This series of studies will concentrate on Elijah, rather than a verse by verse study. Mainly we will look at 1 Kings 17-19
But before we look at Elijah we need to look at King Ahab.
1 Kings 16:30
30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.
Well then, we probably need to look at those kings who preceded him. Who was the first king of Israel? Saul
Was he good or bad in the eyes of the Lord? 1 Samuel 15:10-11
Who followed Saul? David Was he good or bad in the eyes of the Lord? He was the greatest King Israel ever had, but he still had his failings
Who followed David? Solomon Was he good or bad in the eyes of the Lord? 1 Kings 11:6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
I suggest you have readers lined up ready for the following passages!
Following Solomon the kingdom split into Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. We will now look at the kings of Israel that followed. The first of these was:
(1) Jeroboam 1 Kings 12:28-30, 13:33,34
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.
1 Kings 13:33
33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.
The next king was
(2) Nadab 1 Kings 15:25-26
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years.26 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.
(3) Baasha 1 Kings 15:33-34
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.
(4) Elah 1 Kings 16:8 and 13
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah for two years.
Elah was killed:
13 because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols.
(5) Zimri 1 Kings 16:15, 18-19
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town.
18 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died, 19 because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD and walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in the sin he had committed and had caused Israel to commit.
(6) Omri 1 Kings 16:23, 25-26
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned for twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.
25 But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. 26 He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols.
(7) And so we come to Ahab: All turn to 1 Kings 16:29-33
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 provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.
Look at verse 31:
What can we tell about Ahab’s character? (He had no concept of the affront to God that his sins caused – he considered it trivial)
What was the sin which was so bad in God’s eyes? Giving his glory to another.
What was the benefit to Ahab and Israel in marrying Jezebel? It would probably have been as a result of a trade agreement that Ethbaal’s daughter was given in marriage. Continuing battles between Israel and Judah over the trade routes to the only Mediterranean sea port at Joppa meant that good relations with alternative ports at Tyre and Sidon was essential.
Where do we read about developing relationships with unbelievers?
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
What was the inevitable, immediate effect of marrying Jezebel? v31 ‘(Ahab) began to serve Baal and worship him’
But worse than that: 1 kings 16:32-33
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 provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.
The temple of Baal was not a small thing, (2 kings 10:21) it could hold many hundreds of worshippers. Not only that, but shrines and temples were built in all parts of the land in honour of these false gods, while the altars of Jehovah, like that at Carmel, were systematically destroyed. The heathen priests were encouraged and the worshippers of the one true God were persecuted without pity.
The schools of the prophets were closed and Jezebel took it upon herself to hunt down and kill the prophets of God. As we will see later, Obadiah had a difficult time saving a few of them, hiding them in limestone caves and feeding them at the risk of his own life. (1 kings 18:13)
Israel had now reached just about the lowest point in its history; only seven thousand people remained who had not bowed their knee to Baal. And they were driven underground, forced to hide their existence so well that Elijah was unaware of them. The whole nation was actively being encouraged to turn their back on God, and Satan appeared to be in the ascendency.
Has our nation sunk to those depths?
Although ours is a Christian nation, there must not be any emphasis placed on that above any other religion that people may wish to embrace.
And of course we have the right to follow the Baals. In fact if a town planner rejected an application for a temple of Baal in our town centre purely on religious grounds, he could be prosecuted under the human rights legislation.
Also our schools are encouraged to teach a certain amount of healthy scepticism. And no science lesson is permitted to teach that God created the world – that has to be part of an all-faith lesson on myths.
Does it concern us as it did Elijah? How do we respond? Probably we say ‘Well what do you expect me to do about it?’ Let’s make a note of that, and come back to it later.
The passages we are about to study were recorded here for a purpose, and I believe that they are going to show us that we too should make a difference in the world. We are going to learn what Elijah learnt – not only in our heads but hopefully it will go deeper than that, drawing us closer to the Lord in our walk with him. If that is not the result then frankly these studies will ultimately be a waste of time.
I don’t want my epitaph to be ‘Interesting but ineffective’ so don’t be surprised if after a few weeks I ask what we have learnt, what we’ve taken on board and what we’ve done as a result!
Let’s now go back to the land of Israel and an unknown man, in an obscure village, who God is going to use as His all-sufficient answer to the worst schemes of the enemy.
Turn with me to 1 Kings 17:1
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
1 Kings 17:1 Elijah.....from Tishbe in Gilead. Where was Gilead?
(Show on map)
Tribes of Israel
Gilead was south of the Sea of Galilee, the area to the east of the Jordan.The land was hilly and wooded to the north, becoming flatter to the south where arable crops could be grown. The location of Tishbe can only be guessed at, but scholars assume that it was in the hilly northern section, land allocated to the half-tribe of Manasseh.
(Reuben in South, Gad in centre, Manasseh in north - Joshua 13:15-31)
This was the outback of Israel, and it’s possible that Elijah, like most of his neighbours, would have been brought up to herd sheep and goats – coarse and rugged compared with the inhabitants of the more refined and civilised towns like Jerusalem and Samaria.
But what of his parents? Nothing is known – he was truly a nobody. And what do we know about his character? Although he probably had the physical attributes of those who had been brought up as shepherds we are told in James 5:17 he was a man just like us.
(I'm sorry that the NIV 2011 version has changed that to 'Elijah was a human being, even as we are' which I feel reduces the emphasis.)
