Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Drought Breaks

I Kings 18:41-46

"And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink.” (I Kings 18:41-42a) 

For three years, there had been no rain as a result of Israel’s idolatry and killing of God’s prophets.  Deuteronomy 28:15-24 had listed some of the curses that would come upon Israel for turning away from God.  A lack of rain was one of them.  “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:… And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.  The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.”

When they executed the false prophets and proclaimed God as their God, the cause of the drought was removed.  Deuteronomy  30:9-10 promised, “And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”

This was also what God had told Solomon in II Chronicles 7:13-14.  “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

While these promises were made especially to Israel, we are told Sodom, the Canaanites and various other groups were destroyed for their sin against God.  In the story of Jonah, the people of Nineveh were spared because they repented of their sin, so the principle applies to other groups as well.

Throughout American history, we see our greatest struggles always came after a period of turning away from the Lord , whether the Civil war, World War I, the depression or any of our various other struggles.  They ended only when thre was a turning back to God.  I do not think things are different today.  If Americans would turn back to God today, I believe our greatest challenges would disappear almost immediately.

Elijah told Ahab to go ahead and eat freely, knowing they no longer had to worry about when it would rain again.  Ahab believed Elijah and went to eat before returning to Jezreel to spend the night.

“And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. 
And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. 

And he said, Go again seven times. 

And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.” (I Kings 18:42b-44a) 

While Ahab went out to eat, Elijah got on his knees in prayer.  After a while, he sent his servant to look toward the Mediterranean and see if clouds were coming in.  The first six ties he looked, there weren’t any clouds in sight.  The seventh time he looked, there was a little cloud that looked about the size of a man’s hand over the sea.

“And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” (I Kings 18:44b)

The cloud was so small that most people wouldn’t even notice it, but Elijah told his servant he better warn Ahab to hurry and get started to Jezreel so the rain wouldn’t make the road impassable for his chariot.

“And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.  And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” (I Kings 18:45-46)

By the time the servant found Ahab and warned him, the clouds were looking like rain, and before he finished hooking up his chariot it was starting to rain.  It was about an hours drive for a chariot at full speed, and he drove hard.   Elijah left as soon as he had sent the message and by running as fast as he could, barely beat Ahab to the city.






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