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TRUST THE OLD MEN-REHOBOAM
ICEBREAKER
For an icebreaker this week, I’d like to begin by telling you a little story from my personal life. And if you wanted to use this story with your own class, you could just tell them that a friend of yours had this experience. Because we’re friends, right? I consider all of you my friends. Well, there was a time in my life where I got very enthusiastic about the game of racquetball. I played a lot, I practiced a lot, and I got to the point to where I felt like I was a fairly skilled player. Well, one day while at the courts, I was just practicing by myself when I heard a knock on the glass behind me. I turned around, and on the other side was a much, much older gentleman who must have been in his late 70’s, in short shorts no less, and asked if I would like to play a game. I said sure, but in my mind, I was thinking, “Well, this is going to be easy”. I could tell he wasn’t going to be able to run very fast and so I figured the match would be a bit of a slaughter. Which it was. But let me tell you how it went. He allowed me to serve first. I went to the line and offered up a bit of a difficult serve to return. It bounced into the corner where he was not fast enough to run and return it. The score was 1-0. And I thought to myself, ok, that’s not really nice, maybe I’ll just serve up an easy one for him. I mean, he’s old. Maybe I should tone it down a bit. So I served something a bit more straightforward and, lo and behold, he was able to hit it that time. He hit it straight and low right into the front corner where I was not able to return it. So I thought to myself, “Hmmm. Nice return. I’m sure he’ll get a few lucky shots in during the course of the game.” He went up to serve. The ball came bouncing back into one of the most awkward positions and bounces I’d ever encountered. I was not able to return it. The score was now 1-1. And then, I tell you, I did not score another point that entire game. It was a slaughter. But not for me, for him. That guy had me running all over the court, diving, racing, sliding, but never able to get a decent shot in. Now, it’s true, he wasn’t fast. But he didn’t have to be. He knew exactly how and where to hit that ball to place it in the hardest locations, and bounces, and angles possible. He was in total control. So I lost. Big time. And with sweat dripping down my face, he asked if I would like to play again. I respectfully declined because, I was too worn out. I learned an important lesson that day—that youth does not always trump experience. In fact, it’s usually the opposite. And that’s my story. Now if you’re a teacher and you don’t want to refer to my story, you could always come up with an example or a story of a time when you saw experience triumph over youth in your own life.
TRANSITION
Well, that experience from my life reminds me of something that happened to a man named Rehoboam in the book of 1 Kings. Now, Rehoboam was Solomon’s son and the new King of Israel after his father died. And in chapter 12 he has a bit of a dilemma on his hands. In verses 1-5, the people come to him with a request. They say in verse 4.
“4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
5 And he said unto them, Depart yet three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.”
So apparently, Solomon had really worked the people hard, or taxed them heavily under his reign. I guess he had to, to support his opulent lifestyle and all those wives. So the people ask, “Hey, could you ease up on us a bit?” And Rehoboam, needing a little time to think about is, says, “Uh, give me three days to think about it.” And in that timeframe, he goes to two different groups of people for some advice.
SEARCH
Now I’d like you to read verses 6-14 with the following questions in mind.
Who were the two groups of people Rehoboam consulted?
What was their advice?
What does Rehoboam decide to do?
And,
According to verse 19, what was the result of that decision?
So, Who were the two groups he consulted? It says that he consulted with the old men, that had served with his father, and the young men, who had grown up with him.
What was their advice? Well, I feel that these two groups illustrate the two most common types of leadership styles that we’re likely to encounter or choose from ourselves. The old men encouraged him to be a good servant to his people.
7 If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them , and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
So Rehoboam, ease up a little on the heavy burdens your father placed on them. Serve the people, and they’ll respect you.
Then, what did the young men counsel? In verse 11, they tell him to forget that spineless approach and say:
“11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”
They tell him to go even harder on the people—show them who’s boss—rule the kingdom with an iron fist. If you’ll bear down on them twice as hard, you’ll have control, and they will fear and respect you. Do you see the two leadership philosophies there? You’ve probably encountered both in your life, haven’t you? There is the leader that says, “You live to serve me.” And then there’s the leader that says, “I live to serve you.” Now which of those two styles did Jesus subscribe to? He was always a servant to the people he led. Always serving. King Benjamin is a good example of this type of leadership style as well. I also love how Doctrine and Covenants 124:133-134 describes the calling of stake president in the Church. It looks as if we could have chosen from two different names for that position. What else could we have called the stake president according to these verses? We could have also referred to them as the Stake Servant. But we chose president instead. But that’s what that calling should be. The Stake President serves the members. As do Bishops, Relief Society Presidents, Youth leaders, and others. These callings are positions of service. On the other hand, other leaders may subscribe to the “You live to serve me” kind of philosophy. Satan is that kind of leader, King Noah, Herod, and the long list of dictators, tyrants, and despots that have rules throughout the centuries. You’ll see both styles of leadership manifest in families, businesses, nations, and governments all over the world. Which do you espouse?
Now what does Rehoboam decide to do? Who does he decide to listen to? The young men. And he goes out, and it says that he spoke roughly to the people and told them he would add to their burdens and be even tougher on them than Solomon was. It’s the “Drop hand grenades” style of leadership for him.
And what was the result of that decision? Did the young men give good advice? No. The people rebel, and Rehoboam loses the majority of his kingdom. 10 of the 12 tribes decide to break off from the nation and form their own kingdom and choose their own “boam” to be their king. They choose a man named Jeroboam to be their king instead of Rehoboam. They consider themselves to be the true kingdom of Israel and Rehoboam to be the king over basically his own tribe, Judah. So from here on out, for the rest of the Old Testament you have two major Israelite kingdoms in the area. The Kingdom of Judah, and the Kingdom of Israel. Both have kings and prophets. And that’s why from here on out, as we study the books of the prophets, some of them are prophets of Israel, and others, prophets of Judah. This is where and how this split takes place. And sometimes these two nations are allies, and sometimes they are enemies. But they never reunite. Eventually those 10 northern tribes are going to become the lost 10 tribes, when they’re conquered by the Assyrians. But we’ll come to that later this year. And all this because Rehoboam decided to listen to the young men, rather than the old. And I believe that this is typically the result of that kind of leadership style. It may work for a while, but eventually It invites rebellion, insurrection, and a loss of power. Think of history, what usually happens to dictators? They lose their kingdom. They lose their power. They are defeated. But the Jesus style of leadership, the “servant” mentality, invites loyalty, respect, and love from its dependents. Rehoboam should have listened to the old men. They were wise in their counsel.
TRUTH
So can you teach me a principle from these verses? What painful lesson did Rehoboam just learn? I might put it this way:
Listen to the old men. Respect experience and wisdom and all will be well.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
How could we liken this story unto ourselves? This is an especially powerful lesson for the youth to understand. Can you think of any old men who provide us with really good counsel and leadership? The prophets and apostles. Yes. They may be older, but they speak with great experience and wisdom. Following the advice and counsel of our church leaders will always be the wisest course of action to take. The counsel of the people that grow up around you, may not always be the best, although it may be tempting to trust in them. Just like I learned with my racquetball game with that older gentleman, experience will most often trump youth. So a personal question for you? Do you trust the old men? And how closely do you follow their counsels?
CONCLUSION
I bear witness that following the old men of God will always be the best course of action for us to take. Learn from Rehoboam’s mistake. I know that it’s often seductive and tempting to think that progress, and youth, and energy and looking forward is always the way to go. The old-fashioned, the established, the traditional, are often mocked or disparaged or rebelled against by the young. But be very careful about falling into that trap. Like Rehoboam, it may just cause you to forfeit YOUR kingdom for a lesser.
MICAIAH-AM I BECOME YOUR ENEMY, BECAUSE I TELL YOU THE TRUTH?
There’s another story in 1 Kings that is not really very well-known but teaches a powerful additional principle along the same lines as the Rehoboam principle. And it’s so fun. I love it. It’s the story of the prophet Micaiah. Have you ever heard of him? I don’t know why we don’t study this story in church. It’s every bit as good as Daniel and the Lion’s Den, David and Goliath, or the story of Naaman. I’ll just summarize it for you and invite you to read the complete story. We find it in 1 Kings 22. The king of Judah at this time is a man named Ahab. And he’s wondering if he should go to battle against the kingdom of Syria. And he has all these false prophets that he consults, and all of them tell him to go up to battle and that he will prosper—he will win. But the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, who is suggesting they combine forces and face Syria together asks, “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him?” You know, do we have any real prophets around here? Prophets of Jehovah? And I love Ahab’s response. He says, “There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” You know, he never prophesies good things for me, so I can’t stand going to him. I hate him. But King Jehoshaphat prevails on him, and they bring Micaiah in. And I love this. Ahab asks him if he should go to battle. And Micaiah says, “Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.” But he must have said it so sarcastically that Ahab knows that he’s not telling him the truth or what’s really on his mind. And so he says, “How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?” So Ahab knows, deep down, that Micaiah speaks the truth. It’s just that the truth isn’t always easy to take. It’s so much easier to listen to the voices of those who tell you what you want to hear. So Micaiah is like, “Oh, it’s the truth you want, eh? Really. Ok Ahab, you want the truth. If you go to battle, you will die. That’s the prophesy of the Lord.” And how does Ahab react to that? He says to Jehoshaphat, see, “Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?” Now Micaiah goes even further and tells this fun little story to the King and sets up this little imaginary conversation between God and his angels. And God is up there and basically says, “You know, King Ahab down there is really doing a crummy job as king. He’s wicked, he doesn’t listen to the prophets, how can we get rid of him? How can we convince him to go to battle, so that he’ll die? And an angel comes forward and says, “I know how we can do it. You know that Ahab always listens to his false prophets. Well, I’ll go down and be lying spirit in the voice of the false prophets and they’ll convince him to go, and ba da boom, ba da bing, he’ll go to battle, he’ll die, and we’ll be rid of him. It’s all very sarcastic and indirect. Well, for that, Ahab throws Micaiah into prison and decides to go to battle anyway. And interestingly enough, we know that deep inside, Ahab knows it’s the truth or there is a part of him that does believe Micaiah. But it’s so much easier to listen to those who tell you what you want to hear. But he thinks that maybe he can fool God. He convinces Jehoshaphat to dress up like him. Perhaps chuckling to himself, “Ah hah, they’ll go after him, and he will die, but not me.” So they go out to battle, and it first, it appears to be working. The Syrians start to focus their attack on Jehoshaphat, who they think is Ahab. But then it says that Jehoshaphat cries out, and they recognize that it’s not Ahab’s voice. I don’t know, maybe they’re like, “Hmmm, Ahab’s voice isn’t that masculine. It can’t be him”. And so they turn and end up focusing on Ahab’s army anyway. And it says in verse 34: And a certain man drew a bow at a venture (which means randomly) and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness; wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded. And they do and as the battle continues, Ahab, slowly bleeds to death. Micaiah’s prophesy comes true, as we knew it would. You can’t fool God with a disguise. So the lesson of that story fits very well with the story of Rehoboam. Be wary of listening to those who only tell you what you want to hear. Our friends, those that grow up around us, or those that stand to gain themselves if we follow their advice cannot always be trusted. What we should be most interested in is the truth. Be willing and open to accept wisdom, even if it’s difficult to hear. It reminds me something Paul said in Galatians 4:16. He asks the people, “Am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Let’s not make those who are willing to tell us the hard truth, out of a love and concern for our own well-being, the enemy. Micaiah had Ahab’s best interest at heart. He would have lived had he listened to him. But Ahab was blinded. Blinded by those false prophets who didn’t really care about him and only told him what he wanted to hear out of a selfish sense of self-preservation. Beware his and Rehoboam’s mistake. Listen to the true prophets. Listen to the old men.
QUEEN JEZEBEL BLINDNESS
And you know what, this message is such an important one from 1 Kings that there is even another story that teaches the same principle. It’s found chapter 21. We won’t really cover this one but, if you’re interested, read the story of Ahab, Jezebel, and Naboth’s vineyard. Here is yet another example warning of the dangers of only listening to the voices of those who tell you what you want to hear. King Ahab only sees Elijah, the prophet, as his enemy, but Jezebel as his friend. But really, it’s Elijah that has his best interest at heart. Jezebel is going to turn Ahab into a liar, a false accuser, and a murderer. Elijah could have spared him from the loss of his kingdom. But Jezebel leads him to eventual cursing and destruction.
THE WIDOW OF ZARAPHATH
ICEBREAKER
All right—the widow of Zaraphath. A great way to begin a lesson of this story is to just show them the little Church film that depicts this account. It’s very well done. (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2011-03-0071-elijah-and-the-widow-of-zarephath?lang=eng&alang=eng) And as they watch the video, you can have them fill out this movie guide which will not only help them to understand the story better, but can also help them to engage a little more with the story and pay attention. So here are the questions. You have some “During the Video” questions, and some “After the Video” questions.
SEARCH
During the Video:
1. What was the situation the land was facing at the time this story took place?
2. The woman was a widow and had how many children?
3. How much food does the woman have at this point?
4. What did Elijah ask her to do?
5. Did she listen to him?
6. What was the result?
After the Video:
1. Why do you think Elijah asked her to feed him first?
2. Why do you think God sent Elijah at this point in her life?
First, the “During the Video” questions:
1. What was the situation the land was facing at the time this story took place? Answer: A great famine. The Lord had stopped the heavens as a result of the wickedness of the people.
2. The woman was a widow and had how many children? She had one son.
3. How much food does the woman have at this point? She only has a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse, or a container. She has one final meal left. Like she says to Elijah, “I’m out here gathering a few sticks so I can go home, make a little cake so that my son and I can enjoy one last meal together . . . and then were going to die.
4. And what does Elijah have the gall to ask her to do at this point? Make a cake for me first. Give me your last meal. But, he makes her a promise. If you do this, then I assure you, that you will never run out of meal and oil, as long as this famine may last. But, you’ve got to have the faith to trust me and do this difficult thing first. Elijah is not being selfish here. This is a test of faith.
5. Did she listen to him? She does. She does have the faith to feed him first—to give him her final meal.
6. What was the result? “And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.” A miracle occurs. A daily miracle.
Now for the “After the Video” questions. Give your students some quiet pondering time after the movie ends to think about their answers to the following questions
1. Why do you think Elijah asked her to feed him first?
Well I believe that this is the way the Lord works with all of us. He requires us all to have faith first. Faith precedes the miracle. Not vice versa. It’s a principle we see all over the scriptures. It’s not “I’ll believe it when I see it”, but “You’ll see it, when you believe it.” The widow of Zaraphath was the type of person who could live and act by faith. She gives him her (and her son’s), last meal. And realize, this is a mother here. Can you imagine how difficult that must have been? To give this grown man her own starving child’s last meal instead. But what a wonderful faith she demonstrates here. Can you imagine how comforting and relieving it would have been, every day, from then on, to reach her hand into that barrel, and always find something more there. Or to tip that little cruse upside down, and to always find oil flowing from it. I believe the Lord can do things like that for us too, if we show sufficient faith to put him first. If we pay our tithing, the Lord will assure that we will have enough to get by. If we give him of our time in personal prayer and scripture study, then he can assure us that we will have adequate time to do all our worldly work as well. If we give him of our efforts in a church calling or in Sabbath day observance, then he can cause us to still have enough energy and ability to do all that we have to accomplish. If we give him our faith, our belief, and our confidence, then he can cause us to move mountains and stand strong in the face of adversity. He can cause our finances, our time, our effort, and our faith, to “waste not” or “fail” not.
Question #2 Why do you think God sent Elijah at this point in her life? Why her last meal?
This is also pattern that we see all over the scriptures. God often comes to rescue his disciples only after they have expended almost all their efforts and resources first. My father refers to it as the fourth watch principle. That line comes from a story in the New Testament where the apostles are rowing against the wind in the Sea of Galilee. And when does the Savior come to rescue them, walking upon the water? The fourth watch. The very last watch of the night—only after hours and hours of rowing. I’m sure the apostles would have much more preferred him to come in the first, or second, or third watch. But he came in the fourth. After they had expended great energy and effort first. When did God rescue Joseph Smith in the sacred grove from the powers of darkness? He waited until “the very moment when I was about to abandon myself to sudden destruction”. When did God come with an answer to Hagar’s plea for help? When the water was spent in the bottle. When did the great sign of the Savior’s birth of “the day and the night and the day of light” come to the believing Nephites of Zarahemla? On the very day that the unbelievers had set apart for their execution if the sign did not come. And when did the Lord send Elijah to the widow of Zaraphath to save her and her son from hunger? At her last meal. When all she had was enough to make a little cake to eat. Whether we like it or not, we worship a fourth watch God. A God that allows us to struggle, and work, and toil, and wrestle against the challenges of our lives, and often right up to our limits. Until we almost have no more to give. And you might ask your classes this difficult discussion question. Why do you think God does this? Is he a torturous God? Does he like to see us suffer? Mmmm, I don’t think that’s it. He allows us to toil against the wind because he knows that’s how strength and endurance are created. We lift weights to the point of failure, so that muscle grows back in its place. Our spiritual muscle fibers work much the same. Our trials of faith are what makes weak things become strong. Our fourth watch experiences help to give us confidence in our own ability and power for future difficulties. They help us to develop patience and long suffering. We learn something about ourselves as we endure as we gain a higher and more eternal perspective. It helps to put all other trials and tests into their proper place.
Now there’s another principle that I believe the widow of Zaraphath teaches us, but it coincides so well with another story about another widow in the book of 2 Kings, that I’m going to save it for next week when we talk about the Shunammite woman and Elisha. So stay tuned.
TRUTH
If I have the faith to put God first and his instructions first, he will make what I have sufficient.
If I have the strength to endure unto the fourth watch, then God will come and help me when I need it most. He will not let me fail.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Come up with an example of how you could put the Lord first in some area of your life?
Have you ever had a “fourth watch” or “last meal” experience? How did God come to your aid?
CONCLUSION
Well, the widow of Zaraphath stands as a superb example of the rewards of faith and the value of acting on godly instruction without knowing for certain what the result may be. I bear my personal conviction to you that God will always follow through on his promises. If he promises that you will have enough, then you will have enough. If he promises that your family will be blessed, then your family will be blessed. If he promises that all will be well in the end, then all will be well in the end. But we’re going to have to endure to the fourth watch I’m afraid. We’re going to have to give of “our last meal” to God. But when we do, I assure you that we will not fail. The Lord won’t let us. We will waste not and fail not. And every time we reach our hand into the barrel of our faith, there we will ever feel the reassuring sensation of flour through our fingers and find life sustaining nourishment for our souls.
SHOWDOWN ON MT. CARMEL
ICEBREAKER
For an icebreaker, a fun illustration you can do with your students is to take two long pieces of masking tape and tape them onto the floor in a large v shape. Be sure that one end of both pieces comes together in a point at one end and the other end at some distance from the other. Far enough that it would be impossible for even the most flexible of people to touch both ends with your feet. You then challenge a student to get as far as they can down the v without taking either foot off the two pieces of tape. What this will cause them to do is to split their legs wider and wider the further they go. At some point though, they won’t be able to go any further. They will have to “halt” their progress. Now depending on their flexibility, some may make it further than others, but the further they try to go, the more painful it is more likely to be as well. But eventually, you can ask them, if they wanted to make any more progress—if they wanted to travel any further in that direction, what would they have to do? They would have to choose one side or the other. You couldn’t go any further without choosing a side.
TRANSITION
Well, that’s the kind of situation the Israelites are finding themselves in in 1 Kings chapter 18. They’re kind of waffling between a worship of Baal (brought on by the evil reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel) and a worship of Jehovah. Jezebel has killed the other true prophets of God off leaving Elijah basically on his own. So a question to get your students into the scriptures: Can you find the phrase in 1 Kings 18 that best illustrates the demonstration we just completed? Which verse holds the best match? The answer: verse 21
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
SEARCH
Now I believe this story basically speaks for itself. It’s really fun. I would have your students just take turns reading two or three verses at a time as you experience it together. I suggest you start in verse 17 and read at least until verse 40. I won’t take the time to go verse by verse with you here, but I’ll walk you through some of the highlights. Elijah goes to King Ahab and tells him to bring all his prophets of Baal to the top of Mt. Carmel for a showdown of sorts. It’s kind of a “My God can beat up your god” kind of contest and all of the people are invited to come watch. The challenge? Whose God can answer by fire. Both sides get to make a sacrifice and whoever’s God answers by fire first, wins. It may also be interesting for you to know that Baal was the Canaanite god of rain. And you’ll remember from the previous story that the land is experiencing a drought and resulting famine because of this. That was a defining characteristic of living in the promised land. The people depended on God for rain. It wasn’t like Egypt where they could use the Nile for irrigation. So the Israelites have not “hearkened diligently unto his commandments”, they have “turned aside and served other gods”. Therefore, the Lord has now “shut up the heaven, that there be no rain” and the land is not yielding her fruit. So Elijah aims to help them see the error of their ways. So people, if you’re worshipping Baal, fine, worship him. But he’s the god of rain, right. How’s that working out for you? The challenge for them to call down fire from heaven could be another way of challenging them to bring rain. Fire is sometimes the word used for lightning in the scriptures. So, who can bring a storm first? Who can bring rain? And being a sporting fellow, Elijah gives them the advantage of going first. Now a great way to illustrate this story is to draw a line down the middle of a whiteboard or chalkboard and put the Baal on one side, and Jehovah on the other. This is the battle of the rain gods. Who is going to win? As you go through the story, you can fill in the chart. So first of all, the question is: How many representatives do they have? Well, how many priests of Baal are there? 450. How many prophets of Jehovah do we have here? Just one, just Elijah. 450 to 1. Hmmm. Doesn’t look promising does it. The next question is “what kind of wood” are they using. The priests of Baal have the advantage of using dry wood for their offering. But what about Elijah? What does he do to the wood of his offering. His wood would have been drenched. He has them fill four barrels of water and pour it on the offering. Then he has them do it again. And again. Three times he pours four barrels of water on it. There’s even a little trench dug around it that fills with water. He wants to make sure that there is no question in anyone’s mind that this is a miracle. If that lights on fire, it must be an act of God. I mean, have you ever tried to light a fire with wet wood? I’ve been on enough rainy scout camps in my day to tell you from personal experience how impossible it is to light wet wood. Next question. How long do they take to try and receive a response from the heavens? It says that the priests of Baal called “from morning even until noon” without an answer. And then they continue all afternoon “until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice”. So all day, hours and hours praying and worshipping and trying to get Baal to answer. You can imagine how exhausted and worn out they must have been. Now, how long does it take Elijah to get an answer? Well, his prayer in verses 36 and 37 and would probably have taken all of 30 seconds. What do they do to try and get their answer? The priests of Baal call and leap and cry aloud and cut themselves and bleed to try and show their devotion to their rain god—to get Baal’s attention. And while they are doing this Elijah mocks them a bit, doesn’t he? It’s kind of funny even. “Cry aloud,” he says, for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth , and must be awaked.” He’s toying with them. Come on now, yell a little louder, I mean, obviously he’s up there, he is a god, but he’s probably just taking a nap. You’ve just gotta wake him up! Or, oh, you know what, he might be on vacation, that’s it, keep going and maybe he’ll get back sometime soon. I guess the idea of sarcasm has been around since Biblical times.
What did Elijah have to do to get his answer? He didn’t have to cry aloud, or leap, or cut himself. No, he just walks forward, and it doesn’t even say that he shouts, or calls out. The verb is simply, “Said”. He just “says” a prayer. That’s it.
And what’s the result of all this? For the priests of Baal, verse 29 tells us that “there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.” Because Baal is not a god. He is a figment of their imagination. And how does Jehovah answer? He answers with fire. Probably lightning in this case, because a great rain soon follows in verse 45. The fire of God comes down and consumes the offering, AND all the water, AND all of the stones of the altar even. There’s nothing but a crater left in its place.
“And when the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.”
What do you feel is the lesson of this episode on the top of Mt. Carmel?
One possibility. If we want to come to know that “the Lord, he is the God,” we too must pray. God doesn’t require some complicated, tricky, or exclusive kind of solution. He wants us to pray. And yes, endurance and patience are needed in this process, but the way is clear. And God will answer our prayers. I believe that with all my heart. God answers prayers, because he is the God. And how does he answer? I also believe that one of the purposes of this story is to show us we believe in a God that answers by fire. We may not see literal lightning strikes in our lives, but God can and does answer, powerfully, by the fire of the Holy Ghost. And you know, sometimes we do experience the “Mt. Carmel” kinds of spiritual answers to our prayers. Those intense, powerful, and potent occurrences that help to form and solidify our testimonies. But that’s not the only way he communicates with us. In the very next chapter, the Lord is going to reveal another way that he speaks. Also, Shouldn’t the choice be clear? God clearly wins in all cases. Even when it seems we are outnumbered, or the world has all the cards. Who would you rather worship? Make the right choice. It shouldn’t be hard.
TRUTH
Trying to worship both the Lord and the world will only halt our progress. Sooner or later we must choose a side.
We believe in a God that answers by fire—the fire of the Holy Ghost. If we wish to receive an answer, we must pray.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Could you share a time you felt the Lord answered you “by fire”? The fire of the Holy Ghost.
What has helped you to come to know that “The Lord, he is the God”?
CONCLUSION
So, are you any more convinced? Are you still trying to straddle more than one line? If you feel your progress has been halted, if you feel that you are stuck between two opinions, remember this showdown on Mt. Carmel and make the right choice. It doesn’t matter how strong the world and its adherents seem. The choice is clear. Choose Jehovah! Choose the God with real power, the God that answers by fire.
THE MT. HOREB SOLUTION
ICEBREAKER
Now we’re going to move to an entirely different mountain. Let’s leave Mt. Carmel with Elijah and travel over to Mt. Horeb where there he is going to lean a different lesson. As an icebreaker, I like to show my students a few of the following pictures. Now maybe you’re familiar with this type of motivational poster? Have you ever seen these before? Typically, they’ll have a very pretty photograph and an inspirational message underneath. You’ll find these in schools or in corporate offices as a means of motivating or inspiring people to work harder or with more enthusiasm. Well, this other company decided to play off that idea with a little more cynicism to create demotivational posters. Just the opposite. So here are a few examples you might show.
The Sky is the Limit—Too Bad you can’t fly.
Mistakes. It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.
Defeat-For every winner, there are dozens of losers. Odds are you’re one of them.
Losing. If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style.
Stupidity. Quitters never win, and winners never quit, but those who never win and never quit, are idiots.
Aren’t those terrible? But hilarious. If you’re interested in checking these out, they have tons of them. The website is called, get this, despair.com.
TRANSITION
But, have you ever experienced times where you maybe felt that way? A little discouraged, pessimistic, or cynical? That pretty well describes how Elijah is feeling at this time in his life.
SEARCH
I’d like you to read 1 Kings 19:4 and 10 and give me some words that you feel best describe Elijah’s state of mind at this time. Mark the words and phrases that lead you to those words. And what words do you come up with? Discouraged? Depressed? Hopeless? Lonely? Pessimistic? All of these things. Look at the end of verse 4. It says that “he requested for himself that he might die, and he said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” Wow! He wants to die. That’s pretty low, right? In verse 10 you hear him say that “I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” He sounds lonely, isolated, and despondent. Well, do you ever feel that way? It might be comforting to know that even prophets can feel that way sometimes. After the showdown on Mt. Carmel and that magnificent display of God’s power, it doesn’t seem like anybody really changes in Israel. There’s no mass repentance. There’s no major shift in spirituality. The people seemed to enjoy the show and then just went on with their normal lives. And now Jezebel is after him for causing her false prophets to be killed. So what does he do? He goes to Mt. Horeb and hides in a cave. Can you see him in there. Sitting alone in the darkness of the cave with a gloomy look on his face. And that’s what we do sometimes when we’re discouraged, don’t’ we? We want to just kind of go and hide in our caves for a while, and wallow in self-pity. Well that’s not what God wants for his people, his disciples. There is a time and a place for sadness, mourning, and discouragement. There’s no sin in that. But he does intend us to be happy in life and anxiously engaged in good causes, regardless of what happens to us. So here’s your challenge. I want you to read verses 11-19 and find as many “solutions to discouragement” that you can find. How does God seek to help Elijah to come out of it? How does he get him to come out of his cave?
One of the major messages I see comes in what happens in verses 11-12. The Lord sends a strong wind, and then an earthquake, and then a fire, but the Lord’s voice doesn’t come in any of them. Instead, he receives an answer in the form of a still, small, voice. And that voice gives him guidance. Therefore, what should we do when we get discouraged? Listen to the still, small voice. Listen to the Spirit. It can help give you solutions and answers to your problems. It can offer you comfort and counsel during your darkest days.
This also indicates how the Spirit will often speak to us. The guidance of the Spirit more often comes in a peaceful, reverent, and subtle way rather than in dramatic fashion. I remember in my youth often wondering if there was something wrong with me because I didn’t seem to have many “spiritual experiences”. When I would get up to bear my testimony, I wouldn’t cry or feel overwhelming emotion. I never had any visions, heard any voices, or was witness to some miraculous display of God’s power. See, I thought that the Holy Ghost communicated in “Earthquakes, and whirlwinds and great infernos of feeling and intensity”. And he can, we just saw that in our last story. However, here we see God communicating with a different kind of fire. A warmer, more familiar, more subtle fire. And when I really stop to think about it in that way, I realize that I have “spiritual” experiences all the time. How often have I felt good when serving someone or keeping a commandment? Often. Those are spiritual experiences. That’s the Holy Ghost approving and encouraging righteousness. How often have I been listening in church, or general conference and felt good, or peaceful, or that what was being taught to me was true. Often. Those were spiritual experiences. That was the Holy Ghost fulfilling its role in confirming truth. How often have I been struggling or afraid or discouraged and I just felt like something was telling me that all would be well—that I would be ok. Often. Those were spiritual experiences. That was the Holy Ghost acting in its role of Comforter. And on and on.
I believe there’s something else to keep in mind when it comes to why the Spirit speaks in a still, small voice. We usually take that to mean that the Spirit speaks in a reverent or peaceful way. But I also think it suggests something else. I think it also suggests proximity. We whisper to people when they are close to us. It makes no sense to whisper to someone when your miles away or even across the room. A whisper only makes sense when you are right next to someone. The fact that the Spirit speaks with a still, small, voice should tell us that God is close. He’s nearby. He’s not “out there” in the cosmos, in the clouds, in the elements. He’s sitting with you. He’s in the room. He’s close. To hear His voice you don’t need to reach out miles and miles into the grand expanse of the universe. You only need to connect with a power that stands close by your side.
Another part of the solution comes in what that voice says to him. I love the first words from the still, small voice. It says: “What doest thou here, Elijah?” As if to say, “Why are you just sitting here? This isn’t what I intend for you. You are my prophet. I’ve called you to fulfill a very important purpose. Why are you sitting in this cave then?”
And Elijah tells the Lord how alone he feels. To which the Lord says, “Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room”.
What’s the Lord doing here? He’s giving him something to do. He gives him a cause, a to do list of sorts. And you know, sometimes that may be the best way of pulling ourselves out of a discouraging time. Do something! Get up and act. Move. It may be difficult to get some momentum going, but once you overcome that initial resistance, things get easier! Sometimes you just have to get the ball rolling by acting and all of a sudden you start feeling better. So when we get discouraged, find something to do.
Then, look at what the Lord says to him in verse 18.
“Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him”.
Remember that Elijah is feeling very alone at this time. He thinks that he is the only one that is left that believes in and worships God. He says, “I, even I only, am left”. But the Lord assures him that that’s just not true. He is not the only one left out there. God says, “Elijah, there are 7000 others out there just like you! That have not bowed down to Baal. You’re not alone Elijah!” Go out and find them. Inspire them. Lead them. That can be helpful in times of discouragement. Look for those that are like you. Realize that you are not alone or that you are the only one who is experiencing hardship and challenge. And he does. Elijah goes out and starts to act on the instructions of the Lord. You don’t see him discouraged any more until he’s taken up to heaven in 2 Kings. He leaves Mt. Horeb and accomplishes many more great things in the name of his God.
TRUTH
When I get discouraged, if I listen to the Spirit, get to work, and realize that I'm not alone, then I can overcome it. These things can help to bring us out of our caves.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Have you ever seen one of these solutions help you overcome discouragement? Please share.
CONCLUSION
No doubt many of us are going to find ourselves in discouraging circumstances. We are all going to experience times when we feel alone, abandoned, or with a desire to just curl up in our caves and die. Remember Elijah’s Mt. Horeb experience when you get to this point. There’s a little story I love that comes to my mind when I get into this kind of frame of mind. It’s about an old mule that accidentally falls into a large pit. The people above realize that nothing can be done for the old mule and so they decide to bury him and start to throw shovelfuls of dirt down on to his back. “Well, how’s this for a situation,” the mule thought. “I’m going to die down here in this pit, and everyone above has given up on me.” But then the mule got an idea. He shook the dirt off his back and then stepped up on the pile that formed beneath him. More dirt fell, to which he responded by shaking off the dirt and stepping up. Over and over this went on for hours. Shaking it off, and stepping up, until finally, the old mule triumphantly stepped out of the pit to freedom. Sometimes I think we find ourselves in the situation of that poor mule. Down in the depths of despair feeling like everyone has given up on us. In those instances we can do one of two things. We can either be buried by our problems, or we can shake it off, and step up. If we follow the example of that old mule, I believe we will eventually triumph over all our difficulties. Elijah was the kind of mule that could shake it off, and step up—and he did it with the help of his father in heaven. I believe that we can do the same. We can come out of our caves, and out of our pits and triumph over all our difficulties.
