{"id":8285,"date":"2023-12-10T15:18:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T19:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=8285"},"modified":"2023-12-14T11:02:19","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T15:02:19","slug":"fire-on-the-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=8285","title":{"rendered":"FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

1 Kings 18: 17-39<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00a0by Rev. Richard Jones<\/b><\/h2>\n

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SITUATION SKETCH<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 16:29-33 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

29\u00a0 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30\u00a0 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31\u00a0 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32\u00a0 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33\u00a0 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.<\/p>\n

1 Kings 17:1 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, \u201cAs the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 11:16-17 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17\u00a0 then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.<\/p>\n

1 Kings 18:1-5 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0 After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, \u201cGo, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.\u201d 2\u00a0 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3\u00a0 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly, 4\u00a0 and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.)
\n5\u00a0 And Ahab said to Obadiah, \u201cGo through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

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POISONED PERSPECTIVE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 18:17-19 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

17\u00a0 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, \u201cIs it you, you troubler of Israel?\u201d 18\u00a0 And he answered, \u201cI have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father\u2019s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. 19\u00a0 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel\u2019s table.\u201d<\/p>\n

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TRUTH TRIAL<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 18:20-24 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

20\u00a0 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21\u00a0 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, \u201cHow long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.\u201d And the people did not answer him a word. 22\u00a0 Then Elijah said to the people, \u201cI, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal\u2019s prophets are 450 men. 23\u00a0 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24\u00a0 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.\u201d And all the people answered, \u201cIt is well spoken.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a0BEGGING BAAL<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 18:25-29 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

25\u00a0 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, \u201cChoose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.\u201d 26\u00a0 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, \u201cO Baal, answer us!\u201d But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
\n27\u00a0 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, \u201cCry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.\u201d 28\u00a0 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29\u00a0 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 44:6-8 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: \u201cI am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. 7\u00a0 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. 8\u00a0 Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.\u201d<\/p>\n

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DIFFICULT DEMONSTRATION<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 18:30-35 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

30\u00a0 Then Elijah said to all the people, \u201cCome near to me.\u201d And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down. 31\u00a0 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, \u201cIsrael shall be your name,\u201d 32\u00a0 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. 33\u00a0 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, \u201cFill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.\u201d 34\u00a0 And he said, \u201cDo it a second time.\u201d And they did it a second time. And he said, \u201cDo it a third time.\u201d And they did it a third time.
\n35\u00a0 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0AFTERNOON ANSWER<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 18:36-39 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

36\u00a0 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, \u201cO LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37\u00a0 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.\u201d 38\u00a0 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39\u00a0 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, \u201cThe LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6\u00a0 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.<\/p>\n

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FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN 1 Kings 18: 17-39 \u00a0by Rev. Richard Jones     SITUATION SKETCH 1 Kings 16:29-33 (ESV) 29\u00a0 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8285"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8285"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8329,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8285\/revisions\/8329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}