Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. 1 Kings chapter 18 we left off last time with verse 29 and where we're at is that really it was laid down at the very beginning in verse 21 when Elijah speaks to the people and Ahab and he challenges them and as they came near to Elijah he says, how long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And yet the people did not respond and answer that here The people of God were caught in between Yahweh and Baal not willing to be able to make up their mind so Elijah sets down a challenge for them. That challenge is pretty simple, pretty clear in verse 24 when Elijah tells them and tells them what they're to do. So call upon the name of your God and I will call upon the name of Yahweh or the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, he is God. And the people answered, it is well spoken. So here, the challenge is put down, you need to choose. Stop sitting on the fence, basically Elijah says. You need to choose which God you're going to follow, Yahweh or Baal. The contrast has been pointed out before, but the one who answers by fire, he is God. That's the challenge. Now we're going to tackle this a little bit differently tonight, not drastically different, but as we look at the passage, we're going to read it as a whole. And then we'll just start and begin by making some observations about what's happening here and then begin to understand some theological implications of some of these observations. We've got about nine observations, I think, in this passage. and then those implications there. Now normally the way that I do it is try and do it verse by verse and seek to be able to divide it up but I thought many themes that are kind of happening over this passage that are important for us to be able to see as we build along to be able to see what is happening in this passage. Hopefully that will help us understand a little bit more of what is the important part of what is happening in this whole passage in chapter 18. But let me read here from 1 Kings chapter 18 beginning in verse 30 and then we will get down to about 37. So, you hear now the word of Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar. as great as wood contains two seas of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, fill four jars of water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said, do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, do it a third time. And he did it a third time. And the water ran down the altar and filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back. Thus ends the reading of God's inerrant infallible word. So let's look at some of these observations. Like I said we'll have about seven in total. Some of them are merely just observations and others will begin to see observations and then implications as we observe it. The first one we need to understand how Elijah is in control of this situation. We talked about this before as Elijah told Ahab to be able to go call the people of Israel. And Ahab did what Elijah told. But even in this situation you look at how Elijah is in control. You notice that right at the very beginning in verse 30 as Elijah said to all the people, And then again, as he instructs them to be able to fill the jars of water and then to be able to do it again, do it again. And everybody's understanding and following what Elijah is doing. And again, we need to see this in this passage, the sense of control that Elijah has. here the prophets of Baal are not dictating and telling Elijah what to do. But it is the other way that even last week as we saw Elijah mocking the prophets of Baal that here they have no response to him, they are unable to be able to answer him. The second observation is there where Elijah takes the altar and he repaired the altar, verse 30, and This word here is an interesting word. It's not commonly used to be able to speak of actually repairing something, to build something back up, you might say. More often, it's translated as to heal. It's only translated repair in the ESV one other time in Psalm 60. and you made the land to quake and you have torn it open, repair its breaches for its totters. And so here you could see some poetic language here of the psalmist using this, but here in a historical narrative it's strange for that word repair. It really means to heal, to bind up like a physician. Often it is used of boils being healed in the Old Testament. This is what Moses cries out to Miriam as Miriam is covered with leprosy in Numbers chapter 12. He cries out, O Lord please heal her, please. And so I think this can be important for a couple of reasons as we think about that there was at one point an altar of Yahweh there that had been destroyed and neglected as people had gone on to be able to worship Baal and set up all those altars and the practices that they go throughout the whole land. There is a remnant here of people who truly worshipped Yahweh and it was in neglect. And here Elijah comes and heals that altar. I think it is important also as we get into 2 Kings what we see is a contrast between Elijah and Elisha. That Elijah is one who does about seven miracles and Elisha asks for a double portion and Elisha does 14 miracles. And we see these similarities of Elijah healing and Elisha healing. Elijah raising someone from the dead. Elisha raising someone from the dead as well. And in Elisha 2, Elisha heals water. He restores water back. But often this word here, to repair, to heal, is used of leprosy, something that is unclean. that is refreshed, made new, made clean. And actually it's actually used in Leviticus chapter 14 a couple of times. But one of the times in chapter 48 speaks of a house being healed. That here you have a physical house, most of the time it's a body they're talking about. But here someone has leprosy in their house and they've had plaster and they test the plaster. And if the plaster, if things come and grow on the plaster, then it's a sign of how the relationship between the house and the disease. And so the house was to be pronounced clean. And so now Elijah is repairing, healing, pronouncing this altar clean. Again, what's happened over the years after all these kings, the seven kings in Israel. And so we see that repairing of that altar. The third observation is then the adding of water. In 33 to 35, you see here, he gets the wood, he cuts it, he lays the animal in half, but he tells them to be able to fill four jars of water, to be able to dig a trench around it, and then to be able to put water upon water upon water. So four jars, 12 jars in total, full, pouring upon this wood. And so we noted last time that here, Baha'u'llah has an advantage. That advantage is that here, three years of drought where everything is dry and barren and ready to ignite. And the wood would have been well-seasoned, you would have said. Me starting a fire often is with wood that is wet, that causes lots of smoke and is very difficult. But here, they would have had no issue to be able to strike a match and then to be able to start a fire. But here, with Baal, he had a great advantage with the dry wood, but also that Baal was the god of fire. thunderstorms to be able to start that fire. But here, now Elijah is not only at a disadvantage because he's one versus 450. I think 450 would be louder to be heard. But here Elijah is only one man. His wood now is wet. And the point of what we see here, the amplification of it's not merely just a bit damp. It is soaking wet. It's hard to be able to know measurements when you're speaking about how much things are when two sifas, a sifa is about seven quarts or whatever, 14 quarts of two sifas would be roughly around just under four gallons of water. It says a seed, well then what's a C for a seed? You know, how do you measure that? And then how big are four jars that he uses? The point is not to be able to work out the quantity. The point is to be able to say not only the wood is wet, but the whole trench around it is wet. That it's so wet that there's water everywhere. Just as, you know, the downpour of rain that we had last night. And you notice there's big puddles everywhere that just appeared in a moment. And so we see here Elijah and this competition that the bar has been raised even more. before they had a big advantage to a disadvantaged Elijah, but now even Elijah is at a further disadvantage with the water. It shows again God's power over Baal. Not only merely to think about it that God is the one who could ignite the wood, but also God is the one that knows that it's going to rain soon, that He can use all this water, that it's God's water. Baal couldn't even make it rain. The God of thunderstorms, the God of fertility, the God of rain can't do any of those things. So now we come to observation number four. Again we see that contrast, that contrast that we see between the prophets of Baal, the 450 prophets of Baal with one prophet of the Lord Elijah. Specifically Again, notice that contrast in verse 29, when as midday passed, they raved on until about the time of the offering of the oblation. That offering is about that evening sacrifice that they would make. And then look at what's lacking here. There is no morning, there is no noon. There's just in verse 36, that the time of the offering of the oblation. So here we see that contrast that not only is there's a huge disadvantage towards Elijah, if you're trying to weigh up the options here, but also there's a huge disadvantage is in Elijah's, it doesn't need much time. He doesn't spend hour upon hour calling upon God, as we'll notice, that he does it in one time. So here at the evening sacrifice, most likely at the same day, Elijah did not have the morning, noon, and evening, just the evening. Now we start to be able to begin to see some of these implications and these observations and these implications. The fifth observation and implication is found with the 12 stones. In verse 31, here Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob. Now isn't it interesting here that he chooses 12? Think about it, where are we? We're in the time when you have the divided kingdom. where there's 10 tribes up in the north and you have Judah and Benjamin, the southern kingdom. With Judah, why would he choose 12 stones? Wouldn't you choose 10 stones to be able to represent the 10 tribes that are present there underneath the rule of King Ahab? But yet he chooses 12. interesting thing that should prick our ears up when we are reading and studying our Bible and reading through it. And why would he choose 12 stones? Now often 12 stones are representative. It happens quite frequently, several times in the book of Joshua where they cross over the Jordan and they set up 12 stones to be able to recollect and to be able to worship God who has delivered them, and saved them, and fulfilled His promise of bringing them into the Promised Land. And And so sometimes that's what you could be able to make a connection to. Here they are again in the promised land. But specifically what needs to come to mind is Exodus chapter 24. Exodus chapter 24 we see here Moses comes starting in verse 3, and he tells the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. We are going to be, we are studying this in our morning service. So, we are about to get into the covenant that is made with the people as they leave Egypt. And as we've looked at last week that here they are prepared to to be able to meet God before they are given the Ten Commandments of how they are to be able to walk and to live as God's holy people called into His land as set apart that royal priesthood, that holy nation, that treasured possession that God has for them. And so this covenant is made in chapters 20-24. And in chapter 24 Moses speaks all these words, and in one voice the people answered, the Lord has spoken, we will do. And the Lord wrote down all the words of the Lord, Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, here they are at the top of the mountain but here there is a mountain in picture, and twelve pillars according to the tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and half of the blood and threw it against the altar. He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people and they said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance to all these words. And so here we have that covenant been made, and what other people of Israel done? They have broken their covenant. What is the first commandment? Thou shalt have no other gods before me. And yet they have broken that commandment. They have set up false places of worship, not worshiping God according to how he has prescribed in his law. And so Elijah, as he sets up 12 stones, he's bringing to mind this time and event where Israel, the people of Israel, had said that they would follow God's law and seek to be able to do what he has promised. But they have not. They've abandoned Yahweh. They've turned towards Baal. Which kind of leads on to our next observation, the observation and implication number six. And specifically the mentioning of Israel and his name. In verse 31 you see there, Elijah took the 12 stones according to the tribes of the sons of Jacob. So specifically the sons of Jacob, but then, to whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be your name. When we have a comment like this that specifically sticks out and here Elijah is pointing out that not merely that you're the sons of Jacob but here you are Israel and specifically calls to mind that Israel is the one who has been given this name. Two times in Genesis this comes up. Genesis in Genesis 32 where Jacob wrestles with the Lord And Jacob in Genesis chapter 32 he finally as dawn approaches and asks to be able to, he asks God to be able to bless him, bless me he says. And in verse 27 the man said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him, Please tell me your name. But he said, Why is it that you ask my name? And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Penuel, saying, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is in the hip socket because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh." And specifically Israel the name that is given by God to Jacob is that God strives or as it puts it there you have striven with God. You have And so, but also we need to see a connection here, not merely to the name, but also what does Jacob then do after he finishes? He finishes, he's limping. Now, what are the people doing here at this point? They're limping between two gods, two different opinions. They're limping between Yahweh, they're limping between Baal. What are the prophets doing? As they go around their altar and they're limping around the altar that they made. And so Israel, even this recollection of this story is that Jacob leaves limping after being renamed Israel, striving with God, God strives. And here we see the people seeking to be able to strive, to be able to strive between these two things, limping. The second occasion is in Genesis chapter 35, verse nine to 12. God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padom, Iran, and blessed him. And he said to him, Your name is Jacob. No longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply, a nation and a company of nations shall come from you. Kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, I give to you. I give the land to your offspring after you. So who's this promise made to? This promise is not only made to Israel himself, but the sons of Israel, the sons of Jacob, the tribes of Jacob who are there before now in this nation of Israel. that these promises belong to this people. So there's this connection to this name and the promises made to Israel to be able to have, to be able to be a fruitful nation. That here, I am God Almighty. Whoever answers by fire, he is God. And yet Israel, the nation named after Jacob, Israel, has forgotten and walked after other gods, false gods, set up idols that they made and constructed. But even notice again, this specifics in verse 36. This is heightened, that Israel shall be your name. But in verse 36, at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and I have done these things at your word. Now again, this should jump out to us when we hear that, that I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is normally the frame that you hear, that I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but this time it comes up the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Specifically, again, we must remember that this nation is known as Israel, that those promises are connected here with this time. Again, it's very rare for this to be able to happen. Again, Exodus chapter 32, this promise here, Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the heaven, and all this land I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. And here again connecting the name Israel to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. The two promises that jump out that constantly are there. The offspring and the land. The offspring and the land. And here God has given them this land and they've completely walked away from God. Now this is again important not only just looking behind to what has happened but this is also what's going to come up again in 2 Kings chapter 17. We already know how it's going to end. We've already been told as Jeroboam the first king of Israel didn't follow God's ways and his pattern of prescribed worship as he was laid out breaking the second commandment. But we also saw then that there was a prophecy made that what would happen to the house of Jeroboam the nation of Israel is there is going to be a king who is named Josiah who is going to wipe them out. Who is going to burn these houses of Bethel and these altars down. And so here in 2 Kings chapter 17 notice again what comes up. verse 34-41, to this day according to the former manner, they do not fear the Lord, they do not follow the statutes of the rules of the law that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob whom He named Israel. So, we see those two connections that we've made before, those observations that we've made before. The 12 stones referring to the covenant that God had made with Moses that said, we will do this. We will promise to do what we've said we would do. And They're not doing that. And they've also forgotten the promises that are connected to Israel as a nation. They don't fear the Lord. They don't follow the statutes. And the name there is highlighted again that here the children of Jacob whom he named Israel. That refrain that we've just seen here in this passage. The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, you shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them. What have they been doing? They're fearing other gods, bowing themselves down to serve the other gods and to be able to sacrifice to them. But you shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourself to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. In the statutes and the rules and the laws and the commandment that He wrote to you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, but you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, but you shall fear the Lord your God, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the enemies. However, they would not listen." He's talking about the nation Israel. And they did according to their former manner. So the nations feared the Lord. These nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. And the children did likewise. And their children's children as their fathers did. As they do to this day. And so we see this refrain come up once more. by the prophet Elijah this warning connecting them to Israel as a nation, the ones that God has delivered and saved. Giving them these commandments to be able to live and to walk by, to be able to not serve other gods, to be able to fear God, to be able to follow His commandments that he wrote down specifically mentioned to the Ten Commandments that God writes down and gives to the people and they haven't done this. Verse 41, these nations feared the Lord and also. Here you see that no other gods before me. And so there's this pattern here that happens. So we see these implications that here these promises are connected and they're reminded of here what God has done for them, what God has promised for them. Not only the God was going to be their God, but they were going to be his people. And yet they're not his people. They're not following his ways. They're not following him. They're following Baal and him. But I think the final observation is really what hits the nail on the head. It's not only that Elijah is here in control. It's not only that here that what the people of God are doing, how they're violating God's word, not listening. But you notice throughout this passage again that Elijah is the one who is speaking. He's the one that's telling people what to be able to do. But also, As he cries out in verse 36, again think of all the loud screaming that the prophets of Baal did before, but here very succinctly. Elijah says in verse 36, O LORD, Yahweh, the covenant name of God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant, that I have done all these things at your word. But here God is the one who is the one speaking to Elijah and Elijah is doing all that he is commanded to be able to do. The key is that God is the one who answers. Verse 37, Elijah prays, answer me, O Lord, again Yahweh, answer me that this people may know that you, O Lord, Yahweh, our God, that you have turned their hearts back. The key here is who is going to answer? The people were silent as Elijah challenged them in verse 31. How long are you gonna go between two different opinions limping? If it is the Lord, Yahweh, is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. Yet the people did not answer him a word. pointed this out last week, but Baal was silent. They cried out aloud in verse 36, from morning till noon, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and no one answered. They limp around, and they cry aloud, they cut themselves, they rave on. Verse 39, but there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. But what happens? Verse 38, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offerings and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. The Lord answered. Very similar to what happens in Leviticus chapter 9, as Aaron the high priest lifts up his hands towards the heaven and blessed them. And he came down to the offering of the sin and the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. And they came out, and they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the Lord, and consumed the burnt offerings and the fat pieces on the altar. And when the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces." The truth about this challenge, it was not specifically the one who answers by fire. We always get caught up in the fire part, the consuming part of what happens here. The truth of the matter is, it's the God who is the one who answers. The God who answers. He is God. Yet the people don't have an answer. The prophets of Baal don't have an answer. Baal doesn't have an answer. Yet Yahweh answers and the fire comes down and consumes them. Here we have the great and glorious truth that the God is the God who answers. There's great confidence that John puts down in 1 John chapter five, as he writes these things to these young children, these dear little children who've been led astray. that you believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have towards Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Or 1 Peter 3, verse 12, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. And so the truth of the matter is that it is the God who really answers is the God. He is God and Yahweh answers. He answers the cry of the prophet that the people might know and hear a drastic change. You picture what has happened in the last few years during Ahab's reign and even the last seven kings of Israel setting up prophets and people would go out of their way to be able to go up to the golden calf in Dan that they might be able to worship these false gods in a false way. They would go out of their way instead of Jeroboam setting up in Bethel thinking that people would just stop by in Bethel to actually go out of their way up to Dan so they can worship this golden calf in Dan. And here that people see this right before their eyes. The 12 stones built, the name Israel reminding them of what they have done and the all-consuming fire consuming the sacrifice that there is nothing left, even the dust is gone. And the people see it in verse 39. And they fell on their faces. The Lord Yahweh, He is God. The Lord Yahweh, He is God. No longer limping between two ways. But often when we think about that challenge of limping, of going between, when we really think about it, there's no answer on the other side. I guess Thomas Brooks says that Satan promises the best but pays the worst. And how often we seek to be able to go after those false promises. And yet when truth comes to it, there's no answer. Yet God is the one who answers the great and glorious truth as we think about going to him in prayer and giving our prayers to him. He's a God that hears us. He's the God that can answer our prayers. There's no other God that can do that because no other God exists. But then we come to the challenging verse, and we'll end with this in verse 40. And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape. And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there. Now previously they'd done a lot of self-harm to themselves, bringing out their swords and their lances as they're trying to be able to get Baal to be able to answer them, but yet here we see that Elijah calls them that they might be slaughtered. It seems very harsh, and I think it's hard for us to truly understand this. I think it is helpful in these times to be able to remember that here we have a national church, that here is punishable by the sword, that here in the 21st century that is a foreign concept for us. But here the nation and also Both religious and civil are tied together. And here, it's punishable by death. But even just think about just the damage that this has done to the nation of Israel. That sometimes these things, Melech is more known to it, although Baal is known for it as well as child sacrifice. The damage of self-harm that was given even by these prophets, you know, harming themselves and teaching. Well, if God is not answering, then maybe you should harm yourself to be able to get more answers. But specifically here, Elijah is doing exactly what God's law prescribed. And it might be challenging us for understanding, but here, again, we need to seek to be able to understand the time and context. But in Deuteronomy chapter 13, if you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God has given you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known. But then you shall inquire, and make a search, and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants of the city to the sword, devoting it to destruction. all who are in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. You shall gather all of its spoil in the midst of the open square and burn the city and the spoil with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. For it shall be a heap forever and you shall not be built again." So here this is exactly what's prescribed in the law. Specifically we can see and we're not going to go into depth into it, but specifically there's these people, these worthless fellows that come and be able to call people away from worshiping God. Let us go serve other gods. And then in verse 14 you see there's a trial that merely just can't say these people come. There's a hearing of some sort where they seek search to be able to find out if these men are guilty. Surely these 450 prophets are guilty. But also this is exactly what Jezebel has done to the prophets of Yahweh. That she has gone ruthlessly throughout all the time to be able to devote these prophets of Yahweh, true prophets who have not told people as Deuteronomy says, let us go serve other gods. They're telling, don't serve Baal. So here, The evil is punished by Jezebel, evil is done by Jezebel to these prophets who are doing good and yet now Elijah is doing good to those who have done great evil. But we see here in this passage that Yahweh is God, that He answers them, that He appeared on this mountain by this all-consuming fire but also through the judging of the prophets. Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Seven Springs Presbyterian Church began in 1874 and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in Glade Spring, Virginia. Please join us for worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. for His glory and His gospel.