WEBVTT 00:00:04.159 --> 00:00:07.160 Hey friend, welcome back here to the Semi -Seminary, 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.460 and here we are another week, another episode 00:00:09.460 --> 00:00:11.679 of our Bible study series that we're calling 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:15.300 the Bible for Grownups. We are now in part two 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:18.420 of our two -part series. We're going to look 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:20.980 at the prophecy of Hebrew Scripture prophets 00:00:20.980 --> 00:00:27.899 Elijah and Elijah's successor Elisha, and we're 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:32.340 going to see That when we examine these books, 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.780 we're not reading dusty old books that happened 00:00:35.780 --> 00:00:38.759 in ancient history about a people long ago. But 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:43.659 we are, well, we're seeing problems that aren't 00:00:43.659 --> 00:00:46.119 ancient problems. They're the problems that we 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:50.539 have today. Namely, in this episode, we're going 00:00:50.539 --> 00:00:55.960 to examine this idea that all God wants is all 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:01.299 of our heart. That's all. Not some and not half, 00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:07.780 but all of our hearts. And how often there's 00:01:07.780 --> 00:01:11.519 a conflict between what we say we believe and 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:17.640 how we behave. Because so often we profess a 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:20.620 belief in a one true God, but we end up serving 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:25.620 all different sorts of very socially acceptable 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:30.379 false gods. And in tonight's story, Elijah is 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:34.640 going to ask the people of Israel. And the truth 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:38.939 of scripture is going to ask us today, how long 00:01:38.939 --> 00:01:43.439 will you waver? When will you finally make a 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:46.739 choice? I hope you enjoy this episode, friend. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:53.040 I'll see you on the other side. But let me begin. 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:55.959 Let me go ahead and begin. Tonight's discussion 00:01:55.959 --> 00:01:59.250 is called, Who Do You Love? I'm still not sure 00:01:59.250 --> 00:02:01.609 if that shouldn't be whom do you love. I think 00:02:01.609 --> 00:02:04.290 it's who do you love. Story's going to come to 00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:08.770 us from 1 Kings 18, starting down around, I think 00:02:08.770 --> 00:02:11.590 15 or 16 is about where our story tonight will 00:02:11.590 --> 00:02:16.870 start. And remember, so this comes to us from 00:02:16.870 --> 00:02:21.750 this book. There's two volumes of Kings. There's 00:02:21.750 --> 00:02:26.030 1 Kings and 2 Kings, right? And the purpose of 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:29.449 the two books, in the Bible are to demonstrate 00:02:29.449 --> 00:02:33.509 how these kings of Judah end up failing, right? 00:02:34.389 --> 00:02:38.509 Of Israel and Judah, not just the kings of Judah, 00:02:38.590 --> 00:02:42.909 sorry, Israel and Judah. And the stories contained 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:47.009 within 1 and 2 Kings kind of tell and chronicle 00:02:47.009 --> 00:02:50.129 how these kings had failed to live up to the 00:02:50.129 --> 00:02:53.430 ideals of the kingship covenant that David had 00:02:53.430 --> 00:02:57.280 made with God. David makes a covenant with God 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:03.620 that the king of Israel will put God first. And 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:10.539 these kings, after Solomon's initial line, become 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:13.340 increasingly bad. There are 19 of them in succession. 00:03:16.259 --> 00:03:21.159 So, as a result, we end up... seeing God therefore 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:24.699 having justification for the exile of his people 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:29.000 that will come in the immediate events following 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.159 the prophecies of Elijah and Elisha, we are getting 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:36.360 to the end of the reign of the kings of Israel. 00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:44.240 And so it's not going to be long before the Babylonians 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.560 and then later the Persians will have their control 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:54.979 over God's people. as a result of God's justification 00:03:54.979 --> 00:03:58.259 in exiling them because they had turned from 00:03:58.259 --> 00:04:03.840 God time and time and time and time again. So 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:07.599 it does really get a sense as we go through these 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:11.020 stories. Tonight's story, I think, as a matter 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:13.759 of fact, I think one of the things that we learn 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:17.310 through the story of Elijah and Elisha As we 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:19.829 go through looking at these two prophets, I really 00:04:19.829 --> 00:04:24.170 would like for us to kind of hone in on the perspective 00:04:24.170 --> 00:04:29.810 by which we might see ourselves in Elijah and 00:04:29.810 --> 00:04:34.550 how we might also see Elijah within our world. 00:04:35.110 --> 00:04:37.310 The things that he is saying, the things he's 00:04:37.310 --> 00:04:44.160 doing, the way that the people are living. And 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:47.180 his response in response to their response and 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:50.279 the way they're living has a tremendous amount 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:55.759 of corollary to the world we live in today. And 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:58.540 I think that even if we look with the right set 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:01.459 of eyes, we can see Elijah in our world and we 00:05:01.459 --> 00:05:04.779 can see ourselves in Elijah as well. I hope so, 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:11.139 anyway, as we go through this. So the Chronicles, 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:15.720 I'm sorry, the Kings. Not the Chronicles. Chronicle, 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:20.600 this period of time in which the monarchy period 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:23.560 shows failure of king, of failure after king, 00:05:23.699 --> 00:05:26.980 after failure after king. The failure is first 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:30.240 evident in Solomon after whose reign the kingdom 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.660 is divided. Remember last week, we talked about 00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:35.740 at this point that there are two kingdoms of 00:05:35.740 --> 00:05:38.399 God's people. There are the people of Israel, 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:42.329 the kingdom of Israel. The 11 tribes of Israel 00:05:42.329 --> 00:05:45.689 minus Judah and the kingdom of Judah, which still 00:05:45.689 --> 00:05:49.949 retained the holy city of Jerusalem down here. 00:05:50.149 --> 00:05:53.649 So that happens right after Solomon's reign. 00:05:53.850 --> 00:05:59.569 So the unified kingship covenant of God made 00:05:59.569 --> 00:06:04.250 through David cracks after his son's reign, right 00:06:04.250 --> 00:06:08.410 off the bat. So these books tell a progression 00:06:08.410 --> 00:06:14.680 of... king's failures. Sometimes God wants to 00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:18.199 reveal his displeasure with the people's failures, 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:21.079 and sometimes he does it through judgment. Other 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:23.779 times, what he'll do is he'll raise up champions 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:26.480 or better representatives of his kingship. And 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:29.639 when Ahab and Jezebel, the king and queen we're 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:32.000 talking about right now, when they attempted 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.879 to dethrone Yahweh as Israel's national god in 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:41.560 favor of the God Baal. It was the prophet Elijah 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:46.480 who God raises up to become the champion of Yahweh's 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.759 kingship. In many biblical accounts, Elijah's 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:54.040 successor, Elisha, the other guy we're going 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:58.259 to look at, is often seen as a surrogate king 00:06:58.259 --> 00:07:03.980 because of his authenticity in his worship of 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:07.360 God, the people of God. can see a difference 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:16.420 between the prophet and the king. Elisha will 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:20.079 bring justice to many people and victory over 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:23.500 the armies of the enemies. These two books are 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:25.860 written from a perspective of exile. In other 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:28.720 words, these stories that we read about here 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.939 are written at a time after they have been conquered. 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:36.300 Okay, these are, look, it's called post -elixic, 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:43.100 after the exile. Okay, so they have been or in 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:48.279 exile, right? And they're now looking back on 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:52.639 how did things go so wrong, so fast, so bad. 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:57.199 And they write the stories down. They recall 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.939 the stories of their history. And that's what 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:04.120 these books are, okay? And the narrative, right, 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:06.779 because we talk about these 19 kings and the 00:08:06.779 --> 00:08:10.459 time of David and Saul and David and Solomon 00:08:10.459 --> 00:08:15.660 really is a slow story. We read about events 00:08:15.660 --> 00:08:18.160 that take place over just days or months, right? 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:21.000 But when we get to the part of these bad kings, 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:25.720 they come at us almost like a blur. One king 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:28.279 following another, which I think is exactly what 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:32.559 the author or authors intended to do. One king 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:36.799 blends into another as a pattern of failure of 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:40.320 human kingship emerges. The author is more interested 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:44.720 in spiritual relationships and the king's relationship 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.940 with God with regard to the kingship covenant 00:08:46.940 --> 00:08:49.960 than they are to political events that are actually 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:54.419 taking place in the country. The books also show 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:56.940 how God tries to warn and guide people, often, 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.259 again, through judgment, also through these prophets. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.820 God's role in advising and influences the kings 00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:06.120 is represented through these characters, the 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:09.779 prophets. And the continuing revelation of instructions 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:12.559 and warnings takes place through these men and 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:18.340 women who serve as God's spokesmen and spokeswomen. 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:21.860 So if you have your Bibles and you'd like to 00:09:21.860 --> 00:09:23.919 follow along, if you want to turn them up, turn 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:29.570 them, open them up, turn them up. Open them up 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:38.129 to 1 Kings chapter 18. 1 Kings chapter 18. If 00:09:38.129 --> 00:09:40.129 you're turning there, let me say, while you're 00:09:40.129 --> 00:09:41.690 turning there, let me say something I think is 00:09:41.690 --> 00:09:44.509 important to God. Above anything else in our 00:09:44.509 --> 00:09:47.950 lives, God wants to have all of our hearts, all 00:09:47.950 --> 00:09:50.610 of our worship, all of our focus, all of our 00:09:50.610 --> 00:09:55.330 adoration. God wants to be number one and have 00:09:55.330 --> 00:10:00.720 all of our hearts. In fact, the very first of 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.879 the Ten Commandments, Commandment numero uno, 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.340 right? God says, you shall have no other gods 00:10:07.340 --> 00:10:12.519 before me. When Jesus was questioned, what is 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:14.919 the most important of the commandments, Jesus 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:18.159 said, above all else, in other words, numero 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:23.919 uno, you are to love the Lord your God with all 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:28.779 of your heart, mind, soul, and strength. God 00:10:28.779 --> 00:10:32.559 wants all of our hearts, not just part of our 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:38.519 hearts. Which brings up a good question. If you're 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:42.980 the spiritual enemy, what would you do to try 00:10:42.980 --> 00:11:02.029 to hurt God? false gods to serve false gods. 00:11:03.210 --> 00:11:05.950 And I think each and every one of you here would 00:11:05.950 --> 00:11:07.809 probably agree that that's something that we 00:11:07.809 --> 00:11:10.730 could say Satan has been doing throughout the 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:14.970 whole of human history, putting false gods in 00:11:14.970 --> 00:11:18.870 the place of the one true God. That's called 00:11:18.870 --> 00:11:24.269 the sin of idolatry, which leads to the thought 00:11:24.269 --> 00:11:27.820 for tonight. And that's that false gods promise 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:33.860 what only the true God can provide. Our story 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:38.539 tonight between the true prophet of God, Elijah, 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:46.019 the one true God, and the 450 prophets of Baal, 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:50.700 this false god, we're going to see the people 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:54.919 are relying on and expecting Something to come 00:11:54.919 --> 00:12:00.899 from a false god that that god cannot provide. 00:12:01.419 --> 00:12:05.940 That only the one true god can provide. For example, 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:08.860 and I'm not talking about Baal and Asherah right 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:14.000 now, right? This is much more fundamental than 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:18.000 some golden calf or some snake on a stick, right? 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:23.980 Money's a pretty popular false god, right? If 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:26.960 you have enough money, you'll feel happy and 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:30.259 secure. It's what a lot of people believe about 00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:32.460 the false god of money. But the reality is once 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:35.600 you get enough money, right, and you get to that 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.960 point where you can feel safe and secure because 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:44.799 of your wealth, what happens when a doctor says 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:46.480 you have cancer and you're going to die in 30 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:51.059 days? It's in that moment that you realize it's 00:12:51.059 --> 00:12:53.960 not going to matter how much. Money you have. 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:58.320 It doesn't make you secure. It's a false promise. 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:01.759 Money says if you have enough, you'll be happy, 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:04.980 but it doesn't matter how much money you have. 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:08.320 If one day you find out that you've lost one 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:12.840 of your children, right? No amount of money can 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:16.600 buy you happiness in that moment. It's a false 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:19.080 God. It's a false promise. It promises something 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:23.600 that it cannot provide. In the life of Elijah, 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:29.620 our prophet here, about 800 BC, many people within 00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.659 the kingdom of Israel were living idolatrous 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:36.059 lives. They were worshiping and serving these 00:13:36.059 --> 00:13:38.700 false gods. In fact, if you missed last week, 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:42.139 let me just review some context. Again, additional 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:46.120 context for this particular part of the first 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:52.200 book of Kings. Elijah was called... by God to 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:55.139 confront this evil king named King Ahab. He's 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:57.399 buried to the wicked woman that we know, at least 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.299 we know the name of, Jezebel, right? He was the 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:03.139 19th consecutive king. Scripture says he did 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:06.740 more evil in the eyes of God than anyone before 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:11.240 him, any of the 18 before him. He was the worst 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:14.159 of all of them, the worst of the worst. He had 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.580 a long list of sins and of wickedness, but the 00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:23.789 worst thing that Ahab did was he continued turning 00:14:23.789 --> 00:14:28.470 the hearts away from the one true God toward 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:33.549 the false gods of Baal and Asherah. Baal was 00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:36.269 the sun god or the fire god. That's going to 00:14:36.269 --> 00:14:39.190 come up in our story here in a minute. Asherah 00:14:39.190 --> 00:14:43.409 is kind of like Baal's wife, and the people were 00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:46.169 no longer worshiping the god of Abraham, Isaac, 00:14:46.269 --> 00:14:49.120 and Jacob. Instead, They're worshiping these 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:53.039 false gods. The false gods promised, if you worship 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.820 me, we'll make your crops grow. If you worship 00:14:56.820 --> 00:14:59.620 me, then you'll have a better life. Now remember, 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:04.940 because they continued to creep towards living 00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:09.399 idolatrous lives, God sent some judgment to them 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.340 during the time and spoken through the prophet 00:15:12.340 --> 00:15:14.919 Elijah involving the amount of rain they were 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:17.700 going to receive, right? They're in a drought. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:23.159 They feel abandoned by their God. And so rather 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:26.460 than leaning into the faith in the one true God 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:30.519 that will provide and repenting and turning their 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:35.159 hearts back towards God, they begin to lean on 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:39.100 the false prophets. I'm sorry, well, the false 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:41.340 prophets, but the false prophets of the false 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:46.100 gods. In this instance, Baal and Asherah. We're 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:48.740 gods that were believed to be fertility gods 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:56.279 and would be able to allow them to make crops 00:15:56.279 --> 00:16:01.879 grow. So they recognize who they are as the people 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:04.519 of God, but they've just decided, what have you 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:07.360 done for me lately? And they turn their hearts 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:12.100 the other way. God raises up Elijah because of 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:14.019 your idolatry. We're not going to send you the 00:16:14.019 --> 00:16:16.929 rain. Well, they're in this drought. Tens of 00:16:16.929 --> 00:16:19.929 thousands of people are dying. I don't know. 00:16:19.970 --> 00:16:22.230 Tons of people. I don't know about tens of thousands. 00:16:22.710 --> 00:16:25.169 It's a famine. It's the worst thing you could 00:16:25.169 --> 00:16:28.090 imagine. God sends his prophet Elijah into a 00:16:28.090 --> 00:16:30.250 period, remember last week, first into a period 00:16:30.250 --> 00:16:32.629 of hiding and preparation. Why? Because King 00:16:32.629 --> 00:16:37.269 Ahab had told everybody, remember our story starts 00:16:37.269 --> 00:16:42.509 with Elijah coming up to the king and looking 00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:44.730 him in the eye and saying, going to make it. 00:16:45.070 --> 00:16:48.169 Going to make a drought. You've turned from God. 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:51.529 You're not who you're supposed to be. God's going 00:16:51.529 --> 00:16:56.710 to punish you. And it's happening. So from that 00:16:56.710 --> 00:17:02.529 confrontation on, everybody that King Ahab runs 00:17:02.529 --> 00:17:06.029 across in the palace, he makes sure that they 00:17:06.029 --> 00:17:09.789 know if you see Elijah, you kill him. Right? 00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:14.390 There's only one wanted poster down in the post 00:17:14.390 --> 00:17:18.450 office here in Gilead. It's got Elijah's picture 00:17:18.450 --> 00:17:22.710 on it. Right? And so, God takes him to this place 00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:26.630 here called the Kareth Ravine. And if you were 00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:28.569 here last week, you remember that word Kareth 00:17:28.569 --> 00:17:30.990 in Hebrew. It means a place of cutting or something 00:17:30.990 --> 00:17:33.490 to be cut down or chopped down. It's a place 00:17:33.490 --> 00:17:36.309 of humbling. And God used this time and this 00:17:36.309 --> 00:17:39.589 preparation of humbling Elijah so that he could 00:17:39.589 --> 00:17:42.880 develop, elijah into a stronger man for god god 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.920 fed him by morning and evening and you recall 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.480 they caused the brook to to flow uh ravens flew 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:51.099 in would drop bread and meat just enough for 00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:53.859 the day he could drink from the brook but one 00:17:53.859 --> 00:17:56.059 day the brook dries up god calls him to move 00:17:56.059 --> 00:17:58.960 to another place that place was up here called 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:04.740 zarephath there was the widow and uh God used 00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:07.319 these folks to provide for him with just a little 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:11.599 bit amount of oil and flour that miraculously 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:13.799 never ran dry. One day the widow's son died. 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:16.839 The growing man of faith was able to restore 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:21.019 this child to life. We see the prophet developing 00:18:21.019 --> 00:18:23.339 into a man of God that God wants him to become. 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:26.660 And you'll see as these stories take place in 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:31.720 Elijah's life. They do in fact become more and 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:40.369 more intense. Hey, listen, if you've made it 00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:43.329 this far, first of all, thanks for making it 00:18:43.329 --> 00:18:45.089 this far. I hope that you're enjoying it. I hope 00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:47.410 you'll enjoy this second half. But I'd just like 00:18:47.410 --> 00:18:50.490 to take one second just to ask if you could do 00:18:50.490 --> 00:18:54.470 me a favor. If you are enjoying the semi -seminarian, 00:18:54.589 --> 00:18:57.670 if you like what we're doing here, if you could. 00:18:58.380 --> 00:19:01.559 If you could like us, whatever platform, if you're 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:04.559 on Spotify or Apple or Stitcher or whatever your 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:06.460 platform is, if you could like us and follow 00:19:06.460 --> 00:19:09.240 us. And if you have the opportunity to maybe 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:12.160 give us a review like on Apple Podcasts, we would 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.579 certainly really appreciate it. That really helps 00:19:15.579 --> 00:19:19.099 get the Bible study message out to more people. 00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:22.119 Because the algorithm stuff, I don't really understand 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:24.160 it all, but I've been told it helps. So if you 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.339 could help me, I would certainly appreciate it. 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:28.559 Listen. Not going to take up any more of your 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.079 time. We're going to go right back to our story. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:37.240 Now, our last verse last week told us that he 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:40.319 went into hiding again. And we find out now God 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.619 wants him to go and confront the evil King Ahab 00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:45.500 again. And we're not going to get that first 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:49.160 part of Kings 18, but he uses a prophet by the 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.799 name of Obadiah. Obadiah also has his own work 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:55.079 within, at least a work attributed to him in 00:19:55.079 --> 00:20:00.220 Hebrew scripture. as a prophet and a palace administrator 00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:04.500 under King Ahab. And so he's kind of the guy 00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:07.240 that's able to arrange a second meeting between 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:12.559 the two. 1 Kings 18, 17, 18. Here's where we'll 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:14.519 pick up the story. Three years, about three years 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:18.319 into the drought at this point, okay? Three years 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.000 later, we see them together again. Scripture 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.240 says, when Ahab saw Elijah, he said to them, 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:27.630 is that you, you troubler of Israel? You know, 00:20:27.650 --> 00:20:29.970 this is your fault that this happened. It's interesting. 00:20:30.910 --> 00:20:34.890 The word troubler there in Hebrew is the word 00:20:34.890 --> 00:20:43.309 akah. And it means to roil up like if you were 00:20:43.309 --> 00:20:46.210 manually washing clothes and you created turbidity 00:20:46.210 --> 00:20:51.009 in your wash bucket to wash the clothes. Akah, 00:20:51.130 --> 00:20:55.500 right? He's calling that with regard to what's 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:57.839 going on in Israel. It's your fault that this 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.140 is happening. All the people are dying in this 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:02.400 drought because of you, Elijah. And Elijah says, 00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:06.079 I'm not going to take this mess from you. So 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:07.980 he pops off right back to the king. He says, 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:12.579 no, sir, I've not made trouble for Israel, Elijah 00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:15.460 replied, but you and your father's family have. 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.259 You've abandoned the Lord's command. You have 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:22.480 followed the Baals. You're committing the sin 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:26.019 of idolatry, is what he's basically saying. He's 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:28.799 saying, you, king, you are the one putting false 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:32.519 gods ahead of the one true God. And Elijah is 00:21:32.519 --> 00:21:35.700 confronting the very popular idea that there 00:21:35.700 --> 00:21:38.500 are more than one God. Now, let me give you a 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:40.980 couple of words here that sound super fancy, 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:44.180 but they really are pretty simple. They are really 00:21:44.180 --> 00:21:48.029 nothing more than just $5 words. You probably 00:21:48.029 --> 00:21:50.349 already know them, but we have monotheism and 00:21:50.349 --> 00:21:53.990 polytheism, right? Monotheism is the belief that 00:21:53.990 --> 00:21:57.930 there's one God. Christians, generally speaking, 00:21:58.109 --> 00:22:00.710 I believe, we Christians believe this. We're 00:22:00.710 --> 00:22:03.410 monotheistic in our beliefs. Polytheistic, those 00:22:03.410 --> 00:22:06.289 believe that there are multiple gods. And Elijah 00:22:06.289 --> 00:22:10.170 is confronting a very polytheistic culture. Now, 00:22:10.170 --> 00:22:12.509 remember, remember how we were talking about 00:22:12.509 --> 00:22:17.009 seeing Elijah in our world today? using his prophecy 00:22:17.009 --> 00:22:19.569 as a commentary for our own world, seeing ourselves 00:22:19.569 --> 00:22:23.710 in this story. I think a lot can be said that 00:22:23.710 --> 00:22:27.670 we live in a polytheistic culture today as well. 00:22:28.990 --> 00:22:32.390 Now, we Christians will say, no, no, no, no, 00:22:32.410 --> 00:22:34.990 we're monotheistic because we believe in one 00:22:34.990 --> 00:22:38.549 true God. But even though we believe in one true 00:22:38.549 --> 00:22:42.390 God, many of us live what I think we could call 00:22:42.390 --> 00:22:46.720 polytheistic lives. I mean, we believe in God, 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:50.859 but in reality, we worship and we serve many 00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:55.880 false gods. Now, most of the people I know, most, 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:00.819 are not worshiping these false gods from Canaan 00:23:00.819 --> 00:23:06.279 called Baal and Asherah, but in reality, worshiping 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.359 false gods that are much more socially acceptable. 00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:16.420 I mean, Baal... They would sacrifice kids to 00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:21.880 Baal. The false gods we serve today are thin 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:24.079 mint Girl Scout cookies compared to Baal and 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:27.039 Asherah. Let's be honest. A lot of people we 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.440 just mentioned worship the false god of money. 00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:35.099 Or it's the false god of material possessions. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:38.680 It's house. It's car. It could be your image. 00:23:39.079 --> 00:23:42.910 The way you look. Could be your sport, could 00:23:42.910 --> 00:23:45.289 be your career, could be your hobby. But the 00:23:45.289 --> 00:23:51.309 truth is that whenever, whenever, every single 00:23:51.309 --> 00:23:55.170 time we elevate anything, and I mean anything, 00:23:55.289 --> 00:23:59.250 in the rightful place of the one true God, and 00:23:59.250 --> 00:24:03.630 we put anything, and I mean anything, on the 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:08.130 throne of our life besides God, that is adultery. 00:24:10.110 --> 00:24:14.230 Even things that are good and important. Right? 00:24:14.289 --> 00:24:16.930 If you're serving the American Red Cross with 00:24:16.930 --> 00:24:20.910 so much of your energy and your time that you're 00:24:20.910 --> 00:24:23.430 putting God second in your life to the American 00:24:23.430 --> 00:24:26.609 Red Cross, that is the sin of the idolatry of 00:24:26.609 --> 00:24:30.109 American Red Cross. I just made that thing up. 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:33.170 You see what I'm trying to say, right? It's not 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:36.650 always substance abuse. It's not always gambling. 00:24:37.170 --> 00:24:42.400 It's not always pornography. Anything that we 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:46.000 put on the throne of our lives besides the one 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:54.140 true God is idolatry. So, that's why I think 00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:56.839 we should take the time in our heads to try to 00:24:56.839 --> 00:25:01.319 identify what false gods we might serve. What 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:04.980 false gods that we might put ahead of God, right? 00:25:07.180 --> 00:25:10.500 The sin of idolatry. We're monotheistic in our 00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:14.160 beliefs, but our practice is very polytheistic. 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:18.900 So the Elijah prophet here steps into this very 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:22.039 polytheistic culture and he makes a very prophetic 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:24.000 and a very strong statement. I can summarize 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:28.700 the story in one message. He looks at them as 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:30.960 they're going back and forth between their service 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:34.640 of Baal and Asherah. Right, because they might 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.140 have had some little agricultural luck, just 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:40.740 dumb luck as a result, trying to find their way 00:25:40.740 --> 00:25:43.359 back to God, but finding themselves displeased 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:45.680 because God's not working for them in the way 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:48.859 that they think God should work in their place. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.740 And they're kind of just waffling back and forth 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:55.359 in their commitment. Another thing I think that 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:59.359 we can see very common, very common in our culture 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:04.369 today. The way that we believe, the way we think 00:26:04.369 --> 00:26:08.369 we believe, is often very inconsistent with the 00:26:08.369 --> 00:26:14.910 way that we behave. And this is important, right? 00:26:15.009 --> 00:26:21.269 Because if we think we believe one thing, but 00:26:21.269 --> 00:26:24.130 we live in a different way, we're not giving 00:26:24.130 --> 00:26:27.569 God all of our heart. We're only giving God part 00:26:27.569 --> 00:26:30.750 of our heart. point of where we started at here 00:26:30.750 --> 00:26:33.930 tonight. That's the point here of what Elijah 00:26:33.930 --> 00:26:38.289 is saying. Stop going back and forth. He's actually 00:26:38.289 --> 00:26:42.289 going to tell the people it's time to quit wavering. 00:26:43.990 --> 00:26:46.410 Quit going back and forth between gods. Quit 00:26:46.410 --> 00:26:51.109 going back and forth. It's time to stop. So what 00:26:51.109 --> 00:26:55.359 he does is he says I think I have a way that 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:57.940 we can solve this. Why don't we have a good old 00:26:57.940 --> 00:27:01.839 -fashioned showdown? Here's what he says to King 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:08.160 Ahab, pardon me, 18 verses 19 through 21, 1 Kings. 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:11.680 He says to the king, king, now summon the people 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:14.500 from all over Israel to meet on Mount Carmel, 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:17.059 right here inside the circle, green circle right 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:20.680 here. He was up here in Zarephath, now he's down 00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:22.839 here, Mount Carmel is where this is going on. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:26.339 Right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 00:27:28.119 --> 00:27:33.420 Bring forth the 450 prophets of Baal and the 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:37.279 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:41.420 table. Verse 20. So Ahab sent word throughout 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:44.700 all Israel and he assembled the prophets on Mount 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:47.460 Carmel. Verse 21. Here's where Elijah, I think, 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.920 kind of gets in the people's face. Justified 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:54.759 anger here. Elijah went before the people. He 00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:58.740 asks them a very piercing question. He says, 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:02.359 how long will you waver between two opinions? 00:28:03.740 --> 00:28:08.559 How long will you waver? And then he says this. 00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:14.680 He says, if the Lord is God, okay, guys, if the 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:22.059 Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, 00:28:23.210 --> 00:28:29.990 Follow him. The people said nothing. He steps 00:28:29.990 --> 00:28:33.650 in, he says, how long will you do this? If God 00:28:33.650 --> 00:28:39.450 is God, guys, follow him. If Baal's God, okay, 00:28:39.569 --> 00:28:44.410 fine, follow him. Right? If Elijah were here 00:28:44.410 --> 00:28:47.930 today, I think he, again, in our world, I think 00:28:47.930 --> 00:28:51.869 he would say the same thing to us. Quit goofing 00:28:51.869 --> 00:28:56.170 off. Quit wavering. Right? Because here's the 00:28:56.170 --> 00:28:58.349 truth. Again, talking about what we think we 00:28:58.349 --> 00:29:02.109 believe and how we live our lives, right? A lot 00:29:02.109 --> 00:29:04.529 of that for a lot of people, not you good folks, 00:29:04.650 --> 00:29:06.630 but you might know somebody like this that think, 00:29:06.690 --> 00:29:10.769 yeah, you know, I want God to keep me out of 00:29:10.769 --> 00:29:15.730 hell. I mean, I want to get into heaven, but 00:29:15.730 --> 00:29:17.549 I still want to do what I want to do here on 00:29:17.549 --> 00:29:22.200 earth. Oh God, oh Yahweh, hear my prayer. Bless 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:25.960 me, but I don't want to obey your commands. Oh 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:29.660 God, oh God, I want all of the good things, but 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:33.539 I don't want to stop my bad things. Quit wavering. 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:38.299 Right? It said quit being a Christian on Sunday 00:29:38.299 --> 00:29:41.420 and a heathen on Monday. It's a thin line between 00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:44.259 Saturday night and Sunday morning. Quit claiming 00:29:44.259 --> 00:29:47.230 Christ and living like you don't know it. Quit 00:29:47.230 --> 00:29:50.130 wavering the benefits of being unwilling to sacrifice. 00:29:50.309 --> 00:29:54.450 Take a side. Just take a side. If it's things, 00:29:54.529 --> 00:29:57.990 stuff, money, whatever is your God, then quit 00:29:57.990 --> 00:30:02.569 playing around with it and go for it. But if 00:30:02.569 --> 00:30:06.309 Jesus Christ, we Christian believers would say, 00:30:06.430 --> 00:30:12.750 the Son of God is the one true God, then as Christians, 00:30:12.809 --> 00:30:16.039 quit your wavering. Serve Christ with all of 00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.460 your heart. Don't just claim Christ and then 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:23.000 live as if Christ didn't exist or doesn't exist. 00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:28.059 Serve him. How long do we waver between the two 00:30:28.059 --> 00:30:30.799 opinions? So he says he's going to have a showdown. 00:30:32.039 --> 00:30:34.880 He says, go get two bulls for me, one bull for 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:36.319 you, one bull for me. We're going to build a 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:38.339 couple of altars, and we're going to sacrifice 00:30:38.339 --> 00:30:43.769 these bulls as offerings to our gods. We're going 00:30:43.769 --> 00:30:47.069 to call your God, our God, and we're going to 00:30:47.069 --> 00:30:50.450 see who really is God. So let's pick up the story, 00:30:50.529 --> 00:30:53.950 verse 24, see what happens. He says this, then 00:30:53.950 --> 00:30:56.230 you call the name of your God and I'll call the 00:30:56.230 --> 00:30:58.589 name of the Lord. And the one who answers by 00:30:58.589 --> 00:31:02.809 fire, God says, all right, scripture says he's 00:31:02.809 --> 00:31:08.069 God. And all of the people finally, after being 00:31:08.069 --> 00:31:11.009 called out, said, all right, sounds good. Because 00:31:11.009 --> 00:31:14.220 you know what they're thinking? These people 00:31:14.220 --> 00:31:19.740 are thinking, Elijah, Elijah, you made a mistake. 00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:26.740 Dude, we're going to call on Baal. Baal's the 00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:33.259 sun god. Sun, hot, fire. Elijah, did you forget 00:31:33.259 --> 00:31:37.599 this? You're going to get smoked, old prophet. 00:31:39.339 --> 00:31:41.460 So he goes on with the deal. Verse 26, Scripture 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:42.980 says, So they took the bull and they prepared 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:47.940 it. These prophets. They prepared it and they 00:31:47.940 --> 00:31:51.119 called on the name of Baal from morning until 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:55.059 noon. And they are. They're literally dancing 00:31:55.059 --> 00:32:00.380 around the altar. Oh, Baal, answer us, they shouted. 00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:05.319 But the Bible says there was no response. No 00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:10.519 one answered. And so, They danced around the 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:14.279 altar that they had made. Bail, send fire, nothing. 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:18.920 I love this because of my own personal sense 00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:21.799 of humor. But I love this because if you can 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:23.940 see it with the right set of eyes, Elijah starts 00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:25.960 to mess with these guys, Jack with these guys. 00:32:26.859 --> 00:32:30.119 This is really actually funny. This is a man 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:32.880 of God. He's going to mess with these guys. He 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.980 says, verse 27, at noon, Elijah began to taunt 00:32:35.980 --> 00:32:40.279 them. Why don't you shout louder? I don't think 00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:44.539 your God can hear you. Surely he is God, perhaps. 00:32:45.380 --> 00:32:49.960 Perhaps he's deep in thought. Or he's busy. Or 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:54.359 maybe he's traveling. Maybe he's sleeping and 00:32:54.359 --> 00:32:58.299 somebody needs to go wake him up. I know he's 00:32:58.299 --> 00:33:01.660 a God, but maybe he's on vacation. Right? Maybe 00:33:01.660 --> 00:33:04.099 he's having a little siesta. He's got his milk 00:33:04.099 --> 00:33:06.099 and cookies. He's taking a little nap. But what's 00:33:06.099 --> 00:33:10.900 funny to me... is when he says, maybe he's busy, 00:33:11.019 --> 00:33:14.960 right? He says it up here. He's deep in thought. 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:19.059 Maybe he's busy. You can look this up because 00:33:19.059 --> 00:33:20.460 you're going to think I'm making this up, but 00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:23.640 it's not. It's true, right? Look this up. Go 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:26.119 home and look this up. What it really says is 00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:30.960 maybe he's going to the bathroom, right? Most 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.680 literal translation here is maybe your God is 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:36.630 busy. Because maybe your God is in the bathroom 00:33:36.630 --> 00:33:40.809 relieving himself, right? You got Elijah, the 00:33:40.809 --> 00:33:44.190 man of God, he's saying, shout louder. You know, 00:33:44.210 --> 00:33:47.109 he's like trying to keep a straight face, don't 00:33:47.109 --> 00:33:51.809 laugh. Maybe he's on vacation. Maybe he's on 00:33:51.809 --> 00:33:55.029 the john, right? He's talking, where's your God? 00:33:55.210 --> 00:33:57.230 Maybe you need to put an ad in the newspaper. 00:33:58.390 --> 00:34:03.019 Verse 28 through 35. What do these crazy prophets 00:34:03.019 --> 00:34:07.500 do? They shout all the louder. They danced around. 00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:11.719 They went crazy. They started to cut themselves. 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:16.280 I don't know why, but that's what they did. Scripture 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:20.559 says that they shouted all day long. Sadly, though, 00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:23.840 many of us, we don't dance around the false gods 00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:27.159 all day long, but many of us do it all lifelong, 00:34:27.739 --> 00:34:31.889 our whole lifetime. Dancing, praising, pursuing, 00:34:32.130 --> 00:34:34.869 serving, worshiping false gods that promise something 00:34:34.869 --> 00:34:41.769 but never deliver a lifetime long. So finally, 00:34:41.889 --> 00:34:45.449 the end of the day, they dance, they cut themselves, 00:34:45.789 --> 00:34:49.789 nothing happens. Elijah does this. 1 Kings 18 00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:53.929 .36, at the time of the sacrifice, the prophet 00:34:53.929 --> 00:34:58.849 Elijah stepped forward. Bible says he prayed. 00:35:00.219 --> 00:35:04.539 Okay? He didn't dance. He didn't shout. Didn't 00:35:04.539 --> 00:35:08.860 cut himself. He didn't do anything crazy trying 00:35:08.860 --> 00:35:13.139 to get God's attention. He prayed. And next week, 00:35:13.219 --> 00:35:14.900 again, I was telling you, I could have bumped 00:35:14.900 --> 00:35:16.659 these two stories together, but really next week, 00:35:16.679 --> 00:35:20.159 these both need their own time as a full story. 00:35:20.260 --> 00:35:21.719 But next week, we're going to look at the faith 00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:24.579 and the prayer life of Elijah, this awesome guy 00:35:24.579 --> 00:35:27.920 of God. In much better detail. His prayer life 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:30.099 is going to really come into play next week. 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:33.179 But here he prays. Oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac 00:35:33.179 --> 00:35:36.119 and Israel. Let it be known today that you are 00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:39.300 God in Israel. And that I am your servant. And 00:35:39.300 --> 00:35:42.019 I have done all of these things at your command. 00:35:42.219 --> 00:35:46.659 Answer me oh Lord. Answer me so that these people 00:35:46.659 --> 00:35:51.139 will know. Oh Lord that you are God. And that 00:35:51.139 --> 00:35:57.340 you are turning their hearts back. Beauty and 00:35:57.340 --> 00:35:59.980 the power of these statements. Answer me, O Lord. 00:36:00.059 --> 00:36:06.059 Reveal yourself. God, show us who you are. Let 00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:10.000 us see you. Reveal yourself by fire. May we feel 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.280 the heat of your love. Show us, God, who you 00:36:14.280 --> 00:36:19.579 are. Why? So that it'll rain? So that we'll have 00:36:19.579 --> 00:36:23.699 good crops? So that we'll have some sort of agricultural... 00:36:24.059 --> 00:36:27.420 Is that why we're doing and asking what we're 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:30.659 asking? No. So that you may turn the hearts of 00:36:30.659 --> 00:36:34.500 the people back again because they used to know 00:36:34.500 --> 00:36:38.960 you. They used to walk with you. They used to 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.900 serve you. They used to worship you. But these 00:36:41.900 --> 00:36:46.559 false gods have taken your place, O God. Turn 00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:51.980 their hearts back again. And as I read that, 00:36:52.019 --> 00:36:54.519 I... I feel so much passion for many of us because 00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:59.179 there are, not you good people, I'm sure, but 00:36:59.179 --> 00:37:02.400 people you know, there are those of us who have 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:06.860 walked at one time with God. And then we walked 00:37:06.860 --> 00:37:11.940 away. And we put some false god, some combination 00:37:11.940 --> 00:37:16.320 of false gods, on the throne of our life instead 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:20.300 of God. And perhaps today God's trying to reveal 00:37:20.300 --> 00:37:24.039 himself to you. Why? So that you can turn your 00:37:24.039 --> 00:37:30.239 heart back towards God again. And maybe you can 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:32.199 start to sense that in your life because you 00:37:32.199 --> 00:37:35.239 can start to sense that God's working. Why? So 00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:38.079 that you can turn your hearts back towards Him 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:45.719 again. So, whoever is God, reveal yourself by 00:37:45.719 --> 00:37:51.489 fire, he prays. And verse 38. This is the best 00:37:51.489 --> 00:37:56.210 part. Watch what happens. The fire of the Lord. 00:37:56.429 --> 00:38:02.489 I mean, Shazam, right? Imagine this lightning 00:38:02.489 --> 00:38:05.929 rod from heaven fell. And here's what Scripture 00:38:05.929 --> 00:38:09.889 said. That the fire that was lit, it burned up 00:38:09.889 --> 00:38:14.389 the sacrifice and the wood and the stones and 00:38:14.389 --> 00:38:18.889 the soil and it licked up all of the water around 00:38:18.889 --> 00:38:21.639 the... that the false gods had poured on it. 00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:25.719 It licked up the water that they tried to put 00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:29.619 the fire out with. And when all the people saw 00:38:29.619 --> 00:38:33.079 this, they fell prostrate and they cried, the 00:38:33.079 --> 00:38:39.840 Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And that'd 00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:42.940 be my prayer for our church. That we could see 00:38:42.940 --> 00:38:46.739 God for who God is and that the false gods would... 00:38:46.989 --> 00:38:49.349 fall away by comparison to the one true God. 00:38:49.989 --> 00:38:53.110 That our hearts would be turned back towards 00:38:53.110 --> 00:38:56.590 him and we would say, the Lord, he is God. The 00:38:56.590 --> 00:39:01.010 Lord, he is God. Now, I'll be honest, when I 00:39:01.010 --> 00:39:03.070 read this story, the first time I thought to 00:39:03.070 --> 00:39:06.849 myself, well, duh, send a fireball from heaven, 00:39:06.949 --> 00:39:10.269 I'm impressed, right? I mean, God, if you're 00:39:10.269 --> 00:39:13.530 really there, burn this baby up, right? God, 00:39:13.610 --> 00:39:16.900 you're God, I can't do that. So if you can do 00:39:16.900 --> 00:39:20.400 that, yep, you're God. Why didn't God do that 00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:23.440 today? Why doesn't God show himself like that? 00:39:23.780 --> 00:39:27.199 You know? And then the same time I keep asking 00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:31.400 kind of the same question, I realize so much 00:39:31.400 --> 00:39:35.079 of an intimate, more beautiful way as Christian 00:39:35.079 --> 00:39:37.199 believers, how God revealed himself not in a 00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:39.900 fireball from heaven, but through his son, Jesus, 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:45.010 that we might have the person of God. In the 00:39:45.010 --> 00:39:48.070 person of Jesus who lived a perfect, sinless 00:39:48.070 --> 00:39:51.210 life that he could die for us on a cross and 00:39:51.210 --> 00:39:54.889 be raised again so that we could know him. And 00:39:54.889 --> 00:39:59.250 when we do know God through Christ, friends, 00:39:59.289 --> 00:40:05.150 all of the false gods will fall away. Any questions? 00:40:07.269 --> 00:40:16.550 Okay. You know, I truly do. I hope that this 00:40:16.550 --> 00:40:19.630 story convicts you the way that it convicts me. 00:40:21.670 --> 00:40:25.409 Because I had mentioned earlier, we don't serve 00:40:25.409 --> 00:40:30.429 false gods. We don't run around with plastic 00:40:30.429 --> 00:40:33.949 horns on our head, sacrificing our children to 00:40:33.949 --> 00:40:39.050 Canaanite gods. No, no, no, no, no. The false 00:40:39.050 --> 00:40:42.920 gods that we choose to serve Even those good 00:40:42.920 --> 00:40:48.800 things are very socially acceptable. That's the 00:40:48.800 --> 00:40:54.380 problem. Will we allow the circumstances of our 00:40:54.380 --> 00:40:58.920 lives to dictate who has control of our heart? 00:40:58.980 --> 00:41:04.559 Will we continue to fall into the sin of idolatry? 00:41:05.559 --> 00:41:09.559 No, no, no, no. Not a golden calf, but... Money, 00:41:09.619 --> 00:41:14.960 prestige, power, anything that puts something 00:41:14.960 --> 00:41:19.099 else in the place of God, the rightful place 00:41:19.099 --> 00:41:23.280 of God on the throne of our hearts. Elijah asks 00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:28.260 each one of us, how long will we waver? Anyway, 00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:32.519 it's something to think about. Until next week, 00:41:32.539 --> 00:41:34.840 friend, be well and be blessed.