Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 27 - 1 Kings 18

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January 27 - 1 Kings 18 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Monday, the start of
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  a new week. It is the 27th of January.
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  Happy Australia Day public holiday to you.
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  I hope you get a good day today if you're one of the few people
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  have to go to work so the rest of us can have the day off.
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  Thank you, well done, we appreciate it.
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  And if you're not in Australia, well, what is all this?
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  I'm not going to go into the politics and drama of Australia
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  Day because that that is a podcast in itself.
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  But we are not here for that sort of drama.
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  We are here for the big scale drama that we're going to get in
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  today's reading. You will remember we have been
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  tracking through the book of First Kings and yes, friends,
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  this week we will wrap it up. In fact, we will spend all five
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  days this week in the book of First Kings as it comes to an
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  end on Friday. We have been going through the
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  list of Kings 1 by 1, hearing how they fared in their life and
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  reign. And then on Thursday last week,
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  we met this character Elijah, and we are going to hear today
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  about the glorious showdown on Mount Carmel between the
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  prophets of Baal and that one solitary prophet of the living
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  God. And it is a Corker of a story
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  with God's oar and power on display for everyone.
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  So settle yourselves in as we read together First Kings
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  chapter 18. Later on, in the third year of
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  the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, Go and present yourself
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  to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send
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  rain. So Elijah went to appear before
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  Ahab. Meanwhile, the famine had become
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  very severe in Samaria, so Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in
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  charge of the palace. Obadiah was a devoted follower
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  of the Lord. Once when Jezebel had tried to
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  kill all the Lord's prophets, Obadiah had hidden hundred of
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  them in two caves. He put 50 prophets in each cave
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  and supplied them with food and water.
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  Ahab said to Obadiah, We must check every spring and valley in
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  the land to see if we can find enough grass to save at least
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  some of my horses and mules. So they divided the land between
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  them. Ahab went one way by himself,
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  and Obadiah went another way by himself.
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  As Obadiah was walking along, he suddenly saw Elijah coming
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  toward him. Obadiah recognised him at once
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  and bowed low to the ground before him.
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  Is it really you, my Lord Elijah?
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  He asked. Yes, it is, Elijah replied.
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  Now go and tell your master Elijah is here.
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  Oh, Sir, Obadiah protested. What harm have I done to you
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  that you are sending me to my death at the hands of Ahab?
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  For I swear by the Lord your God that the king has searched every
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  nation and Kingdom on earth from end to end to find you.
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  And each time he was told Elijah isn't here, King Ahab forced the
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  king of that nation to swear to the truth of his claim.
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  And now you say, Go and tell your master Elijah is here.
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  But as soon as I leave, the spirit of the Lord will carry
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  you away to who knows where. When Ahab comes and cannot find
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  you, he will kill me yet. I have been a true servant of
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  the Lord all my life. Has no one told you, my Lord,
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  about the time when Jezebel was trying to catch the Lord's
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  prophets, I hid 100 of them in two caves and supplied them with
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  food and water. And now you say, go and tell
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  your master Elijah is here. Sir, if I do that, Ahab will
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  certainly kill me. But Elijah said, I swear by the
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  Lord Almighty, in whose presence I stand, that I will present
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  myself to Ahab this very day. So Ibadiah went to tell Ahab
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  that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah.
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  When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, So is it really you, the
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  troublemaker of Israel? I have made no trouble for
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  Israel, Elijah replied. You and your family are the
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  troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of
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  the Lord and have worshipped the images of Bal instead.
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  Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the
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  450 prophets of Bal and the 400 prophets of Ashura who are
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  supported by Jezebel. So Ahab summoned all the people
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  of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel.
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  Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, How much longer
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  will you waver, hobbling between two opinions.
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  If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Bal is God, then follow
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  him. But the people were completely
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  silent. Then Elijah said to them, I am
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  the only prophet of the Lord who is left.
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  But Baal has 450 prophets. Now bring 2 bulls.
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  The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut
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  it into pieces and lay it on the wood of the altar, but without
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  setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull
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  and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it.
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  Then call on the name of your God, and I will call them the
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  name of the Lord. The God who answers by setting
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  fire to the wood is the true God.
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  And all the people agreed. Then Elijah said to the prophets
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  of Baal, you go first, for there are many of you.
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  Choose one of the bulls and prepare it, and call on the name
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  of your God, but do not set fire to the wood.
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  So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the
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  altar. Then they called on the name of
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  Bal from morning until noontime, shouting, Oh, Bal, answer us.
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  But there was no reply of any kind.
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  Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made
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  about noontime. Elijah began mocking them.
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  You'll have to shout louder. He scoffed, for surely he is a
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  God. Perhaps he's daydreaming, was
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  relieving himself, Or maybe he's away on a trip or is asleep and
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  needs to be wakened. So they shouted louder, and
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  following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives
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  and swords until the blood gushed out.
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  They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening
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  sacrifice. But still there was no sound, no
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  reply, no response. Then Elijah called to the
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  people. Come over here.
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  They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the
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  Lord that had been torn down. He took 12 Stones, one to
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  represent each of the tribes of Israel, and he used the stones
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  to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord.
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  Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about
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  3 gallons. He piled wood on the altar, cut
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  the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood.
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  Then he said, fill four large jars with water and pour the
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  water over the offering in the wood.
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  After they had done this he said do the same thing again, and
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  when they were finished he said, now do it a third time.
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  So they did as he said, and the water ran around the altar and
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  even filled the trench. At the usual time for offering
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  the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the
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  altar and prayed. Oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac,
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  and Jacob, prove today that you are the God of Israel and that I
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  am your servant. Prove that I have done all this
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  at your command. Oh Lord, answer me.
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  Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord our God,
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  and that you have brought them back to yourself.
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  Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and
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  burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust.
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  It even licked up all the water in the trench, and when all the
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  people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried
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  out. The Lord, He is God.
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  Yes, the Lord is God. Then Elijah commanded, Seize all
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  the prophets of Baal, don't let a single one escape.
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  So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the
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  Kishon Valley and killed them there.
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  Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go get something to eat and drink, for
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  I hear a mighty rainstorm coming.
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  So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of
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  Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his
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  face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, go
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  and look out toward the sea. The servant went and looked,
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  then returned to Elijah and said, I didn't see anything. 7
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  times Elijah told him to go and look.
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  Finally, the 7th time his servant told him, I see a little
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  cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea.
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  Then Elijah shouted, Hurry to Ahab and tell him, climb into
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  your chariot and go back home. If you don't hurry, the rain
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  will stop you. And soon the sky was black with
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  clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific
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  rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel.
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  Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah.
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  He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab's
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  chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.
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  Our Lord, hold that image in our mind of you, the Almighty God,
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  sending lightning down from heaven to prove once and for all
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  that you are God. Ah, you are indeed God.
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  Not just our God, but God of the entire universe.
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  And so we praise you, we give you all of our praise, and we
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  commit ourselves to you because there is no other who deserves
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  our lives. In fact, there is no other
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  author of life and of everything that we know.
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  We just humble ourselves and lift you up, and we love you and
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  we praise you, our wonderful God, our mighty Saviour, a
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  magnificent Creator, in whose Son's name we pray all of these
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  things. Amen.