My friend Elijah lived in a culture much like ours 1. A Highly spiritual culture Looking for Divine love in all the wrong places

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1 Sermon Series: Elijah: Living Strong for God Sermon Title: Living strong for God in the face of a confused culture Sermon Text: 1 Kings 16:30-33, 17:1 Big Idea: At times believers are called to stand strong for God in the face of a confused, oppositional culture Welcome Services/Venues Review from last week Last week I introduced you to my friend Elijah as we launched our Summer teaching series. My friend Elijah has some very practical lessons to teach us aobut living strong for God throughout the ups and downs of life. So, I m calling our Elijah: Living Strong for God. The Bible describes Elijah as a man just like us (James 5:17). This means he was a human being, like any friend, Elijah has all the same kinds of thoughts, feelings and emotions that you and I are capable of. Last week I tried to help you get a feel for the kind of world Elijah lived in and to see the similarities with our culture and world. My friend Elijah lived in a culture much like ours 1. A Highly spiritual culture Looking for Divine love in all the wrong places [Illustration] Our present culture is wildly spiritual; often misguided, but wildly spiritual. The high spiritual interest in our culture can be verified by taking a look at the number of books in the Spiritual/Religious section of our local Borders or Barnes and Noble. It can be verified by paying attention to the number of prime time TV shows and recent movie releases that are built on the platform of psychics, mediums, paranormal phenomena, extraterrestrials or angels and demons. Christian researcher George Barna writes, Supernatural beings, stories, and themes have invaded America s entertainment choices - from movies, to television programs, to books, and video games. ( A 2005 Gallop Survey revealed that nearly three in four Americans profess at least one paranormal belief. Things like: ESP; haunted houses; ghosts; telepathy/communication between minds without using traditional senses; Clairvoyance/the power of the mind to know the past and predict the future; Astrology, or that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives; That people can communicate mentally with someone who has died; Witches and Reincarnation, that is, the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death. (

2 And here s what s interesting, while many businesses have experienced a serious drop in customers in this tanked out economy; interestingly, psychics are experiencing a boon in their clientele. Some are talking a 30 percent client increase. ( [Transition] Not only is our culture highly spiritual and often misguided like Elijah s, but religious tensions are becoming more pronounced. Christians today are experiencing a growing intolerance from other spiritual belief systems. 2. A growing intolerant culture Those who worshipped multiple gods were intolerant of those who worshiped Yahweh alone as supreme. [Illustration] Matthew Staver, Dean and Professor of Law at Liberty University School of Law, wrote, "In a world of political correctness devoid of the rule of law, tolerance has come to mean total rejection of Christianity and moral standards. Modern tolerance redefines words like 'marriage,' 'discrimination,' 'equality,' 'morality,' and even 'absolutes.' The word 'tolerance' as it is used today never includes opposing arguments or competing worldviews. Tolerance has become Orwellian and decidedly intolerant." A few examples of recent intolerance for Christianity: The Supreme court determining to exclude anyone who prays in Jesus name from a rotation of officials who open city business meetings The removal of US military Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, over the issue of praying in Jesus Name UCLA s prohibiting a graduating student from thanking her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in her graduation speech ( [Transition] There s a saying, Speed of the Leader, Speed of the team. And that was never truer than in Elijah s day. King of the spiritually misguided and intolerant was King Ahab who was on the throne in Israel when Elijah comes on the scene living strong for God. I want to introduce him and his wife to you. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings 16: [Transition] - Read 1 Kings 16:30 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal {which means Baal is with him king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. {One historian said, Ethbaal headed up the most wicked dynasty in power-edersheim} 32

3 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. Okay, let s be clear about the factors that call for Elijah to live strong for God. Ahab has trumped all the wicked, godless kings before him. He considered all the morally sick, corrupt and God dishonoring behavior of the kings before him as child s play. If Jeroboam, as I mentioned last week, began to dilute pure Yahweh worship by molding two huge golden calves and encouraging people to worship them, then Ahab absolutely invented new and more warped ways to worship those pagan gods. Jewish historian, Josephus writes of Ahab, he worshiped the heifers that he {Jeroboam} had made; and he contrived other absurd objects of worship besides those heifers he exceeded in madness and wickedness all the kings that went before him (Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, 8, 13, 1, braces mine). And not only did he make Jeroboam look like a shut in with all the crazy stuff he invented; the next part of the verse says he married Jezebel and Ahab learned to worship and serve the gods she brought into the marriage. Jezebel was a very dominate type of wife. She basically ran things in Ahab s kingdom. F.B. Meyer called Jezebel the Lady Macbeth of the Old Testament. She bore all the markings of demon possession and according to the record of her life, she truly was Satan s woman of the hour. She actually tried to stamp out Yahweh worship altogether, she didn t even want Yahweh to be among all the other gods the people worshiped. In order to set herself up to reign, in 2 Kings 11 she succeeded in destroying all the royal seed of Judah, the southern kingdom, with the exception of Joash, who was hidden from her in the palace linen closet for six years before being made King. In other words, Jezebel came close to destroying the seed of Christ! (Butler, p. 26) In Revelation her name is used to describe the type of person who undermines loyalty to God in the church by promoting tolerance to all sorts of godless behavior. Now, Baal worship had been around for a long time but the people of God had not widely engaged in it until Jezebel introduced it to them and championed it among them. Many different gods were referred to as Baal, whose name meant Master, owner. Baal was worshiped as the god of rain, thunder and lightening. In the broadest sense, Baal was the god of all nature and fertility. He was believed to control the seasons, the crops and the land. Very ironically, each year his death

4 and resurrection was celebrated which included human sacrifices and temple prostitution ( ). The Bible refers to Baal as Beelzebub, one of the fallen servants of Satan who apparently tried to mimic the one true Messiah, Jesus. The...religion of Baal was a morally rotten, vile, sensual, and cruel religion which made immoral sex acts a religious exercise (Butler, p. 19, 1994). The perverse interface with the religious prostitutes seriously poisoned Israel s morals and character as sexual sin is known to do. Further, worshippers of Baal were very intolerant of worshipers of Yahweh and often persecuted them. In fact, Jezebel, Ahab s wife was often the leader of this persecution. Also mentioned here is a reference to the goddess Asherah who was basically the female counterpart or wife of Baal. {Show Picture} Asherah poles were pillars basically carved in the shape of Asherah and were all part of the worship of Baal complete with its godless and its barbaric practices. [Transition] - Now, the last verse of this historical context seems to be really out of place at first. Look at verse 34, In Ahab s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun. Why does the narrator give us this additional historical piece right here, before Elijah says his first words? It points to a fascinating detail that offers yet another bit of color commentary on the spiritual climate of Elijah s world. When Israel was led out of captivity in Egypt and into the promised land that God was giving them, Joshua led them to their first rout at the godless city of Jericho. After God delivered Jericho into their hands, Joshua made this solemn oath, Cursed before the LORD is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates. -Joshua 6:26 At that moment, Jericho was to be devoted to the Lord as a perpetual sign of God s judgment on the wicked Caananites and as a first-fruits offering of the land which God was giving over to Israel. This was a way of signifying that the conquered land belonged to Yahweh and to Yahweh alone and that he had given it to Israel as a gift of grace to them.

5 With this background, suddenly a verse that seems to be random and misplaced stands like a billboard declaring how far God s people in Israel had drifted from him and how clueless they had become regarding his sovereign power and authority. This seemingly casual detail drives a stake in the ground again reminding all who are paying attention: Despite how confused people may become about God, his supremacy never fades and his word never fails. You see, the historian here is giving us clues that regardless of how weak and obscure God may seem to be at any given time in history, his supremacy and power never fades or fails. Though his people have become spiritual corpses, God is not dead, nor does he sleep. His supremacy never fades and his word never fails. So, Christian, never fear! Sometimes we look around at our culture and the downward spiral of evil, wickedness and corruption and it s tempting to wonder, Where s God? Sometimes it seems that all that ever wins the day is evil. Pure devotion to the God of the Bible seems to be losing ground more and more each year. Christians feel like underdogs, totally outnumbered. At time we are tempted to wonder, Is the stuff I believe about God real? Is he still paying attention? Does he really have all this in control? Is really going to be able to win the day? The people of Israel had all but forgotten and given up on their God who graciously delivered them from slavery in Egypt and delivered them to the Promised Land that they were now enjoying. The grace God had shown them throughout their history had faded from their memory. But God never forgets them and he never gives up trying to show them that his supremacy remains true, his power remains active and his word never fails. And this time God uses Elijah to stand strong in a confused culture to remind them. [Transition] Let s look at his first words. Look at verse 1 of 1 Kings 17. WE don t know much at all about Elijah, the man but even though his introduction is brief, we can learn three important things about him: His name Elijah is a combination of two names for God El, short for Elohim and jah, short for Jehovah separated by the Hebrew word for my. So, essentially Elijah s name means The Lord is my God or my God is Jehovah. His name alone sends a huge message into the multi-god environment of Baal worship. His parents must have been courageous God followers to basically name their son Jehovah alone is God in a culture not too different from ours where that kind of religious exclusivity was very unpopular.

6 His land He s from Tishbeh. This is a town never discovered. Sands of time have long since covered it over. The region of Tishbeh was Gilead which was in the northern area east of the Jordan river. It was a remote place, a place of solitude and outdoor life. A place where people would have likely been rugged, tanned from the sun, muscular and leathery (Swindoll, p. 12). Elijah was not raised in softness and ease. He was no wimp. He was all man (Butler 1994). Coming from this area Elijah wouldn t have been polished, sophisticated or very diplomatic. Instead, he was likely a no nonsense guy, short and to the point, a man of very, very humble roots. His style From the very get go here he s in the King s face. Telling the King news the King didn t want to hear was a courageous task. Messengers were killed for less. Remember the Kingdom of Israel by this time has known sixty or more years of unbelief, assassinations, idolatry, ungodliness, and cutthroat rulers. And the present king and his domineering wife are the worst of the worst. And out of nowhere, Elijah with no pedigree, protocol, introductions or sophistication gets right in the king s face with a bold, confrontational message. The Judgment God announces through Elijah is specifically designed: It was designed to expose Baal as inferior and powerless. Baal was worshipped as the controller of all nature and forces of nature. But, God wants to remind them who is really in charge. It was designed to demonstrate that God is supreme over all It was designed to call people to repentance, to give up all other gods and worship Yahweh alone as supreme. This judgment was not primarily to make rebellious people suffer as it was to get their attention and to remind them who is LORD of all so that they would return to him and worship him alone. He alone is worthy! Let me suggest three lessons that we can already glean from these opening observations about Elijah: 1. God looks for special people at difficult times God looks for just the right person to stand up for him at just the right time. They aren t always the most sophisticated, the most educated or the most cultured. But they are exactly what is needed in the time God calls them. They are people who believe God is the one, true and living God. They refuse to devote themselves to anyone or anything else. They refuse to make money or fame or personal success their greatest pursuit.

7 In Elijah s day, God looked for someone who wasn t afraid to stand alone, to go toe to toe with an idolatrous king and proclaim, God is God Alone. In our culture we need people from all walks of life who are willing to stand alone stand tall, stand firm and live strong for God. Are you a person like that? How s your integrity? Have you offered your whole self to God? Have you resolved to honor him in every area of your life? Chuck Swindoll said, Those who find comfort in the court of Ahab can t stand in the gap with Elijah. Is God and his concern becoming your number one concern? [Transition] This next lesson is one we re going to learn over and over again throughout this series. 2. God s methods are often surprising. God used an unremarkable man, in many ways, to make a remarkable statement. Do you discount yourself and how God might want to use you? Elijah, a man just like us as James says, was an unassuming person and God used him for a significant task. God always fits the person for the calling. If you do not possess the quality needed for the call, God will give them to you if He calls you (Butler 1994). 3. We are called to live strong for God in the face of a confused culture. To live strong FOR God you must first live strong IN him. To live strong in him, you must place your faith in Jesus and believe that his sacrifice on the cross was for you. When you place your faith in him, you are placed under and covered by his righteousness and you are placed in his family. You now live in Christ. Once you live IN Christ, then the question is, When God calls, will you take a stand for him? In our religiously plural society are we willing to take a stand for God as the One and Only God? You see the issue in Elijah s day is the same issue we face today. Who is your God? Who are you serving? Who or what is going to rule your life? In Germany, many who called themselves Christians went along with Hitler but people like Corrie ten Boom said no I must stay true to purpose of the gospel. The world would say her family lost and that she was foolish to proclaim the gospel in a losing situation, but the reality is that she won for the gospel by pointing fellow prisoners to Christ. Elijah stood strong for God in the face of a spiritually confused culture. When he walked into the opponents stadium, where everyone was rooting for the home

8 team, he still wore the colors and carried the pennant of his team. He still stood and cheered for his team no matter that everyone else was sitting down. That is not easy to do; but when it involves God, it is the only right thing to do. How are you standing for God in your home, your school, in your neighborhood or workplace? God is looking for men and women whose hearts are truly and completely his so that he can use you in unique and surprising ways to accomplish more for him than you might imagine. What is God calling you to? Whatever it is, God says, You re standing in me and I want to use you. I want to use you as my unique representative in your day and age, at this moment in time (Butler, J. G. (1994). Elijah The Prophet of Confrontation. Clinton, LBC Publications.) I want you to live strong for me in the face of a confused culture.