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Why we need a miracle
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Introduction
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1
Kings 18: 38
Then 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.
1.
This
is the occasion of the most spectacular miracle performed in the Bible
2.
Why
Elisha turned to happen a miracle
3.
Why
he did not read out the Book of Laws and try to revive faith in the people
4.
Why
he did not, all of a sudden, annihilate the Ahab and his family and replace the
kingdom with some else who fears the Lord.
5.
Why
a miracle?
6.
Because:
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The
King has turned away from god
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1
Kings 16: 28 - 31
28
And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son
reigned in his place.
29
And in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began
to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria
twenty-two years.
30
And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all who were
before him.
31
And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the
son of Nebat, he also took Jezebel, the daughter of Eth-baal king of the
Sidonians, for a wife. And he went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
1. He took to wife Jezebel
2. This was the head and chief of his offending
3. He took to wife, not only a heathen, but one whose hostility to the true
religion was well known, and carried to the utmost extent.
4. Such as the
kings and people of Israel were expressly forbidden to marry
i.
She was the idolatrous
daughter of an idolatrous king
ii.
She practiced it openly
iii.
She not only countenanced
it in others, but protected it, and gave its partisans honors and rewards
iv.
She used every means to
persecute the true religion
v.
She was hideously cruel,
and put to death the prophets and priests of God
vi.
And all this she did with
the most zealous perseverance and relentless cruelty
5.
Notwithstanding Ahab had
built a temple, and made an altar for Baal, and set up the worship of Asherah,
the Sidonian Venus
6.
Later the worship place of Asherah transformed into
a grove
7.
The
strong-minded Jezebel completely mastered the vacillating Ahab
8.
She
became the real ruler of the land, slaying the prophets of Jehovah, and
compelling the people to reverence her demon deities.
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BAAL
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1.
Means
– lord
2.
In
the Old Testament - an idol of the Phoenicians, and particularly of the Tyrians
3.
This
worship was also introduced with great solemnities among the Hebrews, and
especially at Samaria
4.
The
worship of Baal was established in Babylon in the famous tower of Babel
5.
The
uppermost room of which served at the same time as an observatory, and as the
repository of a collection of astronomical observations.
6.
The
more common opinion has been, that Baal, or Bel, is the sun; and that, under
this name, this luminary received divine honors.
7.
The
sun-god, under the general title of Baal, or "lord," was the chief
object of worship of the Canaanites.
8.
Each
locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under
the name of Baalim, or "lords."
9.
The
temples and altars of Ball were generally on eminences
10.
Human
victims were offered to Baal
11.
The
children of Israel were prone to serve Baal.
12.
Under
Samuel they put away their idols
1
Samuel 7:3,4
3
And Samuel spoke to all the house of
Israel saying, If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away
the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts to the
LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you out of the hand of the
Philistines.
4
And the sons of Israel put away the
Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.
13.
This
continued under David and Solomon
14.
But
under Ahab, whose wife Jezebel was a daughter of the Zidonian king Ethbaal, the
worship of Baal was restored with great pomp
15.
It
was known to the Israelites as Baal-peor
NOTES
1.
When
a King ignores the worship and laws of God, the whole Nation falls into the
trap of devil
2.
When
a spiritual leader falls to devil, the whole congregation falls
3.
When
the head of a Church succumbs to devil, the whole church become a slave to
devil
4.
That
what we see around.
5.
So
we need a miracle.
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Israel
left god and worshiped baal
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1
King 18:21
And Elijah came to all the people and
said, How long are you limping over two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow
Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a
word.
1.
They
dreaded Jehovah, and therefore could not totally abandon him - they feared the
king and queen, and therefore thought they must embrace the religion of the
state.
2.
Their
conscience forbade them to do the former - their fear of man persuaded them to do
the latter
3.
But
in neither were they heartily engaged
4.
They
were waiting for a favourable opportunity to make their decision.
5.
Such
an opportunity now, through the mercy of God, presented itself.
6.
They
had long been attempting to conjoin the service of God with that of Baal.
7.
It
was an impracticable union and the people were so struck with a sense of their
own folly, or dread of the king's displeasure, that they "answered not a
word."
8.
Elijah
proposed to decide for them the controversy between God and Baal by an appeal,
not to the authority of the law, but by a visible token from Heaven.
9.
Fire
was the element over which Baal was supposed to preside
10.
Elijah
proposed that two bullocks should be slain and placed on separate altars of
wood - the one for Baal - the other for God.
11.
On
whichever the fire should descend to consume it, the event should determine the
true God, whom it was their duty to serve.
12.
The
priests of Baal commenced the ceremony by calling on their god.
13.
No
response was heard. No fire descended.
14.
Elijah
first repaired an old altar of God, which Jezebel had demolished.
15.
When
he had offered an earnest prayer, the miraculous fire descended
16.
The
people with one voice acknowledged the supremacy of Jehovah as the true God.
17.
Elijah
called on them to seize the priestly impostors, and by their blood fill the
channel of the river (Kishon)
18.
So we also need a miracle to force the people
to decide on which side they should stand.
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Drought
and famine could not yet turn the people to god
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1.
Many
an occasion God uses three weapons to punish men.
i.
Famine
ii.
War
(enemies)
iii.
Pestilence
2 Samel 24:12, 13
12 Go and say to David, So says Jehovah, I offer
you three things. Choose one of them, so that I may do it to you.
13 And Gad came to David, and told him, and said
to him, Shall seven years of famine come upon you and on your land? Or will you
flee three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be
three days' plague
in your land? And advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent
me.
2.
Israel
at the time of Ahab was punished by drought and famine
1
Kings 17:1 And Elijah the
Tishbite, of the sojourners of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel
lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except
according to my word.
3.
But
they did not turn to God.
1 King 18:21 And Elijah came to all the people and said,
How long are you limping over two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him. But
if Baal is God, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.
1
King 18:36 - 39
36
And it happened at the time of the
offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, LORD,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are
God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these
things at Your word.
37
Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this
people may know that You are Jehovah God, and that You have turned their heart
back again.
38
And the fire of the LORD fell and burned
up the burnt sacrifice and the wood, and the stones and the dust, and licked up
the water that was in the trench.
39
And when all the
people saw, they fell on their faces. And they said, Jehovah, He is the God!
Jehovah, He is the God!
4.
So
we also need a miracle.
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