Lesson 297 - Senior
Memory Verse
"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24).
Cross References
I Elijah's Return
1. Elijah met Obadiah who then sent Ahab to meet him, [1KG:18:1-16].
2. Ahab accused Elijah of troubling Israel, [1KG:18:17-18]; [1KG:21:20]; [1SM:1:14]; [1SM:17:28].
II Trial by Fire
1. Elijah instructed Ahab to gather all Israel and the prophets of Baal, [1KG:18:19-20].
2. The people agreed to a test to prove whether the Lord or Baal was the true God, [1KG:18:21-24]; [ISA:41:21-26]; [ISA:43:9].
3. The God that answered by fire would prove to be the true God, [1KG:18:24]; [LEV:9:24]; [JUG:6:21]; [1CH:21:26]; [2CH:7:1], [2CH:7:3].
4. The prophets of Baal called upon their god all day but received no answer, [1KG:18:25-29]; [ISA:45:20]; [JER:10:5]; [JER:51:17-18]; [DAN:5:23].
5. Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord as the word of the Lord directed, [1KG:18:30-35]; [EXO:24:4]; [JOS:4:3-4].
6. God vindicated His Prophet by consuming the altar and its contents by fire, [1KG:18:36-39]; [NUM:16:28-30]; [ISA:28:21-22]; [ZEC:14:4-5].
7. The prophets of Baal were slain by Elijah, [1KG:18:40].
III Fervent Effectual Prayer
1. Elijah prayed, and God sent rain, [1KG:18:41-46]; [JAM:5:16-17].
Notes
The Word of the Lord
"It shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: . . . And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed” [DEU:28:15], [DEU:28:23-24]). Israel, in later years, learned that this warning from God was not merely idle words. Elijah the Tishbite appeared before Ahab and said: "As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” [1KG:17:1]). And it was so. For three years and a half not a drop of rain or dew was seen in Israel. Though Ahab searched the entire country for the Prophet Elijah, he could not be found; and there was no rain.
Elijah's Return
The sting of God's judgment on the land and on the people was not lost upon Ahab, for when he finally met Elijah his first remark was, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” Elijah was to Ahab the symbol of all his troubles; and he was quite willing to blame the Prophet of God rather than admit that his own sins had brought about this terrible state of affairs. Elijah gave him the correct answer: "I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.”
The Call to Worship
All Israel and the prophets of Baal gathered to hear what Elijah, the man who could seal the heavens from raining, had to say. His proposition was simple enough for all to grasp: Let an altar be built, sacrifices offered upon it; and the God which would consume the sacrifice by fire would in truth be the true and living God, and Him should they serve. It was a bold challenge for Elijah to make. There were 450 prophets of Baal, and 400 prophets of the grove, while Elijah, so far as he knew, was the sole representative of the Lord. Elijah's boldness was born of holy faith in the omnipotent God, and Elijah knew numbers meant little where God was concerned. Elijah knew there was no life or power in the dumb idols of Baal that the Israelites were so foolishly and superstitiously worshiping. God was using drastic methods to show the Israelites that nothing they could do or could not do would change, in the slightest degree, what God was doing. Let the prophets of Baal now prove the reality of their god once and for all or forsake him as a fraud. This was the gist of Elijah's appeal to the people; and they accepted the challenge.
Dumb Idols
There is a desire in men's hearts to worship something; and Satan has often capitalized this inherent characteristic of men's souls, in order to enslave them for his own ends. He has often filled the people's hearts with superstition and fear, to make them worship idols; and they have become slaves to such things, unable to escape satanic domination except by the power of God. Israel had forsaken the worship of the true God and was ensnared in heathenish superstition and the worship of idols. They were indeed fortunate that God still cared enough for them to send a man such as Elijah to break up this idolatry and to turn their hearts once again to the Lord.
The prophets of Baal spent the day in shouting, and fanatical and rabid cutting of themselves, in frenzies of emotion trying to get their idols to perform a miracle for them. This is a classical Bible example of fanaticism. Elijah ridiculed them and gave them all the day to bring down an answer by fire from Heaven. But no answer came. It never will come on those conditions.
Moses had told the Children of Israel: "Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else” [DEU:4:39]). Faith that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him, is the key to receiving things from God [HEB:11:6]). God is very particular as to the manner in which men approach Him, and the worship of God must be carried on as the Word of the Lord directs.
The Altar of God
When the prophets of Baal had exhausted themselves in vain praying to Baal, Elijah built an altar to the Lord according to the Word of the Lord, using twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel. While preparing to make his sacrifice, Elijah asked all the people to come near. No doubt Elijah wanted the people to watch him closely and know for themselves that thee was no sleight of hand involved in his offering but that everything was done according to God's Word. After placing a bullock upon the altar and digging a trench around it, Elijah had the people drench the entire altar and the sacrifice three times with water. There was to be no strange fire here. And the most valuable thing in the land – water – was offered with the sacrifice to the God of Israel.
At the time of the evening sacrifice, the time God had ordained in the past, Elijah made his prayer to God. It was simple, evidently short in words, but full of faith. He reminded God that he was doing all these things at His command, and Elijah prayed that God would now prove Himself and turn the hearts of the people back to Himself. The fire of God fell in answer to this prayer, and consumed the sacrifice, and the altar, and even the water in the trench! The people fell upon their faces as one man and acknowledged. "The LORD, he is the God.”
The prophets of Baal were taken by the people and slain at the hands of Elijah. So will every false prophet and every preacher of false worship suffer the judgment of God and suffer eternal damnation. They will, in the end, be revealed as idolaters and followers of Satan, and will suffer like condemnation together with Satan.
Sevenfold Prayer
Elijah's work was not yet completed, for still there was no rain. God had proved His existence to all concerned, and now Elijah must prevail with God to send rain. Retiring to a mountain, he began to pray. Elijah's heart must have been full of faith and confidence, because he told Ahab, "There is a sound of abundance of rain.” Although Elijah had to pray again and again, his prayer did not recognize discouragement. Elijah had just come from a spectacular revelation of God's might and power, which certainly confirmed his faith in God. He was interceding for the people, and the burden was great. He had to send his servant seven times to look for rain; but the heart of Elijah had a grip on God, and he would not let Him go -– like Jacob who prevailed with God and would not let the angel of God go until the blessing came. When Elijah's servant came and told him he could see a cloud the size of a man's hand, that was proof enough for Elijah. He knew the torrents of rain would soon follow. Warning Ahab to get down from the mountain before the rain prevented him, Elijah ran with joyous praise unto God, before the chariot of Ahab.
Elijah was made of mortal clay as is every man. James tells us he "was a man subject to like passions as we are” [JAM:5:17]), showing that he did not posses superior virtues or gifts that other Christians cannot posses. "He prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” God can be prevailed upon to glorify His name if His people will pray fervently and earnestly as did Elijah. The lack of fervency in prayer is a great limitation to many Christians' power. Acknowledging God only through the intellect will get nothing from God. There must be a crying out to God from the depths of the heart, in faith. We must let nothing belie the fact that God is and that He will hear and answer prayer. Then we shall see the fire fall upon our sacrifices and offerings even as it fell upon Elijah's. God delights in proving Himself to His people and will do so again and again if we pray with faith believing.
Questions
1. Why was there no rain in Israel for three years and a half?
2. What did Elijah have to do with the stoppage of rain?
3. Why did Elijah call the people together?
4. Why could not the prophets of Baal get an answer from Baal?
5. Why did Elijah build an altar of twelve stones?
6. Why did God answer Elijah and not answer the prophets of Baal?
7. How did Elijah know it was going to rain?
8. Why did Elijah have to pray seven times for rain?
9. What was the reason for Elijah's great success in praying to God?