Good day dear friends.
We continue to affirm our faith that ours is a unique faith and dispels the myth that all religions are basically the same. Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Please read 1Kings 18:17-40. This is a lengthy passage but it is one that speaks of a showdown between God and the prophets of Baal, a false god from the region Israel was inhabiting. Read about how this “contest” ends. What does it tell you?
Here is that passage from 1 Kings 18:17 When he (King Ahab) saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" 18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." 20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire--he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good." 25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood." 34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The Lord--he is God! The Lord--he is God!" 40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
If all religions are basically the same, there would not have been this showdown between the prophets of Baal and the one true to God, Elijah. There would have been no conflict of mandates, in terms of what Ahab and Jezebel were doing, because even in this evil that they were doing, they were still pleasing God, right? Wrong. Elijah spoke for Yahweh and against what Ahab and Jezebel stood for and believed. Elijah knew of the futility of the faith these rulers and most of their subjects placed in the god Baal. The showdown takes place on Mount Carmel, where the 400 prophets of Baal meet to see what their god could do against the God of Elijah.
The result was they not only lost the contest, they lost their lives. There was only one God who could show His power on that day and it was God who showed them who is the one, true living God.
What will it take for you to truly believe in our God's power? Do we need a showdown in our lives between the "gods" we have chosen to follow against God and His love for us?
PRAYER: Living, loving God, speak to my heart today and let me receive and believe. I do not want to continue following other things or persons that I have placed in my life as gods. Let me be the person You need me to be, to give witness of Your love and presence here. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
PS The folks of FUMCSM are reminded that tonight is Chicken Foot night in our gym. Come and learn to play this fun game and be involved in fellowship with one another. For more information or child care, please call the church office, 392-6001.
