Elijah

An evil queen had risen to power in Israel, and she enticed people to follow pagan gods.

Instead of a reformation in Israel, we're having a deformation in Israel, where the country is now lapsing into paganism and moving away from its roots in godliness. And it's at this moment, in this crisis period, that God raises up Elijah to address the issue. And God used Elijah to show the people that their pursuits were fruitless. Welcome to the Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind and our ongoing look at the people God used to expand His kingdom.

Through miraculous intervention and the faithfulness of His prophet, God routed the evil influence that had enslaved His people. In this segment of our study of great men and women to live by, we're going to look briefly at one of my favorite characters in the Old Testament, a man who has something of a bizarre reputation and about whom there is much mystery and intrigue in the history of religion. I'm thinking, of course, of the prophet Elijah, the one who is known for his very strange forms of behavior and his radical types of dress that was imitated to a degree by John the Baptist in the New Testament. Elijah is of special importance to us because he stands at the beginning of a line of men who have a specially important role to perform in Old Testament Israel. We know that there were men before Elijah who uttered prophecies. We find prophecies as early as the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. And, of course, Moses spoke prophetically at times. But when we talk about the distinctive calling, the distinctive vocation of the prophet of Israel, we normally see the line of departure, the beginning point for that whole institution as found with the person of Elijah.

And before I look at him specifically, let me just say a couple of things about the role of the prophet in the Old Testament. Remember that the whole Bible is sometimes by the Jews, at least the Old Testament, is divided up in terms of what? The law and the prophets, the first five books, the Pentateuch of the Old Testament, and then, of course, the prophetic writings. Now, there's also what is called the graphite or the writings, which would incorporate the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastics, Job, and so on.

And also some of the other historical books. But we think of that body of literature that has been produced by the prophets, and we know that that represents a significant amount of the content of the Old Testament. So that the prophets were men selected by God and endowed in a unique way by the Holy Spirit so that they could open their mouths and preach in behalf of God.

They prefaced their statements by saying what? Thus saith the Lord. So that when they spoke, they didn't just articulate their opinions or their theological insights, but that they were vessels of divine revelation. Thus saith the Lord, and they would give an oracle that came from God. Meredith Klein has argued that the function that the prophet played was almost like an attorney, that the people of Israel had entered into a covenant with their God, and they broke that covenant again and again and again.

And God sent his attorney to bring suit against the parties who had broken his covenant. And those who would deliver the subpoena and bring the charges against the violators of the covenant were the prophets. Now because of their bizarre behavior and the harshness at times of their message and the rebuke that they brought to the people, many have perceived the Old Testament prophets to be radicals or revolutionaries. In fact, in today's society where we see certain people taking a posture of radicalism in the social and political realm and involved in all kinds of protest movements and the like, they will frequently appeal to the prophets for their models and for the justification of the radical acts of protest and at times even terrorism.

But there's a distinction here that we need to understand. We may say that in a certain sense the prophets were radical in the original meaning of the term. The term radical is built on the Latin root radix, which means root, and the prophets were designed and sent to speak to the root of the problem of the nation. In that sense, they were radicals.

They were not radicals in the sense of being revolutionaries, calling for the overthrow of the nation or establishing some kind of new social and political order. Rather, it would be more accurate, I think, to call them, as most historians do, the reformers of Israel. The prophets were the right wing of Israel, not the left wing.

The prophets were the advocates and agents of orthodoxy, not a dead orthodoxy, not a sterile orthodoxy, not a surface and superficial type of orthodoxy, but they kept calling the people of Israel back to the original terms of the covenant that they had made with God and reminded them of their origins and of their heritage at Sinai and that they had been chosen by God and been redeemed by God, delivered in the exodus, and they kept trying to reform things by going back to the pristine purity of the faith once delivered to the people of God. Now, we don't believe that the 16th century Reformation saw the reemergence of divinely anointed and endowed prophets. Martin Luther was not in the status of an Elijah or of a Jeremiah.

If he were, we would have to take the writings of Luther and do what? Put them in the Bible. Nevertheless, the role of Luther and Knox and Zwingli and Calvin of reformers had real parallels with the Old Testament prophets in that what the Reformation was about was not a radical revolution where you start over again with the Christian faith, but the whole point of the Reformation was to set the church back on the right course and back to faithfulness to biblical Christianity so that the Reformation was a conservative movement, not a revolutionary movement. All right, now having said that, let's look at a cameo portrait of the life of Elijah, and I'm going to read a portion of the text to choose one event, one of the most famous events in Elijah's life, and use it as a springboard for understanding not only the personality of Elijah but also of the struggles that the prophets had to go through in Israel.

I'm thinking of the confrontation, the famous confrontation that Elijah had with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, which is recorded in the eighteenth chapter of the first book of the Kings. Let me read it to you. Verse 21, I'll pick it up. Elijah came near to all of the people and said, How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow Him. But the people did not answer Him a word.

Now here's the scenario. A crisis has taken place in Israel. A hundred and fifty years have passed now since the reign of David the king. Now the kingdom has been divided in half, and here in the middle of the ninth century B.C., the people of Israel are doing the very thing that God had taken great pains to prohibit when they first entered into the promised land.

The people in Israel began to be involved with paganism, with pagan religions, with pagan customs, with pagan practices, so that the purity of the religion that God had revealed through Moses to these people was now in serious jeopardy. The problem, we call, is the problem of syncretism. Do we know what syncretism is?

Syncretism, as the synonym suggests, is the cultural Greek word sun, which means with, and when we talk about the syncopation or synchronization, we're talking about getting things together with something else. And so what syncretism is in religion is where you have a situation in a culture where there are two coexisting religions. And when you have two religions that are disparate, say, for example, the Canaanite religion and the Jewish religion, totally different religions, you're inevitably going to have what?

Conflict between them. You're going to have debates and arguments about religion, until somebody comes along and says, well, one thing I never argue about is religion. And people will want to bring about peace between these disparate views of religion. And why does religion cause so much controversy in history, even wars at times? Because it represents a conflict of what you believe to be ultimately true and of ultimate significance, of ultimate value, and of ultimate purpose. Of ultimate value and of ultimate duty. Now, if two people have a completely different understanding as to what ultimate truth is and about ultimate righteousness and about ultimate value, you're inevitably going to have a titanic struggle. And every attempt to pass over that in history has failed and will continue to fail. But when different religions come together inevitably, somebody will say, well, look, let's stop this conflict by we'll find the best of this religion and the best of this religion and the best of this religion, and let's be ecumenical about it.

We'll put them all together into one big happy family. And that's fine as long as you ignore the ultimate points of conflict and negotiate them, which no Christian can do and no Jew was allowed to do. The Christians would obstinately refuse to bow the knee to the religion of emperor worship in their day. And they were considered by their neighbors troublemakers.

They were considered by their neighbors to be narrow-minded, rigid, brittle, contentious, and all the rest. I mean, how did, even just two verses before I started reading in this text, it came about when Ahab saw Elijah that at Ahab said to him, is this you who troubles Israel? The king considered Elijah a troublemaker because everywhere Elijah went, controversy went.

John Stott has a little book called Christ the Controversialist. It's a great title because nobody in the history of mankind has stirred up more controversy, caused more trouble on this planet than Jesus of Nazareth, the Prince of Peace. It is the Prince of Peace who divides men. I came not to bring peace, he said, but a sword to set mother against father and sister against brother, not because he enjoyed conflict, but because truth and godliness were at stake. And Christians are, again, as the biblical motif is to live as much as possible with peace at all men.

But when the real controversy comes, you don't negotiate your loyalty to Christ. Well, syncretism was going on in Israel and a peaceful coexistence had taken place. If you remember the outline of the nation of Israel, it's that little oblong country around the fertile crescent, the Mediterranean Sea, and Israel was sort of like that passageway that comes down between the sea and the desert over here, sort of a corridor between Africa and Asia, and so on. Well, right up in here, right near the seacoast, there is a mountain that rises up almost exactly from the sea, and it is a spectacular sight in Palestine. And it's of strategic importance historically, and it represented the line of demarcation at one point between the nation of Israel and the seacoast nation right here of Phoenicia. Now, you've heard of the Phoenicians and their highly advanced and technical seafaring trade that they established. The Phoenicians were involved with pagan religion, and the Canaanite and the Canaanite shrine here was built on Mount Carmel overlooking the sea, was a shrine to Baal.

Okay. And Baal was the supreme Canaanite pagan god. Now, the Jews, when they came into the Promised Land, they built an altar to Yahweh on that mountain. And if you remember, God had commanded that Israel drive out all these pagan religions and not become involved with them. And they did that for a season, but then the people began to be intoxicated with the local customs. They wanted to be with it in their culture. See, that's the tension that every child of God has ever had to struggle with.

Remember when Israel was in captivity, their song was, how do we sing the Lord's song in a strange and foreign land? How can you be a Christian today in the American culture? We all want to get along with everybody else. Peer pressure is one of the strongest influences in our lives. We certainly don't want to be counted out of it.

We want to be included as those in the know, those that are with it, those that are not, you know, square in any way. So, the Jews started playing around with the local practices. Then what happens is that the king of Israel has a consort who is from Phoenicia. And he has this affair with this woman and brings her into Israel. And she said, I'll come and be your consort, your virtual queen, but only if I'm allowed to bring my customs, my practice, my religion, my priests with me. And so, this woman comes to town and she brings her entourage of priests and begin to activate the worship of paganism on Mount Carmel and at other places in the land.

What was her name? Jezebel, the consort to King Ahab. And so now, instead of a reformation in Israel, we're having a deformation in Israel where the country is now lapsing into paganism and moving away from its roots in godliness. And it's at this moment, in this crisis period, that God raises up Elijah to address the issue. And he sends Elijah to take on the religious establishment and the political establishment. He comes and he pronounces the oracles of God of judgment against the king Ahab. And the specific issue with which he confronts Ahab is what?

Naboth's vineyard. But the confrontation we're most concerned about here is the religious and theological controversy, where it comes down to the question that he raised. Okay, she said, why are you halting between two opinions? You people can't make up your mind. You don't know whether you want to be a Christian or a pagan. You don't know whether you want to be a Jew or a Canaanite. You don't know yet whether you want to follow God or a Jew. You don't know yet whether you want to follow God or obey Baal. Now make up your mind. It's like Joshua's speech earlier when he said, choose this day whom you will serve. Why are you halting between two opinions?

Now, let me just comment on that. That's the way I see the church today. The church is halting. The church is not moving.

The church is not marching. The church is paralyzed. The church is confused. The church doesn't know whether she wants to be the church or she wants to be the world. She doesn't know whether she wants to be devoted to Christ or to be up with the latest fad in the secular culture. And the church, that's abstract to speak of the church as an institution, but that comes down to people who go to church on Sunday morning who have some kind of outward involvement with religion, but they've never settled their loyalty. And so they play both sides.

They play Christianity, but they're very comfortable playing, they're all the pagan. That won't do in the sight of God. There is no room for a divided allegiance and a divided loyalty here. And this is what the crisis provokes here with Elijah. And he says, okay, we're going to settle this thing. Send and gather to me all of Israel at Mount Carmel, together with four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent the message and brought the prophets together to Mount Carmel. And Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. So we have this religious controversy, and we have four hundred and fifty of the theological representatives of Baal standing on one side, and over here opposing them is one man, Elijah, like Luther at the Diet of Worms, by himself. And everybody's saying, well, look at this. Four hundred and fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong.

Four hundred and fifty Phoenicians can't be wrong. Look at Elijah over there. He's demented all by himself. He said, okay, look, Elijah said, if God is God, follow Him. If He's not, don't follow Him.

If Baal's God, follow Baal. But let's find out. He said, now let them give us two oxen and let them choose one ox for themselves, cut it up, place it on the wood, but put no fire under it, and I will prepare the other ox to lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it.

You get the picture. We're going to have a contest. You cut up your animal, and you put him on your altar. I'll cut up my animal and put him on my altar, and we won't put any fire under it. Then you call on the name of your God, and I'll call on the name of my Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God. And the people said, that's a great idea.

The terms of the contest are settled. What happens? And they took the ox, which was given, then prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, oh Baal, Baal, answer us. But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar, which they made.

Can you imagine them? They're screaming and yelling, and they're jumping up on the altar and praying up and down the altar, doing war dances, everything. Come on, Baal, hurry up. I mean, your name's at stake here.

You've got to do something. Came about at noon, Elijah mocked them and said, call out with a loud voice, for he's a God. Either he's occupied or gone inside or is on a journey. Perhaps he's asleep and needs to be wakened.

Holler a little louder, guys. Maybe your God took a nap. Maybe he's out to lunch. Maybe he's not answering his phone, but just keep on going.

Holler as loud as you can. He's all by himself, 450 priests over on the other side, jumping up and down, cutting themselves with the lances. Elijah now, to make sure, puts the things on the altar.

Three times he has these great basins of water poured over the altar, and then the trench around it filled with water. Oh, how I wish God would give us an Elijah today, who would take us to that decisive contest and prove once and for all who God is, so that just as what happened in Israel after this would happen here, so that after God performed this miraculous demonstration of His power, and everybody said, the Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God. For the next 950 years, everybody in Israel was faithful and loyal to Yahweh. Nobody ever again turned aside their hearts to Baal. Nobody ever again became involved in paganism, because after God demonstrated absolutely clearly that He was God, that was the end of all doubt, it was the end of all disobedience, right?

No. How many times has God opened the heavens and manifested that He is God? But it wasn't three weeks after this that God had to do it again, and another three weeks after that, because that's the way we are. We want our gods close at hand, where we can touch them, where we can see them, where we can feel them, where we can get some immediate pleasure. That's our God today, a God of immediate pleasure. But Elijah said, I know who God is. God is. That's a man to live by, somebody who's not confused, not paralyzed, not jumping back and forth between different sides, but who knows who God is and has it settled.

And someone who is willing to take the consequences for standing firm. There's no doubt that our Christian faith is becoming more and more offensive to the culture around us. May we be men and women who, like Elijah, trust that God's truth never changes. We're glad you've joined us for the Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind. Each week we're making our way through Dr. R.C. Sproul's series, Great Men and Women of the Bible, and we're reminded week after week how important Bible study is.

We learn God's perspective on every nuance of life as we read our Bibles. And if you'd like to increase your understanding, let me recommend our resource offer today. When you contact us with a financial gift of any amount to Ligonier Ministries, we will send you R.C. 's series, Dust to Glory. In 57 messages, he surveys every book of the Bible and explains how they fit with the rest of Scripture. Plus, we'll include a disc containing the study guides for each message. So request Dust to Glory when you call us at 800-435-4343.

You can also make your request online at renewingyourmind.org. Elijah's life and ministry brought about great things in the nation of Israel, but unfortunately the people continue to stray from God. Another prophet was ordained to continue Elijah's work. We hope you'll join us next Saturday as we study the life of Elijah, here on Renewing Your Mind. you