1 Kings 17-19

The story in 1 Kings 17 is one of the most famous stories of the Bible. Elijah the Tishbite is contending against wicked King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. In verses 1–9, the Lord directs Elijah to bring a drought on the land and then hide himself by a stream. The Lord causes ravens to bring him bread and meat twice a day, and by eating the food and drinking the water he is able to stay alive. However, in time the stream dries up, and Elijah is commanded to go to Zarephath, where a widow and her son are living.

When Elijah arrives in verses 10–12, the woman is about to combine some meal (which I assume is probably flour) and oil. She is planning to make a little cake (again, I’ve always thought this was bread), share it with her son, and die. In verses 13–16, Elijah tells her to prepare it for him instead, and he promises her that if she will do this, she won’t run out of either ingredient. She obeys him, and is able to feed the three of them for a long time.

You’d think this would be enough for one chapter, but the next thing that happens is that the woman’s son gets sick and dies (verse 17). The woman is distraught because she feels as though God has taken the life of her son in retribution for her sin (verse 18), so Elijah takes the dead body upstairs to the loft where he has been sleeping, prays to God on behalf of the boy, and is able to restore the boy’s life (verses 19–23). In verse 24, the woman says, “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.”

This is a good story to compare with the story of Christ in the New Testament, where Christ healed the man who was born blind (John 9:1). John 9:2 reads, “And his disciples asked him, saying Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” And Jesus answers in verse 3: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

I do not believe that God causes our illness or handicaps in order to show off. I also do not believe that God is petty. Although the scriptures say that sometimes people are punished for their cruelty and wickedness, in general we seem to be given pretty free reign over how we want to conduct ourselves in this world. If anything, there are far too many examples of people who infringe on the rights of others without anyone (including God) stopping them until great harm has been done.

What I prefer to believe is that we live in an imperfect and unjust world where illness and handicaps exist; that we came into this world because we wanted to be here, despite the bad things that can happen to us; and that maybe we even chose to come here specifically because we wanted to grow and be tested against the harshness we knew we would find here. Despite the testing we are going through, however, God sometimes chooses to heal us and alleviate our pain. I also believe that whether we are healed in this life or not, we can be strengthened and given peace. The woman’s son died because this is a world where people can get sick and die. The man was born blind because sometimes that happens, too. In both cases, though, they were healed, and their healing gives faith to damaged people that they, too, might someday be healed.

1 Kings 18 contains another famous (and dramatic) story. During the third year of the famine, the Lord commands Elijah to show himself to Ahab (verse 1). First, however, Elijah shows himself to a man named Obadiah (verse 7). Obadiah is a good man who “feared the Lord greatly” (verse three) and who personally saved the lives of 100 prophets who would otherwise have been killed by Jezebel (verse 4).

This raises two questions. What does it mean that Obadiah feared the Lord? I think the language has shifted. The NIV translates this as, “Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord.” The NCV says, “Obadiah was a true follower of the Lord.” The Jerusalem Bible says, “Obadiah held Yahweh in great reverence.” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible points to a word that implies both fear and reverence. This is what I think I would call a healthy respect for the Lord’s power.

So many people today live their lives in an assumption that God is disinclined to act at best, and powerless at worst. The Old Testament world is fascinating to me because God is so much a part of everyone’s lives. There are certainly those today who clearly do center their lives around God, sometimes for good and sometimes for evil, but I think many other people do not think of God as having much to do with them. And this story, as it continues along, illustrates that dichotomy beautifully between the followers of God and the followers of Baalim.

The second question has to do with the term “prophet.” What does it mean when it says that there were apparently (including Elijah) at least 101 prophets?

The LDS Church today has of course one prophet on the earth as President of the church organization, with the Council of the Twelve also recognized as “Prophets, Seers, and Revelators.” LDS people are not inclined to think about prophecy as a general gift, because there is the wish to respect the hierarchy of church leadership. We tend to restrict the term, on a day-to-day basis, to the President of the LDS church. However, this story is intriguing, because it reminds us that if you prophesy, then you are a prophet. (We ran into this previously when Saul exercised the gift of prophecy before and during his reign.) I am inclined to think, though, that again this is a case where the language (and culture) has shifted. If these prophets were alive today, and had the same gifts, we would probably call them by a different name. And we would do that, not because they were not prophets, but to reduce confusion.

Elijah sends a reluctant Obadiah to talk to King Ahab (verses 7–16). Obadiah is reluctant because he thinks Elijah might disappear again before Obadiah can return with King Ahab, and that Ahab will then murder him. Since Ahab is a thoroughly nasty man, this is an entirely reasonable fear on Obadiah’s part. But Elijah reassures Obadiah that he won’t disappear, and so Ahab and Obadiah get together to talk (verses 17–20).

Elijah addresses the people in verse 21: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” I really like this, because it is so beautifully pragmatic. Isn’t that what it really boils down to? When we try to be good members of the church and ordinary people within our culture, going along in order to get along, we are trying to have it both ways. We can’t do that successfully. If you think in your heart of hearts that there is a God in Heaven who expects you to do your best to do good and to strengthen others, then you have to live your life accordingly.

Elijah stages a contest between himself and 450 prophets of Baal (verses 22–40). They are to prepare a sacrifice and ask Baal to provide the fire. The result? “And it came to pass… that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded” (verse 29). Elijah then repairs the altar to the Lord, which had apparently seen so little use that had it fallen apart, and he makes a trench around the altar (verse 32). He prepares the sacrifices and drenches it with water not once but three times (the showmanship of this must have been spectacular), and he says in verses 36 and 37, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turn their hearts back again.”

The Lord consumes the sacrifice with fire (verse 38) and the people, very sensibly, fall on their faces to worship their God (verse 39). Elijah then has the false prophets executed (verse 40).

At this point, Elijah goes back to Ahab and ends the drought (verses 41–46). Again, there is a good story with it; he sends a servant not just once but seven times to watch for the clouds that signal rain at last, and he runs “before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel” (verse 46) after the dark clouds show up.

I love the contrast here between Elijah, whose faith in God is a concrete expectation that God can and will answer prayers, versus the prophets of Baal who are very content to exercise their priest craft by preying on the naiveté and gullibility of others.

The final story of this lesson is in 1 Kings 19. In verse 1, Ahab tells Jezebel what Elijah has done. She is furious. In verse 2 she sends Elijah a message: “So let the Gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” He believes her (wouldn’t you?) and in verse 3 he “went for his life.”

In verse 4 Elijah has gone into the wilderness and is sitting under a juniper tree. It says “he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” Can you imagine how depressed and discouraged he must be feeling to be saying this after the experience he has just had? The undercurrent of sorrow and despair is unmistakable.

Elijah falls asleep, and an angel provides him with food and water. He sleeps again, and the angel awakens him again for a second meal of food and water. Having eaten these two miraculous meals, he is then strengthened for a journey of forty days and forty nights, and he ends up at “Horeb the mount of God” (verse 8).

At Horeb, Elijah finds a cave, and it says in verse 9, “the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?” He tells the Lord what has occurred in verse 10: “…I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”\

There is a beautiful piece of music that puts verses 11 and 12 to music. I’ve had the privilege of singing it in a choir, but I don’t know its name or the name of the composer. There’s a good chance you’ve heard it, though. Starting in verse 11, “And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” Elijah then stands at the entrance of the cave, and again, the Lord says to him in verse 13, “What doest thou here, Elijah?”

Elijah responds by repeating almost exactly what he said when the Lord spoke with him the first time. The Lord then instructs him to anoint two kings and another prophet: Hazael is to be anointed King of Syria, Jehu is to be anointed King of Israel, and Elisha is “to be prophet in thy room” (verses 15 and 16). In verse 18, the Lord also says, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”

The rest of the chapter has to do with Elijah going and calling Elisha as a prophet.

I found this to be a very touching story because it does show Elijah’s heart so clearly. I don’t know about you, but I hadn’t thought about that when I was reading about his dramatic sacrifice in chapter 18. Can you imagine being the one true prophet surrounded by 450 false ones? He must have been so lonely and discouraged, and yet he maintained a strong public face. Also, I don’t remember putting the story of his hearing the “still small voice” in context. He received this experience as a direct result of him being so unhappy that he honestly wanted to die. At the same time, the humility of his saying, “I am not better than my fathers” in verse 4 is very tender. This is not the voice of an arrogant or angry man bent on vengeance. This is the voice of a man who would much rather have been at peace.

All of this gives me some new things to think about.

Sunday School Notebook -July 2006 - Susan Morgan