consciences did not allow them to fully satisfy their traditions and the practices of their forefathers and then adding to that, their fear of Ahab and Jezebel who had introduced the worship of baal, as well as their own attraction to the enticements that this false god offered. They had been attempting to combine the worship of Yahweh and the worship of baal. So, Elijah speaks the truth to them the rightly accuses them of hesitating between two opinions.
The word that is used here to describe the condition of the hearts of the people is really instructive I think, to hesitate literally means to limp along, to limp along. It refers to somebody who’s natural ability to walk has been severely impeded. This is a person who can no longer walk uprightly, they’re bent over and struggling even to move. In the case of the of the Israelite people, it describes the fact that their hearts were stumbling between two opposing allegiances. Their hearts were divided. Their loyalties were being literally torn in two different directions between the Lord God of Israel, and the false pagan deity. And as you look at this, this is a very ugly picture of spiritual perversion. It’s a form of godliness that is powerless. It's impotent. But one of the things I think that is important for us to see here, this is exactly where Satan wanted the people of Israel. This is exactly where he wanted their hearts. The world has no problem with the God of the Bible when the worship of Him is combined with the worship of one of their false gods. We need to understand that because it’s very important. The world has no problem with the God of the Bible when the worship of Him is combined with the worship of one of their own gods. They have no problem with that at all. And the reason is because when the God of the Bible is identified with one such as baal, when He is set alongside him for mutual worship, He's no longer the God of the Bible. He’s no longer the God of the Bible, Jehovah is no longer Jehovah God when He is set along someone such as baal. Set alongside false deities, He becomes virtually just like them. He becomes a God of man's own creation and desire. He no longer is the God who’s standard of righteousness and holiness pricks at the conscience of sinful men.
See the issue that Elijah was confronting here was the issue of idolatry. The issue of idolatry. The sin of idolatry. As you look through the Scripture, you cannot help but see there is nothing more detestable in the sight of God. There is no sin more offensive to the Lord then the sin of idolatry. And the Lord has made this abundantly clear to His chosen people. In the book of Exodus chapter 34 verses 12 through 14. After giving the law to Moses the second time, the Lord spoke to the people, and He warned them concerning the inhabitants of the land which He was giving to them. And in verse 12 He says,
“Watch yourself, that you make no covenant (that is that you make no agreement) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going or it will become a snare in your midst, but rather,” He says in verse 13, “You are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim.” The danger that He was warning against He states in verse 14, He says, “for you shall not worship any other God.”
It cannot be any stated any clearer than that. You shall not have any other God before me, or beside me, and then notice the reason that He gives at the end of the verse, He says, “For the Lord, whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.” What a statement the Lord makes it to His people. What a statement He makes to us! “The Lord, whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.” We mostly look at jealousy today with a negative view and most times in Scripture that's how it is viewed, but here God states that not only is He a jealous God but to emphasize this, He declares, My Name is Jealous now, this in no way brings God down to the likeness of men. In fact, the implication here is quite the opposite. The word jealousy as it is used here, it describes the holy regard which God has for His own deity and for His honor and for the supremacy that belongs to Him alone. He alone is the self-existent God. He has no beginning and He has no end, He dwells on the high and holy place, HE IS JEHOVAH GOD, there is no other. And there's no greater offense than to worship and to give homage to another in His place. That's His point. There is no greater transgression than when His throne is given to another. The worship that God deserves, and that He demands is exclusive. It's exclusive. That’s such an important truth for you and I to take hold of, the God of all creation. The Most High God, He demands a single-minded worship from His people. Nothing less is adequate. Nothing less is adequate.
Something else we need to take hold of is that idolatry is not the exclusive sin of Israel, by no means is that the exclusive sin of Israel. It is true that a child of God will not turn from God completely, and idolatry will certainly not be a governing characteristic of the believer's life, but God's people can fall into the temptation of an idolatrous attitude followed by idolatrous conduct. The New Testament warns us against this often, in fact I would suggest that the sin of idolatry is the greatest danger that you and I face. The greatest danger that we face. Let me give you a few examples that we have of this warning against idolatry. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12 verse two he says, “Do not be conformed to this world.” in Colossians chapter 3 and verse two he exhorts the brethren to, “Set your mind on things above and not on the things that are on the earth.” Second Timothy chapter 2 and verse four he says, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” And then in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17 he says, “This I say therefore and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles walked.” That is what he’s saying, is do not live and do not conduct yourself just as the Gentiles do.
Now you might be saying to yourself, what do these verses have to do with idolatry? The word idolatry is not mentioned in any one of them. I want you to think about this – what we conform ourselves to, what we set our minds on and how we walk and conduct ourselves, all of these have to do with our allegiance. All of these have to do with our allegiances. They have to do with what we give ourselves over to as a priority, and they are what we set our affections on. And our allegiance and our priorities and our affections, all of these are elements of worship and they belong to God, they belong to God alone. This is exactly what Paul stated back again in Romans chapter 12 verse one. He said, “Present your bodies. (That includes every part of us) present your bodies a living and a holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your service of spiritual worship.” Our bodies are to be reserved for the worship of God only. Exclusively.
A passage that I think, puts this in a little bit different perspective – in Matthew chapter 22 in verse 37. Remember, the Lord was asked what is the greatest commandment? And He answers and He says to them, “you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.” See, what the Lord is saying here, in His response, He’s saying that we are to love Him with each and every faculty that our body possesses. There is not one part of our lives that is not to be devoted to Him. There is nothing that is ours to keep back for ourselves. In fact, to hold back anything is to place our love for that thing, above our love for God. And it seems to me that this really gets to the very essence of what idolatry is – it is that our love for something or someone is placed above our love for God.
I want to read you just a short quote from a man named FB Meyer. His comments here have to do with the pervasive nature of idolatry and I think they're very good. Again, he's talking about the pervasive nature of idolatry and says, “That the sensual appetites are an idol with many, eating and drinking, feasting and pleasure seeking are idols, before which many prostates themselves. And there are other idols than these,” he says, “for whenever any earthly object engrosses our soul and intercepts our love and faith that should pass from us to God, it is an idol which should be overthrown.” Anything that intercepts or snatches away our love from God, that's idolatry and that's certainly defines and explains what Elijah was facing with the people of Israel that day.
It's a sad thing to say, but I think there are many believers who limp through much of their Christian life with the struggle of idolatry. There is this constant balancing act between their affections for the Lord in their affections for the things of this world. And they may find themselves hesitating between two opposing opinions. They find themselves hesitating between two opposing affections. I think it is good and right for us to examine ourselves in this very thing. Sometimes this condition shows itself in one's life by the fact that there is only so far we will go with the Lord, only so much of myself I'm willing to give to Him. There are things that we tend to hold back. I was thinking about this, I have noticed this in certain areas of my own life and its idolatry. Its idolatry. To hold back something from the Lord, no matter what it is, is to place its value above Him. Again, that's idolatry. And the degree to which we give into this, we will limp along in our walk with the Lord. I think another thing that is true is that for the believer who is limping along between his affections for the Lord and his affections for self and for the world – he gives up so much. So much is forfeited, deep fellowship with the Lord and joy in Him and an ongoing realization of the power of God spirit within us.
In closing, I want to encourage your hearts in all of this. I want us to look at Joshua, just for a minute. In leading the people of Israel into the promised land, Joshua, really if you think about it, he faced really the same thing that Elijah faced. The people were struggling with idolatry once again. In Joshua chapter 24 in verses 14 to 15 we see how Joshua confronts this. In verse 14 chapter 24 Joshua, this is Joshua's statement to the people of Israel. He says,
“Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your site to serve the Lord, choose for yourself today, whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.” Then notice what he says, He says, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
You cannot help but see the determination in Joshua in the statement as he stands before the people of Israel. Joshua confronted the temptation of idolatry with a single-minded determination, single-minded determination. “As for me and my house, WE WILL serve the Lord.” In the Christian life, there is a responsibility that we have and it is this – it’s determination. Or you can call it discipline or you can call it steadfastness. They're all the same thing. It's not a determination based simply on our own strength but it's a determination, it's a discipline of the heart, a discipline of the mind that is based on the truths and the promises of God's word. It’s taking God at His word. It’s an act of faith. This is what we see with Joshua here. Joshua made a choice when he was tempted in the sin of idolatry and in faithful determination he took God at His word. We see the same principle also in Colossians chapter 2 in verse five, the New Testament, the apostle Paul greatly encourages the saints at Colossae. He says, “For even though I'm absent in body, nevertheless, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing.” He says, why? “To see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.” As we know, there were those who were trying to delude the Colossian saints with false teaching. In other words, they were trying to tempt them with a form of idolatry. Paul commends them for their good discipline and as we see it's a single-minded discipline that then resulted in the stability of their faith. Stability of the faith, they did not give in to idolatry. They remained faithful to God and did not give into it.
If you look back at the prior verses we see that it was a discipline that was not based on their own strength alone, but on the knowledge of God's mystery that is Christ himself, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” See they had a single-minded discipline setting their minds on Christ alone disciplining their minds on all the treasures that were provided for them at the cross. Elijah not only confronted the Israelites with their idolatry, but he was urging them to flee from it and that is exactly what God's people are exhorted to do in first Corinthians, to flee from idolatry. That's what Paul exhorts the believers at Corinth to do. And we do this by disciplining ourselves for the purpose of godliness, by taking God at his word, by growing in grace and in the knowledge of Him. Let’s bow our heads this morning as we close our time in His word.
I want to read starting in verse 17 of chapter 18 and just read down through verse 24 this morning. It says:
“When Ahab saw Elijah Ahab said to him, is this you? You troubler of Israel. and he said I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed the baals. Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Caramel together with 450 prophets of baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel, and he brought the prophets together at Mount Caramel. Elijah came near to all the people and he said, “how long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, if baal follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left, a prophet of the Lord. But, baals, prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen and let them choose one ox for themselves, and cut it up and place it on the wood but put no fire under it and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood and I will not put fire under it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” All the people said, “that is a good idea”.
Before we get into some of the specifics of this passage I want to make just a few observations about the setting of this event, of this really significant event. And it is it is a significant event, a very important event for Elijah and a very important event for the people of Israel, and I would add, it's an important event, even though it occurred 2000 years ago, its most important for you and I. I would remind you again what the apostle Paul stated, he said that,
“whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction.”
What happened at Mount Caramel the truths and the principles that we see worked out here, they are not just, they are I should say just as relevant today as they were then. God has not changed; His word is eternal. It does not fail. We need to consider this as we work our way through this passage, the Lord will indeed instruct us as His desire, and what a blessing it is to know that that is His purpose by the unfailing truth of His word, instructing us in the way of righteousness.
The first thing I want to point out about the setting of this event is the location, of course as we know that's Mount Caramel. It's estimated that up to a few thousand people were gathered that day on Mount Caramel. The location is really kind of interesting because Mount Caramel stood between the land of Israel and the land of the Phoenicians and that is to say it stood between the land that God had given to Israel and the land of those who worshiped baal. What is also important to know, is that the worshipers of baal they regarded Mount Caramel as a sacred place. It was a place where they believed that the god baal actually dwelt. Lightning and thunderstorms were apparently common on Mount Caramel and the worshipers of baal viewed them as manifestations of his deity. So, you put all this together, from a human standpoint, baal had the advantage in this confrontation. He was seen to have the upper hand, so to speak, but none of this of course is by chance. The Lord did not get outmaneuvered by baal in some way. And earlier, according to the word of the Lord, Elijah was the one who chose Mount Caramel. This is how the Lord works, and I think this is how the Lord works especially when He intends to show forth the fact that He alone is God, that He alone is sovereign.
That leads us to the next observation about the setting of this event, that is, Elijah was thoroughly outnumbered. In fact, you cannot get any more outnumbered than Elijah was at Mount Caramel. He stood alone. He stood alone as a man of God. He stood alone as a servant of God and he those who stood before him were all the rebellious people of Israel. And you add to that 450 prophets of baal, 400 prophets of Asherah, and they were nothing more than the servants of the devil, they were nothing more than workers of iniquity. So, Elijah stands there by himself extremely outnumbered. I would venture to say that everyone of us, as a child of God and living in a world that is the domain of Satan, every one of us has felt outnumbered at some point in our Christian life. Outnumbered and perhaps even overmatched, and maybe even outmaneuvered by those who live in darkness and hate the light of the gospel. I think it’s difficult at times not to be overwhelmed by this if we’re not careful. as you look at the news every day, it's hard not to feel as though Satan has the upper hand in all that we see this going on. But this is not something new. This is not something new. This is how it has always been with the people of God. Ever since God chose Abraham and set His affections upon him. God's people have always been the minority in this world. God's people have always been the enemy of the forces of evil in this world. I think in one sense the Lord delights in this, He delights in His people being outnumbered. He delights in the odds being against His people.
I want to give you an example of this, an example during the reign of King Jehoshaphat. At this time Judah was on the verge of being assaulted by three other nations and in second Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 12, they cry out to God, saying:
“Oh, our God, wilt thou not judge them for we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee.”
Judah was feeling overwhelmed by the multitude who was coming against them by the forces of evil, and then in verse 14 were told that the spirit of the Lord had come upon a man named Jahaziel and this is what he said, he says:
“Listen all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord, to you, do not fear or be dismayed. Because of this great multitude.”
Those are the words that they needed to hear. And those are the words that you and I need to hear. Do not fear, no matter how outnumbered we might be. Do not fear, why because he goes on, he says, “for the battle is not yours but God's.” The battle is not yours but God's. What a profound truth that is if you think about it. Then he continues on in verse 16 he says,
“tomorrow go down against them, behold, they will come up by the assent of Ziz and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel”,
And I want you notice what he says. Last of all. Verse 17 says,
“you need not fight in this battle. station yourself stand and see the salvation of the Lord.”
See, the Lord delights in being a stronghold for His people, especially when they are outnumbered, especially when the world sees that the odds are in their own favor, and they fully expect to be victorious. The Lord delights in making known the glory of His saving power. As the psalmist says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation.” As the God of our salvation, He desires that His people know the joy of that salvation, and that joy is our strength. When we are outnumbered that joy of God's salvation is our strength in the face of what appears to be certain victory for the enemy, the saving power of God produces joy.
Elijah knew this to be true. Elijah knew this to be true. That is what the last 3 1/2 years of his life were all about. That is how he was able to confidently stand alone, outnumbered by the enemy. In the book of Luke, the angel of the Lord talks about the spirit and the power of Elijah. This is the source. This is the source of the spirit and the power that he had, it’s the fact Elijah, just like David, he knew and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the battle belongs to the Lord. The battle is not ours to fight, it is under the sovereign control of our God. As we see the multitude of people in this world daily rising up against the Lord, rising up against the truth of God's word in rebellion, what a blessing it is to know that God is for us. God is for us, who could possibly prevail against us? God is for us.
Last thing that I want to note about this setting is that it's in public, very public. And that of course is to say that the rebellious sin of Israel and its king were dealt with in a very public way. There's not a hidden meeting between Elijah and King Ahab to come to some sort of agreement. There's no negotiation. There's no deliberation that takes place. The issue here was sin against God, and that was the reason, of course behind the drought. This was not a situation where a mutually agreeable solution could be found. Israel had disobeyed and they had defiled God. At the very first commandment that He had given to them. “You shall have no other gods before me.” For all intents and purposes, the worship of baal had replaced the worship of the Lord. And their transgression against the Lord was very obvious for all to see. If you think about it, the way of the world is to conceal much of what it does. That's the way of unrighteousness, to hide itself in order to avoid scrutiny, but in this case the Lord chose to deal with Israel's sin in a very public way and as we know He move the mind of Ahab to agree to gather the people at Mount Caramel. The Lord Himself had nothing to hide, of course this is the way of righteousness.
I think more to the point of this passage, the Lord dealt with Israel's sin in this very open way because the honor of His name was at stake. They had openly dishonored the name of the One who had called them and formed them into a nation and formed them into His very own possession. Before the world, before the eyes of all they had turned their back on Him. At times, it's needful for the church to deal with sin, it’s a very difficult thing to do. But as we see here with Israel, first and foremost, it is to be dealt with, so as to honor the name of the Lord. That is what should be important over everything else, that is to be the priority and it really should drive the process. But so often the tendency for the church is to keep sin under wraps. And the reason given much of the time is to protect their testimony in the community, but in reality, the community already knows. Sin is rarely kept silent. So as a result, the community sees the church as a group of hypocrites. I think that what is more important than whether or not the world learns of the sin within the church, is that they see how God's people deal with sin. What is important is that they see God's standard of righteousness is lifted up. Where in love, sin is called sin, it’s acknowledged and confessed before the Lord and then to see a life that has been cleansed and delivered from the power of that sin. What we see here is that the Lord is not ashamed to deal with His people, and specifically to deal with their sins in a very open and public way, and He does this for the sake of righteousness and for the sake of the glory of His name.
As we move into to verse 21, now I want to pay special attention to how it is Elijah addressed the people of Israel, that is God's people. As you see here, Elijah gets right to the very heart of the matter. He does not try to soften the blow or lesson the seriousness of this situation. He's in no way is trying to curry favor with the people, there's no manipulation going on here, he speaks the simple truth. The truth that is quite obvious. In verse 21 again, Elijah comes near to all the people and he says,
“How long will you hesitate between two opinions. If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if baal follow him.”
“How long will you hesitate between two opinions”. In every respect, this is a most serious charge that Elijah is making here. It's a charge that gripped the attention of the people. The last part of the verse it says the people did not answer him a word. They were silenced. They had no legitimate response to such a charge as this. I would suggest this morning that this is a charge that needs to grab hold of our attention as well. Its is not something that we dare to take lightly. There is an important instruction here for us to learn.
To fully appreciate the charge that Elijah is making, we need to understand that at this time in the history of Israel, not all, but most of the people saw the worship of Yahweh and the worship of baal as fully compatible with one another. In fact, that's the very thing that they were doing. Their consciences did not allow them to fully satisfy their traditions and the practices of their forefathers and then adding to that, their fear of Ahab and Jezebel who had introduced the worship of baal, as well as their own attraction to the enticements that this false god offered. They had been attempting to combine the worship of Yahweh and the worship of baal. So, Elijah speaks the truth to them the rightly accuses them of hesitating between two opinions.
The word that is used here to describe the condition of the hearts of the people is really instructive I think, to hesitate literally means to limp along, to limp along. It refers to somebody who’s natural ability to walk has been severely impeded. This is a person who can no longer walk uprightly, they’re bent over and struggling even to move. In the case of the of the Israelite people, it describes the fact that their hearts were stumbling between two opposing allegiances. Their hearts were divided. Their loyalties were being literally torn in two different directions between the Lord God of Israel, and the false pagan deity. And as you look at this, this is a very ugly picture of spiritual perversion. It’s a form of godliness that is powerless. It's impotent. But one of the things I think that is important for us to see here, this is exactly where Satan wanted the people of Israel. This is exactly where he wanted their hearts. The world has no problem with the God of the Bible when the worship of Him is combined with the worship of one of their false gods. We need to understand that because it’s very important. The world has no problem with the God of the Bible when the worship of Him is combined with the worship of one of their own gods. They have no problem with that at all. And the reason is because when the God of the Bible is identified with one such as baal, when He is set alongside him for mutual worship, He's no longer the God of the Bible. He’s no longer the God of the Bible, Jehovah is no longer Jehovah God when He is set along someone such as baal. Set alongside false deities, He becomes virtually just like them. He becomes a God of man's own creation and desire. He no longer is the God who’s standard of righteousness and holiness pricks at the conscience of sinful men.
See the issue that Elijah was confronting here was the issue of idolatry. The issue of idolatry. The sin of idolatry. As you look through the Scripture, you cannot help but see there is nothing more detestable in the sight of God. There is no sin more offensive to the Lord then the sin of idolatry. And the Lord has made this abundantly clear to His chosen people. In the book of Exodus chapter 34 verses 12 through 14. After giving the law to Moses the second time, the Lord spoke to the people, and He warned them concerning the inhabitants of the land which He was giving to them. And in verse 12 He says,
“Watch yourself, that you make no covenant (that is that you make no agreement) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going or it will become a snare in your midst, but rather,” He says in verse 13, “You are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim.” The danger that He was warning against He states in verse 14, He says, “for you shall not worship any other God.”
It cannot be any stated any clearer than that. You shall not have any other God before me, or beside me, and then notice the reason that He gives at the end of the verse, He says, “For the Lord, whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.” What a statement the Lord makes it to His people. What a statement He makes to us! “The Lord, whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.” We mostly look at jealousy today with a negative view and most times in Scripture that's how it is viewed, but here God states that not only is He a jealous God but to emphasize this, He declares, My Name is Jealous now, this in no way brings God down to the likeness of men. In fact, the implication here is quite the opposite. The word jealousy as it is used here, it describes the holy regard which God has for His own deity and for His honor and for the supremacy that belongs to Him alone. He alone is the self-existent God. He has no beginning and He has no end, He dwells on the high and holy place, HE IS JEHOVAH GOD, there is no other. And there's no greater offense than to worship and to give homage to another in His place. That's His point. There is no greater transgression than when His throne is given to another. The worship that God deserves, and that He demands is exclusive. It's exclusive. That’s such an important truth for you and I to take hold of, the God of all creation. The Most High God, He demands a single-minded worship from His people. Nothing less is adequate. Nothing less is adequate.
Something else we need to take hold of is that idolatry is not the exclusive sin of Israel, by no means is that the exclusive sin of Israel. It is true that a child of God will not turn from God completely, and idolatry will certainly not be a governing characteristic of the believer's life, but God's people can fall into the temptation of an idolatrous attitude followed by idolatrous conduct. The New Testament warns us against this often, in fact I would suggest that the sin of idolatry is the greatest danger that you and I face. The greatest danger that we face. Let me give you a few examples that we have of this warning against idolatry. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12 verse two he says, “Do not be conformed to this world.” in Colossians chapter 3 and verse two he exhorts the brethren to, “Set your mind on things above and not on the things that are on the earth.” Second Timothy chapter 2 and verse four he says, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” And then in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17 he says, “This I say therefore and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles walked.” That is what he’s saying, is do not live and do not conduct yourself just as the Gentiles do.
Now you might be saying to yourself, what do these verses have to do with idolatry? The word idolatry is not mentioned in any one of them. I want you to think about this – what we conform ourselves to, what we set our minds on and how we walk and conduct ourselves, all of these have to do with our allegiance. All of these have to do with our allegiances. They have to do with what we give ourselves over to as a priority, and they are what we set our affections on. And our allegiance and our priorities and our affections, all of these are elements of worship and they belong to God, they belong to God alone. This is exactly what Paul stated back again in Romans chapter 12 verse one. He said, “Present your bodies. (That includes every part of us) present your bodies a living and a holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your service of spiritual worship.” Our bodies are to be reserved for the worship of God only. Exclusively.
A passage that I think, puts this in a little bit different perspective – in Matthew chapter 22 in verse 37. Remember, the Lord was asked what is the greatest commandment? And He answers and He says to them, “you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.” See, what the Lord is saying here, in His response, He’s saying that we are to love Him with each and every faculty that our body possesses. There is not one part of our lives that is not to be devoted to Him. There is nothing that is ours to keep back for ourselves. In fact, to hold back anything is to place our love for that thing, above our love for God. And it seems to me that this really gets to the very essence of what idolatry is – it is that our love for something or someone is placed above our love for God.
I want to read you just a short quote from a man named FB Meyer. His comments here have to do with the pervasive nature of idolatry and I think they're very good. Again, he's talking about the pervasive nature of idolatry and says, “That the sensual appetites are an idol with many, eating and drinking, feasting and pleasure seeking are idols, before which many prostates themselves. And there are other idols than these,” he says, “for whenever any earthly object engrosses our soul and intercepts our love and faith that should pass from us to God, it is an idol which should be overthrown.” Anything that intercepts or snatches away our love from God, that's idolatry and that's certainly defines and explains what Elijah was facing with the people of Israel that day.
It's a sad thing to say, but I think there are many believers who limp through much of their Christian life with the struggle of idolatry. There is this constant balancing act between their affections for the Lord in their affections for the things of this world. And they may find themselves hesitating between two opposing opinions. They find themselves hesitating between two opposing affections. I think it is good and right for us to examine ourselves in this very thing. Sometimes this condition shows itself in one's life by the fact that there is only so far we will go with the Lord, only so much of myself I'm willing to give to Him. There are things that we tend to hold back. I was thinking about this, I have noticed this in certain areas of my own life and its idolatry. Its idolatry. To hold back something from the Lord, no matter what it is, is to place its value above Him. Again, that's idolatry. And the degree to which we give into this, we will limp along in our walk with the Lord. I think another thing that is true is that for the believer who is limping along between his affections for the Lord and his affections for self and for the world – he gives up so much. So much is forfeited, deep fellowship with the Lord and joy in Him and an ongoing realization of the power of God spirit within us.
In closing, I want to encourage your hearts in all of this. I want us to look at Joshua, just for a minute. In leading the people of Israel into the promised land, Joshua, really if you think about it, he faced really the same thing that Elijah faced. The people were struggling with idolatry once again. In Joshua chapter 24 in verses 14 to 15 we see how Joshua confronts this. In verse 14 chapter 24 Joshua, this is Joshua's statement to the people of Israel. He says,
“Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your site to serve the Lord, choose for yourself today, whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.” Then notice what he says, He says, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
You cannot help but see the determination in Joshua in the statement as he stands before the people of Israel. Joshua confronted the temptation of idolatry with a single-minded determination, single-minded determination. “As for me and my house, WE WILL serve the Lord.” In the Christian life, there is a responsibility that we have and it is this – it’s determination. Or you can call it discipline or you can call it steadfastness. They're all the same thing. It's not a determination based simply on our own strength but it's a determination, it's a discipline of the heart, a discipline of the mind that is based on the truths and the promises of God's word. It’s taking God at His word. It’s an act of faith. This is what we see with Joshua here. Joshua made a choice when he was tempted in the sin of idolatry and in faithful determination he took God at His word. We see the same principle also in Colossians chapter 2 in verse five, the New Testament, the apostle Paul greatly encourages the saints at Colossae. He says, “For even though I'm absent in body, nevertheless, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing.” He says, why? “To see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.” As we know, there were those who were trying to delude the Colossian saints with false teaching. In other words, they were trying to tempt them with a form of idolatry. Paul commends them for their good discipline and as we see it's a single-minded discipline that then resulted in the stability of their faith. Stability of the faith, they did not give in to idolatry. They remained faithful to God and did not give into it.
If you look back at the prior verses we see that it was a discipline that was not based on their own strength alone, but on the knowledge of God's mystery that is Christ himself, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” See they had a single-minded discipline setting their minds on Christ alone disciplining their minds on all the treasures that were provided for them at the cross. Elijah not only confronted the Israelites with their idolatry, but he was urging them to flee from it and that is exactly what God's people are exhorted to do in first Corinthians, to flee from idolatry. That's what Paul exhorts the believers at Corinth to do. And we do this by disciplining ourselves for the purpose of godliness, by taking God at his word, by growing in grace and in the knowledge of Him. Let’s bow our heads this morning as we close our time in His word.
