What Is This Elijah Moment? Part 2

The sins of disobedience will bring God's judgment. You can follow this principle in 1 Kings as we read about the wicked leadership of Israel. On each occasion, God spoke through His prophet warning of the inevitable result of their disobedience. In order to fully understand the gravity of the egregious behavior and wicked deeds of this period, one must be familiar with the chapters preceding chapter 17. Through them, we have a better grasp of the setting in which Elijah lived and preached.

1 Kings 16:30, “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. 31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.”

This is the beginning of the reign of Ahab over the nation of Israel. Ahab was one of the worst kings to ever rule in Israel. But probably the worst mistake that Ahab made while he was king was to take as his wife a Zidonian by the name of Jezebel. She was a very evil woman who worshiped the god of her ancestry, Baal. She asserted her influence as queen to force all of Israel to worship Baal. 1 Kings 16:33, “...and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”

“Elijah's name means 'Yahweh is God.' This is significant in a time when the worship of Baal threatened to eliminate the worship of Yahweh in Israel.”10 God ordained His prophet to call His people out of idolatry and back to Himself. The man of God cannot look upon sin and disobedience and go silently into the night. The Spirit of the Almighty God which possesses him requires the man to speak. Because of the wickedness of the leadership of Israel, God pronounced a drought over the land. 1 Kings 17:1, “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” The drought was the consequence of their sin. We know that the drought lasted for 3 ½ years. (To be continued) The Message: A Critical Review Of End Time Events, p23-24, available at Amazon.com.