DAYS OF ELIJAH, Chapter 4

Sermon Series by Rev. Richard Jones

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Standing for God in a Godless Culture

1 Kings 18:41 – 19:18

 

RAIN IS COMING

1 Kings 18:41-46 (ESV)
41  And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.”
42  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.
43  And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times.
44  And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man”™s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ”˜Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.”™”
45  And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
46  And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

 

RUNNING IN FEAR

1 Kings 19:1-4 (ESV)
1  Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
3  Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4  But he himself went a day”™s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

 

REVIVING HIS STRENGTH

1 Kings 19:5-8 (ESV)
5  And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6  And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
7  And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
8  And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
31  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

 

REVEALING GOD’S WAYS

1 Kings 19:9-14 (ESV)
9  There he came to a 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?”
10  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.”
11  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.
12  And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
13  And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14  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.”

 

RETURN TO YOUR WORK

1 Kings 19:15-18 (ESV)
15  And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
16  And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
17  And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
18  Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Psalm 103:13-14 (ESV)
13  As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

 

REFUSAL OF THE FAITHFUL

1 Kings 19:18 (ESV)
18  Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Romans 11:1-5 (ESV)
1  I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
2  God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
3  “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”
4  But what is God”™s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
5  So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

 

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