Elijah the prophet of the Lord God
This is the beginning of the study of Elijah. Elijah was a great prophet of the LORD God. He was asked to do a difficult task that put Elijah in danger with King Ahab. King Ahab was a wicked king of Israel. The LORD God took care of Elijah because he obeyed the LORD. The LORD always takes care of His obedient servants. 1 Kings 17 and 18.
King Ahab was the king of Israel. He was the most wicked king Israel had seen. His evil wife was Jezebel and together they led the Israelites in the worship of baal.
Elijah was one of the greatest prophets of the LORD God. A prophet is someone the LORD God asks to tell others about Him; Elijah was given a special message to take to King Ahab.
Elijah went to see King Ahab. King Ahab was a bad king who did not serve our Lord God. Elijah told King Ahab that the Lord God of Israel had said that no rain or dew would fall the next few years unless Elijah commanded it.
The Lord God knew King Ahab would be mad at Elijah for saying that. Elijah was afraid but knew that the Lord God would take care of him. The LORD sent Elijah eastward to hide. Elijah was hidden near the Jordan River. Not only did the LORD God hid Elijah He also sent the ravens with food to feed him every day Elijah was in hiding.
Elijah stayed hidden for three years and in those three years it did not rain. Finally the LORD God told Elijah, “Go and meet King Ahab and tell him I will soon send rain.” So Elijah told King Ahab to bring the 450 prophets of the false god baal to Mount Carmel for a contest.
The people under King Ahab worshipped the false god baal not our LORD God. The Canaanites had a false fertility god and called him baal, people had to make sacrifices to this god and sometimes they had of offer a child sacrifice.
When all the prophets had gathered on the mountain, they were told to make up their mind. Would they follow the LORD God or continue to follow the false god baal. Elijah was the only prophet there for the LORD God. Then he challenged the 450 prophets of baal.
There were to prepare two bulls for sacrifice and lay them on a bed of wood. All the 450 prophets were to call on their false god baal. Then Elijah would alone call upon the LORD God. The one who answered with fire from heaven would then be the true God. The 450 prophets agreed to this challenge.
The prophets of baal built an altar and put a dead bull on it. They called all day long to their false god baal to set the offering on fire. Nothing happened and they could not start the fire so they could set the offering on fire.
Then Elijah built an altar and put an offering of a dead bull on it. The prophet Elijah poured 12 massive jars of water on his offering sacrifice. Elijah knew he could not light the sacrifice on fire so he asked the LORD God to set it on fire.
The LORD God sent fire from heaven to burn up the bull, the altar, and even the stones. Elijah demanded that the false prophets be killed. And it was done. Soon the skies darkened and the rain began to fall. All the people worshiped the Lord God because He could do what the false gods of baal could not do.
What Can This Story Teach Us?Just like the LORD God took care of Elijah, who obey Him. we will also be taken care of when we do what we are asked to do. Children can also obey the Lord God because the Bible tells us to obey our parents.
Can you think of reasons why we should obey our parents, even when we don’t want to? How is this serving the Lord God? What else might you be asked to do by the Lord God?
Ephesians 6:1-3 tells us: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; That it may be well with thee, and thou may live long on the earth.”
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Elijah the prophet of the Lord God:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Feb 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2210,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, February) “Elijah the prophet of the Lord God:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2210,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “Elijah the prophet of the Lord God:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (February), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2210, (accessed).
