Elijah – A Man With A Nature Like Ours

1. Elijah – A Man With A Nature Like Ours Fall GLCYP 2010 James 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

2. Class 1: Does The Lord God Of Israel Live? Reading: 1 Kings 16

3. ISRAEL JUDAH

4. 1 2 3 4

5. God’s Promise To Jeroboam I King 11:37-38 37 'So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 'Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.

6. God’s Security To Jeroboam • Heed all that I command you • Walk in My Ways • Do what is right in My sight: • to keep My statutes • and My commandments “I will build for you and enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you!”

7. Made Golden Calves I King 12:28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!“

8. DAN BETHEL

9. Made Golden Calves I King 12:28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!“ Exodus 32:4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

10. Made Priests of Every Class of People I King 12:31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

11. Made Priests of Every Class of People I King 12:31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 2 Chronicles 13:9 "Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods?

12. Things Done In Secret II Kings 17:9-12 9 Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger, 12 for they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this thing."

13. Things Done In Secret Ezekiel 8:6-12 6 Furthermore He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations." 7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then He said to me, "Son of man, dig into the wall"; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. 9 And He said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there." 10 So I went in and saw, and there-- every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.'"

14. The Sins of Jeroboam II Kings 17:21-23 21 For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them commit a great sin. 22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did;they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

15. The Sins of Jeroboam • Jeroboam – 1 Kings 14:7-9 • Nadab – 1 Kings 15:25-26 • Baasha – 1 Kings 15:33-34 • Elah – ? • Zimri – 1 Kings 16:18-19 • Omri – 1 Kings 16:25-26 • Ahab – 1 Kings 16:30 • Jehu – 2 Kings 10:30-31 • Jehoahaz – 2 Kings 13:2 • Jehoash – 2 Kings 13:11 • Jereboam II – 2 Kings 14:24 • Zechariah – 2 Kings 15:9 • Shallum – ? • Menahem – 2 Kings 15:18 • Pekahiah – 2 Kings 15:24 • Pekah – 2 Kings 15:28 • Hoshea – 2 Kings 17:2

16. The Sins of Jeroboam • Jeroboam – 1 Kings 14:7-9 • Nadab – 1 Kings 15:25-26 • Baasha – 1 Kings 15:33-34 • Elah – ? • Zimri – 1 Kings 16:18-19 • Omri – 1 Kings 16:25-26 • Ahab – 1 Kings 16:30 • Jehu – 2 Kings 10:30-31 • Jehoahaz – 2 Kings 13:2 • Jehoash – 2 Kings 13:11 • Jereboam II – 2 Kings 14:24 • Zechariah – 2 Kings 15:9 • Shallum – ? • Menahem – 2 Kings 15:18 • Pekahiah – 2 Kings 15:24 • Pekah – 2 Kings 15:28 • Hoshea – 2 Kings 17:2 4

17. Omri & Ahab I Kings 16:25-26 25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. I Kings 16:30-31 30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat…

18. The Sins of Ahab • Took as wife Jezebel the daugher of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians • He went and served Baal and worshipped him • Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal which he had built in Samaria • And Ahab made a wooden image (Asherah) • In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho • Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

19. Marriage Outside God’s Family IKing 21:25 But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. stirred him up = “to seduce”

20. Marriage Outside God’s Family Deuteronomy 7:1-6 1 "When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you… 2 You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 3 "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 "For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. 6 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

21. Marriage Outside God’s Family Nehemiah 13:23-27 23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people. 25 So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. 26 "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. 27 "Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?"

22. Marriage Outside God’s Family 1 Corinthians 7:39 39 A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

23. Marriage Outside God’s Family Deuteronomy 13:6-11 6 "If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 "of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 "you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 "but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 "And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 "So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

24. Ahab Served Baal & Yahweh • Ahab’s children: • Ahaziah = “Yahweh holds” • Jehoram = “Yahweh is high”

25. Baalim I Kings 18:17-18 17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that you, O troubler of Israel?" 18 And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals(or Baalim). • Baal was the pagan god for nature and fertility • Since Baal was responsible for droughts, plagues, and other calamities, in times of great turbulence, human sacrifices were often made to help appease the divine instigator

26. Baal / Asherah Worship • The immediate worship of Baal and Asherah (also Astarte, Astoreth and several other variants) is, for the most part, extinct. • Baal – is the primary male god of the Canaanite religion, centered around Sidon (from which Jezebel came). Worship of this god included such features as infant sacrifice and cannibalism. Represented by the sun, he is the primary male symbol of fertility. He (and Asherah) give birth to 70 other gods who make up the pantheon of this worship style. The name is generic, and sometimes is applied to other, more particular gods. • Asherah– is the primary female goddess of this religion. Her worship features temple prostitutes. She is represented by the moon.

27. Ashtoreth • Known as “Astarte” (Phoenicians) or “Ishtar” (Assyrians) • Later known by the Greeks as “Aphrodite” • Known by the Romans as “Venus” • Goddess of sexual love, maternity and fertility • Prostitution was a large part of worship • Was the wife of Baal!

28. Judges 2:9-19 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at TimnathHeres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so. 18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

29. Example In The Time Of The Judges Judges 10:6 6 Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.

30. Human Sacrifice Jeremiah 32:32-35 32 'because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger-- they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 'And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 'But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 'And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'

31. Human Sacrifice Jeremiah 19:3-5 3 "and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle. 4 "Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents 5 "they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind),

32. Human Sacrifice II Kings 17:16-17 16 So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

33. God’s Comments On Idolatry Jeremiah 2:10-12 10 For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, send to Kedar and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit. 12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate," says the LORD.

34. Jeremiah 10:1-5 1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD: "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. 4 They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. • They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.“ RSV & NIV = “scarecrows in a cucumber (melon) field”

35. Idolatry Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

36. What Is Covetousness? Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." • Don’t try to keep up with the Jones’ • Ipod, smartphone, computer, video games, tv, car! • Garden, kitchen, furniture, size of their yard, pool • Clothes, walk-in closet, their looks, their status/attention • Their spouse, children, family

37. Beware Of Covetousness Luke 12:15 And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." • Luke 12:21 “Fool!... So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” • Rich toward God = Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (v. 31)

38. Introduction of Elijah IKing 17:1 1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."

39. If The Foundations Are Destroyed Psalm 11:1-7 1 In the LORD I put my trust; how can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain"? 2 For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? 4 The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids test the sons of men. 5 The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, he loves righteousness; his countenance beholds the upright.