2023_08_28 Insight Post- Kim Feld

Elijah is one of my favorite Biblical characters. I love how he first comes on the scene in 1 Kings 17:

“Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!” (1 Kings 17:1, NLT)

We are given no frame of reference for him other than where he’s from. But in verse two, we see Elijah gets his direction from God. Elijah is a prophet of God that is used in mighty, miraculous ways. He even appears with Moses on the mountain, talking with Jesus during the Transfiguration (See Matthew 17, Mark 4, and Luke 9). He has been one of my Biblical heroes since I first read about him.

Let’s look at a bit of background to this opening scene.

 “²⁹ Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. ³¹ And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal. ³² First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. ³³ Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him (1 Kings 16:29-33, NLT).

So, God sent Elijah to confront Ahab with the news that there would be no rain, not even dew on the ground, for the next few years. The impact would be disastrous. A challenge is coming, and this is the first move. Baal was the god of fertility and was also known as the lord of rain and dew (Britannica, n.d.). This judgment was purposeful as God would prove He was the Lord of all creation.

As we continue reading this week, we will see God use Elijah uniquely. We will also see Elijah as a man who followed God with his whole heart and who was a man with a deep prayer life. In James Chapter 1, James writes about the power of prayer, using Elijah as an example:

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. ¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

I’m challenged by Elijah’s story to take a look at the quality and quantity of my prayer life. James says the earnest prayer of someone in good standing with God is powerful. How would you rate your prayer life today? Would God agree?

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach

Reference: Britannica. (n.d.). Baal. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baal-ancient-deity