What weakness might we see in the passages of the Bible? In thinking of Elijah, he stood against 450 false prophets of Queen Jezebel. He built an altar to worship God and filled it with those things needed to make the sacrifice.
1
Kings 18:7-40
7 Now
as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and
fell on his face, and said, "Is that you, my lord Elijah?" 8 And he
answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your master, 'Elijah is here.' " 9
So he said, "How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into
the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation
or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they
said, 'He is not here,' he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they
could not find you. 11 And now you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is
here" '! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that
the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go
and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have
feared the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did
when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the
LORD's prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now
you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is here." ' He will kill
me!" 15 Then Elijah said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I
stand, I will surely present myself to him today." 16 So Obadiah went to
meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17
Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that
you, O troubler of Israel?"
18 And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20 So
Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on
Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long
will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if
Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah
said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's
prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." 26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made. 27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name."
32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood." 34 Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time; and he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. 36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
HE BUILT AN ALTAR TO WORSHIP GOD!
39
Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said,
"The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" 40 And Elijah said to
them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!" So
they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed
them there. NKJV
Sound of Abundance….1 Kings 18:41-46………………41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." 44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.' " 45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. NKJV
ELIJAH SPOKE: I hear the sound of the abundance of rain: my ears HAVE HEARD GOD’S HEART……GOD’S SPIRIT TO HIS SPIRIT MAN.……Sound = vibrations…….
My SPIRITUAL ear has picked up the vibration
of something that is coming.
I can't see it, I can't touch it, I CANNOT feel it…….. IT IS on the way!
The
altar is the place of: self-sacrifice, self-denial, self-nullification
It costs
blood, sweat, tears…….
And then he runs down to tell King Ahab that it was time to leave for the city..........Elijah runs along side the king who rode in his chariot with horses. In this race to the city, Elijah the prophet gets there first. And he hears Jezebel . He hears what a woman speak that she will kill him.
When Faith is Exhausted: Elijah had performed one of the most famous miracles in the Old Testament by calling down fire from Heaven to prove that Yahweh, the God of Israel the One True God. He brought the false prophets down to be executed. He prays for rain. Runs a race with a chariot with horses and yet when he gets to the big city, he hits a melting point. Where is his faith????
1 Kings 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah , saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
Here he leaves the city and Jezebel. And in choosing to hide in a cave, he will wallow in that self-pity. He found that weak place in him. Like many us face when spending time with wrong folks, their weaknesses can fill our places and pull us toward that wrong place. BUT faith must fill our hearts. Faith of the word should fill that weakness to make us strong.
He Finds
the Hiding Place: The Cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him, and He said to him, 'What are you doing
here, Elijah?' He said, 'I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of
hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your
altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left,
and they seek my life, to take it away.' And He said, "Go out and
stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a
great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before
the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but
the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and
stood at the entrance of the cave.
In his run of weakness of hearing a woman's plans for him, he finds a worse situation. He thinks of his courage in the beginning. Then he speaks as to him being the only prophet left. He finds himself in a wind storm, then a strong earthquake appears and then a fire. And yet God was there all the time.
What weakness is in us? What melting point is in each of us? I like you can ask in prayer and believe to receive, but we also must have a faith built against that flesh excess! Like one has to do with gluttony. When I sit down to eat, I consider what is before me. I am not given to the desire of dainties or deceitful foods. Proverbs 23:1-3...that also means the flesh creature!!!
WE are not to spend the rest of our natural life living by our human appetites and desires. WE are to live for that which pleases God! We are to resist temptation in the name of Jesus! We strip off and throw aside every encumbrance---unnecessary weight---and this gluttony which so readily tries to cling to and entangle us. We are to run with patient endurance and steady persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before you and me. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.
Another case in point is the wife of Elkanah. Hannah spoke this about God in 1 Samuel 2:2 “There is none more holy like the Lord, there is none besides You, there is no Rock like our God.
Hannah
was speaking of His divinity not to a characteristic of God.
She faced a hard road. Her husband had another wife, younger who gave him children and she Hannah was barren. Year by year, she, Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, and she Peninnah provoked her. It was such harassment that Hannah could not eat. ( 1 Samuel 1:7) Hannah went and Hannah prayed. And she in time brought forth a son Samuel. She remained firm in faith. She worshiped the Lord and He remembered her. In remembering her, is bringing forth her purpose for life.
We can face hard times, gluttony like too much food, drink or fleshly things. But faith should replace those things in our lives. Jesus asked if faith will be found on the earth? Luke 18:8
The deeper our faith is in the Lord, the greater we are encouraged to walk in places like Charlie Kirk did. For some us, we have walked in Jail Ministry and that which is found in the Mission places of cities. And those places we give truth and no lies. No fire will rain down from heaven like in the days of Elijah, but truth will bring up those border lines within us where truth prevails.
Are we melting in this environment of societal dismantling? It was one husband ( a man ) for one woman. They would raise their children not in an hostile environment. If there was a rebellious attitude then, that would be stopped immediately. Today people viewing God's ways as unimportant run as a mob to start violence with rocks, fire and fists.
But in looking at the heavenly military might, or host, we find order. And each of us must be in order with God. Putting on our military garb, we pull into us the word of God for faith that changes things. Jesus will return but until that time. we have asteroids spinning towards earth. We have those who are choosing divergence among that Covid thing. We see more insects infecting people and more people taking others lives.
Those leaving Egypt came out with Moses leading. When he went up the mount to get the Ten Commandments, they thought he had abandoned them. They did not wait for him but chose Aaron to make for them a Golden Calf. They set out all the jewelry they had collected from the Egyptians. They worshiped the Golden Calf and did their dance. They had a new leader in their Golden Calf. This idol they loved. And today we have those who choose not the 10 Commandments but the Golden Calf. They choose to eat what the cow eats. They chow down on cookies made from cannabis and expect what? They plant their marijuana with corn. Harvest comes and for some, will they experience that kind of psychosis! Sad the slippery slope is evident. In our ways, our own gluttony we fail miserably but in the Lord we soar with eagles. In Jesus we know Him: the way, the truth and life.
No melting please. We need you now to stand in freedom and represent the Lord on high! Lets pray and keep the faith dealt to us. It is truly a gift of God.
Amen.
Teaching at: Voice of Prayer
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