Doing the Right Thing will Cost You
1 Kings 16:30-33 This is the context into which the rest of this story takes place.
1 Kings 17 Because of the wickedness in the land, Elijah prophecy’s that there will be no rain, not even dew.
Verse 7 Shows that what Elijah prophesied came true, no rain, no water. Elijah was a true prophet of God.
Chapter 18:1 Again, the word that Elijah prophesied has come true, three years of severe drought.
o But now the Lord prepares to act in mercy and stop the drought.
Verse 3 Israel in now a divided Kingdom, the Northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah.
• Ahab is the king the northern kingdom of Israel. He is an ungodly king of an ungodly nation.
Verse 19 We see why Jezebel was killing the prophets of God.
• She had 850 prophets of her own from her pagan gods. (Why would you need 850 prophets?)
Verse 30 Elijah starts by repairing God’s broken altar. Elijah is doing the right thing.
Verses 31-36 Elijah is not acting timidly, he is acting courageously and setting God up to do something big.
Verse 37 In the midst of all this, Elijah sees the heart and compassion of God for His people.
Verse 38 Elijah demonstrates to everyone without question that God is God, and that he is a prophet of God.
o A conduit to more power than 450 prophets of Baal.
• Baal was supposed to be the god of rain and dew, and fertility.
o Elijah had already proved in the drought that he was more powerful than Baal.
Verse 40 This may seem gruesome, but Elijah is doing the right thing by removing this evil from the land.
Verse 41 With great boldness he prophecies to the King in front of everyone that the rain is coming.
Verse 42 King Ahab goes off to party and Elijah goes into prayer.
• This is a picture of deep, perhaps painful prayer. This is travailing prayer.
• Even though God promised the rain, Elijah still had to prophecy it to the king publicly,
o and he had to pray for it to happen
Verse 43 The king is partying and Elijah is travailing and nothing. Digging deep in faith.
Verse 44 A small cloud the size of a hand, is all it takes for Elijah to tell Ahab he better run.
Verse 45 Again, Elijah proves that God is God. Again, Elijah proves that he is a powerful conduit of God.
Chapter 19:2 Elijah demonstrated clearly that God is God, and more powerful than Baal.
• And yet…Jezebel says she is going to kill him.
Four Thoughts/observations:
1. The effective prayer of a righteous person
2. Waiting is hard
3. God’s mercy and grace are always present and evident
4. The best response to a pagan culture is strong courageous acts
5. Even when you do the right thing, evil will try and stop you.
Doing the Right Thing Will Cost You: Insights from the life of Elijah
