ELIJAH’S CONTEST WITH AHAB AND BAAL
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1 Kings 18:1. After many days … in the third year—in Luke 4:25, James 5:17, the drought is said to have lastes for the space of three years and six months.” In the natural order of things, rains fall regularly in March and October—“the early and latter rains.” Their censation might be dated either from the March when the last rain fell, or from the October when the rain first failed to fall. The later reckoning would make the period six months less than the former, yet both computations would be equally correct.
1 Kings 18:2. There was a sore famine in Samaria—“Entirely without reference to the Old Testament, Menandros (Josephus, Antiq. viii. 13.2) makes mention of a severe drought lasting for a year under the Syrian king Ithobal, a contemporary of Ahab” (Ewald).
1 Kings 18:4. Obadiah took an hundred prophets—i.e., scholars in the schools of the prophets. This indicates that they must have been numerous, even though Jezebel had sought to extirminate them, with all that connected Jehovah’s name and worship with the land. Hid them in a cave—Most probably in the clefts of Mount Carmel (Winer).
1 Kings 18:7. Art thou that my lord Elijah?—Luther translates the words, האתָּה זֶה, “Art thou not my lord Elijah?” The Sept. renders them, εί σὺ εἶ αὐτός κύριέ μου Ἠλία. But Obadiah was in no doubt; “he knew him.” It is rather a question of wonder (Keil). “Art thou here?”
1 Kings 18:12. The Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not—Either by a supernatural bodily transition (Acts 8:39), or by an inward impute from God (Matthew 4:1). Cannot find thee—The effectual secresy of Elijah for so long a time, though search had everywhere been made for him (1 Kings 18:10), convinced Obadiah that Elijah could hide from discovery.
1 Kings 18:15. As the Lord of hosts liveth—“The צבָאוֹת with יְהֹוָה elevates the solemnity of the oath” (Keil).
1 Kings 18:17. Art thou he that troubleth Israel?—עכר, to bring into trouble. The words may be rendered, Art thou there, O troubler of Israel? They mean, Do I at last meet thee, thou bringer of trouble upon Israel?
1 Kings 18:18. Thou hast followed Baalim—The Baalim; not alluding to the numerous images and statues of Baal, but the various personifications of that god—Baal-Berith, Baal-Zebul (Winer).
HOMILETICS OF 1 Kings 18:1-18
AHAB THE TYPE OF A WEAK AND WICKED KING
I. He was the occasion of prolonged national distress (1 Kings 18:1-2). For three years and a-half Israel lay gasping under a parching drought, with all its attendant horrors of famine (Luke 4:25; James 5:17). Everywhere was desolation and barrenness; the soil seemed scorched up with the wrath of God. The labours of the field had ceased, and the joy of the harvest and vintage was hushed. The market-places were empty and silent, and the cottages were occupied by thin, bony forms, in which the pulse of life but faintly throbbed. The bright-plumaged birds had fled, and none but carrion fowl hovered in the air, or fattened on the carcases that were strewn in ghastly plenty on the plains. The calamity was so great and widespread that the indolent and reckless Ahab was compelled to bestir himself, and, in harmony with the simple manners of many Eastern monarchs, went in search of provender. And yet the thought never seemed to dawn on the mind of the king that he was a principal cause of the suffering he everywhere witnessed. Unhappy, indeed, is the people whose sovereign is both weak and wicked!
II. He was served by a God-fearing officer. It is no unusual coincidence for a Godless king to desire God-fearing men for his ministers and counsellors. Many a prince, though himself no Christian, holds in his service a Christian, and esteems him more highly than the others who are not Christian.
1. Obadiah’s piety was practical (1 Kings 18:3-4; 1 Kings 18:13). He protected the prophets of the Lord from the persecuting fury of Jezebel, and, at considerable personal cost, when everything was at famine prices, fed them with bread and water, when bread and water were luxuries very difficult to procure. Religion does very little for a man if it does not inspire him to generous activity. Noble thoughts look better when crystallized into noble deeds.
2. Obadiah’s piety teas maintained in the midst of moral corruption and danger (1 Kings 18:9-14). It is creditable to Ahab that he had an officer like Obadiah, and though he had steadily refused to bow the knee to Baal, and though it was publicly known that he had befriended the prophets, Ahab must have been so attached to him that even Jezebel had not ventured to bring about his dismissal from the court. And yet Obadiah could not fully trust the king; he was compelled to confess that he might be unrighteously put to death by him (1 Kings 18:14). Obadiah was not located in a remote and lonely place, but in the midst of a busy court, where he saw and heard nothing good, surrounded by Godless men, and exposed to every temptation to Godlessness, frivolity, rioting, and licentiousness. “To be pious with the pious, to maintain one’s faith in the midst of the faithful, is not difficult; but in the midst of the world, to preserve one’s self unspotted from it, to keep a pure heart, and have God before our eyes and in our hearts, wherever the Lord places us, this is, indeed, greatly to fear the Lord.”
3. Obadiah’s piety was put to a severe test (1 Kings 18:7-16). The faith that had sustained the soul amid the corruptions of idolatry was staggered by the simple request of a man of God. That Elijah, journeying on his weary way, should meet the very man who was the only true friend of the prophet at the court, was no more accidental than that Obadiah, going forth in search of provender for the cattle, should find the man who was to test severely his faith and his fear of God. Even those who fear the Lord, and walk by faith, are sometimes, in the hour of peril, overcome by an agony of fear, which bows them down as reeds before a whirlwind. Peter, who first threatened with the sword, became suddenly terror-stricken before a damsel. It is good for us to recognize our human weakness, for this knowledge preserves us from over-security, and leads us to pray: Lord, strengthen our faith.
III. He was callously indifferent to the sufferings of his people (1 Kings 18:5-6). He was more concerned about his horses and mules than the condition of his subjects. How totally unfit was such a mean-spirited man to wear a crown! It is the fatal result of idolatry to steel the heart against human sympathy. It is a melancholy sight to see in Ahab one who can submit to great personal inconvenience to search for “grass,” but who has no desire to enquire after a justly-offended God; while in his whole conduct in this transaction we have the type of all grovelling, sordid souls, who will spend more upon their kennels in a month than upon their cottagers in a year, and who will lose in a few seconds, amid the gambling of the turf, what would endow many an orphanage, and establish a hundred schools.
IV. He was mistaken as to the true cause of national suffering (1 Kings 18:17). “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” All men who deal faithfully with careless souls are denounced as troublers. There are hundreds who, like Ahab, think of the trouble, but ignore the sin that causes the trouble. Ahab attributed the national distress to the man who had plainly announced to him its cause, and the method by which cause and effect could be removed. In his mad delusion he sought in every country (1 Kings 18:10) for the life of the heroic prophet. He was swallowed up in revenge when he ought to have been swallowed up in penitence. Idolatry was continued with all its shameless, enormities, and its punishment was continued too.
V. He was cowed by the fearless indictment of the faithful prophet (1 Kings 18:18). The meeting of Ahab and Elijah in the valley of Jezreel was of a very remarkable character; it was one of those scenes which become historic. The savage, hot-tempered accusation of Ahab is met by the calm, stern reply of Elijah: “I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father’s house.” The monarch quails before the man in sheepskin, and at once becomes pliant in his hand. A consciousness of right fills the heart with courage. Truth never fears the light; torch like, “the more it’s shook it shines,” and every falsehood is exposed by its searching glare.
LESSONS:—
1. It is an awful responsibility to be a king.
2. The worst kings have often the most exemplary servants.
3. Idolatry it an unmitigated curse to king and people.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1 Kings 18:1-18. Elijah’s reappearance. In this incident we have three eminent men brought before us, and the conduct of each suggests some useful lessons. I. With regard to Elijah We have—
1. an illustration of self-denial. It would be no easy matter for Elijah to leave Sarepta. He was surrounded with many inducements to remain—peace, security, plenty, comfort, ease, enjoyment. On the other hand, the duty to which he was called was by no means a pleasant one. The prospect of meeting Ahab would awaken any but agreeable feelings in his heart. He had no reason to expect anything from such a wicked king but harshness and severity. But in the face of these circumstances he is ready to obey the voice of God. That voice is supreme, and he follows it, whatever self-denial it may involve on the one hand, or risk on the other.
2. An illustration of courage. The righteous are as bold as a lion. Elijah showed such boldness on this occasion. He was the messenger of God, doing His bidding, and he could rely upon his God for safety and help; therefore he had no fear at the prospect of meeting Ahab. And when he did meet him, he boldly charged the calamity of the country upon his wickedness and idolatry. We need not only self-denial to withdraw ourselves from the pleasant associations of life, but also courage and determination to do Christ’s work in the face of difficulty and danger. II. With regard to Ahab, we see the hardening and blinding influence of sin. While the famine pressed sorely upon all the land, the king was most anxious about himself and his royal stud. We read of no effort to alleviate the sufferings of the people: no famine subscriptions; no relief fund for the poor. This is the fruit of sin and heathenism. What a contrast to the teaching of Christ and the conduct of Christian nations, especially our own nation! Let distress come upon any portion of our people, and at once efforts are put forth to relieve them. And Ahab was not only hard and selfish, but he was blind to the true cause of the famine. He attributed it to Elijah. He did not see it was his own sin against God This is one of the fruits of sin; it is blind-folding. It throws a veil over the mind of men, so that they do not see themselves as sinning against God. Hence the need of the Spirit of God to convince of sin. III. With regard to Obadiah we have—
1. An illustration of fidelity. Obadiah’s position would expose him to many temptations, but in the midst of all he was enabled to be faithful to his master and true to his God. He could relieve and help the people of God amid distress and persecution, and at the same time discharge his duty to the king. Similar illustrations of fidelity we have in the case of Joseph in Egypt, and of Daniel in Babylon.
2. An illustration of the advantage of early piety. Obadiah feared God from his youth. This is the secret of his excellent character. Youth is the time to form those habits which fit men for positions of usefulness and importance. When youth has been neglected, one’s after years are of much less value in the world and in the church.—The Study and Pulpit.
1 Kings 18:1-2. The commands of God. I. Are made known at the right time. “And it came to pass after many days.” II. Are authoritative and peremptory. “Go, show thyself unto Ahab.” III. Have ever a promise of blessing linked on to them. “And I will send rain upon the earth.” IV. Are promptly obeyed by His believing servants. “And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab.”
1 Kings 18:2. Famine.
1. Imposes indescribable sufferings.
2. May be used as a scourge to punish a sinful and idolatrous people.
3. Presents ample materials to the conscientious ruler for repentance and reform.
—Daily bread was scarce, for the land was dried up and unfruitful; but the bread of life, the Word of God, was likewise scarce, for the nation itself was dried up, and those who would have sown the seed of the Word were persecuted and compelled to silence and concealment. Woe to that country upon whom famine, bodily and spiritual, both fall, and who yet are driven by neither to repentance and conversion.
1 Kings 18:3-4. Eminent piety. I. Is found in the highest social rank, and in the most unlikely places. II. Consists in “fearing the Lord greatly.” III. Is intensely practical in its aims. IV. Has a lofty regard and generous care for the suffering “prophets of the Lord.”
1 Kings 18:4. Obadiah could not do this without great risk and the exposure of his own person to great danger; neither in that extreme famine could he maintain those hundred prophets without great expenditure of his own substance. Obadiah not only preserved the lives of a hundred innocent men, he saved a hundred worshippers of Jehovah, and yet more, a hundred men who, immediately the persecution was over, and the Baal-worship in Israel destroyed, became useful to the ignorant and bewildered people as their instructors in doctrine. Thus, although Obadiah, as the lieutenant of the royal watch, could not do much for the kingdom of God by direct testimony and instruction, yet indirectly he did a great deal by preserving these witnesses for the truth at the peril of his own life and at the expense of his own fortune. Thus many people, by the maintenance of the witnesses for evangelical truth, by the spread and promotion of the Christian Scriptures, do much for the kingdom of God, which otherwise they could not do, and lay up a reward in heaven, if they do not shun disgrace, nor prefer earthly and perishable gains to the celestial and imperishable.—Menken.
—O degenerate state of Israel! anything was now lawful there, saving piety. It is well if God’s prophets can find a hole to hide their heads in. They must needs be hard driven when fifty of them are fain to crowd together into one cave: there they had both shade and repast. Good Obadiah hazards his own life to preserve theirs, and spends himself in that extreme dearth, upon their necessary diet. Bread and water was more now, than other whiles wine and delicates. Whether should we wonder more at the mercy of God in reserving a hundred prophets, or in thus sustaining them, being reserved? When did God ever leave His Israel unfurnished of some prophets? When did He leave His prophets unprovided of some Obadiah? How worthy art thou, O Lord, to be trusted with thine own charge! While there are men upon earth, or birds in the air, or angels in heaven, thy messengers cannot want provision.—Bp. Hall.
1 Kings 18:5-6. A heartless monarch. 1. A monstrosity in a time of famine.
2. Is more concerned about his stables than the lives of his famishing subjects.
3. Prepares for himself inevitable punishment.
—Pitiful man! Anxious care for the life of his horses and the maintenance of his stables—this is all that the three years and a half of chastisement of the Almighty had called forth in his soul. How often does one think of a person, “Now he will be quite a different person”; and then, behold I where one hopes to find at length thoughts of God and eternity, there are only thoughts of horses and mules; and in place of holy emotions, instead of aspirations, prayers, and reflections upon the great and eternal interests of life, you find a thick swarm of pitiful cares and considerations which hover about the soul, and hover with it into an awful eternity. Ahab and Obadiah both journey on together through the land, but each goes his own way alone—a picture of their life journey. Ahab walks in the broad, Obadiah in the narrow, way: the latter alone leads to the green pastures and still waters which refresh the soul.—Krummacher.
1 Kings 18:5. The terribleness of unimproved warnings. What a mournful picture have we here! For three years God had tried this monarch with sore judgments. He had shut up heaven, closed the fountains of the land, decimated his people with famine. The voice seemed too loud, too solemn and awful to be disregarded. We might have expected to see Ahab, like the heathen king of Nineveh, put sackcloth on his loins and dust on his head, calling his people to humiliation and repentance. But alas! the Divine monition seems utterly disregarded. God has emptied His quiver upon him; but arrow after arrow has bounded back from that heart of adamant. He has neither tear for his own guilt, nor tear for his suffering subjects. So far as we are told, the one miserable, petty thought that fills that narrow soul is, to get provender for his stables, and save his mules and horses. Ah! terrible indeed it is when judgments thus lead to an open defiance and resistance of the Divine will; a mocking of his hand, a laughing to scorn of His righteous reproofs; no penitence, no remorse; but rather a more intense selfishness. An unsanctified trial becomes a curse. It indurates if it does not soften. It is like the heat of the sun, which melts the wax, but hardens the clay.—Macduff.
1 Kings 18:6. Ahab had found Obadiah faithful, and therefore trusted him in this weighty business, rather than any other. Of a man that truly feareth God it may better be said than of Cato, that he never did well that he might appear to do so, but because he could not do otherwise.—Trapp.
1 Kings 18:8-14. Obadiah finds this load too heavy; neither is he more stricken with the boldness than with the unkindness of this command—boldness in respect of Elijah, unkindness in respect of himself; for thus he thinks—“If Elijah do come to Ahab, he dies; if he do not come, I die. If it be known that I met him and brought him not, it is death. If I say that he will come voluntarily, and God shall alter his intentions, it is death. How unhappy a man am I that must be either Elijah’s executioner or my own! Were Ahab’s displeasure but smoking, I might hope to quench it; but now that the flame of it hath broken forth to the notice, to the search, of all the kingdoms and nations round about, it may consume me; I cannot extinguish it. This message is for an enemy of Elijah, for a client of Baal. As for me, I have well approved my devotion to God, my love to His prophets. What have I done that I should be singled out either to kill Elijah, or to be killed for him? “Many a hard plunge must that man needs be driven to who would hold his conscience together with the service and favour of a tyrant It is a happy thing to serve a just master; there is no danger, no stain, in such obedience.—Bp. Hall.
1 Kings 18:15-16. A consciousness of right. I. Nerves the soul with invincible bravery. II. Brings the soul in contact with the most colossal embodiments of iniquity. III. Prompts the soul to the most faithful denunciations of wrong.
—A strong, resolute word of faith exercises power over the heart. It strengthens the weak, supports the tottering, encourages the fearful, and tranquillizes the anxious-minded. A teacher must not shrink from his office through fear or cowardice, let tyrants look grim as they may (1 Peter 3:14).—Lange.
1 Kings 18:15. The fear of God putteth out the fear of any mortal wight, as the sunbeams do the fire on the hearth. When Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, said to Dr. Taylor, the martyr—“Art thon come, thou villain? How darest thou look me in the face for shame? Knowest thou not who I am?” “Yes,” quoth Taylor, “I know who you are; you are Dr. Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, yet but a mortal man, I trow. But if I should be afraid of your lordly looks, why fear you not God, the Lord of us all? How dare you for shame look any Christian man in the face, seeing you have forsaken the truth, denied our Saviour Christ and His Word, and done contrary to your own word and writing? “Thus spake that valiant martyr, like another Elias.—Trapp.
1 Kings 18:17-18. The source of national trouble.
1. Is not in the messenger who announces its presence.
2. But in the infidelity and wickedness of the throne.
3. In the national desertion of God.
4. In the adoption and practice of idolatry.
—A remarkable meeting.
1. A numerously attended monarch, and a lonely prophet.
2. The impersonation of great moral weakness in the presence of great moral strength.
3. An angry question met by a calm, overwhelming reply.
4. The authority of the prophet triumphing for the time over that of the king.
—At last the mysterious prophet, whom each had desired to see for so long, appeared suddenly before them. “Behold Elijah!” was the message which the faithful Obadiah was to take back to Ahab—two awful words which he thrice repeats, before he can be induced to return. “Art thou my lord Elijah?” was the reverential salute of the minister. “Art thou the troubler of Israel?” was the angry question of the king. But it was an anger which soon sunk into awe. Face to face at last they met, the prophet and the king. In that hour of extreme despair, the voice of Eiijah sounded with an authority which it had never had before. The drought, we are told, had been threatened by him. It was then, doubtless, as it still is, the belief of Eastern countries that seers and saints have the power of withholding or giving rain. In the convent of Mount Sinai the Arabs believe that there is a book, by the opening or shutting of which the monks can disperse or retain the rain of the peninsula.—Stanley.
1 Kings 18:17. Doubtless Ahab, startled to hear of Elijah coming to meet him as one that did not more hate than fear the prophet. Well might he think, “Thus long, thus far, have I sought Elijah; Elijah would not come to seek me but under a sure guard, and with some strange commission. His coarse mantle hath the advantage of my robe and sceptre. If I can command a piece of the earth, I see he can command heaven.” The edge of his revenge is taken off with a doubtful expectation of the issue; and now, when Elijah offers himself to the eyes of Ahab, he who durst not strike, yet durst challenge, the prophet—“Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” Jeroboam’s hand was still in Ahab’s thoughts; he holds it not so safe to smite as to expostulate. He that was the head of Israel speaks out that which was in the heart of all his people, that Elijah was the cause of all their sorrow. Alas! what hath the righteous prophet done? He taxed their sin; he foretold the judgment, he deserved it not, he inflicted it not; yet he smarts, and they are guilty; as if some fond people should accuse the herald or the trumpet as the cause of their war; or, as if some ignorant peasant, when he sees his fowls bathing in his pond, should cry out of them as the causes of foul weather.—Bp. Hall.
1 Kings 18:18. This stern rebuke led the poor king to feel that he had his master before him, and that the hairy mantle of the prophet was a symbol of greater power than the royal robe, and his staff an emblem of higher authority than his own sceptre. He quailed before the fearless prophet; and the same facility of temper which inclined him to evil when under the influence of Jezebel, swayed him to good in the presence of Elijah. We have heard of men whose whisper could quell the rage of the wildest horse, and bend him down to sudden tameness. Power of the like kind some men possess over other men. Elijah possessed it eminently; it was the gift of God, and such a man as Ahab was a proper subject for its influence. Besides, Ahab seems to have had some capacities for right feeling when away from under the deadly influence of his wife; and whatever may have been his first purpose when he heard that Elijah awaited him, he had time to cool on the way to the place where he was.—Kitt.
—O, the heroic spirit of Elijah! He stands alone amid all the train of Ahab, and dares not only repel this charge, but retorts it. “I have not troubled Israel, but thou.” No earthly joy can daunt him who hath the clear and heartening visions of God. This holy seer discerns the true cause of our sufferings to be our sins. Foolish men are plagued for their offences, and it is no small part of their plague that they see it not. The only common disturber of men, families, cities, kingdoms, worlds, is sin. There is no such traitor to any state as the wilfully wicked; the quietest and most plausible offender is secretly seditious, and stirreth quarrels in heaven.—Bp Hall.