Rev. Don Campbell
1 Kings 17-19
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, June 27, 2019
“THE FEARLESS PROPHET WHO RAN FROM A WOMAN”
The story of Elijah stretches from 1 Kings 17:1 through 2 Kings 2:12, where he is carried into heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:1-12). Elijah took a courageous stand against the 450 prophets of Baal and another 400 prophets of Asherah (Baal’s supposed wife). After a full day of the prophets of Baal trying to get Baal to hear them, Elijah prayed: “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back” (1 Kings 18:36-37). God responded immediately, and it would seem that Elijah had won. The thrill of victory was soon turned into the agony of defeat, when Elijah raced from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel, only to find Jezebel still in control. He fled and said to God, “It is enough. Take my life. I’m the only one left” (1 Kings 19:4, 10). The hearts of the people had not been turned back to God. Elijah ends up in a deep, dark cave of discouragement. God calls him out of the cave and gives him a vision of God’s greatness: The lesson seems to be, “Yes, Elijah, I can crush them into submission or I can burn them to a crisp if I so desire, but my power and my presence are just as mighty when I work unseen and quietly as when the flames crackle and the winds blow.”
Elijah’s ministry was no longer to be one of conflict and confrontation. He was to anoint Hazael as king over Syria, Jehu as king over Israel and Elisha as his own successor (1 Kings. 19:15-16). There isn’t a lot of wind and fire in the ministry of mentoring a successor, but without this ministry, we are always one generation away from being sheep without shepherds.
CONNECTIONS
1. God said that he had seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Could God’s lesson to us today be that the backbone of the church is those people who go about their work as softly and quietly as the still, small voice of God himself? They preach no sermons, hold no seminars, never have a school named after them, or receive any of the accolades of the great.
2. Our personal ministry may be very routine. Success may mean preserving the remnant, teaching an unruly little boy who will grow up to be an Elijah—or teaching a little girl who will grow up to be a Dorcas or a Priscilla. Are you looking for a ministry? Find a child and serve that child as if you were serving Jesus (Mark 9:33-37).
