5. Man of His Word

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes, Prayer Meeting, Sermon Audio 2015, December 2015 Tagged with , , , ,

Hymns: 383 Make Me a Channel of Blessing 385 May the Mind of Christ, My Savior 388 O For a Closer Walk with God

 

Life of Elijah

– Man of His Word

1 Kings 18:1-16

 

1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. 6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. 7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? 10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. 11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. 15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

 

OUTLINE

  • Courageous God-Fearer (v1-13)

 

INTRODUCTION

“Man of His Word” is the title of our devotion. Elijah was a man consecrated to follow God. He was fully obedient to God’s instruction. For Elijah, obeying God was more important than life itself. He was a vessel fit for the Master’s use.[1] In this text, we see Elijah meeting Obadiah, another man of God who had to courage to obey God in the face of imminent danger to his very life.

We see godly traits in both men. They were God-fearers, courageous to do God’s will, man of integrity.

It is now 3 years since Elijah declared to Ahab God’s judgement of a famine. The famine is now very sore in the land with the livestock dying due to shortage of water and green pastures.

 

(1) Courageous God-Fearer (v1-16)

1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

Elijah was the most wanted man in Israel. Ahab made sure that Elijah is found whatever it takes. He sent men all over Israel and to neighbouring nations seeking their intervention to hand over this wanted man!

10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

Elijah was life was always in danger. It has been 3 years now that he was on the run. God protected him. He was doing the will of God.

 Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

You recall he hid in the brook Cherith by the Jordan River. He had fresh water for a year and a raven-enabled food catering service twice a day. God directed him there and he obeyed God’s instruction.

Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

When we become a child of God, the Holy Spirit indwells us to comfort, strengthen and keep us, shows us the danger yielding to the temptation to sin against God.

 Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

 Proverbs 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

 He was protected as a fugitive for God! It was the wisest thing to do. Elijah obeyed God instruction.

 What was the contention? He was to stand against the idolators that have taken over Israel. God’s name has been blasphemed. The living and true God of heaven, Israel’s God, has been displaced in the land. The perpetrators of evil are Ahab and his wife Jezebel, daughter of the Zidonian king. Elijah was the man who God raised to turn the people back to God.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

 Evil had overrun the land. The man of God stands against the tide of corruption, as light in the midst of darkness, as salt retarding decay.

 We observe how Elijah as a God-fearer was protected by God. When the brook dried up, God directed him to travel more than a hundred kilometres to the Mediterranean coast, to the town called Zarephath, in Phoenicia, near Zidon. God gave him the courage and strength to make the journey. There, God appointed a poor widow to give shelter and refuge to Elijah.

1 Kings 17:14-16 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

 God instructed Elijah to go back to the palace and speak to king Ahab. A task that requires much courage undergirded with a sense of righteous mission for the cause of God, for the honour of God.

 When David confronted Goliath, there was a sense of holy mission before him. He did not fear but was courageous.

 1 Samuel 17:45-47 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.

 Wherever God may place you, you are a witness for the truth of God and His honour. May we be true to our calling as Christians!

 You recall the Judge Ehud in Judges 3. Ehud knew his calling, he was not overcome by his weakness, but he prepared himself and the children of Israel well to counter the oppressing forces of the Moabites and courageously launched out into the task assigned to him succeeded with God’s help to subdue the Moabites giving to Israel 80 years of peace.

The Bible described Ehud as a man restricted or bounded in his right hand, a handicap, therefore he is a left-hander. This is an interesting fact for God chose to use a man despite his weakness.

 Do you have some weakness that you feel embarrassed about so that you feel hindered by that particular handicap? Do not be! Our Master Potter made each one of us perfect to reflect His glory. Our weaknesses are given to us so that we will not give glory to our beauty and our achievements but to humble us that we may know how to acknowledge God.

 God chose David. He chose Elijah, the Tishbite, a nobody to bear His name.

 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

 Elijah overcame his fear, trusted God to protect him. He acted upon God’s instruction – 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

Our text introduced us another courageous God-fearer, Obadiah. He stood for God in the darkness of a pagan environment, imagine, in Israel as governor in Ahab’s household! Israel is to be the chief advocate for the living and true God, but Israel had turned. God left himself a remnant in Obadiah. He feared God greatly! He saw evil as evil. He could discern truth from error.

 Obadiah risked his life to save a hundred of God’s prophets by hiding them in a cave and provided them with means of sustenance. Whilst Elijah was miraculously protected by God, He used Obadiah as His instrument of protection of His prophets.

 5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. 6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. 7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

 The impact of the famine has been worse and worse in the land and Ahab sent Obadiah to find food needful for the maintenance of his horses and mules that they may not die.

 Although Obadiah was a courageous God-fearer who hid God’s prophets but when he saw Elijah, he became fearful! Elijah is the most wanted of all the wanted men. Obadiah verified again that Elijah is indeed Elijah!

 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? 10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. 11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

 Obadiah’s fear overtook him at that point. He became fearful. It had been most difficult for him the past 3 years. He had to be on his guard all the time as an “agent for God” operating undercover. He was afraid his cover might be exposed if Elijah would just run away after he informed Ahab. For anyone who had seen to help Elijah would probably face the death penalty immediately. Perhaps he felt his task is not complete yet and he did not want his cover to be exposed.

 Jesus said to His disciples, Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

 Jesus described His disciples as sheep highlighting the vulnerabilities of the sheep in a predator-filled world where the gospel is to be given. The sheep is most dependent upon their shepherd, often helpless, defenceless (don’t hear well or see well, not swift in flight, no weapon for defence) and most foolish of all domesticated animals (it has no sense of direction, prone to stray, it cannot find its way back, needs the Shepherd to bring sheep back). The nature of the sheep is nearest like a man than any other animal, Jesus uses the sheep to describe His disciples.

He is saying to His disciples that the power that is endowed upon them would not grant them to be invincible but rather they are vulnerable to suffer from the hands of godless men.

 Wolves viciously tear their prey these defenseless sheep. The wolf is a terrifying predator to the sheep. It presents a picture of terror and ferocity, a picture of beastly cruelty without pity. “Wolves” characterizes the world of men as being viciously wicked because it is filled with the propensity to sin. The combination of the two comparisons produces the idea of the helplessness of the apostles among wicked men. As sheep, they have no defence against wolves.

 The unbelieving world itself is like a wolf in its hostilities to the disciples of Jesus. By the way in which our Lord Himself was betrayed, mocked, misjudged, unjustly tortured and finally crucified, died. We must have no illusion that the ministry of the gospel is a bed of roses.

 Jesus tells us to realize that human nature is more wicked and corrupt than we think, the power of evil is greater than we suppose! Realize that not everybody will see what is good for them and believe what you tell them. Such disappointments will come. Not only will they not receive the message but will also put harm in your way.

 Jesus described the alertness and deftness of the snake to sense danger in its environment and is able to respond quickly to protect itself. Be wise, be careful and know the dangers. Please protect yourselves from predators.

 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. 15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

 Elijah was courageous to follow through with his promise to Obadiah. Elijah assured Obadiah that he would not disappear. He did stay put and not run away. He met Ahab to convey God’s message.

 Because Elijah feared God, he kept his word to Obadiah to wait where he was whilst Obadiah informed Ahab.

 

CONCLUSION

God needs such men as Elijah and Obadiah who fear God and would courageously do the will of God in an unbelieving world in our generation. Of our times, Jesus said in Matthew 24:12-13 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

As a church, as God’s people, may we love Him fervently to do His will with the fear of God in our hearts. Amen.

 

[1] Gene A. Getz, Elijah – Remaining Steadfast Through Uncertainty, B&H Publishing, 1995, 69.