There are some Christians that are just wacky and they cause problems.
I'm not talking about those. Then there are others that just do it differently and you just have to be careful that you don't end up warring against God criticizing their style of ministry. Well, here is Obadiah performing his duty in a less open manner and is actually saving lives. Jezebel has demonstrated they will kill these men and he has demonstrated that he will do all he can do to save them. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of 1 Kings.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick with his continuing study. He's entitled Return of Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 18. Satan, he is trying to steal some of this by forcing us to name the name of people who defy our God and say, I'm no longer known as Mike or Joe or Jim.
I'm now one of the soggy bottom boys and I want to be known as Susie. And it's like this is madness. Madness. Anyway, verse 4. For so it was, and we'll get back to you teens. We've got something for you. Hopefully you will be awake for it. I'll text it to you. This way I know you'll get it and read it. I won't text it to you. But anyway, back to this.
Because you get all excited. He's going to text. I'm going to wait for it. For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden them 50 to a cave and had fed them with bread and water. So there's more on Jezebel. Not only was he satisfied with murdering children, she wanted to kill pastors too.
While Ahab looked the other way, although he brought her here, he brought this witch into the promised land and we have no indication that he ever regretted doing that. That is introduced to us in chapter 16, verse 31-32. What made her so abhorrent to God is that she drew the things that she did, was so abhorrent to God that she's going to suffer this vile death that is just incredibly shameful. You would not want to be the recipient of such a prophecy.
The dogs are going to eat you. You're so despised even in heaven. Your behavior. And her hatred for how God's people wanted to live. She hated how they wanted to live. That's why she was trying to again exterminate them.
And we're seeing this today. This ghoulish religion that called for these horrendous things in the name of worship. Anyway, she went beyond polluting and mingling Baal with Yahweh. She took it to the level of just being totally intolerant.
Not even wanting nothing to do with Yahweh. And we're seeing this today. We saw it earlier with evolution. There was a point they did not even want to think about an alternative to evolution. That was it.
Creation science, as it is called by some, could not even be brought up as an alternative. They were totally intolerant. Well, this is what's going on here. And just as Bloody Mary in London in the 1500s, you know, she burned over 300 Christians at the stake.
Alive, should add. And that's probably a conservative number because people in that crowd would want to cover up the facts. So weird. You want to cover up the facts, why don't you change teams?
And you won't have to do that. But that is not how it works. This Baal that she worshiped, the god of power and nature, the same god of the liberals actually. They just want to get elected and have power and have people who hug trees and leaves come follow them. They're still around us in various forms. Anyhow, it says that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden them 50 to a cave. It's been said in that part of Israel there are over 20,000 caves.
Many of them can easily handle 50 people. And it says here, and fed them with bread and water. This man was a thinker. He had to make plans, the right plans, take measures to supply 100 people with bread and water without being detected, no less, in a famine. And how many, I mean, I know the people here in many churches, they support missionaries. Anybody here support 100 pastors? This man is incredible.
These men were considered fugitives. But God was with him. And this was what makes, you know, Elijah, you know, where he overstepped.
Where he became that self-righteous. We even say that in ministry to other pastors. Watch out for the Elijah complex. I'm the only one. I'm the only pastor doing it. My church is the only church that's got it together.
That's an Elijah complex that's wrong. And we have to guard against it. It's easy to do. We do it with others. You know, well, some places it's right. For instance, I am the only good driver on the road. And I know you think the same thing. Not about you, about me.
We just have to watch these things because they're traps. They're not true of you. I'm saying my flesh won't even let me pretend that you could be right on such an issue. Anyway, he could not have acted alone.
It's just not logistically possible. That means the remnant that God said, oh, by the way, Elijah, I've got a 7,000 haven't bowed the knee. Well, some of them were here helping Obadiah. And his position in his, he's likely the leader of this.
So he is the leader. And he's a little shocked that the word hasn't reached Elijah. It may have reached him, but Elijah either he disregarded it or he didn't hear it.
He hadn't been away for three and a half years. Verse five, and Ahab had said to Obadiah. Now, Elijah has not showed up yet. We're getting the characters, Ahab and Obadiah in the famine. So Ahab the king said to Obadiah, go into the land, verse five, to all the springs of water and to all the brooks.
Perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to kill any livestock. Well, it seems this Ahab to have been very comfortable with Obadiah. And that's not a surprise to have a wicked boss or leader that actually favors believers. I've experienced this. I've worked for people that were anti-Christ, anti-Christian and were embraced by them.
That they would trust me. You know, I remember one time stands out. The boss went out and I continued working and everybody else stopped and started chit-chatting. Because they were like, ding-dong, the boss is gone, the mean old boss.
And he pops his head back up and he's there and he says, the only guy working up here is Rick. And I go, that's me. That is me. Because I am an awesome Christian and you guys need to know it. Anyway, of course, I didn't do that.
I was like, yeah, it is me because I'm afraid of God, not you. Well, anyhow, that's my moment that relates to this. There are others.
So, this is doable. If you are a believer and you work in this kind of environment, God can use you. As this man evidently gained the resources, he probably knew where all the patrols were and everything. Okay, this is when we're going to move the food. And to here is where we're going to move these prophets to protect them. A vital, the enemy would call him a mole. God called him a servant. A servant of Yahweh as his name is. And again, the righteous often appeal to the unrighteous because of their trustworthiness. This is a good thing.
You know, all your co-workers are thinking like you. Not honest and thieves and corrupt. It's nice to have somebody that's governed by God. Well, Ahab, he seems to be king enough at this point to want to protect the horses and mules because this is likely the military's horses and mules. And of course, if he loses military preparedness, then another kingdom will swoop down and that will be the end of him.
So, it's not like he is totally, you know, doing everything right, but he was no fool in this sense. In verse 6, so they divided the land between them to explore it. Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself. Now, it's twice said here, by himself, and that strikes me as important.
This is a critical moment. These two men would be for a while isolated and then they will all join up together, Obadiah, Elijah, and the king. But here, great trust the king has for him. I don't think there's anybody else but these two out on this mission. After all, there was nothing to snack on back in the palace.
Got to do something to keep from thinking about your hunger. Verse 7, and now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him and recognized him and fell on his face and said, is that you, my lord Elijah? He wasn't expecting this. He's on a mission looking for, you know, food and suddenly there's Elijah.
It's like, stop doing that. Anyway, he recognizes Elijah because of his hairy garment and his hairy arms and everything else. 2 Kings chapter 1 is the story of one of the kings that fell through a lattice and hurt himself. And you just wonder, what was he doing?
He's probably dancing. And anyway, he falls through the lattice, he gets hurt, he sends his servants to, you know, the pagans to find out if he's going to survive. And Elijah intercepts them and says, go tell your king, he's not going to make it. And when they go back to the king, they said, the prophet met us and he said, this is where we pick it up.
Because he asked him, what did he look like? So they answered, 2 Kings chapter 1 verse 8, a hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist. And he said, it's Elijah, the Tishbite.
I knew it. Anyway, Obadiah, being the aide to Ahab he was, he likely was there when Elijah first said there's going to be a three year famine coming. And so he recognizes him, the garments that he's wearing, Elijah would help.
And it says he fell on his face, and of course it doesn't mean he tripped and hurt himself. But this reverent gesture that accompanies his reverent words is both of them. He doesn't have to do this, but he does have to do this because he's a man of God. You would think Elijah would say, you know, fellow brother Christian, he's not going to get that from Elijah. Anyway, he fell on his face, is that you my lord?
And there's the word, the reverent word. Now Elijah's going to spin this negatively and then Obadiah's going to spin it back and we'll come to that, verse 8. And he answered, it is I, go tell your master, Elijah is here. You see, there's the first spin of Elijah. He just said that you're my lord, Adonai, master, not Yahweh. You're this person of honor and respect, and I'm subjecting myself to you. And Elijah says, go tell your master. In other words, no, you have another lord.
And that's kind of a cheap shot I think. I'm suspecting Elijah at this point does not think very much of Obadiah. It will change.
How do we know it changes? Because Elijah, like Jonah, we find out things from the story that only Elijah could have told. Like the whole thing when he ran and God straightened him out, I've got others that worship me.
Nobody else was there. And you could say, well, God sent an angel to sell the recorder, that's a stretch. The prophet would tell the people, you know, this is what I did and wasn't great. And God does not disown him.
Well, anyway, this is still a lot of lessons here for us. Again, here is Obadiah here in verse 8, showing great respect to the prophet. And the prophet is addressing him sharply, more than once, from a fellow believer. Again, now, granted, in my naive days when someone would say, I'm a Christian. I would like, oh, great, thinking they love the word of God, thinking they were born again. Only to find out they were anything but a Christian. They just chose, I mean, when I went to boot camp, they said, what religion do you want on your dog tags?
Who are you calling a dog? Anyway. So, I just picked the religion of my mom, you know. Well, the church across the street was Lutheran, just a short walk for us. All right, what did I know about Martin Luther or anything else?
Anyway, the carpet was very impressive, though. I was always taken by that red, anyway, back to this. So, you know, what's Elijah's problem? Well, he's a man of action. He's bold, he's out in your face, kind of a ministry. He's always on the front line, nothing to conceal.
Even the way he dresses gets your attention. Obadiah was a quiet believer, devout, the Bible tells us. True, steadfast, in a very difficult position. Elijah has no right, I love Elijah the prophet, and so does God. But these are the facts, and they're here for us to examine ourselves. Do I do this?
Do I look at others? Now, granted, there are some Christians that are just wacky and they cause problems. I'm not talking about those. Then there are others that just do it differently, and you just have to be careful that you don't end up warring against God, criticizing their style of ministry. Well, here is Obadiah performing his duty in a less open manner, and he's actually saving lives. Jezebel has demonstrated they will kill these men, and he has demonstrated that he will do all he can do to save them. And that's what his faith did, saved lives. He's working for a wicked government. I hope we have devout Christians somewhere in what is called the Department of Justice. There's not much justice coming out of that place. But I hope there are believers, and I'm confident that there are true believers there, and they are the salt of the earth, and they are influencing towards righteousness.
You know, when you have a government that is doing everything against God, we have no right to think that, well, they're all that way. And this is one of the lessons that I think comes out of here very clearly. Elijah's going to learn in this exchange and about this man. As I mentioned, he seems to dismiss his heroism. 1 Kings chapter 19, this is what Elijah, what happens with him and God. So he runs from Jezebel.
He's not all the man he thought he was. So he said, I have been very zealous for Yahweh, God of Israel, for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life. See, that's not true. And God makes sure, so God deals with him and says, oh, by the way, I'm not letting this pass.
You're not the only one, and you're not all of that. And the beloved Elijah, he tells the story because he knows. So anyway, the real danger that exists for us in viewing those who serve in the rear with the gear as being somehow not as valuable, and the world does this, the church does this, Christians do this, we're all susceptible to this because we are Christians, and the tendency of the brave is to undervalue quiet bravery. You cannot charge him with being a coward. You cannot say, oh, but I is not a coward. But we've got to get to the foundation.
We've already touched on his parents being the foundation, the influence in his life. Let's not undervalue and underestimate secret service. I did not say secret servants.
I said secret service. I don't think there was anything about this man that denied his faith. He was so valuable to Ahab and Jezebel.
They tolerated him, and that happens. In some respects, Martha disdained Mary for not serving as she was serving. I mean, Mary probably said, listen, I didn't promise to feed these boys. I mean, that was your plan. So anyway, you love the Lord saying, hey, now, that doesn't mean Mary was a slouch.
I mean, that doesn't mean that at all. Martha Denver said, well, she always does this. Mary just said, you know, today I'm not cooking. So that's a great story, and Martha learns her lesson, and Martha seems to now say, okay, fine, this is who I am. I'm going to serve this way, and she can be lazy over there with the Lord. Anyway, it says here in verse 8, and he answered him, it is I, go tell your master.
Mary, go tell your master again. But this is the scene, as I mentioned last session, in the movie that becomes one of the best scenes, when Elijah, you say to someone, did you love that scene when they recreated that moment from the scripture? When Elijah shows up to Obadiah, you've got these two dynamo-servants that serve in two completely different ways. One is dressed in a suit, and the other is dressed in, well, some dead animal skin that he found in the middle of the road. One calls fire down from the other guy.
The other one brings water and bread to God's people. And then he says, Elijah is here. And he says, I'm not telling him anything. That's pretty much what Obadiah is going to say, until you sign off on this.
And then we're going to come to that. Ahab and his apostates, they were nothing like this man. And the significance of this word is found when he says, Elijah is here. The significance is that Elijah brought action.
And so did Obadiah. Well, verse 9, and he said, How have I sinned that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me? So he's not backing down. He's still referring to Elijah as his lord, and that he's saying, I'm your servant. He's saying, I'm on your side. He says, you're going to get me killed. He's going to explain this also. He expresses this three times from verse 9 through 14, that you're going to get me killed. He's saying, I don't think Elijah is registering.
This is my life. I think he's just like, go get your master, and it's all about me. Verse 10, and Obadiah is still speaking. As Yahweh, your God, lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you. And when they said, he is not here, he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. And that was part of the treaties then. This shows that Ahab had a sizable army. He had treaties.
He had contacts. And he was very serious about this contract on the life of the prophet Elijah, and was exhausting resources, searching for him in his wrath, his intense wrath of this righteous man. Verse 11, and again, that dared to stride up to him and say, you know, the famine's coming because of your wickedness. Verse 11, so Obadiah says, and now you say, go tell your master Elijah is here. Now, I don't know how he phrased this.
He's probably more of a statesman. And he says, and now you say, go tell your master, I think a little sarcasm maybe, Elijah is here. Well, I would like to think that he said it this way. And now you say, go tell your master Elijah is here.
I don't know if he said it that way, but that had to be what's going on in his head. You cannot just show up and say, hi, I'm back. Go tell the king that's been trying to kill me that I'm here.
It's not so simple. What did Elijah know about the court of the king? Anyway, Obadiah, a righteous man, working for an unrighteous and wicked man, he knows statesman, he knows what's happening here.
And Elijah doesn't get it yet. Verse 12, and it shall come to pass as soon as I am gone from you, that the spirit of Yahweh will carry you to a place I do not know. So when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared Yahweh from my youth.
I mean, you've got to think there's some humor in this. You're going to tell me, go tell Ahab I'm here, and then you're going to be swept away, like you were last time, to who knows where. And interesting, God doesn't tell Obadiah, Elijah's going to meet you on the road. He gets nothing, he gets no indication about this. Anyway, here he is, fighting for his life with the man of God.
It's a vindicating moment, it's exciting. He speaks loud and clear. He's saying, you know, Elijah, you can hear the voice of God, now you need to hear my voice. I'm right here in front of you, and you've been gone for three and a half years, and you expect me to be comfortable with this plan.
Last time you didn't tell anybody you were leaving. He says, but I, your servant, again to come back to Ahab's not my master, I work for him, yeah it's a professional relationship, but that's it. He says, have feared the Lord for my youth. Now here we are, one of the great moments. This is another, oh by the way moment.
You've been, you know, you've been treating me pretty harsh here. By the way, from my childhood, I've been a follower of Yahweh. Time has not changed this. However old he was, his religion, his true religion had not eroded. He did not allow all the evil around him to erode his belief in God. It's what Paul said, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And he itemizes the most challenging things, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword.
Well here's an example. So the youth, the younger church attendees, you can only answer, are you a true believer or are you just a churchgoer? And it's true for all of us. Now here's some verses from the scripture of the men of God standing up and saying, thanks mom, and thanks dad, or whichever influence it was, hopefully both, but not always is that the case. Psalm 22 verse 10, I was cast upon you from my birth, from my mother's womb, you have been my God. That David, right? David is saying, I was born in a Christian home.
Well, you know, making the connection of course. I was born a believer in this sense. I was born into a home and I benefited from it and I took advantage of it in a righteous way.
I did not exploit it, but I availed myself. Psalm 71 five, for you are my hope, oh Lord Yahweh, you are my trust from my youth. Again, Psalm 71 this time verse 17, oh God, you have taught me from my youth to this day.
I declare your wondrous works. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.
We trust that what you've heard today in the book of 1 Kings has had a lasting imprint on your life. If you'd like to listen to more teachings from this series or share it with someone you know, please visit crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too so you'll never miss another edition. Just visit crossreferenceradio.com and follow the links under radio. Again, that's crossreferenceradio.com. Our time with you today is about up, but we hope you'll tune in next time to continue studying the word of God. Join us again as Pastor Rick covers more in the book of 1 Kings on Cross Reference Radio.
