<\/p>\n
1 Kings 17:8-20:22<\/strong><\/span> Great readings today about Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath!\u00a0 Verses 21 through 23 are awesome \u2013 \u201cAnd he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD, \u201cO LORD my God, please let this child\u2019s life return to him.\u201d The LORD heard Elijah\u2019s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he came back to life! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. \u201cLook, your son is alive!\u201d\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Bible.org\u2019s commentary on our 1 Kings 17 readings on Elijah today titled \u201cTestings and Ministry at Zaraphath\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span> and commentary titled \u201cThe Death and Resurrection of the Widow\u2019s Son\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 \u00a0There is a lot of great in-depth commentary on 1 Kings 17 at Bible.org!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Wow!\u00a0 Great readings today in 1 Kings 18.\u00a0 This is an amazing chapter of the Bible, and one that I heard a wonderful sermon on a couple of years ago.\u00a0 This is strong stuff.\u00a0 One thing that kind of got me chuckling was the subtitle the New Living Translation puts at the top of this chapter \u2013 \u201cThe Contest on Mount Carmel\u201d!\u00a0 For some reason this got my mind thinking of WWF Championship Wrestling\u2026 yes\u2026 strange place for my mind to wander I realize.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 But then, this imagery kind of stuck with me throughout the readings and I definitely think Elijah threw down a WWF level taunt in verse 27 when the prophets of Baal were not having any luck getting their fire started: \u201cAbout noontime Elijah began mocking them. \u201cYou\u2019ll have to shout louder,\u201d he scoffed, \u201cfor surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or he is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or he is asleep and needs to be wakened!\u201d\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Perhaps he is relieving himself??\u00a0 The prophet Elijah puts even Hulk Hogan\u2019s WWF taunt\u2019s to shame!\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n Okay\u2026 in all seriousness\u2026 1 Kings 18 is an amazing chapter.\u00a0 There were several verses that stood out to me.\u00a0 First was verses 17 and 18 when Ahab meets Elijah \u2013 \u201c\u201dSo it\u2019s you, is it\u2013Israel\u2019s troublemaker?\u201d Ahab asked when he saw him. \u201cI have made no trouble for Israel,\u201d Elijah replied. \u201cYou and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the LORD and have worshiped the images of Baal instead.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 I love Elijah\u2019s directness and boldness to Ahab.\u00a0 Ahab tries to go after Elijah and maybe intimidate him, since Ahab is King.\u00a0 And Elijah does not back down one iota \u2013 he tells Ahab exactly why Ahab is the troublemaker.\u00a0 I love that.\u00a0 I wonder about our lives today.\u00a0 If someone comes after us and maybe attacks our faith or integrity falsely in some way, will we immediately stand up for our faith like Elijah did to King Ahab?<\/span><\/p>\n Verses 20 & 21 are powerful \u2013 \u201cSo Ahab summoned all the people and the prophets to Mount Carmel. Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, \u201cHow long are you going to waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!\u201d But the people were completely silent.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 What a great question \u2013 and one that we may need to ask ourselves \u2013 \u201cHow long are you going to waver between two opinions?\u00a0 If the Lord is God, follow him!\u201d\u00a0 Are we wavering at all in our commitment to God?\u00a0 Are we being silent like the people were when Elijah asked this question?\u00a0 Let us not waver between two opinions\u2026\u00a0 If the Lord is God, are you following him?\u00a0 Wholeheartedly?\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Below is an image of Elijah\u2019s \u201cSermon on the Mount Carmel\u201d\u2026\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 bad pun\u2026 sorry.\u00a0 (I really should know better than to start off a blog post with the Hulkster\u2026 it sets me off on the wrong foot\u2026 \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n I love the little story at the end of today\u2019s chapter where Elijah falls to his knees in prayer on Mt. Carmel and tells his servant to go look toward the sea \u2013 7 times!\u00a0 And then soon comes the little cloud\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n Last but not least, verse 46 is a great closing to this eventful chapter! \u201cNow the LORD gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab\u2019s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Think about this day\u2019s events \u2013 Elijah meets with Obadiah.\u00a0 Summons Ahab.\u00a0 Meets with Ahab.\u00a0 Summons the people of Israel and the prophets of Baal and Asherah.\u00a0 Conducts a WWF Smackdown tourney \ud83d\ude42 \u2013 and God wins big time!\u00a0 Prays for rain.\u00a0 And then what better way to finish out this type of day but to \u201ctuck his cloak into his belt\u201d and run faster than Ahab\u2019s chariot back to Jezreel!\u00a0 Great stuff!\u00a0 What a chapter!\u00a0 Elijah rocks!<\/span><\/p>\n Bible.org has tons of great commentary on today\u2019s readings in 1 Kings 18, which is not surprising considering how much happens in this chapter today.\u00a0 Commentary titled \u201cThe Word of the Lord Comes to Elijah\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 \u201cElijah ministers to Obadiah\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 \u201cElijah Meets and Rebukes Ahab\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 \u201cWhen One Becomes a Majority\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 \u201cThe Ineffectual Prayers of the Baal Priests\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 And finally, \u201cThe Prayers of Elijah\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link.<\/span><\/p>\n Great chapter 19 today!\u00a0 We are introduced to Elisha, who will be mentored by Elijah to succeed him as a prophet at the end of First Kings 19 today.\u00a0 However, before we get to Elisha, we read about Elijah being very \u201cdejected\u201d in the desert to say the least.\u00a0 Some commentaries on this early portion of chapter 19 are not super-kind to Elijah for heading to the desert.\u00a0 Commentaries I think wisely suggest that verses 9 & 13 demonstrate God trying to gently let Elijah know he\u2019s off course and feeling too sorry for himself, when asked twice in these verses: \u201cWhat are you doing here, Elijah?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 This kind of reminded me of Jonah fleeing from God\u2019s will on the boat.\u00a0 (which we\u2019ll read about later this year).\u00a0 And this kind of reminded me of me \u2013 and maybe you too.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 Have you ever had that nagging question enter your heart or mind when you suddenly realize that you are off course from God\u2019s will in your life?\u00a0 That question of:\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing here??\u201d\u00a0 I know I have\u2026\u00a0 Praise God when we are actually able to hear and understand that question and get out of the desert and back to life and back to loving this hurting world!\u00a0 Below is a wonderful painting from the year 1464 by the Flemish artist Dirk Bouts for verses 5 & 6, early on in the chapter when Elijah was fleeing to Mount Sinai \u2013 \u201cThen he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, \u201cGet up and eat!\u201d He looked around and saw some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Today in 1 Kings 19 verses 11 through 14 we read about how God appears to Elijah in a way that he was not expecting \u2013 \u201cThen a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind.\u00a0 After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.\u00a0 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.\u00a0 And after the fire came a gentle whisper.\u00a0 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.\u00a0 Then a voice said to him, \u201cWhat are you doing here, Elijah?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The interesting thing to note about these verses is that Elijah was expecting or hoping God would appear in judgment to the Israelites in a windstorm, earthquake or fire. But God did not appear in any of these forms. Instead, God comes to Elijah in a simple gentle whisper. A gentle whisper. And I wonder about us in our lives today as well \u2013 do we often expect God to move mountains or to really show himself to us in big bold ways? When, perhaps, God may be speaking to you or me right now, but we\u2019re missing it? Why? Well, is it possible that God is speaking to you right now with a simple gentle whisper? Is it possible that you have built up so many distractions or duties or activities or worries in your life that you cannot hear God\u2019s gentle whisper? I know that I have been in this place too many times \u2013 I\u2019ve gotten myself so busy looking for God in all the wrong places. And then finally I will slow myself down for just long enough to hear God speaking to my heart in a gentle whisper! A gentle whisper that I am sure was there all along. . . but I was looking for God in the windstorm and earthquake and fires of life. When instead I should have simply slowed down and listened for God\u2019s gentle whisper. Will you slow down long enough to listen for God\u2019s gentle whisper for you? Do you believe that God can speak to you in a simple gentle whisper this very moment?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Bible.org\u2019s commentary on today\u2019s 1 Kings readings titled \u201cThe Vulnerability of Victory\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 \u201cThe Crisis of Elijah\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>. \u201cThe Restoration of Elijah\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 And \u201cTaking Up Your Mantle\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 Below is a painting in a Carmelite cloister in Frankfurt, Germany from the year 1517 by an unknown artist showing the life of the prophet Elijah, including what I think is the anointing\/calling of Elisha in the middle portion \u2013 and you\u2019ll see the angel tending to Elijah in the desert on the left and the burnt offering from yesterday\u2019s readings on the right:<\/span><\/p>\n In 1 Kings 20 today we read about King Ahab\u2019s battles with King Ben-hadad of Aram.\u00a0 Verse 11 today was sharp! \u201cThe king of Israel sent back this answer: \u201cA warrior still dressing for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.\u201d\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Not a bad little saying from Ahab to Ben-hadad!\u00a0 Sounds sort of like a Proverb.\u00a0 Actually, this really sounds like our modern day saying of: \u201cDon\u2019t count your chickens before they hatch!\u201d\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n Worship God:<\/strong> Today\u2019s readings remind me of Tauren Wells\u2019 terrific song \u201cHills and Valleys:\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \n
~ Click here to read today\u2019s Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~<\/span><\/em>
~ Listen to today\u2019s Scripture with <\/em>The ESV Bible<\/em><\/span> ~<\/p>\n