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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

The Troublers of Israel

Father in heaven, Lord, as we study together this morning, we ask for your presence.

We plead for it, in fact, for Lord, without you, we cannot be blessed.

Without you, our time together would be unprofitable.

So Lord, please, grace us with Thy presence this morning.

We ask that You'd send Your Holy Spirit to touch each of our hearts, that You give me the right words to speak, O Lord.

And Father, I also pray for this internet connection, that you'd keep it stable so that the words that I speak would be transmitted very clearly that each of us might be able to hear the word together.

Friends, I want to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 17.

We don't know much about the background of Elijah.

He just suddenly appears on the stage of action and leaves just as suddenly to heaven in a flaming chariot.

We know that he lived in obscurity in the country and he vexed his soul as he saw all the wickedness increasing all around him.

And so we come to 1 Kings 17 and verse 1.

This is what the Bible says, And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word." He appears just right there before Ahab and he walks right past those gods and stands there and pronounces judgment on the whole land of Israel.

It would be about 3 and a half years that would pass before Ahab would see the face of Elijah again.

It would be 3 and a half years before rain would fall on the land of Israel again.

We know this because of what the Bible says in the book of James.

Elias, speaking of Elijah, was a man subject to like passions as we are.

And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of 3 years and 6 months.

And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Even though Elijah said to Ahab, according to my word, we know that God is the 1 in control.

Now, let's go back to 1 Kings 17 and let's look at what happens next.

1 Kings 17 and verse 2, the Bible says this, And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan." The word of God.

God comes to Elijah and tells him, don't go back to your country property.

And he would command ravens to feed him there.

And you know, God would feed him with bread and water until the brook itself would dry up.

Whilst there was no rain, whilst there was no food growing, God would be the 1 that would take care of Elijah.

But after that brook dried up, What would God ask Elijah to do next?

And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

And the word of the Lord came to him saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there, because I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee." It would be once again that the word of the Lord would come to Elijah to instruct him.

And this time, God tells him to go to Zarephath.

And so it would be at this place that Elijah really learned how to pray.

We already know that Elijah was a man of prayer because in James 5, 17, it said that Elijah, he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and the rain really stopped.

He didn't just turn up to Ahab's palace 1 day and go, there's not going to be any rain.

As Elijah was looking at the wickedness of the land, he was praying in his heart.

He was struggling and wrestling with God and asking God, why?

And the word of the Lord came to Elijah to tell him to go to King Ahab.

You see, but in Zarephath at this widow's house, this would be the place where Elijah would truly learn how to pray.

Because you see the widow had a son and she was ready to to gather some sticks and bake this last piece of bread and make it for her and her son and they would die she said.

But as Elijah came that bread and that oil, the flour and the oil, would not run out until rain came upon the earth.

And so he stayed there for a good long while.

He would come and stretch himself upon this boy and pray 3 times.

And the boy would be brought back to life.

Elijah was learning the lessons of prayer as he was in the wilderness, so to speak.

As he was hiding from the face of King Ahab, it is here that Elijah would learn to grow in prayer.

I am zooming through the story of Elijah, why there is much to get through this morning.

I don't know how long it'll take, but I want to make sure that we have enough time to study.

And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, Go show thyself unto Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth.

The word of the Lord instructs Elijah now to reveal himself to Ahab every step of the way.

I hope you're seeing this 2 times already in chapter 17 and another time here in chapter 18.

Every step of the way the Lord or the Word of the Lord is guiding Elijah And this is what Ahab accuses Elijah of when he sees him.

So Elijah shows himself to King Ahab and this is what Ahab says.

And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

So he turns to Elijah and said, Are you the 1 that has been troubling Israel?

Are you the 1 that, you know, you said there would be no rain and there was no rain?

You are the 1 that's brought all this distress upon us.

You're the 1 that's brought all this famine upon us.

Verse 18, And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam." He gave it right back to Elijah.

Ahab accused Elijah of being the trouble of Israel, but Elijah says, I'm not the trouble of Israel, you are.

Speaking to the monarch of Israel, the king of Israel, how many of us would be brave enough to say such a thing to royalty?

The 1 in whom it seems has the power to kill you or to save you, right?

This is now the second time Elijah has met Ahab and both times Elijah is the 1 that has the message for Ahab.

It wasn't just any ordinary message, friends.

This is what we call a straight message, a straight testimony.

I'm not the 1 that's troubled Israel, you are the 1 that has troubled Israel because you have what?

Forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed Balaam.

Friends, there is a need for straight messages, especially in the day and age that we are living in, a straight testimony.

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The Troublers of Israel

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