It’s awful to know that horrible things happen, and then they don’t go away. It’s like the evil has to grow to maturity before it gets cut down.
Standing in a field of growing evil is really disconcerting. It’s just plain, feels creepy. It’s like, I know what’s growing, but can’t do a thing about it. I KNOW that it’s going to mature to produce seeds from the original plant, but my hands are tied behind my back so I can’t yank it out.
That’s where I am now.
In a field full of growing evil, with my hands in handcuffs, just watching it grow.
It’s terrifying. Sometimes the weeds suck the hope out of me, as I watch. Oddly enough, I have found that I just have to look up; to see the sky, the clouds, the birds and stars at night and then I remember the hugeness of God. That puts things into perspective. Without that action of looking up, all I would see, would be awful and then all the horrible and then the evil. I would give up… but God…
Elijah felt that way too, after 3 years of having his friends die at the hands of a wicked queen and evil take of the nation he knew belonged to God. Let’s see how he managed.
The Back Story
Ahab called the nation together for a showdown between the gods of his wife, baal and the female counterpart asherah and Elijah’s God, I AM.
Elijah set out the rules of the battle. He made sure that everyone knew the odds, 1 prophet against 450 prophets of baal. Each side had to make an alter, cut up the sacrifice, and lay it on wood WITHOUT putting fire to it. Whoever’s God answered by fire, won. Everyone agreed that is was a fair challenge.
What would convince anyone that this was a reasonable challenge at all? Who REALLY expects fire to fall from heaven? The sky-god, baal, was thought to control the fire from heaven, a.k.a. lightning. The demonic to human experience was SOOOO rampant at that time, as in the time of Moses and the Exodus, that supernatural demonic occurrences DID happen and were expected. It was the new normal.
In the presence of all the witnesses, the prophets of baal started their petition to their gods. They begged their god to answer from morning to noon. By noon, Elijah started mocking them and their god, asking if their god was sleeping or busy taking a dump on the toilet (yes, he really said that. 1 Kings 17:27). The prophets got frantic and started cutting themselves as living sacrifices and there was a bloody mess everywhere. (vs 29). They ranted and raved like that until evening but their god didn’t answer (actually, their god COULDN’T answer- more on that later). They were probably very woozy from the lack of food and loss of blood.
Finally, Elijah’s turn came, during what was normally the evening sacrifice time. He called the nation close to him and they watched as he prepared the alter. He took stones from the ancient alter and in the name of the Lord, rebuilt the holy place that was torn down by the queen. He put a trench around the alter to hold about 20 liters of water. (that’s about 1 1/2- 5 gallon pails, for you farmers!) He prepared the wood and the sacrifice and got servants to pour 4 pitchers of water over it. THREE TIMES! Water was everywhere. The wood and sacrifice were drenched and the trench was full of water.
THEN ELIJAH PRAYED.
He acknowledged the heritage of his nation in the sovereignty of the Lord. He declared that God is the God of Israel and that he was a servant of the One True God. He asked for the repentance of the people. Then he asked for the sign of fire.
It came.
Immediately.
With fury, fire came from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the water and the stones. There was no mistaking what happened. It was like a sonic boom! And just like that, it was done.
Repentance from the people came.
Immediately.
Justice had to be exacted on those who told them lies. They were taken to the brook Kishon (meaning river of slaughter and dismemberment) and executed.
While the national religion, which King Ahab fully, supported, was crushed, Elijah went back to the king and told him to have a meal. (Weirdly, the king did! I always thought that was weird. His prophets were slaughtered and he went and had a snack after it????It kinda tells me a little about his character. He was about the here and now, rather than sowing in to the future and worthwhile things. He was hungry, so he ate, not taking into account all that had happened. It was kind of an arrogant move.) While that was happening Elijah was patiently and humbly waiting on God’s next move at the top of mount Carmel. He was waiting for the sign of rain.
It wasn’t immediate. (Pause)
It required a trust in God’s timing. (Deep Pause)
He sent his servant 7 times to check on the miracle. Finally, a cloud came.
Elijah sent a message to Ahab to hurry to Jezreel 20 miles away, before he would get caught in the first rain storm in 3 years. Ahab hurried with his fastest horses.
Elijah beat him there…
Running.
Thoughts
I love this story. Justice won, power was shown. Whoot Whoot! Many of the bad guys died. The good guy is shown to be good. And everyone knows it!!! There is vindication!
But it really is a bitter-sweet kind of story. Yes, God showed himself powerful that day and the heart of the nation turn back to him, but there was a heavy price to pay. The families that lost loved ones in the 3 year famine… The godly prophets that were killed… Lives ruined by an economic crash… An all-time low of emotional moral in the country… I’m not trying to be a limp noodle, but the cost of evil rising up and growing to maturity so it could be harvested and destroyed was great. Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled at the place that God took Elijah and Israel, but agreeing with and exercising rebellion… well… it matters. Israel paid the price of the lack of wisdom in it’s leaders and those who it followed. They chose it, sadly.
I wanted to point that out, not to be mad at God for the choices of people, but to humbly honor the sacrifice of lives. Each of those lives lost, either by famine or sword, they were someone’s sister, or brother or daughter or parent… or son.
God can do amazing work to save us in our time of pain many of us have paid the price for someone else’s rebellion. If that’s you, if you’ve paid the price for someone else’s sin, please, lay it at Jesus’ feet. My mentor told me the other day that “grief that is stuck turns into bitterness”. There was a lot to grieve in Elijah’s time. There is a lot to grieve today. Grieving isn’t forgetting the pain. Horrible things that happen, and can’t be forgotten. No, grieving is walking through the valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23) but not setting up a house there. Grief is touching pain, feeling it deeply, with gut-wrenching tears, and then giving it to Jesus. We don’t always understand why Jesus allowed things to happen but remember, Jesus is always ALWAYS good.
Just like the demonic forces, who were so used to having their way in the nation, were not allowed to manifest or show their power during the showdown, God will play the enemy’s games only SO far, until He chooses to end the game by saying “Enough” and fling the chess pieces off the table, and change the rules of engagement!!! BUT, just like Elijah had to wait 3 years for the rain, we have to wait for God to change things around. It’s not acknowledging the power of God that’s hard, it’s the waiting that’s hard. Sometimes, while we wait, the people we love most get hurt.
I was talking to God about that the other day. I was asking Him to save the people that I love with all my heart, He said, “they don’t need saving” (clearly, I disagreed). But then He gave His explanation, “They don’t need saving because they are in the palm of my hand. I have never and WILL NEVER let them go.” I asked God, “Why? Why does this take so long?” He answered, “Because I have to let enough evil come out of its hiding place, so that when it’s time, it will be destroyed in the fullest measure possible. The magnitude of the sonic boom is gonna be BIG, and that takes time.” (Israel was in slavery for hundreds years of before they left Egypt Ex. 1-14 , Joseph was in jail for 10-12 years before being let out of prison Gen. 37-50, Paul and Silas were in prison for a day, but still received beatings prior to them getting out Acts 16:16-40) I bowed my head and humbly, with tears, accepted his answer.
My darling, if you are in a place where life is impossible and you know that it’s evil that has brought you to this place, and not of your own doing, please don’t lose hope. Even if you think you have done something wrong, DON’T lose hope. Elijah’s story is a story of hope, turning away from evil and being restored to right living.
The Israelites had walked away from God but God brought them back to his heart and through his power showed how badly he wanted a restored relationship. Keep in mind, God did NOT have to restore a relationship with Elijah. They already had one, through the years of famine. Is that you my darling? Are you going through your famine right now? Stay close to Jesus. Elijah didn’t have to stand for justice, but he did. Obadiah didn’t have to save 100 prophets, but he did. God honored that, in a big way! It was those hidden prophets that were of one heart and one mind that would have been scattered around Israel to teach the people righteousness after the collapse of the evil regime. The prophets were unified. They were strong in God’s laws. They heard His voice. They could teach Israel all that was forgotten. Elijah couldn’t have done it alone.
My darling, if God has hidden you in a cave, during these dark times, he will feed you and care for you in ways you never dreamed was possible. And when the time comes for God to do some kind of crazy Sonic Boom to the evil around you, you will be ready in your heart to take on leadership and teach right living. You won’t be like the unknowledgeable people who had to start at the beginning, no, you will be a leader, trained in grace and godliness. That training happens, quite often, in the dungeons when no one is looking.
Watch out though. People often stop reading the Elijah story after the killing of the evil priests. It doesn’t stop there. The king and queen continue to live and cause trouble -for a little while (you can read the ending of the story here: 1 Kings 18-22). Elijah didn’t live in a fairy tale and neither do we.
Justice came with fire, an arrow and lowly servants.
King Ahab got shot with an enemy’s arrow in battle which resulted in his death and Jezebel didn’t grieve the death of her husband, but tried to seduce the new king in order to keep her power. Her servants threw her out of her window and the horses trampled her to death. Oh yes, justice was done.
THAT is what the God of the Angel armies can do for you and me. Set your face like stone against rebellion and the deception of self pity. Soften your heart to Jesus, so He can heal the hurts that are there. He’s got you in the palm of His hand!
I know, up until now, I would have thought that Elijah would have written a song (if he wrote songs) about triumph and victory. But now I wonder. I wonder if, perhaps, he might have written a song something like this:
Meditation on Testing: