Audio Access Available Above
"Come
Near To Me" • 4.2.17 • Calvary Christian
Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- We have followed the steady spiritual
digression of the ten northern tribes, Israel, as they had first wandered away
from the true worship of God, to what might be charitably called an imitation.
- Yahweh, the God of Israel, was supposedly
still the centerpiece, though He was being worshipped in a way that
contradicted His character and His Word.
- This is the foundation of Northern worship
until King Ahab, who sets aside Jeroboam's imitation to completely embrace
Baalism.
- Baal is the supposed "god of the
weather." He is believed to be responsible for the fertility of the land.
The true God will not have it! He sends Elijah with the promise that rain will
be withheld.
- After three years of drought and famine, God
again sends Elijah to Ahab. God has chosen the time to settle the issue once
and for all. Verse 20.
Text
•
I Kings 18:20 : " So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the
prophets together on Mount Carmel." : As you
remember from verse 19, it was God's
idea proposed through Elijah to stage this meeting on Mt. Carmel.
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Mt. Carmel is a set of mountain ranges on the northwest side of Israel. It's
name is associated with a cultivated garden.
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With such a name, it represents a logical stronghold for a supposed deity like
Baal, who was the god of fertility and thus the god of favorable weather
conditions for an agrarian society.
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It's been noted that the Phoenicians claimed that Carmel was the actual throne
of Baal.
-
When Elijah set Mt. Carmel as the location for this event, it appealed to their
henotheistic tendency to believe Baal to be stronger in certain locations than
in others, and this location especially.
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Elijah was giving Baal home court advantage and was offering a contest that
featured Baal's speciality! No wonder Ahab went for it!
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We don't know how long this took, but before long, everyone met on this
mountain range for the prize fight of the generation.
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By the end of verse 20, it's
conceivable that hundreds of thousands are in attendance. There are certainly
400 prophets, decked out in their extravagent attire, along with the King.
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Elijah stands alone, in plain clothes, hair sticking out from every hole in his
garment. It is 401 against 2. These are just the odds that God loves! Verse 21.
•
I Kings 18:21-25 : "And Elijah came to all the people,
and said, 'How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal,
follow him.' But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, 'I
alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore let them give us two
bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay
it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull,
and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your
gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.' So all the people answered and said,
'It is well spoken.' Now Elijah said to the
prophets of Baal, 'Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you
are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.'" : With the entire nation standing at attention, Elijah addressed
the people, wanting to clarify the intended purpose for their gathering.
-
This event was meant to defininitively answer what had apparently been a matter
of debate. Consider what has happened over the course of the last three years.
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The drought has been overwhelming. Even the most ardent defenders of Baalism
had to wonder if there wasn't another "power" at work. Could it be
the Lord of Israel?
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The national debate was stirring at the street level, though the administration
was firm.
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The question Elijah poses speaks to what was happening to the people. It's
translated in various ways. For example, the NLT says "How long will waver, hobbling between two
opinions."
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The ESV uses the word "limping" and the NASB uses the word
"hesitate." According to at least one commentator, when this word is
used in zoology, it referred to an uncertain footing.
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It would be applied to birds, who would land on a twig, and then immediately
spring off to find another twig! "This seems stable for the moment. Oh,
perhaps not so much."
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My favorite translation, however comes from the NET which says "how long will you be paralyzed by
indecision!"
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That might be the very best translation in terms of what the people were
experiencing spiritually. Their flesh loved Baalism. It catered to their base
instincts and affected their bottom line.
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However, it couldn't be denied that Baal was being denied! They couldn't
decide, so they were stuck vascillating between the two. Elijah tells them that
this cannot go on indefinitely!
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They are too committed to Baalism to experience the power of Yahweh and too
conditioned to follow Yahweh to enjoy the full benefits of Baalism! There are
many who can relate!
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They want God to be the center of their life, but they also know that that will
require them to give up things that they enjoy in their life that aren't godly!
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Many of these people remain hopelessly paralyzed by their own conflicting desires!
˚ “How many more sermons do you want?
How many more Sundays must roll away wasted? How many warnings, how many
sicknesses, how many toilings of the bell to warn you that you must die? How
many graves must be dug for your family before you will be impressed? How many
plagues and pestilences must ravage this city before you will turn to God in
truth? How long halt ye between two opinions?” Charles Spurgeon
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Elijah says to them and Israel, "Let Israel decide!" The people
however, couldn't say a word! They were caught in their indecision!
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They knew he was right, but certainly couldn't admit that to themselves or in
front of King Ahab. At that point, Elijah ups the stakes.
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He is alone against the entirety of Baal's prophets. Asherah's contingency is
not represented though they had been invited. "Why send the whole
team?" Jezebel thought.
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Outnumbered, in the enemy's house, Elijah proposes a simple test to reveal the
true God. The god who answers by fire wins! The people couldn't think of a
better test!
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Baal was supposedly the god of the weather. According to scholars, his image
was often constructed with a lightning bolt in his right hand!
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Can you imagine Ahab and the prophets when they heard this? They must have been
giddy with glee at the stupidity of Elijah's request. And then, Elijah gives
them the chance to go first!
•
I Kings 18:26 : "So they took the bull which was
given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning
even till noon, saying, 'O Baal, hear us!' But there was no voice; no one
answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made." : Can you see the enthusiasm on the faces of the false prophets?
Not only do they get to "worship" their god, but the whole nation
gets to watch!
-
They are in prime form as they begin their chanting. The first hour passes and
they are just taking off their warm-ups! About 10:30, they call a time out for
a water break.
-
They've been chanting relentlessly for their god to hear them and act. They
received nothing. In their huddle, they decided that they needed some more
intensity, so they began leaping!
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This is the equation in all false forms of worship: More activity and
stimulation of the senses is necessary when God's presence is less present!
"This will let us "feel" god!"
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That went on until noon. It's about that time when Elijah spoke up to address
the ackward silence from Baal and the growing concern of the Israeli people.
Verse 27.
•
I Kings 18:27-29 : "And so it was, at noon, that Elijah
mocked them and said, 'Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or
he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be
awakened.' So they cried aloud, and cut
themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed
out on them. And
when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the
evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid
attention." : When the noon day sun stood over
Mt. Carmel, Elijah just couldn't stand it any longer! They've had plenty of
time and have accomplished nothing!
-
At first, the noise from the crowd mixed in with the activity of the prophets
of Baal. There were "oohs" and "ahhs," but when nothing
happened, the crowd grew silent.
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I'm fairly certain that all you could hear now were the grunts of the prophets.
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Elijah began to mock, or as the NIV says, "taunt" them. He started in
on them and kept on them! With every passing second, he increased his verbal
barrage.
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"You guys need to shout a little louder! He could be lost in his thoughts
or out and about!" A few Old Testament scholars suggest that the word
"busy" could refer to a bathroom break!
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"You know, he might even be taking a nap! There has to be some explanation
right?"
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The prophets of Baal have too much skin in this. They go into desperation mode.
This is their final and most extreme activity.
-
As they cried out even louder, they started to systematically cut themselves
with their ceremonial knives and the iron points of their spears.
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Every man centered religion is based on the blood of it's own adherants, either
that they produce personally or sacrificially!
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Before long, they were a bloody mess, but with 400 of them, there were enough
men to extend this activity until the evening sacrifice!
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If this is meant to correlate to the times of Jewish sacrifices, it would have
been 3PM. They have been exhausting themselves from 9AM, through the heat of
the day. Step back and look at this.
-
These men were members of the majority group, full of enthusiasm, filled with
the belief that their god would "win the day."
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They are sincere and committed, willing to cry aloud under the noon day sun and
eventually willing to spill their own blood on the ground near their sacred
altar. Listen to the Biblical response.
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"But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention!"
What an indictment! Can you not see the millions of people throughout the ages
that fit into this category?
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Think of the Baal worshippers here, as they represent the Mormons, the
Jehovah's Witnesses, and those even within the modern church who actually
worship themselves!
-
How often have they come to the end of themselves in exhaustion only to
discover that they were not calling out to a real God! Nobody was there to
respond, nobody was paying attention!
-
"But they are so sincere and committed and in some cases, even much nicer
than the Christians that you know!"
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None of that makes any difference when there isn't a god on the other end of
the line! These Baal prophets are just the next in line to discover their folly
too late.
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Cain brought an offering that pleased him, only to have the true God reject it.
How many more are in that position today?
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Can you see why it's vital to study the Bible in it's totality, in it's
context? We need to be sure that we are worshipping the true and living God and
not some figment of our imaginations!
-
But even more relevant for our ears today: How many will stand before the Lord
on judgment day and proclaim all that they did for God, only to have God say,
"Depart from me, I never knew you!"
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The true essence of Christianity is not tied up in boasting about what we did
for God, but in acknowledging all that God has done for us in Christ! These are
the people that God knows!
-
These prophets are out of gas, out of time and out of touch with reality. It's
Elijah's turn!
•
I Kings 18:30-37 : "Then Elijah said to all the people,
'Come near to me.' So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the
altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones,
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of
the Lord had come, saying, 'Israel shall be
your name.' Then
with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the
altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut
the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, 'Fill four waterpots
with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.' Then he said, 'Do it a second time,'
and they did it a second time; and he said, 'Do it a third time,' and they did
it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the
trench with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening
sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, '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
that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may
know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.'" : It had to be eerie to watch the prophets of Baal. At first,
there was a fascination with the mystical arts that were on display. Soon, the
frenzy that played out, brought about a sincere anticipation.
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When nothing happened past noon, it just became an ackward show. People
couldn't avert their eyes. They had to be shocked to some degree, like those
who slow to observe a car accident!
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No wonder Elijah had to call the people to come near to him, but it's far more
than that. Elijah speaks for a God who has been offended, but still calls out
to His people to draw near to Him!
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Through the mouth of Elijah, God invites all doubters, all rebels, all sinners,
to come near to Him, to see first hand, that He is God and beside Him, there is
no other!
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It had to begin at an altar of the Lord in Carmel which had been broken down
and Elijah took the time now to reset it with 12 stones symbolic of the nation
of Israel.
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Around the altar, Elijah dug a trench that you could put the equivalent of two
large bags of seed into. Then he put the sacrificial elements in place. He does
this quietly, with little to no fanfare.
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When all was prepared, Elijah called for the people to douse the altar and fill
the trench with water, which they did three times, effectually ruining the
altar for fire purposes.
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There was to be no doubt at all that what was to take place was a complete act
of God! This was no magic trick or attempt to deceive. It was going to be an
act of God or nothing!
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Now, when the time for the evening sacrifice came, Elijah prayed! This is no
accident. Elijah is dealing with a group of people who have left their roots
for the worship of Baal.
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They have neglected the inheritance that they had in the Lord to approach Him
by prayer and sacrifice at these particular hours. They must have thought about
this.
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What does Elijah do? Does he began chanting or leaping around? No! He simply,
quietly prays in a voice that was loud enough to hear.
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The reality of God's presence will always be much preferred to the foolish
fanfare of the false teachers and the sub-Christian! His prayer is as simple as
it is soft.
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He addresses the God of the Forefathers of the people that are standing there
right now. This God hasn't changed, they have!
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Elijah asks for God to affirm His prophet and affirm His Word by acting now,
not with the eye of impressing the masses, but with the hope of turning their
hearts back to Himself!
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There is never a need for God to validate His own power or existence for that
purpose. When God intervenes in human affairs, it is for the sake of turning
hearts to Himself!
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In this case, an entire generation has turned their backs on God, yet God still
attempts.
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As his prayer ends, the people look to the altar to see how long they will have
to wait. Baal had taken all day and nothing. How long would Yahweh take? They
didn't wait long! Verse 38.
•
I Kings 18:38-40 : "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt
sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water
that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and
they said, 'The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!' And Elijah said to them, 'Seize the
prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!' So they seized them; and
Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there." : It's almost as if the Prophet uttered the "A" to the
"Amen" and the Lord responded!
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Out of nowhere, fire fell at Elijah's request and consumed the entire altar!
There was nothing left but smoke on the ground!
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You have to love the detail: The fire of the Lord licked up the water in the
trench! What a picture for us to look at! The victory was thorough and
undeniable!
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It didn't take long for the people to respond as they fell on their faces!
Funny, they had been standing all day waiting for Baal, watching with growing
curiosity.
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When God moved upon the precedings, they immediately fell on their faces! The
conscious awareness of God's presence doesn't issue in growing intrigue and
entertainment value.
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It produces awe and respect for the reality of God! These people cried out with
all their hearts, to merely allow their voices to proclaim what was now
painfully obvious!
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What they were experiencing historically, all of mankind will one day
experience eternally! Regardless of sincerity and nobility, one day, every
tongue will be forced to acknowledge the truth!
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Some will joyfully shout and continue their praise in a perfected way,
"The Lord! He is God!" Others will shamefully stand in resigned
horror to acknowledge what they suppressed in life!
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Those in that condition on that day, will forever be consigned to the torment
that accompanies all that refuse to acknowledge Christ in this life!
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I pray none within the sound of my voice ever experiences this! May the Lord
grant all His grace to believe and repent!
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On this day before us, in an established Theocracy, Elijah, speaking for God,
calls for the death penalty to be enacted upon the prophets of Baal! Keep in
mind Elijah's words in verse 36.
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He was acting, in all that he had done, according to God's Word! He prayed according
to God's Word when Israel turned itself to Baal. God's Word promised an
"iron sky."
-
All of his actions here were consistent with God's Word, from the mocking of
so-called deities to the precise re-construction of the altar. Now, God calls
for the execution of the prophets.
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Deuteronomy 13:1-5 detail the fate
of those that would turn Israel's hearts from the true God. It would be a death
penalty. Deuteronomy 18:20-22
defines the parameters.
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A true prophet's word would come true. A false prophet's word would not! In
Israel, at this time, God called for Elijah to worship Him by obeying His word.
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Understand that this is not given to us as a practical example of how we are to
act. This is never repeated to the church, who live under varying forms of
government.
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We are however, to comply with this principally. When there is something
discovered which contradicts scripture and the very nature of God, it is our
duty to thoroughly reject it.
-
Elijah, like Samuel before him, reminds us that worshipping God requires us to
eliminate from our lives any vestige which offends our sensibilities regarding
Him!
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Elijah spent the next few hours executing these heretics near the Brook Kishon.
Conclusion
- With the
people going back and forth between opinions, God set out to make a definitive
statement to settle the question of His reality. Not much has changed today.
- People are
still torn between worshipping God and worshipping themselves. Their desires
are paralyzing them and God still calls out to say, "Come near to
me!"
- On Mt.
Carmel, a distant God consumed an altar and a sacrifice. On Mt. Calvary, God in
Human flesh, Jesus Christ became the sacrifice for His people's sins.
- On Mt.
Carmel, the people were allowed to see the power of God. On Mt. Calvary, the
world sees the power of God's justice and love forever!
- On Mt.
Carmel, the enemy was executed. On Mt. Calvary, Satan was defeated.
- On Mt.
Carmel, a miracle was displayed for a watching audience. On Mt. Calvary, a sign
was hung for all mankind to see: "The Lord, He is God!" Pilate wrote
it himself!
- Today, I ask
you what Elijah asked them: "How long will you be crippled by your own
indecision! If your god is God, then serve him. But if Yahweh is God, then
serve Him!"
- May He find
us to be His with all of our hearts!
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