I Alone
by the Rev. AJ Ochart
Sermon Notes
This week we skip forward about a hundred years. The kingdoms of Israel (in the north) and Judah (in the south) have once again split apart after the reign of Solomon. According to 1 Kings (which is written from the standpoint of Judah), the kings of Israel are all terrible and unrighteous (as opposed to the kings of Judah who are only mostly-terrible). The worst, by far, is king Ahab son of Omri, and his wife Jezabel. Ahab builds an alter for Ba’al, as well as an Asurah pole, to worship gods other than the LORD.
However, as villains rise, so do heroes. Elijah the Tishbite is a prophet who warns Ahab that unless he repents, the land would experience a sustained drought. Ahab ignores the warning, and drought effects the land for over three years. During the drought, Elijah is sustained for a while by God through ravens bringing him food. Later, God sends Elijah to Zerepheth where he asks a widow for some food. She is willing to risk her last bit of meal, and because of it, God miraculously provides her enough for the rest of the drought.
Near the end of the drought, Elijah sends word to Ahab to assemble the people and the prophets of Ba’al to Mount Carmel for an old-fashioned God-off. Elijah sets a contest where he and the prophets of Ba’al will prepare sacrifices, but the winner will be the one whose god lights the sacrifice on fire. The prophets agree and prepare their sacrifice, then cry out to Ba’al to set the sacrifice on fire. After some light taunting, Elijah rebuilds an altar to the LORD, and prepares his own sacrifice. He then asks servants to cover the altar with water three times. Finally, he prays, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel…” and fire fell from the sky, consuming the wood, sacrifice, water, and altar.
Having definitely won the contest, Elijah kills all of the prophets of Ba’al, and then prays for the drought to end. Jezebel is furious at this victory, and vows to kill Elijah the way he killed the prophets of Ba’al, and Elijah runs.
Questions to Consider
- What do you do when things are overwhelming?
- How have you seen or heard God speaking in loud and demonstrable ways?
- How have you seen or heard God speaking in quiet ways?
