1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:04,800 All right, good morning. Good to see everyone. 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:07,400 It's been a busy week, but I'm glad to see you this morning 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,600 turning your Bibles to 1st Kings Chapter 18, if you will, First 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,120 Kings chapter 18. And hopefully you remember we 5 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,640 are in a series on the valley, the mountains, and the valleys 6 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,280 in the Bible. And if you remember, we started 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,560 off, we're going to, we're going to start with the seven 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,840 mountains. And the purpose of looking at 9 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,400 these different mountains is to really to inspire us in the, in 10 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,120 these stories that we see in the Bible, not to inspire us in the 11 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,600 way of, oh, that really inspired me. 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,680 I'm going to go do something for God as much as it's a reminder 13 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,520 and an encouragement to us to continue to follow God's word. 14 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,880 That's, that's what I mean by that word inspire, because we 15 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,040 see in these different mountains that we're looking at some 16 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,600 really, really great things that happened where God took care of 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,960 his, his people and God gave some, some amazing promises. 18 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:04,519 We looked at Mount Sinai first the first week and that promise 19 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:08,000 that he gave to Abraham. And then we looked at the, the 20 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,400 10 commandments and the law that was given last week. 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,120 And this week we're going to look at Mount Carmel, the mount 22 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,680 of prayer. And it's not an unfamiliar 23 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,200 story. I think we're all very familiar 24 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,320 with this story with Elijah on Mount Carmel. 25 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,280 But we're going to look a little, little closer at it and 26 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,120 see if we can't pull some, some truths out of this story this 27 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:30,480 morning. So let's go ahead and pray and 28 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,560 then we'll read this passage and then get into our lesson. 29 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:35,680 Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this day 30 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:36,920 you've given us. Thank you for another 31 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:38,840 opportunity we have to open your word. 32 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,160 God, I thank you for your goodness to us. 33 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,880 God, I know we go through some, some some testing and some tough 34 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,240 times, but God, you're, you're good in the midst of it. 35 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,360 God, we, we know even from all of the Psalms that you're 36 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,240 walking through those valleys with us. 37 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,880 And I pray that we would look to you for the strength that we 38 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,640 need and look to you for the guidance that we need the 39 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,080 instruction and understand what it is you're trying to do in our 40 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,960 lives through those valleys that we go through. 41 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,560 And I got to just pray as we look at this Mount Carmel and 42 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,040 Elijah this morning got that we'd learned some truths that we 43 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:18,040 can apply to our own lives and and God use them to see victory 44 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,440 in our lives the way you want us to see it. 45 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,840 In Jesus name I pray, Amen. So let's jump right into this 46 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,080 story. We're kind of jumping into the 47 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,600 middle of this chapter, but first Kings chapter 18 and we're 48 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,440 going to start in verse 17 and I'm going to read all the way 49 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,560 through verse 41 just so we get the whole picture of this story 50 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,480 because we are going to break it up in all of our different 51 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,400 points. But but I want to read the whole 52 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:41,880 story first, and then we'll get into the lesson. 53 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,720 So verse 17 and 1st Kings chapter 18, it says, And it came 54 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,600 to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art 55 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:53,200 thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not 56 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,840 troubled Israel, but thou in thy father's house, and that ye have 57 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,720 forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou has followed 58 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,360 Balaam. Now therefore send and gather to 59 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,520 me all Israel, unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal 60 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,240 450 and the prophets of the Groves 400 which eat at 61 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,280 Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the 62 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,400 children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount 63 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:16,480 Carmel. And Elijah came unto all the 64 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,160 people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? 65 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,760 If the Lord be God, follow him, But if Baal, follow him. 66 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:24,960 And the people answered him not a word. 67 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,240 Then said Elijah unto the people, I even I only remain a 68 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,880 prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets are 450 men. 69 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,200 Let them therefore give us 2 bullocks, and let them choose 70 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:38,920 one Bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on 71 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,800 wood, and put no fire under. And I will dress the other 72 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,320 Bullock, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under. 73 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:46,320 And call ye on the name of your gods. 74 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:47,800 And I will call in the name of the Lord. 75 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,000 And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. 76 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,760 And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. 77 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,800 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one 78 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,880 Bullock for yourselves, and dress it first for year many, 79 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,800 and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 80 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,480 And they took the Bullock which was given them, and they dressed 81 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,520 it, and called on the name of Bale from morning even until 82 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,840 noon, saying, O Bale, hear us. But there was no voice nor any 83 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,040 of that answered. And they leaped upon the altar 84 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,399 which was made, And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked 85 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:21,720 them, and said, Cry aloud, for he is a God. 86 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,840 Either he's talking or he's pursuing, or he is in a journey, 87 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:28,200 or per adventure. He sleepeth, and must be awaked. 88 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,320 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner 89 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,280 with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them, 90 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,200 and came to pass when midday was passed. 91 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,200 And they prophesied, until the time of the offering of the 92 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,880 evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to 93 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,400 answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the 94 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,520 people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near 95 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:52,440 unto him. And he repaired the altar of the 96 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,360 Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took 12 Stones, 97 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:57,800 according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, 98 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,840 unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be 99 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:03,280 thy name. And with the stones he built an 100 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:05,560 altar in the name of the Lord, and made a trench about the 101 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,720 altar as great as would contain 2 measures of seed. 102 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,080 And he put the wood in order, and cut the Bullock in pieces, 103 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,280 and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill 4 barrels with water 104 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,800 and pour it out, pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. 105 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,560 And he said, Do it the second time, they did it the second 106 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,200 time. He said, Do it the third time, 107 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,560 and they did it the third time. And the water ran round about 108 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,840 the altar, And he filled the trench also with water. 109 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,560 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening 110 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,120 sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord 111 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,520 God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day 112 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,160 that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that 113 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,080 I have done all these things at Thy word. 114 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,720 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou 115 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,640 art the Lord God, and that thou has turned their heart back 116 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,120 again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, 117 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,680 and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the 118 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,200 stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the 119 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,560 trench. And when all the people saw it, 120 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,640 they fell on their faces. And they said, The Lord, he is 121 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,600 the God, the Lord he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take 122 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:15,800 the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. 123 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,280 And they took them. And Elijah brought them down to 124 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,640 the brook Keyshawn, and slew them there. 125 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,440 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink, for 126 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,480 there is a sound of abundance of rain. 127 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,400 Very familiar story, but very interesting. 128 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,680 What's going on here? And I don't know that this is 1 129 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,080 of this is my favorite story, but it's one of my favorite 130 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,520 stories. I love this story of Elijah on 131 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,880 Mount Carmel. I think more so because we all 132 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,800 like an underdog story and I think that's kind of what we 133 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,360 have here. Now Elijah is a little bit 134 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:55,840 misinformed. He says there in verse 22, he 135 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,600 says unto the people, I even I only remain a prophet of the 136 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,760 Lord and he's misinformed there. He thinks he's the only one 137 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,240 left, which if that's what he truly thinks, you got to give 138 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,840 him credit there also. Hey, I'm the only one left, but 139 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,760 I'm still going to stand. And God had many, many other 140 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,680 prophets that had not bowed the knee to bail that he was holding 141 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,280 in the wings waiting to to support Elijah here, but he 142 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,520 thinks he's the only one. And so let's get right into this 143 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,280 story. We're going to call this Mount 144 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:31,880 Carmel, the mount of prayer and remember the these mountains are 145 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,680 we're going through these mountains to inspire us to do 146 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,520 the same thing that we learned in these lessons. 147 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:43,240 So this is a an encouragement for us to to prayer and we heard 148 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,000 that last Sunday morning. So this will go right along with 149 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:47,560 that. And it'll actually make our 150 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:51,560 lesson a little quicker because I will use some of what pastor 151 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,480 said and so I don't have to re re say those things. 152 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,720 But let's get right into it. Elijah encounters a problem here 153 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,120 in verses 17 through 20, verse 17, he encounters a problem. 154 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,440 And first of all, it's this accusation came to pass when 155 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,520 Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said unto him, art thou he that 156 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,440 troubleth Israel? I think it's interesting because 157 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,320 you got to remember the reason it's such a big deal that he's 158 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,920 pouring all this water on the altar is there is no water to be 159 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:23,840 had. They're in a famine, A drought 160 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,600 for the last three years. And that's what verse 41 says. 161 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,320 At the end of our passage that we read, Elijah says to Ahab, 162 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,080 get up, eat and drink. There's a sound of abundance of 163 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,559 rain. Now we'll look at this at the 164 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:38,919 end, hopefully, if we have time. There was no rain yet. 165 00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:42,640 It wasn't raining, but Elijah was getting ready to pray to God 166 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,120 to open the heavens back up and send that rain that he had shut 167 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,880 off for three years. And he tells Elijah in the 168 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,920 confidence of his God, it's about to start raining, get up, 169 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,080 eat, get to Jezreel and get ready for this rain that's 170 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,360 coming when there is no sign of rain as of yet. 171 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:01,920 But anyways, so there's this accusation. 172 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,080 Are you the 1? He he asks. 173 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,840 He is not a stranger to Elijah. He knows exactly who Elijah is. 174 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,040 So he's accusing him here. Oh, it's Elijah, the one that's 175 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:15,040 troubling Israel. And Elijah shoots right back. 176 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:16,920 I have not troubled Israel that one. 177 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,720 Thy father's house has troubled Israel in that ye have forsaken 178 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,720 the commandments of the Lord, and thou has followed Balaam. 179 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:25,320 I want you to go look at a verse real quick. 180 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,560 It's in Deuteronomy chapter 28 and verse 24, not too far from 181 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:32,160 where we're at. But I think it's interesting 182 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:39,200 because Elijah is standing 100% on the word of God here when he 183 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,200 says, no, no, no, no, you're the one troubling Israel with this 184 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,280 drought because of the way you've acted in refusing to obey 185 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,440 the commandments of God. Deuteronomy 28, verse 24 says, 186 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:54,040 and this is a whole curse of Israel of what's going to happen 187 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,600 if you don't follow and obey God. 188 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,400 But it gets to verse 24. He says the Lord shall make the 189 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:03,920 rain of thy land powder and dust from heaven shall it come down 190 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:05,720 upon thee until thou be destroyed. 191 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:11,640 So he's saying, if you go back in this verse 15, this is, this 192 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,040 is the curse. If what happens in verse 15, it 193 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,360 shall come to pass. If thou wilt not hearken unto 194 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,360 the voice of the Lord thy God to observe, to do all his 195 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,040 commandments and his statues which I command thee this day, 196 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,080 that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. 197 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:28,680 And this drought was one of them. 198 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:35,160 So Elijah was very right, very correct in saying no, no, I did, 199 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,040 I gave you the, the, I told you the promise of what was going to 200 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,680 happen from God. But it's your fault that they, 201 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:43,960 that we have not had rain for these three years. 202 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,800 You and your father's house have forsaken the commandments of the 203 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,320 Lord and has followed Balaam. So that's it. 204 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:55,160 That's Elijah's answer. And now he gives King Ahab an 205 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,000 assignment in verse 19. Now therefore send and gather to 206 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,480 me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal 450 and 207 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,840 the prophets of the Groves 400 which eat at Jezebel's table. 208 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,560 I think this is interesting too, just kind of as a side note, we 209 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:15,800 often think that Elijah went up against 450 prophets of Baal. 210 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,760 There was actually 850 of them here. 211 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,480 We don't really have anything else about the prophets of the 212 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,920 Groves. I did look that up and it is the 213 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:29,680 they were prophets to the God Ashara, which Jezebel 214 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:32,000 worshipped. She didn't actually worship Baal 215 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,560 particularly. She worshipped this other God 216 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:39,880 Ashara, which was a wicked, wicked, very, very sexual 217 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,920 goddess. And that's who these prophets, 218 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,960 these 400 prophets of the Groves were. 219 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,280 And I also looked up that what is the prophets of the Groves? 220 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,160 What was that? Well, they had in their 221 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,440 ceremonies, they had all these Staffs and things that they 222 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:56,600 would cut down and they would all hold these Staffs and they 223 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,920 call them the Groves. And so that's where the prophets 224 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,320 of the Groves comes from. But just a side note there. 225 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,240 But I think it's also interesting that while the 226 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:10,600 children of Israel are in this famine, there's 850 prophets of 227 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,280 false gods eating at the King's table every day. 228 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,040 He's feeding them, he's providing for them. 229 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,480 That doesn't just mean he's feeding them lunch, you know, 230 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,600 once a week. They're they're under the the 231 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:26,800 care of Ahab and Jezebel. They are providing for these 850 232 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:33,440 at least prophets, not just followers, prophets of Baal and 233 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:39,280 Asherah and and Ahab, it says which ate at Jezebel's table. 234 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,800 So we've got this, we've got a big problem here that this is 235 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,600 Jezebel was a wicked, wicked queen. 236 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,680 And it's no wonder we even see that name in Revelation and just 237 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:54,680 just this wicked, wicked person, Jezebel. 238 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,400 And but anyways, so we have this assignment. 239 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:00,920 Go gather all of Israel. And I think it's interesting 240 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,760 also all of Israel now is coming to Mount Carmel. 241 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,640 And I do wonder, I wrote this down a little bit later. 242 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:10,320 In fact, I'll wait. We'll get to it in just a 243 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,280 second. So all of Israel comes to Mount 244 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,760 Carmel and the prophets of Baal and the prophets of of Asherah 245 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:21,280 and King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, they're all here on Mount 246 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,480 Carmel. And the the purpose for this is 247 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,320 what we see next. This showdown, verses 21 through 248 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,680 24. Elijah came unto all the people 249 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:33,440 and said how long halt ye between two opinions you got to 250 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,000 you got to think this this. These are the children of Israel 251 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,400 that saw God deliver them out of Egypt, that saw God take care of 252 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,280 all their needs for the 40 years in the wilderness and then bring 253 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,880 them into this promised land. This is the children of Israel 254 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,640 that saw all of that and now they're undecided on should they 255 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:56,320 follow God or should they follow this Bale that they're they're 256 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:01,160 king and queen have have set up Ahab and Jezebel and so Ahab 257 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,920 Elijah asked them how long are you going to halt between two 258 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:05,560 opinions. If the Lord be God, follow him 259 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:09,240 and if Baal follow him. So it goes without saying then 260 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,160 that they definitely were undecided. 261 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,240 They weren't just full blown worshipping Baal Ahab and 262 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:19,320 Jezebel were that the people weren't at which made Elijah say 263 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:23,200 if Baal's God follow him. Just do what they're telling you 264 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,400 to do. If he's if he's really God and 265 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:27,680 that and it says at the end of verse 21. 266 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:29,840 The people answered him, not a word. 267 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,400 They just didn't know which one to follow. 268 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,880 They didn't, they didn't have an opinion really. 269 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:37,400 They were halting between the two. 270 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:42,160 They weren't sure which is which is Elijah's frustration. 271 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,120 You saw God do all this, the the God of Israel do all this and 272 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,080 you're still not sure. All right, fine, we'll put it to 273 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,520 the test. And that's where we get to here 274 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,960 in this next, these next verses. He says then Elijah said to the 275 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,520 people, I even I only remain a prophet of Lord. 276 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,720 But Bale's prophets are 450 men. Let them therefore give us 2 277 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:03,600 bullocks and let's have a showdown. 278 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:06,560 Let's see who which God sends fire. 279 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,360 That was ultimately the test. Which one is going to send fire 280 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,080 and whichever one does, that's the one we're going to follow. 281 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,680 Now surely Elijah wouldn't have he'd have gone into hiding no 282 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,720 doubt. But he's telling the people if 283 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:24,480 Bale's if the God, if Bale sends fire follow because he's 284 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,960 obviously powerful enough to take care of your problems. 285 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,120 That's this showdown they come to. 286 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:35,440 And you know, I think I skipped something that I wanted to say 287 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,440 in the in the first part when he says, are you the one that 288 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,160 troubles Israel? I think we do that often in our 289 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:46,120 lives. You know, we maybe we sit, we 290 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,480 have issues in our lives. So we come to the to the pastor 291 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:50,040 and say, Hey, I need help in this issue. 292 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:53,720 And he give you some advice, you take it and you start doing it, 293 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,560 but maybe not fully. And and then you say, yeah, 294 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,080 that's, that's that church's fault. 295 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,320 You know, I didn't have any of these problems till I started 296 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,560 going to that church or I started following that pastor or 297 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,720 I started, you know, trying to follow what God wanted me to do. 298 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,680 And then now I have all these problems. 299 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:13,000 And what Elijah says there is no, no, no, you have forsaken 300 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,120 the commandments of the Lord and followed these other gods, and 301 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,440 that's why you're having the problems you have. 302 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,200 But I think it, it is something we should be careful of, that 303 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,360 often the problems in our lives are, they are our own fault. 304 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,080 And we'd like to point our finger at somebody else and say 305 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:32,920 it's because of what you, the advice you gave me or whatever 306 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,920 that I'm having these problems. But God's word has the answers. 307 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,640 And if we follow it, he will take care of our problems. 308 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,840 That doesn't mean our life is perfect, but he will take care 309 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,200 of the problems that we have if we do it his way. 310 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:56,280 So back to Elijah having this shut down now with this, with 311 00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:02,320 this halting between two opinions, you know, Elijah has 312 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,520 come now to the children of Israel, but not only the 313 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,280 children of Israel, the the prophets of Baal and said, you, 314 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:12,119 you are struggling between this, this decision to follow God or 315 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:17,839 to follow Baal and what I'm about to do is going to make you 316 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:20,480 make a decision. And I, and I wrote this down. 317 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:25,440 I wonder how often God wants to show himself powerful to the 318 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:30,480 world around us, through us, but because we aren't surrendered to 319 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,680 let him use us or we're caught up so caught up with the world 320 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,200 ourselves, we don't see the opportunity for God to use us to 321 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,320 show himself powerful to the world. 322 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,000 That's exactly what is going on here. 323 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:49,000 Yes, Elijah is a prophet of God, but he's he has the decision 324 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,920 here to to follow what God told him to do. 325 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,640 God sends him here. He says go to go to Mount Carmel 326 00:17:54,640 --> 00:18:00,760 and and do this what we see here in this story, but he didn't 327 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,400 have to. And I wonder how many of us God 328 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,360 sends us to do a job and we get cold feet kind of in the middle 329 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:10,680 and I'm the only one that's about to do this. 330 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,760 I'm not doing it and God wanted to show himself powerful through 331 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,880 us, but we're not surrendered to do that. 332 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,440 I think that's something we also need to keep in mind. 333 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,000 But then we have here verse 21. I want to I want to take just a 334 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,240 quick look at this sorry, verse 22 Elijah said unto the people, 335 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:32,000 I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord and this is where I 336 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:36,000 almost jumped ahead of myself, but it it makes me ask the 337 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,000 question in my mind, where were all the other priests? 338 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,240 You have a whole tribe of the Levites that that is their only 339 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:46,600 job. Where are they What what have 340 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,880 they all gone to follow Baal are some of these prophets of Baal 341 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:51,640 Levites? I don't know. 342 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:54,960 The Bible doesn't tell us, but where are they all and I know 343 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:59,360 that God did say I have 700 that haven't bowed the knee to Baal 344 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:03,000 and all of that. Those were most likely Levites 345 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,320 as well. But where are all these When 346 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:09,440 Ahab calls the children of Israel to the mountain, remember 347 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:16,560 in in verse 21, he tells him that sorry verse 20, Ahab sent 348 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,920 unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets 349 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,240 together unto Mount Carmel. Where are all these Levites? 350 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,920 Where are all the prophets of God and and the priests of God 351 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,760 that were supposed to be there? But regardless, and I already 352 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,560 kind of mentioned this, Elijah's going to stand by himself and I 353 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,560 think that's a great inspiration to us. 354 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:36,920 Remember, these mountains are for our inspiration. 355 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:38,520 It's a great inspiration to us stand. 356 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,760 It's not always easy and it's definitely not always fun, but 357 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:48,480 the results that we see, the the rewards that we see from God 358 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:55,720 when we do definitely outweigh the embarrassment or the lack of 359 00:19:55,720 --> 00:20:00,080 confidence that we may have to go do that, to go stand alone. 360 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:01,880 And we have plenty of opportunities to do that. 361 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,880 The more wicked our world gets, the more opportunities we have 362 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:06,600 to stand. And so. 363 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,280 Definitely a good lesson there. We see from Elijah. 364 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:16,960 But then verse 25 we see Elijah then begins to expose this error 365 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,120 in verse 25, Elijah said under the prophets of Baal choose you 366 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:23,080 a bullet for yourselves and dress it first for your many and 367 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,520 call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under it. 368 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,200 He's going to put their God to the test. 369 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:31,440 Don't put any fire under it. We want to see which one answers 370 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:33,760 this request. And they took the bullet which 371 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:35,480 was given them. They dressed it called on the 372 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,600 name of Bale from morning till noon, saying, O Bale hear us. 373 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,200 But there was no voice nor any that answered. 374 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,480 And they leaped upon the altar which was made. 375 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,400 And Elijah begins to mock them. Hey, cry louder. 376 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,320 Maybe he's sleeping, maybe he's on vacation. 377 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,240 Maybe he's, we all heard this story. 378 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,800 Maybe he's just doesn't hear you. 379 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,680 Maybe he's sleeping and he needs to be awakened. 380 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,040 And these guys don't say, man, stop mocking us. 381 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,720 They do it. They cry louder and cut 382 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,560 themselves after their manner with knives and lancets till the 383 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,880 blood gushed out upon them. And it comes to pass, when 384 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,040 midday has passed and they prophesied until the time of the 385 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,240 offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was still 386 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,520 no voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded their 387 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,920 requests. And I think it goes we we see 388 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:25,040 this for sure that that Elijah does this knowing there's not 389 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,760 going to be an answer, but he tells them to do it to prove to 390 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,280 the children of Israel. And I don't know what had been 391 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,520 going on now here in these, you know, in Israel that the 392 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,840 children of Israel were so duped that they still couldn't decide. 393 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,240 I mean, surely they have not seen bail answer any of their 394 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,240 their petitions. But there, there was enough, 395 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,280 there was enough sleight of hand or whatever you want to call it 396 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,840 from these prophets to convince them that, well, maybe, maybe 397 00:21:55,840 --> 00:22:02,040 Baal still is a legitimate God. And, and Elijah calls this error 398 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,840 out in making them call on their God and see if he'll answer. 399 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,560 And I wrote this to don't shy away from calling out error. 400 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,040 We can do it kindly, but we must call it out. 401 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,560 Error doesn't have a leg to stand on. 402 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,080 And that's true every time we see error, every time we see 403 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,440 even churches drifting away from what the Bible tells us to do. 404 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:25,800 When it's called out, there's no leg to stand on. 405 00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:30,280 And and it is error is shown to be error. 406 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,640 So Elijah does that. He begins to ridicule them. 407 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,280 And then we have that result. There is no answer because 408 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,200 Baal's not a living God. And now it's Elijah's turn. 409 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:42,880 First Kings chapter 18 and verse 30. 410 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,720 And remember the whole point of this lesson is to is the mount 411 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:52,240 of prayer, the power that we have in prayer to our God 412 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,600 because Elijah didn't have any power in him of himself. 413 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:00,480 He was standing alone. But we see in his prayer his 414 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:05,640 lack of his own power. He says in verse, let's see 415 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:15,960 verse 36, this prayer is only 63 words long, I think 63 words. 416 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,240 And it brings fire from heaven that proves to all of Israel 417 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,760 that God is real. But this is his prayer. 418 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,800 Elijah the prophet came to you and said, Lord God of Abraham, 419 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,240 Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God 420 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,320 in Israel, and that I am my servant, and that I have done 421 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,040 all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me that 422 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,200 this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou 423 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,880 has turned their heart back again. 424 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:48,200 He he is, he is not taking any credit for this in this prayer. 425 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,240 In fact, he is calling on God to say, hey, prove yourself to 426 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,480 these people. And in verse 37, I think it's 427 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,160 interesting that this people may know that thou art the Lord God 428 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:02,160 and that thou has turned their heart back again, that God 429 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:07,800 through this incident, through this miracle of sending fire to 430 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,240 this to the sacrifice, was calling the hearts of the people 431 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:17,320 back to him. Very, very powerful prayer, but 432 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:21,200 simple words it is. This is not a, a, a super 433 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:26,160 elegant, super, you know, super prayer that wow. 434 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,680 The prayer itself is what got the ear of God. 435 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:33,320 It's the fact that he's calling on his God to prove himself to 436 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,160 this unbelieving people. And God answers that. 437 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,120 So that's Elijah's plan here. Is he he? 438 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:46,280 We see that in verses 30 through 35 of what he does to the altar. 439 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:51,000 And I think it's interesting, verse 30, Elijah said unto the 440 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,720 people, come near unto me. And all the people came near 441 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,040 unto him. I think he's wanting to make 442 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,640 very certain this is not a trick, this is not magic. 443 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,800 You're going to see God work here and he repaired the altar 444 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,400 of the Lord that was broken down. 445 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,320 This was not the altar that the the prophets of Baal just used. 446 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,160 It wasn't broken down because they've jumped all over it. 447 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,960 As we saw in those other verses. This isn't the same altar. 448 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,920 Elijah is come to repair the altar of the Lord that was 449 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:22,520 broken down, which I think is the problem in the 1st place, 450 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,000 the prophets of God have disappeared. 451 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:30,520 They they're, they're nowhere to be found in this time in in the 452 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,160 nation of Israel. They're not calling on God. 453 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,120 They're not sacrificing to him. Those are all commands of God 454 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,160 all the way until the New Testament. 455 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,360 The children of Israel are supposed to be sacrificing until 456 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:44,720 Christ comes that that command is there and we do see it. 457 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,080 We see it with Solomon and and all the rest of that. 458 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:53,280 But what happened the the altar of the Lord is broken down and I 459 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,560 think broken down for a long time to where it was almost here 460 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:01,760 unable to be repaired because in verse 31, he takes 12 Stones 461 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,920 according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob. 462 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,400 Unto him the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be thy 463 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:09,640 name. He takes 12 Stones and builds up 464 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:14,240 this altar that has been broken down for a long, long time. 465 00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:17,600 And that's a whole nother lesson, whole nother message in 466 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,000 itself that we let these altars, and I know we don't have 467 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:28,480 physical altars, but we let this our, our, our time of prayer and 468 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,080 devotion to God, We let it break down and, and we're all guilty 469 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,360 of it. I think I'm guilty of it myself. 470 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:38,600 We get busy and we let those altars that we've erected to God 471 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:43,560 to remember what he did for us. We let those breakdown and next 472 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,600 thing you know, here comes the gods of this world taking over 473 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,400 in our lives. And they're always ready to do 474 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,000 it. They're always ready to fill 475 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,920 that void when we let our altars get broken down. 476 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,960 But Elijah takes those stones and builds it, builds the altar 477 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,720 back up. And verse 32 And with the 478 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,360 stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord and made a 479 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:07,880 trench about the altar as great as would contain 2 measures of 480 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,360 seed and put the wood in order. And I think that's interesting 481 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:12,800 too. If you go, you can write this 482 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,280 down. I'm not going to turn there, but 483 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:18,440 Leviticus chapter 1 and verse 7. This is very similar to the 484 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,640 language we hear to the Levites when they're building the altar 485 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:26,600 and we see that in verse 33. And he put the wood in order and 486 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:31,080 cut the Bullock in pieces and laid him on the wood and said 487 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,920 fill 4 barrels. So Leviticus chapter one, verse 488 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,680 7, though, when they're being instructed on how to do these 489 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,600 sacrifices, it tells them lay the wood in order and so on. 490 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,960 And so very, very familiar language to these prophets and 491 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,040 to the children of Israel. They got the same law the 492 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:47,760 Levites did. They knew what it was, what they 493 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,680 were supposed to do. They just hadn't been doing it. 494 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,840 So Elijah follows that sacrificial system and lays that 495 00:27:55,840 --> 00:28:01,320 wooden order, and then he prays for exaltation of God's name and 496 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,760 restoration of his people. And in verse 38, we see the 497 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:09,240 power that comes from this prayer to an almighty God. 498 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,400 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice 499 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:18,200 and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water 500 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,520 that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, 501 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:23,560 they fell on their faces and said, the Lord, He is the God, 502 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:27,120 the Lord He is the God. I think it's interesting here. 503 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:31,000 This altar was used. It was built and it was used one 504 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:32,440 time. It's gone. 505 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:34,760 It's it's it, it consumes the rocks. 506 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,320 It consumes the water consumes everything. 507 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:45,680 It even says that it in verse. Let's see in verse 38, it and it 508 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,480 consumed the stones and the dust. 509 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,560 I mean, this thing is just gone. I don't know that it was like a 510 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,200 bomb went off, but it the fire consumed it. 511 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,880 And I think it's a very interesting picture of, of 512 00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,680 Christ. You know, we did the the Savior 513 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,200 in the Shadows series. This is a one time sacrifice. 514 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:05,800 It was not before and it'll never be done again. 515 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:08,360 It's gone and Christ was the same way. 516 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,880 I think it's a good picture of the sacrifice of Christ. 517 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,480 It was a one time thing will never need to be done again. 518 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:19,080 There is no more. We need no savior after that 519 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:24,360 final sacrifice that was made. But anyway, so, so this prayer 520 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,160 of Elijah consumes this entire altar in the fire. 521 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,880 That was the test, to see which God is the real God. 522 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,320 And the people see that the Lord, he is the God, the Lord he 523 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:37,520 is the God. And Elijah said unto them, take 524 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:39,560 the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. 525 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,520 And Elijah brought them down to Brooke Keyshawn and slew them 526 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:43,840 there. The Bible doesn't say what 527 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,680 happened to the other 400 prophets. 528 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,840 I don't know if they escaped, but it's very specific. 529 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,040 It doesn't say that they just killed all the prophets. 530 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,120 It says they took the prophets of Baal and that not one of them 531 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:56,920 escaped. So anyways, I don't know what 532 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,680 happened to those other prophets, but the 450 prophets 533 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,040 of Baal are slaughtered there at the brook Keysham. 534 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,720 And you know, we hear that often all the Old Testament's so 535 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:12,600 bloody and it's it's so violent. The this is a picture of, of 536 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:17,400 spiritual warfare. We cannot let sin in our lives 537 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,720 just be defeated and then put in a corner. 538 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,040 All right, you prophets of bail, go back to wherever you came 539 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,720 from, back to your countries, back to your whatever. 540 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,840 No more. No more practicing this bail 541 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:32,560 worship. No, they were slaughtered. 542 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,000 And we have to do the same thing with our sin. 543 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,880 I think it's a perfect picture of sin in our lives. 544 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:45,040 Why do we fight the same sins over and over and over again? 545 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,200 Why do we why are we constantly battling them? 546 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:50,840 And I think it's a good thing that our hearts are soft enough 547 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:52,760 that when we hear a message and we come to the altar. 548 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,880 But why are we coming to the altar over the same sins over 549 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:57,200 and over? Because we're not destroying 550 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:58,920 them. We are not putting them. 551 00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:03,840 We are we are not slaughtering them like they did to these 552 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,000 prophets of Baal. It was a picture to the children 553 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:11,800 of Israel that that idol worship, Baal worship has no 554 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:13,800 place. Not just that, it's that's for 555 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,760 the for the fringe. It has no place among the people 556 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,880 of God and sin has no place among God's people. 557 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,880 And I know we battle with it. I'm not saying we need to be 558 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:27,280 perfect or that we could be perfect, but we must fight it. 559 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,680 We must destroy sin in our lives. 560 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:34,240 And I think if we really took it serious, it was serious to these 561 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,640 prophets of Baal. They lost their lives. 562 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,600 And I think anybody contemplating going toward Baal 563 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,480 worship after this was going to think twice because this is 564 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:45,760 serious. They're slaughtered. 565 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,880 And I think sin in our lives is the same way. 566 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:54,720 If we, if we dealt with sin like this, it's not that sin would be 567 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:58,200 afraid of us, but we would be very, very cautious to pick up a 568 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,880 sin and run with it if we were destroying it the way and 569 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,280 treating it the way God wants us to treat sin. 570 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,040 And it's not. It's not so that we're more 571 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,400 holy. Pastor preached about this last 572 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,000 Sunday morning when he was talking about prayer. 573 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,200 It's so that God can hear our prayers and so we can have this 574 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:20,840 kind of power in our prayer. That's why we why we destroy sin 575 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:22,840 in our lives. It's not so that we can look at 576 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,840 the person next to us and say, yeah, he's still struggle with 577 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,640 it, but if he would just do what I did. 578 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:34,640 It's so that God so that we have the ear of God and we have power 579 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,240 in prayer when we come to him and we need that. 580 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,760 And then lastly, and we got just a few minutes left, Elijah then 581 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,520 and the people of Israel enjoy a revival. 582 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:49,680 And we see that in verse 41, Elijah said unto Ahab, get up, 583 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,480 eat and drink, for there's a sound of abundance of rain. 584 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:55,520 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. 585 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,400 And Elijah went to the top of Carmel and he cast himself down 586 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,520 upon the earth and put his face between his knees. 587 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,440 And this is where I was saying, Elijah's got confidence in his 588 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,720 God. There was no rain yet. 589 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,680 He's saying to Ahab, there's a sound of abundance of rain, get 590 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,000 up and eat. And and I think some of this 591 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,560 would be, you know, they've at this point, they're rationing 592 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:17,120 food. They are, you know, rationing 593 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,800 out amongst the children of Israel what they have left. 594 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,840 So when he tells him get up and eat, he's saying and and drink, 595 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:26,560 stop, forget the rations. Just get up and eat and drink. 596 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:32,160 This this famine, this drought is about to end and then goes to 597 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,600 God and says, I need this drought to end. 598 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:36,920 I just told all the people that you were going to end this 599 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:42,680 drought AF went up, sorry. And Elijah goes up in verse 42 600 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:46,160 and puts his face between his knees and said to his servant, 601 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:48,720 go look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and 602 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,000 said there's nothing. He said go again 7 times this 603 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,800 happens. It came to pass The 7th time he 604 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,640 said, behold, there arise at the little cloud out of the sea like 605 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,120 a man's hand. He said, go up and say they have 606 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,680 prepare thy chariot and get thee down that the rain stop thee 607 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:04,400 not. I think it's just such an 608 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:08,120 interesting an awesome confidence in God. 609 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,800 There is no rain yet and he's telling get in your chariot and 610 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,560 get to Jezreel. It's about to rain because I saw 611 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,199 a cloud the size of a man's hand. 612 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,840 But you see as he goes from verse 45 came to pass in the 613 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,440 meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds and wind and 614 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:27,600 there was a great rain and Ahab road and went to Jezreel in the 615 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:29,960 hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he girded up his loins and 616 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:33,280 ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. 617 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,719 But just another interesting story with the whole drought 618 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:38,679 being ended. And we're not going to get too 619 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:41,400 much into that. But in verse 39 we see the 620 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,440 repentance of Israel, the Lord, he is the God. 621 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:46,960 They're not halting between two opinions any longer. 622 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,679 They've realized the Lord is is the God that we need to serve 623 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:55,520 and he is Jehovah alone. And so they tear down the gods 624 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,600 of the prophets of Baal, the gods of Baal and, and the idols, 625 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,720 and they killed the 450 prophets. 626 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,760 And they see a revival in the land of Israel. 627 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:09,200 And we see that it's always that that sound of abundance of rain 628 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:14,160 is a picture of the revival that they saw because they finally 629 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,240 turned back to God. Remember in Deuteronomy 28, we 630 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:20,360 saw if you don't do these commands that I've given you, 631 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:24,040 and you don't obey my word and you don't follow me, I'm going 632 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:27,840 to turn your rain to dust is what God says in Deuteronomy. 633 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,280 And now they've finally turned their hearts back to God. 634 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:34,480 And I believe all of this is through the power of the prayer 635 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:38,520 that Elijah, the power of the, the relationship that Elijah had 636 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,280 with his God. None of this I don't believe 637 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,720 would have been possible. The children of Israel weren't 638 00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:47,080 calling on God. Elijah is. 639 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,840 And through Elijah's prayer and the relationship that he has 640 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:55,920 with God, God sends fire, proves that he is God, and then opens 641 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,760 the windows of heaven and gives them rain again because the 642 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,960 people have finally turned back to, to God. 643 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,720 And, and I think pastor read this verse last week, but James 644 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:09,680 chapter 5, verse 17, Elijah was a man subject to like passions 645 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,200 as we are. That means he was exactly like 646 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,240 we are. He had no special power. 647 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:19,960 He had no special gifts, no special abilities, but he prayed 648 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:21,440 earnestly that it might not rain. 649 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:24,040 And it rained not by the space of three years and six months. 650 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,960 And then he prayed again, which is exactly what we read here at 651 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,000 the end of chapter 18. And the heaven gave rain, and 652 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:31,480 the earth brought forth her fruit. 653 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,360 And part of the reason we don't have is because we don't ask. 654 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:39,880 We see that in James chapter 4. You have not because you ask 655 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:41,320 not. And the other part is exactly 656 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,560 what we heard last Sunday morning. 657 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,520 Sometimes we have not because God's not even hearing us. 658 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:50,400 He wants to, but He can't because of sin in our lives. 659 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:52,200 And that's what was going on with the children of Israel 660 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,160 healed here. But thankfully they had one man 661 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,880 that was left that still had the ear of God because sin was he 662 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:01,560 had no sin or he had gotten sin out of his life. 663 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,480 Put it that way. And God hears him and proves to 664 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:06,440 the children of Israel that I am still God. 665 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:11,320 And we have that's what that's the point here in James chapter 666 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:13,520 5. He was subject to just like we 667 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,280 are like passions. He was just like us and he was 668 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:18,120 able to have this kind of power with God. 669 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,160 We are too. How serious are we about it? 670 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:25,760 That's the, the inspiration of this mount of prayer. 671 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:30,640 We have that same power, that same access to God that Elijah 672 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:35,040 had, but we have to make sure our lives are clean and, and, 673 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:39,160 and clean of sin and idols in our lives. 674 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:42,560 That's a whole nother message that we could talk about. 675 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:44,400 But we, we put idols up in our lives. 676 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,360 We do and we make them little gods here and there instead of 677 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,240 destroying them and destroying everything that goes with it. 678 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:54,600 And then God, we have no power with with the true God, true 679 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:58,240 almighty God of the universe because of that. 680 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:00,800 But the mountain of prayer, Mount Carmel and we'll get into 681 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,120 another one next week. Let's pray. 682 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:04,160 Father, I thank you for this day you've given us. 683 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:06,920 God, I thank you for these stories in your word. 684 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:08,400 I thank you that they're not just stories. 685 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:09,920 There's so much we can glean from them. 686 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:14,040 I pray that your people would take these stories, myself 687 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,680 included. God, I know when we when I 688 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:19,840 teach, there's so much more that we can get from it. 689 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:24,560 There's the the I know that I am inadequate in these lessons. 690 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:27,080 And so I pray that your people would take these verses, take 691 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,960 these passages, read them through the week and and glean 692 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,240 from your word. God, what you what you have in 693 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:35,640 store for us. If we would just follow your 694 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:37,840 word and do what you command us to do. 695 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,480 God, you have so much that you want to do through us. 696 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,080 And I pray that we would see that in our lives. 697 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,880 Pray that you bless this next hour, that you'd meet with us 698 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:47,440 through the preaching of your word. 699 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,320 In Jesus name I pray, Amen.