A Complex Saint/Sinner and His Gracious God [Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 3]

Pastor prepares his family for the evening sermon at Covenant PCA in Panama City in 1Kings 3. In these twenty-eight verses, the Holy Spirit teaches us that saints in this life are still complex sinners, but that their God is a patient and gracious God. More important than wisdom and honor is to fear Him and keep His commandments, for this is man’s end.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

How Desperately We Need Jesus Himself to Be King in His Perfect Righteousness and Life-Giving Power [Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 22:41–53]

What harm can a little compromise from a good king do? 1Kings 22:41–53 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that only Jesus can be the King of promise, because even godly kings whose folly or sin is a small fraction of their royal acts may do great damage to the people entrusted to them. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.08.24 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 22:41–53

Read 1 Kings 22:41–53

Questions from the Scripture text: Who became king, where, when (1 Kings 22:41)? How old was he (1 Kings 22:42)? How long did he reign? Where? Who else’s name and family does verse 42 give? In what ways did he walk (1 Kings 22:43)? What did he not do? What did he do? With what exception in the behavior of the people? And what exception in the acts of the king (1 Kings 22:44, cf. 2 Chronicles 18:1)? What acts were not important enough to the biblical account to be detailed here (1 Kings 22:45)? What moral action does 1 Kings 22:46 highlight? And what comparison to what nation does 1 Kings 22:47 highlight? What had he tried to do, but what happened (1 Kings 22:48)? How does 1 Kings 22:49 show that he learned his lesson from 1 Kings 22:44? What happened to him upon his death (1 Kings 22:50)? And what happened with his body? Which of these fathers’ identity reminds us of the blessedness of resting with his fathers? Who reigned in his place? Who became king in 1 Kings 22:51? Over whom? Where? When? For how long? What did he do (1 Kings 22:52)? In the ways of which three people did he walk? What had Jeroboam son of Nebat done? What, especially does Ahaziah do in 1 Kings 22:53? Whom does this provoke? To what? According to what? 

What harm can a little compromise from a good king do? 1 Kings 22:41–53 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that only Jesus can be the King of promise, because even godly kings whose folly or sin is a small fraction of their royal acts may do great damage to the people entrusted to them. 

As we come to the end of 1Kings and prepare to transition into the Elisha material, we discover how little hope we can have in any of the descendants of David so far. Jehoshaphat seems like he’s off to a good start: son of Asa, walked in all his daddy’s ways (1 Kings 22:43) and then some (1 Kings 22:46), did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. Praise God!

But then it starts to unravel. He may be a godly king over the people, but he lacked the ability to make the people godly. They still worshiped on the high places (1 Kings 22:43). Worse still, he “made peace with the king of Israel” (1 Kings 22:44). It’s so understated—it could even pass for a political compliment. Except that king with whom the peace was made was Ahab (verse 44), and the cost of that peace would be his son’s marriage to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah (cf. 2 Chronicles 18:1). If her name doesn’t set off alarm bells for you, stick with the study into 2 Kings, and that will be corrected.

Jehoshaphat may have realized his error by 1 Kings 22:48-49, when he refused further entanglement with the dynasty of Omri (Jezebel’s father), but it was too late. Jehoshaphat rests with his fathers in 1 Kings 22:50, but the damage to the nation is severe. There will be reformations in the south, but the truth is growing increasingly clear: no mere man can be the forever-King whom David had been promised in 2 Samuel 7!

As for the northern kingdom, the original sin of Jeroboam persists in Ahaziah, together with the family sins of Ahab and Jezebel. If the southern kingdom’s loss is beginning to appear inevitable, it is even more apparent that the northern kingdom was lost from its beginning. This all sets up for the dynamic that we will see in the next book: God persists patiently and faithfully with His wicked people by means of His Word in the mouth of His prophets. 

But it won’t be until the Word becomes flesh that we fully see that the Great Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15 is the only One Who could have ever been the forever-King of 2 Samuel 7:13. So the end of 1 Kings 22 leaves us saying of His first coming what Revelation 22 leaves us saying of His second coming: Come, Lord Jesus!

Who is your King? How is He able to do for you what Jehoshaphat couldn’t do for the people? What effect does He have upon His bride? How well does He do in the eyes of the LORD? What effect does this have upon you?

Sample prayer:  Lord Jesus, You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We praise You that unlike Jehoshaphat, Your righteousness and wisdom are both perfect! And we thank You that unlike Jehoshaphat, You are able and willing to do away with Your people’s sin. Truly, we have provoked You to anger by doing according to the wisdom of our own hearts. We have walked in the sins of our fathers and mothers, and especially of our first father Adam, who made us to sin. So forgive us, we pray, and keep working in us by Your Spirit, that we may be conformed to Your image and adopted in Your Sonship, which we ask in Your Name, AMEN! 

Suggested songs: ARP72A “God, Give Your Judgments to the King” or TPH72B “O God, Your Judgments Give the King”

God's Sovereignty, False Preachers, Lying Spirits, and Suffering Prophets [Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 22:1–40]

How far does the sovereignty of God extend? 1Kings 22:1–40 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these forty verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the sovereignty of God extends to determining the future, doing good through those who intend and do evil, the suffering of His servants, and the slightest little “coincidences.”(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.08.17 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 22:1–40

Read 1 Kings 22:1–40

Questions from the Scripture text: How long did the truce last (1 Kings 22:1)? What happened in the third year (1 Kings 22:2)? To whom does Ahab say what, in Jehoshaphat’s hearing, in 1 Kings 22:3? Then what does he propose in 1 Kings 22:4? How does Jehoshaphat respond? But what does he want (1 Kings 22:5)? How many of whom does Ahab gather to ask in 1 Kings 22:6? What do they say? But what does Jehoshaphat recognize that none of them truly are (1 Kings 22:7), despite the name that they use in 1 Kings 22:11-12? Whom does Ahab know is the only true prophet (1 Kings 22:8)? What does he say about him? How does Jehoshaphat respond? Whom does Ahab call in 1 Kings 22:9? What is the setting in 1 Kings 22:10? What are all the prophets doing? Whose prophesy does 1 Kings 22:11 specifically record? What does he say? Who else is saying this (1 Kings 22:12)? What does the messenger tell Micaiah to do with their words (1 Kings 22:13)? What does he tell Micaiah to let his own word be? But how does Micaiah answer him (1 Kings 22:14)? So who told Micaiah to answer the king the way that he does in 1 Kings 22:15? Who, in 1 Kings 22:16, recognized the sarcastic aping with which Micaiah had mocked the other prophets? What does he tell Micaiah to do instead? Now what does Yahweh tell Micaiah to say (1 Kings 22:17)? How does Ahab respond (1 Kings 22:18)? And how does Yahweh explain what is going on with the other prophets (1 Kings 22:19-23)? What is this meant to accomplish (1 Kings 22:20, 1 Kings 22:23)? What sort of spirit is under the sovereignty of God (1 Kings 22:21-22, cf. Genesis 50:20)? Who claims to speak by the same spirit as Micaiah (1 Kings 22:24)? What will happen to him (1 Kings 22:25)? What does Ahab command to be done with Micaiah (1 Kings 22:26-27)? Until when? What does Micaiah say about this (1 Kings 22:28)? Whom does he urge to take heed of this? Who go where in 1 Kings 22:29? How does Ahab trick Jehoshaphat into thinking that he is honoring him as the lead king (1 Kings 22:30)? What had the king of Syria commanded (1 Kings 22:31)? Whom do they think they have found in 1 Kings 22:32? But what did he do that revealed their mistake? How do they respond in 1 Kings 22:33? Who shoots the arrow in 1 Kings 22:34? At what does he aim? Whom does it strike? Where? Whom does Ahab tell to do what? Now what happened during the day (1 Kings 22:35)? And what happened in the evening? What did the blood fill? What shout went out in 1 Kings 22:36, revealing what circumstance? To where was the dead king brought (1 Kings 22:37)? What did they do with him there? But what happened to his blood, and how (1 Kings 22:38)? According to what word? Who had spoken it (verse 38, but also cf. 1 Kings 21:17–19)? With whom did Ahab lie down in 1 Kings 22:40? Why is this particular instance not a good thing? Who reigned in his place?

How far does the sovereignty of God extend? 1 Kings 22:1–40 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these forty verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the sovereignty of God extends to determining the future, doing good through those who intend and do evil, the suffering of His servants, and the slightest little “coincidences.”

God’s sovereignty extends to determining the future. Ahab is trying to determine the future in 1 Kings 22:3. He mentions the situation with Ramoth Gilead offhand to his servants, so Jehoshaphat can overhear. Then he offers Jehoshaphat the “opportunity” to come to the rescue in 1 Kings 22:4. 

But Jehoshaphat is accustomed to doing things according to the Word of Yahweh (we’ll learn more about this in the next passage). He asks for the Word in 1 Kings 22:5, but as someone who still has true prophets at his disposal in the South, he immediately recognizes that every one of the four hundred in 1 Kings 22:6 is a false preacher. Elijah is not the sort of prophet that one can summon, but Ahab has one left. But since he preaches convicting sermons that encourage repentance (1 Kings 22:8) rather than those that encourage the king to do what he wants (1 Kings 22:13), Ahab hates him. 

How great is our sinfulness? We will willingly choose four hundred prophets that make us feel good over one who says what is right! But that’s the point in 1 Kings 22:29, isn’t it? Yahweh’s Word determines the future, and Yahweh’s Word tells us what to do. “Take heed, all you people!” 

Indeed, the entire episode fulfills the word which Yahweh had spoken (1 Kings 22:38) through the lips of Elijah in 1 Kings 21:17–19. God’s sovereignty extends to determining the future.

God’s sovereignty extends to doing good, even through those who intend and do evil. The most impactful instance of this is the cross. Never has the good God done more good through evil men and evil devils who were doing evil. Another particularly memorable example of this is summarized in the words of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 50:20. They intended evil and did evil because they are evil, but the good God had intended the good that He would do even through those events. 

It is good, righteous, that Ahab would fall disastrously (1 Kings 22:20, 1 Kings 22:23). God is the Author of this good—even as it comes by way of an evil spirit that is too happy and willing to be a lying spirit in the prophets’ mouths. That demon is the author of its own evil.

Do we live in a day where false, “encouraging” preachers outnumber faithful ones 400:1? This is under the sovereignty of God, Who righteously brings such calamities upon people who use His Name on worship that mixes in their own ideas. There is a special justness in their being given over to their own false preaching as a judgment for their own false worship. But God is true, even if every man is a liar. 

God’s sovereignty extends to the suffering of his servants. It bears pointing out that Micaiah’s immediate reward for faithfulness is to be cast into prison, with special instructions that every bite of his bread be miserable and every sip of his water be miserable. 

When the servants of Christ, the Suffering Servant, suffer, let them not be surprised. And let them remember that God is both sovereign and good in the midst of it. We may learn much from the prophet who, rather than defending or protesting in his own behalf, responds with one more plea to all of the people to heed his faithful word (1 Kings 22:28). 

God’s sovereignty extends to the slightest little “coincidences.” We put the quotes on the word because how it is commonly used. But the passage gives us stark evidence to remind us that it is the sovereign God Who makes all things to coincide.

Jehoshaphat has gullibly dressed as the only king that day, perhaps even thinking that Ahab is trying to honor him by making him the leader of the joint army. We know from other history that most of the northern army was actually off fighting the Assyrians, so perhaps the king of Judah thought that this was his time to shine. Whatever the case, when he yelps that he’s the king of Judah (1 Kings 22:32), the well-instructed captains (1 Kings 22:31) call off the chase (1 Kings 22:33) and return to the rest of the battle. 

So which of these diligent, well-trained captains gets Ahab? Probably none of them. It’s just “a man” in 1 Kings 22:34. And he’s not even aiming—he just draws his bow at random. And this “randomly” shot arrow just happens to penetrate in between a joint of the royal armor. And where it hits, it just “happened” to get a blood vessel so that the wound is mortal, and the chariot fills with blood. And it needed to be enough blood so that the blood-licking prophecy of 1 Kings 21:19 could be fulfilled. God’s sovereignty extends to the slightest little “coincidences”!

Why must you yield to the reality of God’s sovereign rule over everything that happens? Over what evils have you had difficulty reconciling God’s sovereignty? How does this passage (and the cross!) help? What are some “coincidences” in which God’s sovereignty has been particularly noteworthy to you?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You and praise You for Your sovereign rule in all things. Even when evil spirits and evil men are doing evil, You are good, and You are intending it for good, and You are doing good. Forgive us for all of the sin that would justify You in giving us over to false preachers and false doctrine. Forgive us for responding to conviction with irritation instead of repentance. Forgive us for preferring what we think is “encouraging” to what is true, when those are different things. Forgive us for when we forget that You work all things according to the counsel of Your will. And make us to be faithful, trusting, and humble under Your mighty hand—even as did Micaiah and his Master, our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose Name we pray, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH1A “That Man Is Blest” 

Extreme Mercy to an Extreme Sinner [Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 21:17–29]

To how wicked a man can the Lord show mercy, and how? 1Kings 21:17–29 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that as great as Ahab’s sin and guilt wrath are, God’s mercy is even greater and comes via His Word.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.08.10 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 21:17–29

Read 1 Kings 21:17–29

Questions from the Scripture text: What came to whom in 1 Kings 21:17? Whom was he to meet in what city (1 Kings 21:18)? What specific place? Why is he there? What is Elijah to do there (1 Kings 21:19)? How is he to introduce his question? What question? How is he to introduce his announcement? What announcement? How does Ahab address Elijah (1 Kings 21:20)? What does he ask? Why does Elijah say he has found him? What three things will the Lord do to him in 1 Kings 21:21? Like he has done to whom (1 Kings 21:22)? Whom has Ahab provoked? What has he made Israel to do? About whom else does Elijah speak (1 Kings 21:23)? What will happen to her where? What will Ahab’s household get instead of burials (1 Kings 21:24)? In what was Ahab peerless (1 Kings 21:25)? How did he get this way? What, specifically, did he do (1 Kings 21:26)? Like whom? And what had LORD done to them? How does Ahab respond (1 Kings 21:27)? Now what comes to Elijah in 1 Kings 21:28? What does He tell Elijah to behold (1 Kings 21:29)? What will the LORD do as a result?

To how wicked a man can the Lord show mercy, and how? 1 Kings 21:17–29 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that as great as Ahab’s sin and guilt wrath are, God’s mercy is even greater and comes via His Word.

Based upon Elijah’s convicting him of murder and theft (1 Kings 21:19a) and sentencing him to death for it (verse 19b), Ahab calls Elijah his enemy. Here, he makes two mistakes. First, it is the LORD of Whom Ahab has made an enemy. “Thus says the LORD” … “thus says the LORD”… it is the LORD Who is Ahab’s enemy! Second, this confronting is not an act of enmity to Ahab. In fact, through this confrontation, the Lord gives Ahab the repentance that makes him the only one from his household who is going to escape.

The wickedness of Ahab puts him on a sort of Mount Rushmore of evil. Jeroboam son of Nebat (1 Kings 21:22a, cf. 1 Kings 14:7–16), Baasha son of Ahijah (1 Kings 21:22b, cf. 1 Kings 16:1–4), the Amorites (1 Kings 21:26, cf. Genesis 15:16, Leviticus 18:24–30), and now Ahab. Indeed, 1 Kings 21:25 implies that he was the worst. This is a warning about marrying poorly. Wicked wives turned Solomon’s heart (1 Kings 11:1–13). The sinful influence of his wife was one reason Satan left her with Job (cf. Job 2:9). Now 1 Kings 21:25 of our text tells us that Ahab reached the pinnacle of wickedness by his wife’s stirring him up.

But behold the greatness of God’s grace! The response in 1 Kings 21:27 is profoundly different from the one in 1 Kings 20:43. Now the Word of the LORD comes to Elijah again, but this time it’s for Elijah! The command in 1 Kings 21:29 is to “see.” It’s not even the common word for ‘behold’ but an actual command to “see.” What is he to see? That the word of the Lord on his own lips was used to produce humility in Ahab, rather than to harden him in his rebellion.

The great grace in this passage is not so much the postponement of the calamity in verse 29 as it is the repentance in 1 Kings 21:27. What an encouragement to the prophet who had been so discouraged not too long ago: the Word of the Lord in his mouth is so powerful an agent of such mercy that it produced repentance even in Ahab!

Of Whom does sin make you an enemy? How dangerous is marrying poorly? To Whom can God give repentance? What is His appointed way of doing that?

Sample prayer:  Lord, how dreadful a thing sin is, in that it is enmity toward You! But, how great is Your mercy toward us that You grant repentance through Your Word. Forgive us for taking too lightly both the badness of sin and the goodness of Your Word and Your mercy. Use that Word to humble us before You, and for the sake of Christ’s righteousness and sacrifice, spare us from the wrath that we had deserved!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH32B “How Blessed Is He Whose Trespass”

The Deadliness of Half-Hearted or Superficial Love for God and His Word [Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 21:1–16]

When a man—or a society—is only superficially moral, how bad can it be? 1Kings 21:1–16 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these sixteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that great wickedness ensues from only half-heartedly following God’s Word—even among people that make external show of following it.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.08.03 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 21:1–16

Read 1 Kings 21:1–16

Questions from the Scripture text: Who had what, where, in 1 Kings 21:1? What offer did Ahab make in 1 Kings 21:2? Why wouldn’t Naboth accept (1 Kings 21:3)? How did Ahab respond (1 Kings 21:4)? Who comes to him in 1 Kings 21:5? What does she ask? What does Ahab leave out of his answer (1 Kings 21:6)? What does she tell Ahab that he has (1 Kings 21:7)? But who is actually going to exercise authority? What does she tell him to do? What does she write (1 Kings 21:8)? In whose name? With whose seal? To whom? What does she tell them to proclaim (1 Kings 21:9)? And where to seat whom? And whom else to seat with him (1 Kings 21:10)? And what are they to say about him? And then what would the elders and nobles do? Who act in 1 Kings 21:11? According to what? What do they proclaim (1 Kings 21:12)? Where do they seat Naboth? Who sit with him (1 Kings 21:13)? What do they say? Who take what action upon this testimony? To whom do they report (1 Kings 21:14)? What does Jezebel do, when she hears (1 Kings 21:15)? What does Ahab do (1 Kings 21:16)? 

When a man—or a society—is only superficially moral, how bad can it be? 1 Kings 21:1–16 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these sixteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that great wickedness ensues from only half-heartedly following God’s Word—even among people that make external show of following it.

“Sullen and displeased” in 1 Kings 21:4 connects us back to “sullen and displeased” in 1 Kings 20:43. In chapter 20, the Lord had shown Ahab mercy that brought him to the point of obedience by difficult providence. But then incomplete obedience had displayed that the obedience wasn’t from the heart, and when condemned for it, he went home “sullen and displeased.” 

When a man—or a society—is only superficially moral, how bad can it be? Well, these sixteen verses show that it can be pretty bad. 

Naboth wasn’t just being obstinate toward the king, or sentimentally attached to the property where he grew up. He really believed Yahweh forbade him from selling (1 Kings 21:3, cf. Leviticus 25:23–28, Numbers 36:7–9). Poor Ahab was depressed because he thought this was an obstacle. 

Amateur! Jezebel knows how to get it done. She can use proper government procedure (1 Kings 21:8), religious façade (1 Kings 21:9), proper legal procedure (1 Kings 21:10, cf. Deuteronomy 17:6–7), and Scripture-defined sentencing (1 Kings 21:10b , cf. Leviticus 24:13–16) to procure vegetable gardens. She can even convince Ahab that he rules Israel, when he doesn’t even rule his own house (1 Kings 21:7). It's worth mentioning that a woman teacher in the church of Thyatira also theologized the church into wickedness, and for this she is called Jezebel (cf. Revelation 2:20). 

It is vital that we recognize that proper order and procedure may be followed and the use of it and the outcome still be satanically wicked. Real integrity and righteousness matter!

But there are times when real integrity and righteousness are missing from among the people of God. Here, the city elders and nobles are willing to go along (1 Kings 21:8, 1 Kings 21:11). They even knew (1 Kings 21:14) that it was Jezebel behind this, even though the official documentation said “Ahab” on it. Whether it was the weakness of fear or the wickedness of ambition, their willingness to go along is sadly not unusual in the visible church. In such times, a man who is careful to honor Yahweh (1 Kings 21:3) may be executed for blasphemy (1 Kings 21:13), and indubitably the average resident of Naboth believed it.

Dear believer, watch against half-hearted or part-way obedience! And be prepared, in seasons when the church is brought low, to entrust your soul and your vindication to God alone; for, men may all believe the worst of you and do the worst to you, even in your integrity.

How much of Scripture will you follow if you believe and submit to the Word of God? Why isn’t following proper procedure a guarantee of righteousness in the church? With whom are you assuredly safe?

Sample prayer:  Lord, how quickly Ahab went from incomplete obedience, to rebellion, to complicity in murder! And yet, we have often slouched into our own incomplete obedience. At other times, we have been like the elders of the city, either so weak by fear or so eager for approval as to go along with something wrong. Forgive us, Lord, and deliver us from both the guilt and the power of our sin, through Christ, in Whose Name we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH1B “How Blessed the Man”

What God Showed Ahab: God's Great Patience, Purpose, Power, and Prescription in a Great Persecution [Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 20]

What controls the histories of nations and armies? 1Kings 20 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these forty-three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord’s purpose in the history of nations and armies is to make Himself known to His people.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.07.27 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 20

Read 1 Kings 20

Questions from the Scripture text: Who gathered whom in 1 Kings 20:1? Who were with him? What did they have? Where did he go? What two things did he do there? Whom did he send to whom (1 Kings 20:2)? What did they say—what three things did he claim (1 Kings 20:3)? How did Ahab answer (1 Kings 20:4, 1 Kings 20:7)? What did the messengers next demand (1 Kings 20:5-6)? What does Ahab tell his people Ben-Hadad is seeking (1 Kings 20:7)? How do they answer Ahab (1 Kings 20:8)? So how does he answer Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 20:9)? Now how does Ben-Hadad respond (1 Kings 20:10)? How does Ahab respond to this bluster (1 Kings 20:11)? What were the 1 Kings 20:1 coalition doing when they heard Ahab’s response (1 Kings 20:12)? What does Ben-Hadad tell them to do? Who suddenly approaches Ahab in 1 Kings 20:13? What will Yahweh do? Why? For what particular instructions does Ahab ask in 1 Kings 20:14? How many leaders and people does he have (1 Kings 20:15)? What is the 1 Kings 20:1 coalition doing at what time of day in 1 Kings 20:16? Whom does Ahab send out first (1 Kings 20:17)? Who see them? What does Ben-Hadad say to do (1 Kings 20:18)? Who were with each young leader (1 Kings 20:19)? What they each do (1 Kings 20:20)? What do the Syrians do? And Israel? But where does Ben-Hadad go? What is the outcome (1 Kings 20:21)? What news does the prophet now give Ahab (1 Kings 20:22)? Who speak in 1 Kings 20:23? To what do they attribute Israel’s win? What strategy do they suggest (1 Kings 20:24-25)? What happens in the spring (1 Kings 20:26-27)? What does Israel’s army look like (verse 27)? What do the Syrians do? What is Yahweh going to do (1 Kings 20:28)? Why? How long until the battle is engaged (1 Kings 20:29)? How many do Israel kill? Where do the rest go (1 Kings 20:30)? Who kills how many of them? Where does Ben-Hadad go? Now what do his servants tell him (1 Kings 20:31)? And what do they suggest? What do they do in 1 Kings 20:32? How does Ahab answer? What are they encouraged to do by this answer (1 Kings 20:33)? To what agreement do they come (1 Kings 20:34)? Who says what to whom in 1 Kings 20:35? By what word? What does the man (not) do? What does the prophet say will happen (1 Kings 20:36)? What happens? How does the second try go (1 Kings 20:37)? For what did the prophet need his injury (1 Kings 20:38)? What story does he tell whom in 1 Kings 20:39-40? What sentence does the king pronounce? Now what does the prophet do (1 Kings 20:41)? And what does Ahab see? For what sin is Ahab finally condemned (1 Kings 20:42)? How does Ahab respond (1 Kings 20:43)? 

What controls the histories of nations and armies?  1 Kings 20 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these forty-three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord’s purpose in the history of nations and armies is to make Himself known to His people.

Behold the patience of God! Even after the drought (1 Kings 17:1–18:2), the competition on Carmel (1 Kings 18:3–40), and the prophet’s run in front of Ahab (1 Kings 18:41–46), Ahab has refused to be directed by the Word of God. Now, the Lord gives him another opportunity to be led by His Word. His providence brings an army so great that Ahab quickly gives up Israel’s wealth and future (1 Kings 20:3–4, 1 Kings 20:7), and He has reduced Israel to a total leadership of 232 and total army of 7000 (1 Kings 20:15).

This level of adversity is what finally softens Ahab so that when the prophet comes in 1 Kings 20:13, Ahab’s response in 1 Kings 20:14 is finally to seek from the Lord detailed instructions for what to do. Perhaps you have experienced this as many have: mercy from God so great as to put you through whatever severity is necessary to turn you to His Word as all of the ideas and orders by which you live.

Compared to the Aramean coalition, whose strength literally made them drunk (cf. 1 Kings 20:12, 1 Kings 20:16), Ahab and Israel had been sobered by their weakness. Praise the Lord for when He patiently sobers us by weakness.

Behold the purpose of God! The prophet doesn’t just come with predictions in 1 Kings 20:13 and 1 Kings 20:28. He comes with the Lord’s purpose: “and you shall know that I am Yahweh.” Perhaps the stupid theology to which God has given over the Arameans (1 Kings 20:23) is a reflection of Ahab’s own. But Ahab is king over God’s covenant people. His state-sponsoring of Baal and Asherah worship (cf. 1 Kings 18:19) contradict the special purpose of the special people whom God gave him to rule: to know Yahweh and make Him known (cf. Deuteronomy 4:5–10).

Behold the power of God! He defeats a great horde twice, with a small band in 1 Kings 20:19-21 and with two little flocks of soldiers who kill 100,000 Arameans in 1 Kings 20:29. And just in case we are tempted to credit the small band, the Lord uses precisely zero Israelites to kill 27,000 in 1 Kings 20:30. When we see His ultimate power, we are reminded that our job is not to be powerful ourselves, but just to do what He commands us and trust that He will work all things for good.

Behold the prescriptions of God! He decides how we glorify Him. The word “merciful” in 1 Kings 20:31 is that word that, when used of God, speaks of His covenant love. Ahab may have had some indication that this reputation was being factored into the display and negotiations in 1 Kings 20:31-33. And perhaps Ahab saw the concessions in 1 Kings 20:34 as a gift from God to restore His people’s fortunes. 

But it is God Who decides how we will bring Him honor and glory. Our job is just to obey Him. When God said all this great multitude in 1 Kings 20:28, He meant it. We must never rationalize incomplete obedience by thinking that it would somehow bring honor to God or prosper His people. This is a sadly timely message for the church in the West. And in our individual lives, too, we must trust the Lord to see to His glory and our good, as we make it our business to give complete and consistent obedience.

How serious is the Lord about this? After all that Ahab has done, the action by which he forfeited his life and the survival of the northern kingdom was sparing Ben-Hadad’s life (1 Kings 20:42). This, then, becomes a great theme for us in God’s dealing with the kings of Israel (cf. 1 Samuel 15:20–29). Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (cf. 1 Samuel 15:23), and Ahab becomes its most recent poster-boy in 1 Kings 20:43 (“sullen” there translates a word that means “rebellious”). 

God requires complete obedience, and He Himself provides the King Who gives it (cf. 1 Samuel 15:28)—Christ! As we trust that Christ has done it in our behalf, and that God is now pressing us into the shape of our Redeemer, let us seek to offer our Lord complete obedience in our redeemed lives.

How has God been patient with you? What difference does it make to you to know that His purposes in all of your circumstances include making you to know Him? What is an area in your life in which you are especially tempted to offer incomplete obedience?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we praise Your patience with people like Ahab, where You keep giving them undeserved opportunities to be led by Your Word. Forgive us for how stubbornly we can continue to follow our own inclinations, when You keep calling us to be led by Your Word. Truly, it is arrogant to think that we can bring good outcomes in any other way than obeying You. So, forgive us for when our hearts and minds begin to rationalize incomplete obedience. Thank You that Christ’s complete obedience is counted for us through faith in Him. By Your Spirit, keep remaking us into His likeness we pray in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH1B “How Blessed the Man”

Through Whom and How God Began to Overthrow a Wicked Dynasty (Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 19:19–21)

How does God bring down evil dynasties? 1Kings 19:19–21 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eighteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God often does great things through simple people and resolved commitment.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.07.20 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 19:19–21

Read 1 Kings 19:19–21

Questions from the Scripture text: What did Elijah do, when the LORD finished talking (1 Kings 19:19)? Where did he go (cf. 1 Kings 19:16b)? Whom did he find there? What was Elisha doing? What does Elijah do? What does Elisha do (1 Kings 19:20)? But what does he ask to do first? How does Elijah respond to this? Then what does Elisha do instead (1 Kings 19:21)? Using what? For whom? With the means and materials of his old life out of the way, what does Elisha now do? What does he become?

How does God bring down evil dynasties?  1 Kings 19:19–21 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eighteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God often does great things through simple people and resolved commitment.

The reinvigorated faith of Elijah. Last week, in the first eighteen verses, we met a prophet who had a dim view of the effectiveness of his ministry so far. But God reminded him that he is just one servant among seven thousand even at that moment (1 Kings 19:18), and that he would yet be used to ordain a triumverate of enemy-exterminators (1 Kings 19:16-17) in following generations. 

How do we know that this Word took effect? Because Elijah immediately set his GPS for Abel Meholah. Elisha was supposed to be the final member of the triumverate, mopping up whomever the other two couldn’t. And that’s where Elisha was from, according to 1 Kings 19:16. So Elijah arrives in town, gets directions to the Shaphat farm, finds a young man attending his particular ox in the plowing, and throws his coat onto him as a way of conscripting him as prophet-in-training and chief hand-washer (end of 1 Kings 19:21, cf. 2 Kings 3:11). 

Sometimes, we come to worship deflated but are reminded that we belong to God, as does the fruit of our work. A good response is just to proceed with whatever our particular calling is. Going home, loving our wife, teaching our children, working our job, resuming attendance upon the public means of grace whenever they are offered. When we trust that God is using our lives, we resume the things that God says that He is using.

The simple man that the Lord is pleased to use. The 2 Kings 3:11 reference above shows the humility into which Elisha entered as servant in 1 Kings 19:21. But our little passage also shows us a simple, hard-working man. Certainly, his family came from some wealth. Twenty-four oxen (twelve yoke, 1 Kings 19:19) is nothing to sniff at, and it took two of them to feed the entire household at Elisha’s going-away party (1 Kings 19:21). But despite the number of servants available, the son is plowing the field, attending personally to one of the twelve oxen that are in use. 

All callings are dignified because in God’s providence they are callings. And often it is the Lord’s way to take someone who has been diligent and faithful in little (like attending to a plowing ox) and call him to something else little (like handwashing). And then sometimes, the Lord calls him who was faithful in little and entrusts him with much (like becoming the chief prophet). 

The wholehearted commitment that the Lord gives His servant. It’s significant that Elisha asks to kiss his parents. Rather than read stalling into 1 Kings 19:20, it is better to read eagerness. He wants to give dad and mom the definitive goodbye. In contact, Elijah seems to indicate that there’s no reason to think that the throwing of the mantle would forbid this. In fact, the anointing referred to in 1 Kings 19:16 is not described yet as having taken place.

Furthermore, by slaughtering the particular oxen to which he was assigned and using that particular yoke for the food prep, Elisha renounces his former calling and way of life. He is giving up everything to become a servant. Such commitment comes from the Lord. If we have it, let us bless His Name for it. If we lack it, let us take our lesson here and look to the Lord to make us live with wholehearted commitment in whatever particular callings He has given us in home, church, and nation.

In all of this, the main message is that the plan of God described in 1 Kings 19:15-18 is being carried out. And though He has not appeared to us to tell us His plan for our own life and its part in His work, aren’t we still sure that He is doing it? So let us not despise the day of small things but be grateful when He gives us reinvigorated faith, simple duties, and wholehearted commitment. The LORD is at work by these things!

What are your particular callings in life? When your diligence or commitment sags, where can you go for encouragement? Whose plans are you hoping to see fulfilled by your daily efforts in life?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You for calling Elijah and Elisha for specific works and giving them the faith and commitment to obey promptly and completely. Give us such faith, too! Give us such commitment, too!  Forgive us for when discouragement dulls our zeal, or when we are unwilling to let go of other attachments to do what we know from Your Word that You have commanded. And work in us according to Your good will, in which we ask You to use us and make our lives bear the fruit that You intend, in Jesus’s Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH551 “We Plow the Fields”

The Lord's Patient Reminders to His Discouraged Servant (Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 19:1–18)

What is the ultimate power in this world? 1Kings 19:1–18 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eighteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that though the world, and the weak church, see persecuting rulers as powerful, the ultimate power in the world is the Word of God.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.07.13 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 19:1–18

Read 1 Kings 19:1–18

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom does Ahab tell what in 1 Kings 19:1? Especially what action? To whom does Jezebel respond in 1 Kings 19:2? By whom does she swear? What does she swear to do? How does Elijah respond (1 Kings 19:3)? Where does he go? Whom does he leave there? But where does he go in 1 Kings 19:4? What does he do there? What does he pray? What does he conclude about his own goodness or effectiveness? What is he doing now in 1 Kings 19:5? What happens to him? What does the angel say? What does Elijah see in 1 Kings 19:6? What does he do? What happens now in 1 Kings 19:7? For what is the Angel preparing him with these meals and naps? What does Elijah do in 1 Kings 19:8? In the strength of that food, how long does he go and to where? Into what does he enter (1 Kings 19:9)? What does he do there? What comes to him? What does the Word ask? What does he say that he has done (1 Kings 19:10)? What does he say that the children of Israel have done? What does he say about himself (cf. 1 Kings 18:4, 1 Kings 18:13)? Now what does the Word tell him to do (1 Kings 19:11)? And what does Yahweh do? What tore into the mountains? But Who was not in the wind? Then what came? But Who was not in the earthquake? Then what came (1 Kings 19:12)? But Who as not in the fire? Then what came? Who recognizes that this is how Yahweh communicates Himself (1 Kings 19:13)? What does the voice ask him? What does Elijah say that he has done (1 Kings 19:14)? What does he say the children of Israel have done? What does he say about himself? Now to where does Yahweh tell him to go (1 Kings 19:15)? And what is he to do there? And what other two anointings is he to perform in Israel (1 Kings 19:16)? What are these three being anointed to do (1 Kings 19:17)? How many are there in Israel who have not done what (1 Kings 19:18)? How did this happen?

What is the ultimate power in this world?  1 Kings 19:1–18 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eighteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that though the world, and the weak church, see persecuting rulers as powerful, the ultimate power in the world is the Word of God.

Seeing our lives in context. Just reading 1Kings, we might wonder what Elijah is so afraid of. We’re tempted to laugh when Jezebel says, “the gods do so to me and more.” Sure, if they’re not on the potty! But, it’s difficult to see our lives in context. Living it out is different than sitting down and reading 1 Kings 17, 18, and 19 in the space of five minutes. So the Lord gives Elijah more context. 

First, God reminds him of past personal mercies. He gives him supernatural food like he had in the drought. He makes him run by supernatural strength like he had before Ahab’s chariot in the storm. Second, God reminds him of God’s great dealings with His people. Elijah was going to stop one day south of Judah’s southernmost town. But God takes him instead to Sinai, the Spirit giving us the older name, Horeb, to take us back to the time of Moses. 

Third, God reminds him of His chosen means of exercising the greatest power. The point of the voice is not its stillness or smallness, but that it is a voice. The voice of God, the Word of God, is the ultimate power in this world. Nations rage and the earth quakes; but God merely utters His voice, and the earth melts (cf. Psalm 46:6). 

God’s voice is the ultimate power in the world. It is easy to misread this passage as commending mystic quietness. But what it is really announcing is the comparatively infinite power of the Word of God in the mouth of His prophet. Elijah already knew this. He recognized the power, and as soon as he heard the voice, he presented himself in 1 Kings 19:13. But he needed the reminder, so that he would again operate out of fear of God and not man.

This is what makes the difference in his answer in 1 Kings 19:10 and his answer in 1 Kings 19:14. The circumstances are still the same (although he is forgetting the 100 spared by way of Obadiah). But what are the combined powers of Israel, Tyre and Sidon, and Syria, up against one prophet in the entrance of a cave, if that prophet speaks with the voice of God?!

God has put Elijah’s situation into context. And in that context, we can see that it’s not a fair fight. Jezebel may have brought the throne of Sidon into union with the throne in Samaria of Israel and alliance with the throne of Syria in Damascus. But what are the power of a great wind, an earthquake, and a fire against the power of the Word of God?

So, Elijah is to anoint/ordain a triumvirate of power of his own: new king Hazael of Syria; and, stronger than he, new king Jehu of Israel; and, strongest of all, new prophet Elisha. Not only does Elisha get the fullest introduction of the three, but his ministry is the one that will clean up those who were able to evade even the other two. The combined forces of the evil have fallen seven thousand (!) short of their goal, but the Word-ordained servants of God will leave zero of His enemies alive. God’s voice is the ultimate power in the world.

God’s voice is personal! One thing remains, and that is for us to read our passage in the context of the Bible as a whole. The Angel (messenger) of Yahweh (1 Kings 19:5, 1 Kings 19:7), the Word of Yahweh (1 Kings 19:9), and the voice of Yahweh (1 Kings 19:13) in this passage are three representations/names of the same thing. And we should really say of the same One. They are not thoughts that form in Elijah’s head, but a Person Who comes and addresses him. 

The Word is personal because, as we will find out when He becomes flesh, the Word is a Person. He is the ultimate power, and He would have been within His rights and completely unchallenged to destroy us all. But when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, what we beheld is that He is full of covenant love and faithfulness (grace and truth, in the koine words). 

What circumstances seem frightening or unbearable to you? What prior experience of God helps you put it into context? What prior dealings of God with His people? What ultimate power of God?

Sample prayer:  Lord, even after all that You have done in our lives and in the history of Your dealings with Your people, we too can be forgetful like Elijah. We too can slip into seeing our trouble as great and our help as small. Forgive us for this unbelief. And grant that Your Spirit would bring to our hearts how Your Word is the ultimate power in the World, and that He became flesh in order to save us. In His very own Name, Jesus, we ask for this faith, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP46 “God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength” or TPH244 “A Mighty Fortress”

God's Powerful Word Is Offered Graciously to His Humbled Servants (Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 18:41–46)

What does God’s mercy to an enemy look like? 1Kings 18:41–46 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord’s Word that could and should destroy us is offered to us instead to lead and direct us.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.07.06 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 18:41–46

Read 1 Kings 18:41–46

Questions from the Scripture text: To whom did Elijah speak (1 Kings 18:41a)? What does he tell him to do? Why? What does Ahab do in 1 Kings 18:42? Where does Elijah go? What does he do there? To whom does he speak in 1 Kings 18:43? Where does he tell him to go? To do what? What are the results? How many times? When does the result change (1 Kings 18:44)? What is the new result? How big is the cloud? Now to whom does Elijah send his servant? To tell him to do what? When? Why so fast? Now what is happening in the sky (1 Kings 18:45)? And what happened on the earth? And where did Ahab go? Then what came upon whom (1 Kings 18:46)? And what did Elijah do? In front of whom? All the way to where?

What does God’s mercy to an enemy look like?  1 Kings 18:41–46 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord’s Word that could and should destroy us is offered to us instead to lead and direct us.

The power of God’s Word. Only the Word could bring rain (cf. 1 Kings 17:1). And now Elijah, the mouth of God, tells Ahab “Go up, eat and drink for there is the sound [literally, “voice”] of abundance of rain. Not even a fist-sized cloud has appeared in the sky, but he lets Ahab know that he can go ahead and drop the rationing, because abundance is coming. Eat and drink; more is on the way. How does Elijah know this? He hears the “voice” of abundance of rain. 

And when the first hint of rain appears, Elijah gives fair warning, because this special, Word-brought storm will be a doozy. In fact, the advice to Ahab now changes… harness up that chariot and go, because this is going to be the kind of rain that stops chariots. And it was so. “The sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.”

The humility of God’s servant. As the mouth of God, who has just won a great victory for God, Elijah might have indulged fleshly pride and enjoyed his victory. But it was the Word’s victory. And the servant of the Word still had service to do. So what do we see him doing in 1 Kings 18:42? Praying. So constant in prayer as not even to go look for himself. He sends his servant to look, while he takes a servant posture before God in prayer. But even that is not so easy. He persists in prayer through seven iterations of sending his servant, etc. The Lord often humbles His servants not only into lowliness, but into having to patiently endure in prayer and lowliness.

The offer of God’s Word to take other servants. All of this power that God has demonstrated in the fire at the sacrifice and the water of the storm (and to enable a prophet to outrun a chariot for miles in the rain) is now offered to sustain and support Ahab. After all that Ahab has done, this is a marvelously gracious offer to him in the form of the prophet running in front of his chariot in 1 Kings 18:46. 

Whenever God’s Word is presented or preached to us, the same offer is made. Submit to God, be the servant of His Word. Trust in His salvation. Know that His atonement means that He is entirely for us. God offers to take us for His own, and instruct and direct us throughout our lives, spiritually nourishing and reviving us.

What examples of the power of God’s Word do you know of from the Bible? From history? From your own life? In what circumstances has God brought you low? Made you persist in prayer? How are you responding to God’s offers to have your life directed by His Word? When does He do so in your life?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for the display of Your power in the rain that came by the prayer of Elijah. You have made us with like nature to his, but we are not believing or persistent in prayer like we ought to be. Forgive our unbelief and laziness. Make us to remember that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Thank You for sending Your Word before us. Forgive us for wanting to direct and instruct You, rather than be led and instructed by You. Truly, You are gracious, and we are stubborn. Overcome our stubbornness by Your grace, we pray, through Jesus Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH172 “Speak, O Lord”

The LORD Displays His Power and Patience unto Our Repentance (Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 18:19–39)

How might God show mercy to a people who have fallen for appearances of worldly power? 1Kings 18:19–39 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord reigns supreme, despite any appearances to the contrary, and He is profoundly patient to keep reminding His people to turn their hearts back to Him.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.06.29 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 18:19–39

Read 1 Kings 18:19–39

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom does Eljiah command Ahab to gather in 1 Kings 18:19? And which 450 and 400 more specifically? How does Ahab respond (1 Kings 18:20)? With what question does Elijah begin to address them (1 Kings 18:21)? What does he demand they do? What does Elijah think about himself (1 Kings 18:22)? How many are the prophets of Baal? Whom does he suggest will choose which bull to take (1 Kings 18:23)? What would they do with it? What will they not put under it? What will Elijah do with the other bull? Then how would the challenge proceed (1 Kings 18:24)? How do the people respond to this plan? Who goes first (1 Kings 18:25)? And how long do they call our what (1 Kings 18:26)? What do they begin doing at noon? But what does Elijah begin doing at noon (1 Kings 18:27)? What four suggestions does he make? Now what do the prophets of Baal do (1 Kings 18:28)? And then what (1 Kings 18:29) until when? What does Elijah invite the people to do in 1 Kings 18:30? What do they observe, thus up close? What does he now take up (1 Kings 18:31)? According to what number? In what Name does Elijah build the altar (1 Kings 18:32)? What does he make around it? Once he makes his own preparations in 1 Kings 18:33, what does he tell them to do? How many times (1 Kings 18:34)? With what results (1 Kings 18:35)? What does Elijah do at what time in 1 Kings 18:36? What three things, specifically, does Elijah ask God to show in verse 36? What does he add at the end of 1 Kings 18:37? What falls in 1 Kings 18:38? What five things does the fire do? How do the people respond in 1 Kings 18:39? 

How might God show mercy to a people who have fallen for appearances of worldly power?  1 Kings 18:19–39 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord reigns supreme, despite any appearances to the contrary, and He is profoundly patient to keep reminding His people to turn their hearts back to Him.

“Odds” are not as they appear. Now, biblical believers will object to the word “odds,” and well they should. Because it doesn’t matter if on one side there is the power and wealth of the throne together with 850 government-subsidized prophets (1 Kings 18:19), and on the other side there is just the one prophet. Later, the prophet will emphasize this point by having them triple-stack the “odds” against him. If God is almighty, then He is sovereign. 

In fact, earthly power and influence are mockable. This passage contains one of the most sarcastic, humorous portions of all Scripture. The word translated “busy” in 1 Kings 18:27 means to go aside in order to relive oneself. Of course, Baal is even more mockable, because he doesn’t exist. He’s not actually able to be preoccupied or journeying or napping. But the kings of the world and “prophets” of the world are subject to all those things. It is utter folly for the wicked to trust in them, and it would be utter fully for the godly to fear them. And as the frenzy and self-mutilation ensue, the self-mocking of the idolaters’ actions is even more scathing than Elijah’s words had been.

A lowly one, with God, is always in the majority. This was a big part of what the Lord was showing, as heard in Elijah’s prayer in 1 Kings 18:36. Elijah wasn’t trying to be known as greater than the prophets of Baal or Asherah. He was trying to be known as a servant. Yahweh alone is God, and one lowly one with Him is more powerful than all other creatures taken together. 

God is profoundly patient to keep reminding His people to turn their hearts back to Him. Elijah has reminded them about God, and about himself as God’s servant, but he also reminds them about themselves in the building of the altar in 1 Kings 18:31. The twelve stones hearken back to before the divided kingdom, to their origins as a people whom God had taken for Himself. Their hearts have been turned away from Him Who chose them, but Elijah prays that Yahweh’s display of Himself would be the trigger for turning their hearts back to Him again (1 Kings 18:37). 

The fire falls—something that happened at Sinai, upon the consecration of the tabernacle, and the consecration of the temple. It is as if the Lord is giving them an opportunity to start over with Him. And, for the moment, it appears as if they have done so. Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God! Every time we hear the gospel preached, every time the Lord’s death is shown forth at the table, God reminds us of the fire that consumed the sacrifice at the cross. Let us respond in the same way: the Lord, He is God!

What situations seem hopeless for God’s people? Who in the world are fools to think that they have the upper hand? Whom have you been tempted to the folly of fearing? Where, especially, does the Lord remind you that He is God?

Sample prayer:  Lord, how often it seems like the powers and authorities of the world have all combined against You and Your people! The wicked are laughably foolish to think they have the upper hand. Forgive us for when we enter into the same folly by fearing them. Bring our hearts and minds back to when You took us for Yourself, and renew our commitment to You. For we ask it through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH434 “A Debtor to Mercy Alone”

True Power, True Trouble, and True Escape from It (Family Worship lesson in 1Kings 18:1–18)

Where does man’s troubles come from? 1Kings 18:1–18 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eighteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that wickedness is the troubler of man, because a holy and just God is sinful man’s greatest trouble.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)