Elijah Archives - Paula Wiseman

Carmel: Decision

So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18:20

Mount Carmel is part of a coastal range and rises to a height of 1724 feet (525 m) above the plain of Jezreel. Today, Israel third largest city, Haifa, sits on its northern slope. It’s not very tall, as mountains go, but it was the site of one of the most dramatic displays of God’s power in all of Scripture. (And admittedly one of my favorites.)

You remember the story. After a three-year drought, the prophet Elijah called for King Ahab to gather the people and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. He intended to settle once and for all who was God in Israel. It was 450 prophets (plus another 400 on the bench) to 1. But GOD answered Elijah’s prayer with fire and proved yet again that He alone is GOD.

So what do we learn on Mount Carmel?

There is no place for waffling. In announcing the contest, Elijah first confronted the nation of Israel. “How long will you falter between two opinions?” (Kings 18:21) How long will you cherry pick the things about Baal worship that you like and fall back on the things about worshiping God that make you feel good? By definition, whoever or whatever is God in your life is the one who receives your supreme allegiance. If that is anyone other than the One True God, there will be problems. That was the case for Israel and its the case for us. (Hint: If you’re treating the worship of God like a salad bar, picking the tomatoes and leaving the cucumbers, picking the love and leaving the obedience … you can probably guess who your god really is.)

The majority was wrong. Not just the overwhelming majority of prophets, but Ahab’s court and the general population held to some degree of Baal worship. It was the state-approved religion, after all. Since Baal was the god of fertility, it seemed like a good idea to court his favor to get the drought to end. Except the majority was completely wrong. Our theology should never be left to the will of the majority but rather the revelation of God. That’s what Elijah was going on.

Rituals don’t replace relationship. The prophets of Baal had a lot of rituals that accompanied their worship, and some of them were quite intense and demanding (including bloodletting). A willingness to go to those extremes had to count for something, right? Except “there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.” (1 Kings 18:29) All that energy and sincerity was wasted on empty air. Elijah knew the One True God. He heard His voice and he obeyed His commands. Because of that relationship, when Elijah prayed, God heard.

When Israel saw the fire fall, they decided pretty quickly who was God. That’s kind of a no-brainer. But consider this- you and I have not just seen, but experienced the fire of God in the person of the Holy Spirit filling us from the day we trusted Christ. And unlike the fire on Carmel, the fire in us continues to burn, to refine, to purify, to energize us. We just have to decide to live like it.

The Rest of the Story

By Paula

So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; 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.” 1 Kings 19:10

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah has reached the end of his rope. He was under a death threat from Jezebel. He lived in a culture with total disregard for God and wanton disrespect for His messengers. He felt utterly isolated and exhausted. God tenderly provided for Elijah’s physical needs of food and rest. Then God asked Elijah to stand before him. A great wind, an earthquake, and a fire passed by, but God was not in any of those. Instead, He manifested Himself in a still, small voice. God told Elijah the rest of the story. There were seven thousand in Israel, whose knees have not bowed to Baal. He was not alone. Not only that God was ready to take action.

It is not unusual to turn on the television and come away discouraged. It is easy to read the statistics about Millennials or Generation Y or Z, about trends in morality or thoughts on faith and walk away shaken and dismayed. The kingdom of God seems to be losing ground on every measurable front. Church attendance is down. Religious identification is slipping. Influence is bottoming out. Social scientists regularly discuss the post-Christian West.

Persecution, violence, hatred, conflict, oppression, and despair fill our news feeds to the point where sometimes a “fast” is in order just to prevent a complete overload. And if you don’t happen to be serving in a vibrant, growing community of faith, there is a tendency to weariness and frustration.

But sometimes in the face of all those situations, God shows you the rest of the story.

This past weekend, we took my son on a college visit to a small Bible college. Three hundred other prospective students were there, all of them anxious to embrace the call of God on their lives and eager to gain the necessary knowledge and experience to fulfill that call. They would join a student body of four times that many. And there are colleges like this across the country, full of faithful, energetic young men and women, all dedicated to advancing the kingdom of God. The battle is hardly lost.

When we focus on the wind and the earthquake and the fire … we can miss what God has been quietly doing all along. We can miss the rest of the story.

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

By Paula

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15

From our perspective, this seems like a trick question. But I wonder if our ideas about Him are not that far removed from the those held by the crowd in Jesus’s day.

Some said He was John the Baptist.
Someone who preached about the good things to come.
Are we always looking to “someday,” waiting rather than seizing the moments we’re given?

Some said He was Elijah.
Someone marked by demonstrations of power and miracles.
Are we looking for the dramatic rather than appreciating the quiet?

Some said He was Jeremiah.
Someone who denounced the corruption in his society.
Are we so discouraged by our surroundings that we lose hope?

But if He is the Christ … (and He is)
He is the Son of the Living God.
He is the fulfillment of all God’s promises.
He is the embodiment of all God’s love and mercy and grace.
He is the appointed ruler over all.

Including me.

Now, the question I have to answer is …
Am I denying myself to follow Him?

Singularly Devoted

By Paula

And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21

This is one of my favorite stories. Israel, under King Ahab, was suffering through a drought that was dragging into its fourth year. This drought had been proclaimed by Elijah, who boldly declared there would be no rain or even dew except at his word. (17:1) The drought devastated the agrarian economy, and neither the king nor Jezebel the queen, nor the hundreds of prophets of Baal on her payroll had been able to do anything about it.

Israel was torn. Jehovah was the God of their ancestors and certainly they were bound to sacrifice and pray to Him, Baal was the god of fertility and crops. Wouldn’t it be wise to court his favor as well? It made logical sense. Hedge the bets. Cover the bases.

It is easy to read this account with a condescending smile. Who could be so foolish as to try and follow God and an idol? Everyone knows idols aren’t real. But we grab the latest self-help book to find peace, balance our lives, raise our self-esteem, overcome our past. We chase diets and success and follow plans and regimens. We buy apps and organizers and planners and monitors to streamline and optimize. We pull from everything culture tells us we should be. Then we go to church and small group and we disciple and we’re intentional and missional. Just like we should be. Covering all the bases. Checking all the boxes.

Late in the afternoon after the prophets of Baal had exhausted themselves trying to impress a god who could never hear, Elijah prayed, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

Then the fire of God fell.

A single man, singularly devoted to the one true God.

The one true God is unlike any other. He is a God who loves us intently, who desires a relationship with us, so much so that He came and lived among us. He is the Word made flesh. He is Immanuel. Don’t falter. Don’t waffle. Don’t be like the people of Israel who stood in silence. Be that one singularly devoted to the one true God.

He Would Have Passed By

By Paula

Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. Mark 6:48

Jesus would have passed them by.
This statement always jarred me. Was Mark saying Jesus intended to leave the disciples struggling and straining, oblivious and unconcerned? I don’t think so.

Did he mean that Jesus had other plans, like going on across the lake, but He had to stop and bail the disciples out again? Like they were a bother, or a hindrance? That doesn’t sound like Jesus.

But the Old Testament, I think, sheds some light on Jesus passing by. In Exodus 33 and 34, Moses asks for reassurance and reaffirmation from God and God graciously obliges. Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Exodus 33:19

Then again, for Elijah. Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 1 Kings 19:11

In both cases, the Lord passing by included a glimpse of His glory and power, designed to encourage and empower His people.

What if … with the disciples frustrated, exhausted and at the end of themselves … Jesus intended to pass by, meaning to show them His glory just like Jehovah had done for Moses and Elijah? What if, in the same way Israel was not ready to recognize Jesus as Messiah, the disciples were not ready to see Him as He truly is? So He didn’t pass by.

The disciples had just watched Jesus create food. The bread and fish from feeding the crowd of five thousand plus hadn’t even digested yet. But as amazing as that miracle was, they didn’t get it. Mark says in verse 52 their hearts were hard. Too hard to take it in. Their minds were closed. Why?

They were afraid.
They were distracted.
They were unbelieving.

Have there been times when Jesus “would have passed by” but I was too afraid of what was happening around me to take it in? Or too distracted by whatever crisis I was trying to manage on my own? Or too unwilling to believe that He is the great I AM?

I’m not sure I want to know. Actually, I’m pretty sure I already do.

God’s Provision

By Paula

And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 1 Kings 17:7-9

If you’ve read the Old Testament or remember your Sunday school lessons as a kid, you’re probably familiar with the story of how God took care of Elijah. Tucked in that account are several lessons about God’s provision.

1 Kings 17 opens with Elijah announcing to King Ahab that a drought was coming as a judgment for the idolatry in Israel. After he delivered the message, God hid the prophet and provided for him by commanding ravens to bring food to Elijah each morning and evening. Ravens won’t even take care of their own young, but at God’s command, they brought food– real food and not the rot they usually eat– to nourish the man of God.

God’s provision sometimes comes from unlikely places.

After a while, the brook that had been Elijah’s source of water dried up. Elijah had to have known this was coming. He must have watched the trickle shrink each day all while waiting for God to intervene, to make the brook flow or to make it rain. It didn’t happen.

God’s provision doesn’t always come according to our plans or on our schedule.

Instead, God told him to go to Zarephath. Eighty-five miles away. Think of that. Israel is desert-ish. Elijah is going to hike 85 miles. In a drought.

God’s provision isn’t an always an easy handout.

The Bible doesn’t record how God took care of Elijah on that trip, only that the prophet arrived safely. In Zarephath, God commanded a widow to provide for the Elijah, only it seems God hadn’t told her that plan. In fact she’s more shocked than Elijah. She explained she had enough food for one final meal and then she and her son would starve like everyone else. Elijah asked her to feed him first, and she did. God honored her faith and took care of all of them for the duration of the drought.

God’s provision for us blesses others.

How has God’s provision for you proved these lessons?

Carmel: Decision

The Rest of the Story

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Singularly Devoted

He Would Have Passed By

God’s Provision

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series