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Agape Bible Study
1 Kings 17 - 18
Chapter 17: The Reign of Ahab of Israel and the Beginning of the Story of Elijah the Prophet
Elijah was Yahweh's zealous prophet during the reigns of Ahab and his son Ahaziah, during the first half of the ninth century BC, fighting against idolatry and injustice in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. His name in Hebrew means "Yahweh is [my] God" and can be regarded as the mission of his life. His prophetic objective was to awaken Israel to the conviction that there is no other god but Yahweh—Yahweh alone is God. His dress was distinctive; he dressed in hairy animal skins and wore a leather loincloth or belt (2 Kng 1:8). His manner of dress suggests that he belonged to a family of shepherds or herdsmen in the Transjordan.
Elijah is the protagonist in three stories which Bible scholars refer to as the Elijah cycle:
- 1 Kings 17:1-19:21 ~ The first story begins with the drought called down upon the region by Elijah in God's divine name and escalates into a contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The story ends with Elijah's encounter with Yahweh at Mt. Horeb/Sinai and the call of Elisha.
- 1 Kings 21:1-29 ~ The second story concerns the murder of righteous Naboth in a conspiracy to claim his land, and Elijah's prophecy of doom for both King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
- 2 Kings 1:1-2:1-18 ~ The third story concerns the final confrontation between Ahab and Elijah, the ascension of Elijah into heaven, and the succession of Elijah by his servant Elisha.
Elijah in the Desert (Allston Washington)
1 Kings 17:1-6 ~ Elijah prophesies' a great drought
Chapter 17, in the first part of the Elijah cycle, is composed of three episodes concerning Elijah's activities during the three year drought and three miracles within that period:
- Elijah seeking refuge in Wadi Cherith and the miracle of the ravens (17:1-7).
- Elijah finding refuge with a Gentile widow in Sidonia and the miracle of unending supply of oil and meal (17:8-16).
- The miracle of Elijah resurrecting a widow's son (17:17-24).
1 Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead
A number of prophets in Scripture are identified by their hometowns (e.g. Ahijah of Shiloh in 1 Kng 11:29).
Question: Where was Elijah's hometown? Consult a map and find the Gilead.
Answer: He was from Tishbe in the Transjordan region of Gilead (on the east side of the Jordan River in what is today modern Jordan).
The Gilead was a rugged region between the Arnon and Yarmuk Rivers. In antiquity this region was densely forested (see Jer 22:6), and it was a territory that was especially well-suited for herding (Num 32:2). The northern part of the Gilead was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh, but the region was lost to Israel after the Assyrian conquest in 721 BC. The town of Tishbe has never been discovered in the Gilead but Tobit 1:2 mentions a Tishbi in the Galilee. The LXX (Greek Septuagint) translation, however, reads Tishbon in Gilead. Early Christian tradition sanctified a site just north of the Jabbok River in the Transjordan and built a chapel for pilgrims.
1 Kings 17:7-16 ~ The widow at Zarephath and the miracle of the flour and the oil
The entire region of the Levant was devastated by the drought and resulting famine. God commands Elijah to leave the Transjordan region and journey to a Mediterranean coastal city in Phoenician territory to seek refuge with a widow.
Question: What is ironic concerning the new place of refuge?
Answer: Elijah's life is in danger from King Ahab who is promoting Baal worship, which Elijah has condemned through the drought judgment, yet God has sent him into the very heart of Baal worship to seek refuge.
Question: How does Elijah test the woman to see if she is the right widow? How many times does he "test" her?
Answer: First he asks her for water, and then knowing that she and her son are starving, he asks her to bake him a little cake of bread.
Question: Elijah, servant of Yahweh, testing of the widow to see if she is the one Yahweh had chosen by asking her to bring him water recalls the testing of what other woman by Abraham's servant in Genesis 24:10-20?
Answer: The incident recalls the actions of Abraham's servant who was sent to find a bride for Isaac in the Aramaean homeland of Abraham's extended family. He tested Rebekah by asking for water in Genesis 24:17 to see if she was the one Yahweh had chosen as a wife for Isaac.
In the story of Elijah and the widow and Abraham's servant and Rebekah, the sought after woman is discovered using the same tactic. Rebekah only underwent one test, but Elijah tests the widow a second time by requesting that she bake him a cake of bread. Both women were blessed by Yahweh for their generous response to a traveler's request.
1 Kings 17:17-24 ~ Elijah restores the widow of Zarephath's son to life
The woman accuses Elijah of uncovering her sins and of causing the death of her son as her judgment. The woman's understanding of suffering and hardship being a punishment for her personal sins was common for pagan peoples and for the covenant people. While it was true that sin often brings its own punishment, all suffering cannot be attributed only to sins of the afflicted person as Jesus corrected His disciples in John 9:1-3.
Chapter 18: Elijah's Victory over the Priests of Baal
1 Kings 18:1-15 ~ Elijah and Obadiah
It is now the third year of the drought and famine. God commands Elijah to present himself to King Ahab; it will be a meeting that God tells His prophet will result in God sending rain to end the drought. The conditions caused by the drought have severely reduced the fodder for the kings' horses. We know from secular sources that King Ahab maintained extensive cavalry and chariot units (from an Aramaean stele fragment). The king is so desperate that he is willing to lead a search party for fodder himself and sends his steward to lead another search party. Obadiah's name means "servant of Yahweh," and his name describes his true allegiance.
Question: How do Obadiah's actions demonstrate his allegiance to Yahweh?
Answer:
- He did homage to Elijah and recognized him as Yahweh's true prophet.
- At the risk of his own life, he has managed to hide and feed 100 prophets of Yahweh from Ahab, preserving their lives.
1 Kings 18:16-24 ~ Elijah confronts Ahab and proposes a contest at Mt. Carmel
Mt. Carmel is a chain of mountains that begin near the Mediterranean coast (modern Haifa, Israel) and runs about 18 miles to the south-east. At its highest point, Mt. Carmel is 1800 feet high. Imagine the scene: the ragged prophet dressed in animal skins confronting the king of Israel in his richly embroidered garments. The king verbally attacks Elijah, calling him "scourge of Israel" while the prophet, who is not intimidated by the king, answers back with equal force, saying: 18 "Not I," he replied, "I am not the scourge of Israel, you and your family are; because you have deserted Yahweh and followed Baal [Baalim = Baals]. Elijah probably uses the plural, Baals = Baalim, because the Israelites have not only offered worship to the different Canaanite manifestations of Baal but now also to the Phoenician Baal-Shamem, a storm/rain god revered under other names such as Baal-Hadad and Hadad-Rimmon in various Phoenician and Aramaean centers (for other uses of Baalim see footnote 2).
1 Kings 18:25-29 ~ The attempt of the priests of Baal
In the contest, the priests of Baal are commanded not to light the altar fire; their god must light it as a sign of his power. Elijah gave the priests of Baal, the majority party, the first opportunity to display the power of their god and patiently gave them every opportunity for success.
Question: What techniques do the priests of Baal use to attract their god's attentions?
Answer: The yell and dance around the altar they had made. As time passes their actions become more desperate and they offer ritual bloodletting.
1 Kings 18:30-40 ~ Elijah's victory over the priests of Baal
The contest took place on a slope of Mt. Carmel that had enough space to accommodate a large crowd. There had apparently been an altar to Yahweh on the site at one time that that had been destroyed but the stones remained. It may have been an altar that existed from the time of the Patriarchs when the father of every family served as a priest and built altars and offered sacrifices whenever and wherever he so desired, or it was an altar a desperate people, cut off from the Jerusalem Temple, had set up. This practice was now forbidden in the Sinai Covenant where only one altar of Yahweh was permitted and that altar was now in the Jerusalem Temple complex (Dt 12:11-14; 1 Kng 11:36 2 Chr 3:1-2). It was possible to erect a temporary altar for a special purpose, like the altar Joshua built of undressed stones for the covenant renewal ceremony after the beginning of the conquest of Canaan (Josh 8:30-31). Such altars, like the ones from the age of the Patriarchs, were not like the Bronze altar God commanded for His desert Sanctuary or the Jerusalem Temple (Ex 27:1-8; 38:1-7; 1 Kng 8:64). The other altars were built of undressed stones on four sides and filled with dirt that was packed down firmly. The wood for burning the sacrifice was placed on top of the dirt (see verse 38).
1 Kings 18:41-46 ~ The drought ends
Throughout the contest, King Ahab has remained silent. With the victory of Elijah over the prophets of Baal, there is nothing he can say, and he probably fears for his own life.
Question: Why does Elijah tell the king to leave the mountain side?
Answer: True to his word in 18:1, the drought is over and the rain will soon begin. In the torrents of rain that will fall, it will be dangerous for the horses and the king's chariot on the mountain side, and he tells the king to go home and resume his life in the knowledge that only Yahweh is God. Yahweh's mercy has been extended to the king.
For the first time we learn that Elijah has a servant. It is probably one of the prophets saved by Obadiah who has offered his services to the Elijah. While the king returns to his palace in the Jezreel Valley, Elijah climbs nearer to the top of the mountain and reverently bows down to Yahweh and makes his petition for rain to end the drought. He then sends his servant higher up the mountain and tells him to look west toward the sea. Baal, the false god of storms and rain, could not bring the rain, but Yahweh, the One True God, will bring rain and end the drought.
Question: How many times does Elijah send his servant up to the top of the mountain to look for signs of rain?
Answer: Seven times.
CHALLENGE: “God is simply an exalted man. The Bible says we are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27), and it refers to the strong right arm of God (Deut. 4:34), his all-seeing eyes (Prov. 15:3), and so on.”
DEFENSE: Scripture is clear that God and man are fundamentally different.
Mormonism is known for teaching that God and man are the same species. Mormons frequently use the couplet, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.”
By contrast, Scripture states: “God is not a man” (Num. 23:19), “he is not a man” (1 Sam. 15:29). God has always been God; he was never a man: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God” (Ps. 90:2).
There are no other gods. In Isaiah, God declares: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (Isa. 44:6). He also states: “Is there a God besides me? . . . I know not any” (Isa. 44:8).
Similarly, men do not become gods. In Isaiah, God states: “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me” (Isa. 43:10).
The “image” of God that Genesis 1 says we bear is an aspect of our rational soul, which separates us from the animals, which God created in the same chapter.
References to God’s strong arm, his eyes, and such, are metaphors referring to God’s power and knowledge. They are not to be taken literally any more than Scripture’s references to God having feathers and wings (“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge,” Ps. 91:4).
Other verses make the immaterial nature of God clear. In John 4:24 Jesus teaches, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Elsewhere he notes, “a spirit has not flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).
There is a difference between being a spirit and having a spirit. Jesus indicates that the Father is a spirit, not that he merely has one. This means that the Father lacks a body and is entirely spiritual.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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