Elijah and Obadiah (1 Kings 18:1-15)

This sermon was preached on 7/2/2013

Eventually the time came for the divine judgement of drought to end. Yet it would not merely come to a close by the Lord sending some clouds and life carrying on as usual. Instead it would end in such a way that would make it very clear that it was the Lord who had acted. After all, the followers of Baal had continued to oppress the followers of God during the three years of the drought. Therefore various people, including Elijah, would need to get involved.

The journey and what he saw

Sometimes we are meant to use our imaginations when reading a narrative. Elijah has to leave the place of God’s provision with the widow in Zarephath and head back to Israel. What would he have seen on his journey? He would have seen desolation as a result of the drought. Every inch of his travels would remind him that Israel was under the judgement of God. Although he knew that God had something in store, the people that he observed were without hope because they did not know that the drought was about to end, unless he told them so as he passed from place to place. But I suspect he did not, because he had to ask Ahab later to gather the people to Mount Carmel (if he had told them himself, then Ahab would not have had to do it).

Elijah’s journey is a picture of what we do every day. We travel from spiritual places (church, our homes, spiritual activities) to other destinations every day. What do we see? We see spiritual desolation all around. Every Sunday we drive along streets that shout to us that God is unknown. Wherever we go we see the signs of God’s judgement on our society. Yet, like Elijah, we know what is wrong and we should long for God to do something that would show to people that he is the Lord. I suspect that Elijah spent the journey praying, and prayer for revival should mark us as we travel each day.

The challenge and God’s providence

When Elijah receives the call from God to go and see Ahab, the prophet immediately obeys. He knows that his role involves potential danger, nevertheless he makes his journey to Samaria. It so happens that two other men also make journeys at that time – Ahab and Obadiah. The king had his reasons for arranging the journeys – he wanted to find food for his animals, and Obadiah had his reasons for making the journey – it was his role to help his king. Yet behind the decision of Ahab was the plan of God in connection to meeting with Elijah. Here we have another reminder that the Lord is in control.

Ahab can be seen as a king who wanted to do everything rather than reverse the Lord’s judgement. All he had to do was repent of his sins and call his people to repentance. But he did not. Brazenly he was prepared to get involved personally in other responses to the judgement sent by God. He imagined that there would be water somewhere despite the fact that the Lord had said the drought would be nationwide. Instead of seeking grace, he looked for grass. So here is the king engaged in such activity, yet at the same time he is also unknowingly making his way to a confrontation with God.

It is very important for us to retain this perspective at this time. The Lord is the God of providence whether in times of spiritual prosperity or in times of great sinfulness. He does not have less control of events today than he had a century ago. This week a law has been past which probably indicates that our nation has departed from God in a massive way. It is another statement from our civil authorities that we as a nation will not be governed by the laws of God. But they forget there are two ways by which we are governed by his will. On the one hand, there is voluntary submission to what he requires, and that is not happening today. On the other hand, there is his directive control even when he is disobeyed, and this control is not partial, but totally complete, and this form of control is always 100%.

Ahab had his plans and headed out to see what he would do. Our rulers have their plans and set out to complete their intentions. Yet they are only tools in the hands of God in order to further his kingdom. This is always the case, no matter what happens. In many parts of the world the church has been or is being persecuted. Sometimes many of them suffer death and the cause of God seems to be suffering a fatal blow. But wait a few decades and see what takes place. One obvious example of political powers against the church is what happened in China at the communist revolution there. Western missionaries had to leave, and they thought the church they left behind would diminish under the onslaught. Instead, despite the opposition it began to grow dramatically. We cannot even imagine what God is planning for Britain. There may be further judgement or maybe days of divine blessing are round the corner. But we cannot conclude that the Lord is not in control. He is as much in control today as he was in the time of Ahab.

Obadiah – God’s politician 

Sometimes we find believers in Jesus in places where we would never expect to find them. Paul mentions some who lived in Caesar’s household (Phil). Their faith, while it may be known at a local level, is overshadowed by the public position they hold. Obadiah would have been known as the palace administrator and perhaps believers who didn’t know otherwise might have assumed that he agreed with everything that Ahab did. Yet he was a man of God. 

It is interesting to observe the disdain with which the Lord treats his opponents. Jezebel was trying her best to get rid of the worship of Yahweh and knew that the most effective way of doing so was to kill all the prophets (they were the equivalents of theological students who attended the schools of the prophets). Yet the Lord in his providence arranged for the protection of some of them, and it is here that we see his contempt for Jezebel. He hid Elijah with and provided his needs by a woman who lived in Sidon, the area from which Jezebel had come. And he hid 100 other prophets and fed them through the activities of an individual who spent his time in the royal palace. Of course, God have reversed the method and sent the 100 to the widow and Elijah to the cave. The important matter to note is the complete sovereignty of God, even when his opponents seem to be in charge.

The writer of Kings gives a beautiful description of Obadiah – he ‘feared the LORD greatly’. Other translations have ‘a devout believer in the LORD’ or ‘revered the LORD greatly’). He had maintained this lifestyle despite the fact that lived day by day in a wicked king’s place and worked day by day on a wicked king’s national programme. Obadiah was like Daniel who had a high position in government, but he was unlike Daniel because he had to work for a regime in a country that once had served God but now was under God’s judgement. 

What does it mean to fear the Lord greatly? It includes understanding who the Lord is, what he has done, and what he requires of his people. Obadiah knew that the Lord was the covenant God who had redeemed his people from slavery in Egypt and commanded them to obey his commandments. That is the intellectual aspect of fearing the Lord with our minds. In addition, true fear is focussed on the Lord continually with strong affections because all true reverence comes from love to him. Further, true reverence is always fresh – it reveals what I am today, not what I was yesterday.

As we consider this man Obadiah, we can notice several aspects of his character. It is important to do so because some authors have been very hard on Obadiah and accused him of being a secret disciple in a wicked palace and who was marked by cowardice when asked by Elijah to take a stand. I think the opposite is the case.

First, he had served the Lord from his youth (v. 12). What an encouragement this is to parents. It is possible to bring up children in an evil day and for them to taste the grace of God. The fact is, it is no harder for God to convert them in a worldly age than it is in a spiritual age. They would have diligently taught him about the covenant relationship he was in by birth (circumcision), by providence (an Israelite), and by promise (God promised to be the God of the seed of his people). As he listened to his parents, Obadiah’s heart was opened. The best time to have this experience is when a person is young.

Second, Obadiah served the Lord sincerely. We have already noticed this when thinking about him as one who feared the Lord from his youth. The Lord did not ask Obadiah to do what Elijah had been commanded to do, nor did he give to Obadiah the unusual experiences enjoyed by Elijah. Yet there he was, holding on to his commitment to the Lord. Throughout his life, there had been continuous devotion to God. Day by day, he reminded himself who he was – a servant of God. He showed this in his work where he was willing to serve a pagan ruler. And he showed in his attitude to the prophets. We can sense that Obadiah did every day what he concluded God wanted him to do.

Third, Obadiah served the Lord sacrificially. The text tells us that he fed the 100 prophets while they were in the cave. Day after day, out of his own resources he ensured that the prophets were catered for. No doubt, he had access to resources connected to the palace. But a man who is willing to take risks for God will find his needs supplied. A man who is willing to do a big thing for God normally does lots of little things as well.

Fourth, Obadiah served the Lord singularly. As far as we can tell, he was the only believer in the palace, yet that did not stop him serving God. He put God before his career, so God gave him a good career. His service was marked by bravery – how many others would have dared to serve God in a hostile palace? Further, his service was marked by brotherly love, which he showed in taking care of the prophets. And his service was marked by hope for the future – he wanted the prophets to remain alive so that they would be able to teach the people.

Fifth, Obadiah served the Lord carefully. I think that explains his initial reaction to Elijah. It was not cowardice or unspirituality that made him object at first to Elijah’s request that he bring a message to Ahab. Obadiah was aware that God had given him a role to play and he was not willing to destroy that possibility merely because a prominent believer had other ideas. He had to be convinced that Elijah knew his own role, because if he did not, then he could suddenly be taken somewhere else by God and leave behind a situation that would be dismantled if Obadiah’s actions became public.

Application

There are several lessons we can take from this period in Elijah’s life. First, we should not be surprised if some very devout believers have prominent roles in an ungodly government. Second, we should put God first wherever we are. Third, we should not ignore fellow-believers who are in need of our help. Fourth, we should pray that some of the children in our congregation would grow up and become like Obadiah, serving God in high places in the future.