A contest! Elijah decides it’s time for the people to really figure out who they are going to believe in and trust. He’s just challenged them to pick a side. Now he proposes a contest to determine who is the real God. Read 1 Kings 18:22-24. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord , but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on…

Pick a side! God is ready to show the people just exactly who is God and Elijah is there to set the stage. Read 1 Kings 18:19-21. Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer…

Whose fault is it? Ahab doesn’t believe that any of the difficulties that they are facing are his fault. He feels Elijah us solidly to blame for the famine and draught. Read 1 Kings 18:17-18. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals. 1 KINGS 18:17‭-‬18 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.18.17-18.NASB Elijah wants to be very clear, Ahab’s sin is what has led to the judgment of God that is being felt by the entire country. Ahab…

Trust and obey. The title of a hymn really defines the message from our verses today. Read 1 Kings 18:14-16. And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here “‘; he will then kill me.” Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 1 KINGS 18:14‭-‬16 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.18.14-16.NASB Obadiah had explained his concerns and Elijah had listened to them, but then he explained what he was going to do and it left Obadiah with the choice to simply…

“Do you know who I am and what I have done?” So often we don’t feel like people really know us. Obadiah wasn’t sure that Elijah really knew him. Read 1 Kings 18:13-14. Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord , that I hid a hundred prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here “‘; he will then kill me.” 1 KINGS 18:13‭-‬14 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.18.13-14.NASB To be fair, Obadiah was living a secret life as a…

Do you believe God will do the impossible? It can often be hard for many of us to imagine God doing miracles in our everyday life. Yet for Obadiah, he not only imagined it, he expected it. Read 1 Kings 18:11-12. And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here. “‘ It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 1 KINGS 18:11‭-‬12 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.18.11-12.NASB…

“What did I do?” Obadiah thinks he is in trouble. Elijah tells him to go and find Ahab and talk him that Elijah is here. But Obadiah knows how much Ahab has been looking for him and that Ahab wants to kill Elijah. Obadiah also knows that the Lord will keep Elijah safe. Read 1 Kings 18:9-11. He said, “What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death? As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,…

Elijah is found. That is the message that Obadiah is to give to Ahab. Obadiah had been able to maintain his cover and continue to work from the inside and help protect believers from Ahab and Jezebel. Now Elijah is going to challenge that. Read 1 Kings 18:7-8. Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is this you, Elijah my master?” He said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here. ‘” 1 KINGS 18:7‭-‬8 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.18.7-8.NASB Obadiah and Ahab have split up to search for water, but Obadiah…

King Ahab trusts Obadiah. As we saw yesterday, Obadiah is a follower of God, yet he is in the service of evil King Ahab. Obadiah is over everything in the household, a very powerful and prestigious position. And now Ahab has a job for him to do. Read 1 Kings 18:5-6. Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah…

Secret agent. Our story of Elijah adds a new character, Obadiah. He has a very interesting position. He is something like a secret agent. He works for the evil king Ahab and yet follows the Lord. How do those go together? Read 1 Kings 18:3-4. Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly; for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord , Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.) 1 KINGS 18:3‭-‬4 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.18.3-4.NASB Obadiah follows God first and foremost. He is in the service of King Ahab and Queen…