Elijah:
Living Outside the Comfort Zone
The
life of a believer is a life of service to God, and that service often calls us
out of our comfort zones. Elijah models for us both how to rely on God
regardless of the challenges we face.
Video:
Loyalty – Bobby Bowden
Where
or when did you learn the importance of being loyal?
- giving or showing firm and constant support or
allegiance to a person or institution.
- Semper Fidelis, Latin for “Always Faithful,” has been the U.S. Marine Corps motto since 1883. It expresses the Marines’ pledge to remain faithful always, no matter what.
Serve
with Loyalty:
The
Point: God deserves our loyalty and service.
The
Passage: 1 Kings 18:20-26,36-39
The
prophet Elijah has shown us what unwavering loyalty to God looks like. In 1
Kings 18, we find Elijah embroiled in a battle of sorts. His loyalty to God was
on display, and he challenged others to that same loyalty. His challenge
confronts us still today.
The
Setting: Three years had passed since Elijah announced the coming drought
to Ahab. But Ahab had not forgotten about Elijah. He had others hunting for
him. From time-to-time reports came to Ahab of an “Elijah sighting.” However,
by the time the king’s men got there, he was gone. This infuriated the king
even more. Ahab still considered Elijah as the one who brought trouble to Israel. Isn’t it interesting how real
troublemakers want to blame someone else for the problems they are facing? That
was happening here. In today’s lesson, Elijah received a word from the Lord to
go and present himself to the king. Elijah was able to arrange a meeting with
Ahab through Ahab’s palace administrator, Obadiah (not the prophet), who,
incidentally, was devoted to the Lord. When Ahab and Elijah met, Elijah
proposed a gathering—a contest as it were—on Mount Carmel; a proposal to which
Ahab agreed. Today’s scripture verses describe this event on Mount Carmel. It
may be one of the most well-known of the Elijah stories. Elijah demonstrated
the depth of his own service and loyalty to the Lord. He called for the same
from the people who were assembled there. The contest he proposed proved that
Baal was a false god, ineffective and weak. On the other hand, through a
miraculous display, God proved He is the one true God, capable, mighty, and in
control. He is a God worthy of our service and loyalty.
1 Kings 18:20-21
So
Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount
Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How
long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow
him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people
said nothing.
How do
Elijah’s words apply to Christians today?
Even
after what the Covid Pandemic has done to the World/United States – People
still waver between things, person, system, or way of life that
challenges us at the point of faith in Christ alone.
Even
after three and a half years of drought, Ahab, Jezebel, and the people of
Israel still held to their Baal worship. Casting aside the evidence of Yahweh’s
supremacy displayed in the drought and resulting famine, they remained stubborn
in their affection for the false god.
1. Choose
Who is God.
- Every person has a decision to make: to follow
the Lord God or something else. And to not choose the Lord is to reject Him;
there is no middle ground.
- The strength of the Lord is not in numbers but
in who He is as sovereign God. Part of our witness as believers is to challenge
others to see evidence of the power of God around them and in the things He
does.
ENGAGE
Lesser
Gods. Mark the good things listed below that have the potential
to become idols in your life. In the second column, describe how they could do
so.
Potential
Idols:
____Family
________________________________
____Church
________________________________
____Reputation
________________________________
____Traditions
_________________________________
____Money
_________________________________
____Independence _________________________________
____Health
_________________________________
____Other:
__________________________________
Explain
the significance of Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel was a fitting
location for the contest since the Phoenicians regarded it as the sacred
dwelling place of Baal, and Israel had formerly worshiped the Lord on the
mountain. Carmel, a Hebrew word meaning “park-like” or “garden land,” towered
about 1,750 feet near the Mediterranean coast of Palestine. The contest might
have occurred at the foot of the mountain rather than on its summit, given the
large number of people who would have gathered to watch.
What
does an unwavering loyalty to God look like today for you?
Throughout
Scripture, God made it plain that He seeks our love, but He will not tolerate
our divided loyalty. To love God is to love Him first and foremost, above all
other allegiances. Loyalty to Him means surrendering any semblance of devotion
to lesser gods. This was the choice Elijah set before God’s people in verse 21.
Too long they had been wavering between two opinions, wavering in their
loyalty. Israel hadn’t renounced their faith in God,
but they hadn’t let go of their idols either. They wanted to maintain these
competing loyalties. Elijah insisted you cannot have it both ways.
1
Kings 18:22-26
Then
Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal
has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets
choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the
wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the
wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will
call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all
the people said, “What you say is good.” Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,
“Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you.
Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull
given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning
till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one
answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
Which
part of these verses do you find most remarkable?
What
are the challenges of showing loyalty to God publicly?
2. Other
gods aren’t really gods.
- How sad that anyone would look to false,
unreliable, or unresponsive things for answers to critical concerns. False
gods—whatever they may be—will fail every time.
Elijah
proposed a contest, one in which he would demonstrate who was the One, true
God. It would have been a bold proposition had the contest been between Elijah
and just one prophet of Baal. But the 450 prophets opposing him made Elijah’s
challenge seem even more daring. Elijah was not the only person still loyal to
God, but he was the only one who showed up that day. He was the only one
standing against the tide of popular opinion, publicly denouncing false gods.
Loyalty to God is often the unpopular position, but it is always the right
position. That soon would be evident to all who gathered on Mount Carmel.
How do
you know when your loyalty to God is waning?
Even
when we take something good and make it an idol, it never can compete with God.
And in the scope of eternity, it becomes meaningless. “For everything in the
world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes
not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away” (1
John 2:16-17a).
1
Kings 18:36-39
At the
time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in
Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your
command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so
these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their
hearts back again.” Then the fire of the
Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and
also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The
Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
What do
you think it looks like to demonstrate loyalty to God in today’s world?
3. The
Lord is the one true God.
No
challenge is too great for the Lord. There are some
situations that require that we make our private faith in the Lord a public
display of loyalty to Him. Our intentional actions in the Lord’s name
can lead others to know that the Lord is God. What we do for the Lord is to be
for His glory, not ours. God honors obedience to His word.
Explain
the meaning behind Elijah’s prayer to the Lord.
Elijah
used twelve stones to signify the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s people prior
to their division into two kingdoms. Then, to remove any possibility of trickery
on his part, Elijah dug a trench around the altar and ordered that the altar be
completely soaked in water. When water ran around the altar and even filled the
trench, it was plain to see only an act of God could cause the sacrifice to
burn.
Why
are we so prone to make idols in our lives?
So
when God sent fire from the skies to burn up the sacrifice Elijah had laid on
the altar, He far surpassed what anyone could have anticipated. The fire consumed
wood, stone, sacrifice, soil, and even the water. In the presence of such
overwhelming evidence, the people were smitten. They could do nothing but
acknowledge Yahweh as the One, true God. Then on the heels of the Mount Carmel
showdown, God sent the rain just as He had promised. It was proof on top of
proof that He is the embodiment of Semper Fidelis, always faithful, no matter
what.
How
has God shown you that He is the one true God?
Live It Out
“In
many realms of life neutrality has been exalted as a virtue. Judicious
calmness, open-mindedness, and suspended judgment are often honored as
sophisticated.” However, neutrality is not an option when it comes to a
person’s relationship to the Lord. If we are not for Him then we are against
Him. We are called by the Lord to obey Him; He expects those who follow Him to
stand for Him and His Word. However, we live in a culture where taking such
stands is not popular. Adherents of the gospel of Christ are severely criticized
and sometimes ostracized. Many believe there is more than one way to God; that
there are many expressions of God; that no matter which way or which expression
we choose, we are “all trying to get to the same place,” as it is often stated.
Nothing could be farther from the truth as far as Scripture is concerned. While
the gospel is open to all people, it is exclusive in the sense that only Jesus
is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus called for an intentional, unwavering choice by those who would follow
Him. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). We usually think of mammon as possessions, but the
word may include any: thing, person, system, or way of life that challenges
us at the point of faith in Christ. He alone deserves our service and
loyalty.
- What things may tempt you to waver in your
loyalty to the Lord? How are you encouraged to resist those temptations and
stand strong for Him?
- Identify threats to the truth about the Lord in
your community. How can you and your church take a stand to challenge those
threats and point to the Lord alone as the one who can change lives and give
purpose?
- What have been some events—displays of the power
of God—in your life that reaffirmed for you that the Lord is the one true God?
