King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 14 notes
1And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
2And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.
3And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. ( Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:
4For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
5And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
6So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
How come such a righteous man worked for such a wicked king 👑?
It tells you the nature of the kingdoms of righteousness — we must be everywhere to exert righteous influence in the dark places.
7And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?
8And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
9And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
10As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.
11And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
12And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.
13Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
To have done thus, he was a man of great substance.
14And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.
15And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.
16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
18And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.
19Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.
20So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.
21And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
22Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
Which was not true, but the Lord did not interrupt him until he now wanted to give up because he thought 💭 he was alone.
23Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:
24And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
25And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
26And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
27And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
28And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
Elijah was so confident that God would answer.
Do we have such men in our times — who know for sure that God will answer?
29And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
30And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.
31And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
32And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
Err, before you engage in such a contest, you should know what you are doing.
Elijah took 12 stones, built the altar as ordained by God, and the sacrifice was at the time of the evening sacrifice.
You should have engaged with God at that level and seen results before.
Don't rush in blind faith and zeal lest you be shamed like the prophets of Baal.
It could actually cost you your life.
Ah... I thought there was famine?? 😳 This water 💦 was precious seed 🌱. It was such a great sacrifice.
34And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
In times of such famine and scarcity of water 💦 — this was indeed a sacrifice.
35And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
36And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
All of this was of the Lord's own instructions and evolution, not Elijah's.
This goes to show that when God gives an instruction, he goes ahead to back it.
Anyone on course in the work of the Lord is divinely backed and must be respected as such.
He is not acting on his own but on orders. And any obedient servant has the backing of his lord and master.
38Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
So before, they thought Baalim was God, not some demon spirit lying 🤥 to them and manipulating them.
They didn't even know they were deceived.
But with fire 🔥 from heaven it became obvious that the LORD is not one of the divine beings, but he is the real deal —
He is the God that all know, the creator and ruler of the universe — God is indeed the Lord and the Lord is God.
40And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
41And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
There is a sound of abundance, and you would think this was a done 🤝 deal 🤝.
Yet it was only a sound 🔊. Elijah was now yet to climb to Mount 🗻 Carmel and pray for hours, seven times.
42So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,
How come he had to pray this into happening — how did he know this will take prayer to pull the rains into reality?
How did he know that to call down fire he would have to erect altars for the Lord? How did he know what to do when?
What if the word of the Lord came to him again and again — instructing and teaching him time and again what to do?
43And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
So Elijah goes up to Mount Carmel to pray, and then his servant had to locate himself strategically and go higher in order to see towards the sea 🌊. How long this took we are not told.
But that would be laborious and would take time. Seven times Elijah prayed 🙏.
And he did till he got the reply. The path from “I hear the sound of abundance” to when the rains ☔ did come was a daunting and laborious work.
This is a good lesson on prayer.
Also, how did Elijah know all this? He wasn't doing trial and error. He knew how to engage with God till he got a reply.
44And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
How did Elijah know that this cloud 🌥, however little, was an indication of a done deal 🤝, and yet the sound of rain ☔ was just the beginning of prayer and spiritual engagement?
Oh Lord, how do we know such things? Teach me, Lord, teach me.
45And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
46And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
He ran down the mountainous ridges of Carmel without fall or injury all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.
About 50km in all. Wow. He outdid the chariots 🛒 of Ahab.