1 Kings 18:41-46
Wow! Chapter 18 is so POWERFUL! If you’ve been in the devotionals all week, you’ve read the entire chapter by now. To truly understand what’s going on in our verses today you have to read the entire chapter. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to pause your reading and do so before continuing.
Here we are at the end of the chapter. A LOT HAS HAPPENED. Elijah and the prophets of baal had each called on their god to see which one was real. Whichever animal sacrifice supernaturally caught on fire, would determine who the real god is. Elijah was in the minority. It was him (a prophet chosen by God) vs 850 (false) prophets. 1 to 850! Elijah trusted God was on his side and would reveal himself as the one true God to the people. Sure enough Elijah's sacrifice burns up. The people are amazed, shocked, and terrified all at once. Elijah has all the false prophets killed and now...a storm is coming. Elijah tells his servant to go look at the sky because there was heavy rain coming. The servant doesn’t see anything and possibly doesn’t believe him. After SEVEN times of going back to look, the servant saw the clouds forming and instructed Ahab to flee the vicinity. Elijah was a prophet. He knew the storm was coming before it was visible. He could have left King Ahab there to perish, but yet he was looking out for him. I’m so impressed by Elijah's courage in this chapter but also his compassion for his enemy. Can you imagine what a day this was? Supernatural fire sent down by almighty God. The slaying of 450 false prophets. And now a wicked storm, “Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling…” (1 Kings 18:45). Although it doesn’t say, it’s likely the storm was another sign from the Lord of his power and judgement.
God is so good. This was a “I told you so” moment for Elijah. He trusted God would reveal himself, even when he was outnumbered and looked foolish. God came through (as He always does) and the people were put in their place. I love how God reveals himself to doubters. If you’ve been keeping up with the news at all, you’ve seen how what seems to be the ark has been discovered in modern day Turkey! We are seeing another “I told you so” moment by God. I love what a man named Gold Mathias had to say about the discovery and it could be said of the people of Elijah's time as well:
“Many people say if God would just give us proof, then we’d believe. But God already came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. He performed miracles, fulfilled prophecy, died, rose again, and yet many still rejected Him and crucified Him. The greatest evidence has never been missing. The real question has always been whether the human heart is willing to believe.”
Here we are at the end of the chapter. A LOT HAS HAPPENED. Elijah and the prophets of baal had each called on their god to see which one was real. Whichever animal sacrifice supernaturally caught on fire, would determine who the real god is. Elijah was in the minority. It was him (a prophet chosen by God) vs 850 (false) prophets. 1 to 850! Elijah trusted God was on his side and would reveal himself as the one true God to the people. Sure enough Elijah's sacrifice burns up. The people are amazed, shocked, and terrified all at once. Elijah has all the false prophets killed and now...a storm is coming. Elijah tells his servant to go look at the sky because there was heavy rain coming. The servant doesn’t see anything and possibly doesn’t believe him. After SEVEN times of going back to look, the servant saw the clouds forming and instructed Ahab to flee the vicinity. Elijah was a prophet. He knew the storm was coming before it was visible. He could have left King Ahab there to perish, but yet he was looking out for him. I’m so impressed by Elijah's courage in this chapter but also his compassion for his enemy. Can you imagine what a day this was? Supernatural fire sent down by almighty God. The slaying of 450 false prophets. And now a wicked storm, “Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling…” (1 Kings 18:45). Although it doesn’t say, it’s likely the storm was another sign from the Lord of his power and judgement.
God is so good. This was a “I told you so” moment for Elijah. He trusted God would reveal himself, even when he was outnumbered and looked foolish. God came through (as He always does) and the people were put in their place. I love how God reveals himself to doubters. If you’ve been keeping up with the news at all, you’ve seen how what seems to be the ark has been discovered in modern day Turkey! We are seeing another “I told you so” moment by God. I love what a man named Gold Mathias had to say about the discovery and it could be said of the people of Elijah's time as well:
“Many people say if God would just give us proof, then we’d believe. But God already came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. He performed miracles, fulfilled prophecy, died, rose again, and yet many still rejected Him and crucified Him. The greatest evidence has never been missing. The real question has always been whether the human heart is willing to believe.”
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