ELIJAH & OBADIAH
1
Kings 18:1-16
It
had now been 3½ years since it had rained in
As
we saw in the last chapter, this drought was brought about because the people
of
INSTRUCTIONS
FROM THE LORD
Now
it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the
third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the
face of the earth.” So Elijah went to
show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in
Elijah
had made his initial prophecy before Ahab and then had gone into hiding. This had been at the command of the
Lord. God told him to hide and God even
told him where to hide. For three years
he has been in hiding. And now the time
of hiding is at an end.
I
believe that this time of hiding had also been a time of preparation in the
life of Elijah. As God had been judging
the nation, He had also been preparing the heart of his prophet. He had done this at two separate locations.
|
In chapter 17 Elijah had been told to hide himself. Now he is ordered to “show himself.” Each action required faith on his part. |
·
At the brook Cherith he had learned to trust in the Lord in a place of
solitude.
·
In the Phoenician
city of
Now
he is ready for the ultimate confrontation - he will stand alone before the
king and all of the prophets of Baal and the entire nation of
OBADIAH
- A FAITHFUL SERVANT
Ahab
called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly; 4 for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord,
Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided
them with bread and water). (1 Kings
18:3-4).
Now
we are introduced to a new character.
His name is Obadiah, though he is not necessarily to be confused with
the prophet Obadiah who wrote the book by the same name. There are at least 10 different people with
this name in the Old Testament. On the
other hand, Jewish tradition has it that this IS the same man who later
authored the book of Obadiah.
Obadiah
was a steward in the service of the king.
He was over the household (
). And yet, though he was in the
service of this apostate king, he also feared the Lord greatly. This reverence for the Lord had been
demonstrated when Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, had gone on a search and destroy
mission against the prophets of God.
Obadiah had sheltered and provided for a hundred prophets of God. This was treason against the state.
This
brings us to a question. At what point
should a Christian disobey governmental authority? At the point where that authority commands
that which is sinful. And
ONLY at that point. This is
reflected in the example of Obadiah. He
disobeyed Jezebel by hiding the prophets of God. But when Ahab gave him an order to survey the
land for feed for his animals, he was subservient to that authority.
There
is an interesting comparison to be made between Elijah versus these prophets
who had been hidden by Obadiah.
|
One Hundred Prophets |
One Prophet - Elijah |
|
Prophets of God |
A Prophet of God |
|
They had been hidden in a
cave |
He had been hidden by the
brook Cherith and in a widow’s home in Zarephath |
|
Obadiah had provided for
them bread and water |
The Lord had provided him
with food and water |
Do
you see what happened? Obadiah did for
these men what the Lord did for Elijah.
He was God’s instrument to care for his prophets.
The
Lord still works today. He is the God
who provides. But He does not always
provide by sending ravens or by miraculously extending a supply of oil and
flour. More often than not, He supplies
through an Obadiah - a man who is willing to be an instrument for God.
OBADIAH
- ON A
5 Then
Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to
all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules
alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.”
6 So
they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself
and Obadiah went another way by himself. (1 Kings 18:5-6).
Ahab
calls for Obadiah and commissions him for a special task. It is a task in which both king and steward
will share. They will both go out and
search for water.
|
Ahab |
Obadiah |
|
Worshiped Baal |
Feared the Lord |
|
He was
concerned about keeping horses and mules alive |
He had been
concerned with hiding the prophets of the Lord |
We
will not read that either of them was successful in finding water. But Obadiah succeeded in finding the One who
brings water. And with this success
would come a test.
Have
you ever noticed that testings do not usually come
while we are in church all cozy and asleep - or even when we are listening to
inspiring hymns and stimulating messages?
They do not normally come when you are having a mountaintop
experience. More often than not, they
come when you are in the dry place - when you are faced with difficult
personalities, with temptation, and with the normal pressures of life.
OBADIAH
& ELIJAH
7 Now
as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and
fell on his face and said, “Is this you, Elijah my master?”
8 He
said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master,
‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” (1 Kings 18:7-8).
These
to men stand in contrast to one another.
On the one hand, both were men who feared the Lord and who had been used
by Him to serve others. Both had
manifested they love of the Lord by their actions, risking their very lives to
do His work.
On
the other hand, Elijah had just come from a time of special preparation and
solitude with the Lord. He had seen the
Lord raise the widow’s son from the dead.
And when the Lord commanded him to go and speak to the king, he was
ready to obey without question.
It
had been different with Obadiah. He was
the servant of an unbeliever and living in the midst of idolatry. Though he endured in his faith, he had likely
been without the fellowship and encouragement of other believers. Thus when he is given instructions to go and
announce the coming of Elijah, he responds with fear.
|
Elijah |
Obadiah |
|
When God told him to do
something, he did it without question. |
When Elijah told him to
call Ahab, he hesitated and questioned. |
|
He was a man of faith and
courage. |
He was a man of fear. |
OBADIAH’S
FEAR
9 He
said, “What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the
hand of Ahab to put me to death?
10 “As
the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not
sent to search for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the
kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.
11 “And
now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here.”
12 “It
will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you
where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he
will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth.
13 “Has
it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of
the Lord, that I hid a hundred prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and
provided them with bread and water?
14 “And
now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here’; he will
then kill me.” (1 Kings 18:9-14).
Elijah
has been declared Public Enemy Number One.
There is a warrant out for his arrest.
His picture is on wanted posters throughout the land. Ahab has gone so far as to send emissaries to
other countries seeking for Elijah that he might be extradited back to
Now
Elijah is back. And he wants Obadiah to
go and to announce that he is back.
Obadiah has a problem with this.
His problem is that he is certain that it is the Lord who has kept
Elijah out of Ahab’s clutches. And he
believes that the Lord is going to continue to keep Elijah out of Ahab’s
clutches. He doesn’t want to be the one
to announce that Elijah is back, only to have the Lord snatch him away
again. Obadiah had several problems.
1. Obadiah had a problem with Fear.
He was afraid of what might be the reaction of
Ahab. And this fear made him timid.
For
God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and
discipline.
Therefore
do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join
with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved
us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was granted un in Christ Jesus
from all eternity (2 Timothy 1:7-9).
We are not told that we will never suffer. Rather we are told to be bold in the face of
suffering. We have a source of power
that can overcome all persecution.
2. Obadiah had a problem with Failure.
His view of failure was that it must be a punishment
from God. He immediately asks the
question, “What sin did I commit?” He
did not realize that it is possible to do everything correctly and to still
have bad things happen.
It is true that one of the reasons for sufferings is
as a result of discipline. But this is
only one reason that suffering comes and problems do not always come as a
result of sin.
3. Obadiah had a problem with Faith.
He had become a bit paranoid and this is evidence that
he was not trusting in the Lord in this midst of this situation.
ELIJAH’S
PROMISE
Elijah
said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I
stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”(1 Kings 18:15).
Elijah
now moves to comfort and to confirm Obadiah in the message which he has given
to him.
1. He Proclaimed God’s Person
This is seen in the words, “As the Lord of Hosts
lives.” The title, “Lord of hosts or
armies” is a reference to the strength and power of God. And He is the God who LIVES. This is in opposition to the gods of wood and
stone which the pagans worshiped.
This was an oath.
Elijah says, “If this does not take place, then may the living God no
longer be living.” God did the same for
us. He tells us that when He could swear
by no greater, He swore by Himself. The
impact of such a promise is that you can trust in Him.
2. He Pointed to His Call and Commitment.
This is seen in the words, “before whom I stand.” This is the language of servanthood. Elijah assures Obadiah that he is here to
serve the Lord and not himself. He is
looking out for God’s best interests, not his own. His actions take into account that he is a
servant of the Lord.
3. He Promised to Not Let Obadiah Down
He says, “You can count on me not to leave you
standing along before Ahab - I will show myself to him today.” The emphasis here is: “You can count on me because I am counting on
the Lord.”
OBADIAH’S
FAITH
So
Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. (1 Kings
18:16).
How
do we know that Obadiah believed the words of Elijah? Because of his OBEDIENCE. Here is the principle. Obedience is always the outward manifestation
of faith. Do you believe the promises of
God? Then demonstrate your belief by
obeying the commands of God.
Our
example is Jesus. He is the One who came
to earth to be completely obedient to His Heavenly Father. His obedience was unto death. Obadiah asked that he might obey and be
delivered from death. His prayer was
answered. Jesus also went to His Father
with a request. His request was that the
cup of suffering and of death might pass from Him. But He went to the cross because it was the
only way that you and I could be spared the suffering and death we deserved.
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