1 Kings 17
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- Written by: Bill Stewart
Elijah the Prophet
I. GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY?
In the church we often use outdated language or terms that are not generally used by other people. We sometimes talk about God as "sovereign" and often speak about the "sovereignty of God." My dictionary (The Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus) defines a "sovereign" as "a person exercising supreme authority, especially a monarch", and "sovereignty" as "supreme and unrestricted power." While kings like Henry VIII exercised enormous power, with all due respect to Queen Elizabeth II, for example, she does not exercise that kind of power. So what does it mean to speak of the "sovereignty of God" today?
I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm a huge fan of Eugene Peterson's The Message translation of the Bible. It seems to me that he's not just translating the Bible but preaching it at the same time. He has also written some brilliant short introductions to each book of the Bible which I think speak straight to us. In his introduction to the books of Kings, Peterson talks about the "sovereignty of God" today. [Hopefully in the spirit of Peterson's Bible translation I have translated a few of his words from American speech into Australian in the following quotations].
1 Kings 18
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- Written by: Bill Stewart
Elijah's Mountain Top Experience audio (6MB)
1 Kings 18
As we have just heard, in today’s Scripture reading the prophet Elijah was called by God to go to Mount Carmel which is situated in the North of Israel. It is not an especially high mountain but it does have a great view. In fact, it’s a bit like the lookout on Mount Dandenong. You probably can’t make it out on this picture but on a clear day you can see the Mediterranean Sea. I had the priviledge of going up Mount Carmel a few years ago. I was really looking forward to it. However, I had only been there a couple of minutes when six busloads of tourists, pulled up, took a few snaps, got back on the buses and headed off to Burger King for lunch. I’m afraid it tarnished the occasion somewhat and now I can’t go past a Burger King without thinking of Mount Carmel for the wrong reasons!
There was a lot in the reading, wasn’t there? I want to focus mainly on the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in verses 21-40. Then I want to try and say a couple of things about some of the difficult questions I think this passage raises for many of us. For three years Elijah has been protected by God from King Ahab and then suddenly God sends him to confront the king: straight into the heart of the enemy camp, so to speak. If I could sum up in one verse what this contest is about then it would be verse 21. As we saw last week there is a bigger battle going on than just Elijah versus Ahab and his wife Jezebel and their prophets. And the big question to be decided is: Who is God?
1 Kings 16
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly audio (4MB)
1 Kings 16:8-34
‘In breaking news this morning an assassination has taken place in the city of Tirzah, capital of Israel. Reports from the city say that King Elah was at the home of the palace steward, where he’d been drinking heavily, when the commander of the country’s northern cavalry, Zimri, came in and killed him in an unprovoked attack. Elah had been king for less than two years. Zimri is also reported to have murdered the entire royal family, ensuring that when he proclaims himself king, there will be no rivals.
‘In a further complication, the army has chosen to support their commander Omri as king rather than Zimri. We will bring you further reports when they come to hand.’
It’s a familiar story isn’t it? It comes from the pages of our text but it could equally well have come from CNN reporting on Nepal, or Burma or Fiji, or any one of several African States. A military coup kills or deposes the rightful ruler and the country is thrown into turmoil.
Not that Elah was that much of a loss. After all a king who gets drunk with the steward of the palace isn’t much of a leader, is he? What’s more he was the son of Baasha who had been cursed by God because of all the evil he’d done as king.
1 Kings 12
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- Written by: Roy Hamer
The Divided Kingdom audio (4MB)
About thirty years ago Jo and I were involved in Youth Adventure camping. In fact you could say it's how we met. You see we had mutual friends who where rock climbers and Jo and I often went climbing with them. Jo was a great climber: nimble flexible and brave. On the other hand my style was one more of brute force and great fear not to fall. One of the things you learnt very quickly when climbing was to rely on the protection you use to secure you to the rock face. One was to rely on the rope; the other was to rely on these little nuts and blocks that you’d wedge into the cracks. This protection meant that if you had a fall these things would hold you and stop you from wiping out on the valley floor.
This morning I want you to look at our reading and review the sorts of protection our two leaders of the Hebrew people put in place and what it says to us today.
First let’s look at Rehoboam.
1 Kings 9-11
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- Written by: Bill Stewart
The Foolishness of Solomon audio (4MB)
I’m not a betting man. In fact, I hate the way gambling usually takes from the poor and gives to the rich. But if you were talking odds, you’d have to say that Solomon was a sure bet. Solomon was a winner. Solomon the wise ruler;Solomon the great temple builder;Solomon the famous king.
1 Kings tells us that when the Queen of Sheba had observed all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his valets, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her. So she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. Not even half had been told me; your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard. Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” (1 Kings 10:4-9)
How could something so right go so wrong? When we first read the history of Solomon’s failure it seems almost unbelievable. How could the king who decided so wisely bring disaster upon his family and his country? I believe we can only really understand Solomon’s fall if we understand ourselves and our own weaknesses. In chapter 11 we discover that despite all his wisdom, power, and fame, Solomon had a fatal weakness. He had 700 wives and 300 mistresses (v. 3). Surprisingly, the number of Solomon’s marriages is not condemned. In the ancient world it was common practice for a king to have arranged marriages to create political alliances. (Not that I am suggesting that it’s okay for us to have 700 husbands or wives, even if we could afford them during the Global Financial Crisis!) Solomon’s marriages are condemned because they led him into idolatry.
