Keep Your Eye on the Ball – Part 2
Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again [1 Kings 18:37].
Old King Ahab, a wuss who hid behind Jezebel’s skirt, added Baal worship to the sins of Jeroboam, prompting the Lord to dispatch His miracle-working prophets to take on the prophets of Baal and Asherah. That’s where we left off yesterday. Sounds like a suitable place to continue today.
So the Lord afflicted Israel with a 3½ year drought to get the Israelites’ attention. At the conclusion He had Elijah challenge all 450 prophets of Baal and all 400 prophets of Asherah to a duel. This made the odds 850 to 1, fine odds indeed. But not to worry because Elijah was on the Lord’s side, and He’s omnipotent.
The 850 yokels, er, I mean prophets spent all morning dancing a jig and chanting their drivel to Baal, calling upon him to send fire from heaven and burn up their sacrifice to him. Not surprisingly nothing ever came of it. Elijah had a splendid time poking fun of them in the process.
Then Elijah set up an altar of seven stones, dug a big ditch around it, saturated his offering with water until the ditch overflowed, and proceeded to pray to the Lord to send fire from heaven and burn up the drenched sacrifice he was presenting to the Lord. Straightway fire came down from heaven and devoured not only the animal, but also the water and the stones!
Here’s the point, dear people. We cited a portion of Elijah’s prayer at the start of this study. He called on the Lord to perform a mighty miracle, and the Lord did. What we want to center our attention on is the stated reason why Elijah wanted the Lord to perform this miracle. The reason was this: that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.
The purpose of miracles is not to impress us and keep us coming back for more. Nor is it to tickle our fancy and leave us feeling happy. And it is certainly not to draw attention to the miracle worker. The purpose is to point people to the one true God, that they may turn from their sins and give their hearts to Him.
In today’s religious climate there are churches and denominations which emphasize miracles as a necessary part of the Church. The more time people spend around suchlike folks, the more they ogle the supposed miracles and the self-styled miracle workers. The attention does not go to the Lord Jesus but to man.
Let’s wise up and be mature men and women of God. Let’s seek the God of miracles, not the miracles of God. Give us the Person of Jesus Christ and it suffices. He is the Bread of Life, our all in all.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Old King Ahab, a wuss who hid behind Jezebel’s skirt, added Baal worship to the sins of Jeroboam, prompting the Lord to dispatch His miracle-working prophets to take on the prophets of Baal and Asherah. That’s where we left off yesterday. Sounds like a suitable place to continue today.
So the Lord afflicted Israel with a 3½ year drought to get the Israelites’ attention. At the conclusion He had Elijah challenge all 450 prophets of Baal and all 400 prophets of Asherah to a duel. This made the odds 850 to 1, fine odds indeed. But not to worry because Elijah was on the Lord’s side, and He’s omnipotent.
The 850 yokels, er, I mean prophets spent all morning dancing a jig and chanting their drivel to Baal, calling upon him to send fire from heaven and burn up their sacrifice to him. Not surprisingly nothing ever came of it. Elijah had a splendid time poking fun of them in the process.
Then Elijah set up an altar of seven stones, dug a big ditch around it, saturated his offering with water until the ditch overflowed, and proceeded to pray to the Lord to send fire from heaven and burn up the drenched sacrifice he was presenting to the Lord. Straightway fire came down from heaven and devoured not only the animal, but also the water and the stones!
Here’s the point, dear people. We cited a portion of Elijah’s prayer at the start of this study. He called on the Lord to perform a mighty miracle, and the Lord did. What we want to center our attention on is the stated reason why Elijah wanted the Lord to perform this miracle. The reason was this: that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.
The purpose of miracles is not to impress us and keep us coming back for more. Nor is it to tickle our fancy and leave us feeling happy. And it is certainly not to draw attention to the miracle worker. The purpose is to point people to the one true God, that they may turn from their sins and give their hearts to Him.
In today’s religious climate there are churches and denominations which emphasize miracles as a necessary part of the Church. The more time people spend around suchlike folks, the more they ogle the supposed miracles and the self-styled miracle workers. The attention does not go to the Lord Jesus but to man.
Let’s wise up and be mature men and women of God. Let’s seek the God of miracles, not the miracles of God. Give us the Person of Jesus Christ and it suffices. He is the Bread of Life, our all in all.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
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