This Sunday service Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached another sermon in the series titled ‘The Ten Commandments’. Her main scriptures were taken from the book Exodus 20:1-26; 1 Kings 18:1-46

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS – INTRODUCTION

The Ten Commandments are ten laws that God Himself gave to the ancient nation of Israel thru His servant Moses. These Biblical principles apply to men’s relationship with God and with one another. These basic laws play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity. The Ten Commandments appear in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. The Ten Commandments are also called God’s Law, or simply, ‘The Law’. They are like ‘instructions’ for electronic equipment. If you want to ‘function’ well in this life, study these Laws and obey them. If all people on earth keep at least one of these commandments, the world will be a better place. But the reality is that because all men are born sinners, they are lawless too. They hate God and His Word. That is why there is individual and national sin, which brings much confusion and sorrow. The Ten Commandments have influenced the behavior of people and the law system of humanity more than any other document. History has proven that every man who obeys these commandments and every nation that made them part of their constitution, have become better and more civilized. Every man or nation that rejected them, became worse. This is enough reason for us to study them and obey them. Amen!

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (3)

*The Ten Commandments were spoken directly by God at Mount Sinai. They were written by God’s finger on tablets of stone and given to Moses. This act makes them unique in the Bible. These Ten Laws are commands and not suggestions. They are personal, spoken to individuals.

*God speaks to men. He reveals Himself through His written Word, which comes with divine authority. God stands behind His written word!

*We are not told exactly how the Ten Commandments were written on the two stones. Possibly, the first 4 commandments which are about man’s relationship with God, are written on one stone. The next 6, describing man’s relationship with other men, are on the second stone.

*It is men’s responsibility to hear, learn, be careful to keep it in their minds and obey the Ten Commandments. “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them” (Deut 5:1).

*The Law is given without love, grace, mercy, or power to obey. The Law has no pity for the lawbreaker. That grace is found in Christ alone!

*The Ten Commandments apply to all people everywhere, not only to Israel! Jehovah God is the God of all the earth. “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Ps 24:1). God is saying to all men: “I am your only God! Worship Me alone!”

*The authority of the Ten Commandments is not because ‘these laws are good for you’. The authority is based on the fact that God said so! For example, when Moses told Pharoah to let God’s people go into the wilderness, to worship Him, Pharoah proudly said: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go” (Ex 5:2). Pharoah worshipped Ra and he thought that himself is a god. He will soon know who Jehovah God is, but it was too late! If God speaks, all creation must bow! Nobody can argue with God. He is sovereign! His Word is final. Nobody fights God and wins! The Potter has total right over the clay. God is the Potter, and we are the clay.

*Some say that we don’t need God’s Law; they argue saying that many unbelievers are behaving well and are moral in conduct. But without God, even if you behave well, something vital is missing: the authority and the motivation. Without God’s Word there is no absolute truth. Men decide what is right and what is wrong. But God will never allow man to usurp His authority. From everlasting-to-everlasting God is God!

*God’s Law is written not only on the Tablets of stone but in each man’s heart. God will judge the secrets based on man’s conscience that is connected with God’s Law in his heart (Rom 2:12-16).

THE DOCTRINE OF SIN

In the Bible, sin is defined in four basic ways: Rebellion, Lawlessness, Separation from God and Missing the mark of His glory.

1-Sin is rebellion against God. “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord” (Deut 9:7). Rebellion is defined as organized opposition to authority. Lucifer became proud and rebelled against God. Rebellion and pride are the first sins manifested in the universe.

2-Sin is breaking God’s Law (Lawlessness). “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 Jn 3:4). Lawlessness is defined as breaking the law, illegality, iniquity, disobedience, or wickedness. Because we are born sinners, we are born rebellious against God and His law. Today, most people take pleasure in being rebellious and breaking any law. They disobey all human authority. The people become more wicked. Society is becoming more dangerous. It is a sign of ‘the last days’: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Tim 3:1-5). Learn to ‘turn away’!

3-Sin is separation from God. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Is 59:1, 2).

4-Sin is missing the mark and becoming short of God’s glory. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). To fall short means failing to reach a goal, or an expected standard that was hoped for, therefore, causing disappointment. Sin proves that man is not as good as he thinks he is. Because of sin, man fails to satisfy God. Sinful man is ‘a disappointment’ to God. Only in Christ we can be saved.

There are three types of sin: Inherited, imputed, and personal sins.

1-Inerited sin. As children inherit traits from their parents, when Adam sinned, we inherited this disposition to sin.

Lucifer was probably the most beautiful and powerful of all angels in heaven. He became proud. He wanted to be like God, to be worshipped as God (Is 14:12-15). God drove him away from heaven to earth. Some of the angels followed him. They are now called demons. Lucifer is now renamed Satan, or the Devil. He tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God. He injected into them the poison of rebellion. They too wanted to become ‘like God’. They disobeyed God. This is how sin entered mankind. Adam’s sin is called the Original sin. All men inherit the sin of Adam and are born sinners. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps 51:5). Sin has affected all mankind. Thru sin, death entered humanity (Rom 5:12-15). Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity became Man to die on behalf of sinners. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). This is the true Gospel of salvation. Eternal life is possible only by God’s grace, thru faith in Christ Crucified and Resurrected!

2-Imputed sin. Used in both financial and legal settings, the Greek word translated “impute” means “to take something that belongs to someone and credit it to another’s account.” Before the Law of Moses was given, sin was not imputed to man, although men were still sinners because of inherited sin. After the Law was given, sins committed in violation of the Law were imputed (accounted) to them. The ultimate penalty of sin is death. Sin is king in all natural men. All men, from Adam to Moses, were subject to death, not because of their sinful acts against the Mosaic Law (which was not given yet), but because of their own inherited sinful nature. After Moses, men were subject to death both because of inherited sin from Adam and imputed sin from violating the laws of God.

God used the principle of imputation to benefit mankind when He imputed the sin of believers to the account of Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for that sin—death—on the cross. Imputing our sin to Jesus, God treated Him as if He were a sinner, though He was not, and had Him die for the sins of the entire world. “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2). Christ died on the Cross for our sins. He did not inherit the sin of Adam. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was sinless. Jesus never became a sinner. His human nature was sinless. On the Cross, our sin was imputed upon Him so that His righteousness can be imputed on us. This is the greatest exchange by which sinners are saved. “He (God the Father) made Him (God the Son) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Praise the Lord!

3-Personal sins. These are the sins we commit every day, by our choice. These are sins we commit because of our free will. These can be small sins like boasting of self to big sins like murder. Personal sins are the fruits of the inherited sin dwelling in our flesh. All unbelievers shall be judged by God. They must pay the penalty for all their inherited, imputed, and personal sins. The penalty of sin is death. “For the wages of sin is death“(Rom 6:23). Not just physical death but spiritual eternal death in hell (Rev 20:11-15). Because Jesus died for them, the believers in Christ are free from God’s judgment. They have eternal life. They go to heaven and will be with Christ forever. When a believer commits personal sins, the Holy Spirit convicts him of it. He repents and the fellowship with God is restored. As a believer, you can resist the devil and his temptations. You have the power to say ‘no’ to sin. By the power of the Holy Spirit, you die to sin and live to righteousness. This is the royal way of the Cross. This power is available only to the believers in Christ. Once we confess our personal sins to God and ask forgiveness for them, we are restored to perfect fellowship and communion with Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9). Thank God that all inherited sin, imputed sin, and personal sin have been crucified on the cross and now by faith in Jesus Christ our Savior “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph 1:7).

The following scripture is one of the easiest ways to understand what is. “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Rom 14:23). All our decisions must be the result of prayer and hearing from God. This is the walk of faith. Any decision made without prayer is sin. Faith in God is king over sin!

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Ex 20:4-6)

This Commandment forbids idolatry, the making, and the worshipping of images. Idolatry is worshipping a physical object as a god, an excessive attachment or blind devotion to something. “An idol is anything in our lives that occupies the place that should be occupied by God alone. Anything that is central in my life, anything that seems to me essential. An idol is anything by which I live and on which I depend, anything that holds such a controlling position in my life that it moves, rouses, and attracts too much of my time, attention, energy, and money.” (M. L. Jones).

“Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’ (Deut 27:15)

COVETOUSNESS (GREED) IS IDOLATRY

“Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col 3:5). Covetousness (Greed) is idolatry. Greed is defined as a strong never satisfied desire to have more money or material possessions that belong to another, to be used selfishly, while ignoring God and eternal life. Greed is also called the Love of money. “ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim 6:10). The rich and the poor can be guilty of worshipping mammon. Jesus said: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt 6:24). Greed puts too much importance on the temporal things, on what the body needs, and too little value on spiritual eternal things! Selah!

TRYING TO MANIPULATE GOD IS IDOLATRY

Idols are deeply offensive to God. God’s name is “I am who I am”, not ‘I am who you want me to be’. Trying to manipulate God to do what you want Him to do is idolatry. Idolatry is worshipping what should be used and using what should be worshipped. Trying to ‘use’ God is idolatry. I want to worship God but there is something in me that wants God to answer my request. Loving God in the midst of pain and disappointment is true worship. God cannot be manipulated. God is to be worshipped. When God does not answer us, we get angry. That is idolatry. You want to ‘use’ God like He is your servant. That is idolatry. Idolatry is replacing the Creator with created things. For example, marriage is a created thing. Marriage is God’s idea so that together, the husband and his wife, can serve God better. Family is a created thing so that the children can grow into an environment to better know God and learn to serve Him. Marriage and family can never be God. Loving the family too much and ignoring God and His Word is idolatry. God punishes idolatry because all idols are deceptive and destructive.

These days, men want to remove God from His throne and put man there. Jesus Christ is the only true image of God! “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Col 1:15). “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (Jn 14:9). “And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me” (Jn 12:45). To see Jesus, you need to have your spiritual eyes open, to be born again.

THE DESCENDANTS OF IDOLATERS SUFFER

In the second Commandment God says that he ‘visits’ the sin of the fathers upon the descendants. The word ‘visit’ here means to extract the punishment, to avenge the sin of the fathers upon his descendants. Many people misunderstand these words. God is never unrighteous. He does not randomly punish the children for the sins of their fathers. God says: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezek 18:20). The meaning of this ‘visiting’ of sins is that the children and grandchildren of parents who are involved in idolatry are born with a great disadvantage in life. They learn from their parents to do terrible things. For example, the son of an armed robber or the daughter of a prostitute will grow in an environment where moral evil is practiced daily without the fear of God. For good or for bad, children imitate their parents. It is proved that the children repeat the sins of their parents. Every sin has a domino effect on others. It is hard for these children to rise above the sins of their parents. God punishes idolatry. The children share in this punishment. They suffer poverty and neglect with their parents. Only the Grace of God, faith in the Gospel that can separate the children from the effect of evil in the family. Once born again, the children of sinful parents receive the strength to live differently to the glory of God!

WHY DOES GOD FORBID IDOLATRY?

1-God is Spirit, He is invisible. God forbids the making of any image to represent Him because no image made by man can truly represent God. The making of idols gives a false representation of God. It leads to false worship. That is why God forbids it. God said: “You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God” (Lev 26:1). Many churches are so beautiful inside. They have paintings and sculptures of Jesus or other saints. But no image can represent God. They are all far below the beauty and glory of God. Images of God do not draw men closer to God. Art, painting, sculpture, are beautiful to express God’s creation. But art cannot represent God well. Idols are limited. God is unlimited.

2- God is the Creator. God does not share His glory with anyone. “I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols” (Is 42:8). “For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and gladness are in His place” (1 Chr 16:25-27).

WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE TO WORSHIP IDOLS?

In the history of humanity, idolatry has been the greatest temptation for God’s people. Why is the attraction of idolatry? When men want to be religious but do not want to repent of sin, they end serving idols. Idolatry is easier to practice than worshipping Jehovah God. You make a statue of stone or wood, and you imagine that it is your god. You can bow to it or bring offerings to it. You just believe that the idol loves you and will help you. This worship is in your mind and imagination. For these people God seems far from them. Idolatry is more ‘practical’. Inventing your god is very attractive because you can tell him what to do. There is a relationship between these religious people and their idols. It is a selfish relationship. The idols need you and you need them. The idol does not insist that you should repent of your sins. You can continue in sin and still be religious. In some areas, almost all people serve idols. Idolatry is normal. Nobody will persecute you or discriminate against you. Idolatry is seen as beautiful because you can see the idols. Men may use gold and precious stones to make their idols. They decorate their shrines with flowers and fruits. The lust of their eyes is satisfied. But God is spirit, and He is invisible. You cannot ‘decorate’ God. You cannot control God. You must bow and worship Him alone. Idolatry is connected with sexual sins. Almost all people who worship idols are involved in adultery too. That pleases the flesh. Jezebel is an evil seducing spirit that tempts believers to worship idols and to commit sexual sins. “That woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols” (Rev 2:20).

These days, not all men worship carved images. Most men pursue mental idols of entertainment, money, fame, or success.

EFFECTS OF IDOLATRY

God commands that we should not fear idols. It is true that idols are nothing, but they connect with demons. Making idols makes God angry. God is jealous. He will punish the idolaters. This is a warning many ignore. God’s Law punishes all idolaters with untimely death. Read Deuteronomy chapter 13 and 28. It is only thru Christ that we are free from such a terrible judgment.

No idolater can prosper. Sin always has consequences. “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. 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. 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” (Jer 10:2-5).

Jehovah God demands exclusive covenant loyalty. As the one true God of heaven and earth, Jehovah cannot and will not tolerate the worship of any ‘other gods’, real or imaginary. In Egypt, God defeated and disgraced all Egyptian gods. God said: “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD” (Ex 12:12). That is how His people came out from the bondage of Egypt to worship God in the wilderness. To go back to these impotent gods, is the greatest insult to Jehovah. God reminds the people what happened to Pharoah when he opposed God trusting his own gods. In other words, any man, even a believer, who worships an idol ends like Pharaoh.

Be careful! The devil can deceive us! Good things can become idols! For example: the people disobeyed God and Moses. God sent fiery serpents to bite them. Many died. Moses prays. God shows mercy and tells Moses to make a copper snake and to lift it on a pole. Looking at that metal snake, with faith, the victim is healed. That is how the plague ended. Many years later, God’s people started to worship the metal snake Moses had manufactured. King Hezekiah breaks that snake to pieces telling them that it is now an idol (Num 21:6-9; 2 Kg18:4). What God used in the past for healing, the people want to worship now. True worship became idolatry! Selah!

Marriage is good but if you love your spouse more than you love Jesus, that person becomes your idol. Jesus said: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Lk 14:26). Jesus cannot teach a man who says is a believer but as a secret idol in his heart. If a man says he is a Christian, and says that he loves the Bible, but he is not reading it, then the Bible has become his idol. Many Christians worship their denomination, or their pastors, alongside God. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 Jn 5:21).

If you worship your wealth in place of God, that is idolatry! If your money makes you proud, that is idolatry! “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God” (Deut 8:18-20).

“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play” (1 Cor 10:1-7)

What are the devastating consequences of idolatry? Idolatry makes God angry. He will punish those who are unrepentant and continue in idolatry. God’s judgment on idolatry brings ‘a scattering’ of all good things. It brings pain, poverty, and untimely death. Idolatry blocks the grace and mercy of God. Jonah said: “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:8, 9). The word ‘regard’ means to pay attention, protect, admire, respect, or serve. The word ‘worthless’ means having no value or usefulness, lacking worth, producing no effect. People who worship idols grieve the Holy Spirit. They abandon God’s mercy and grace towards them. They turn from God who is kind and faithful to emptiness and sure disappointment. All human pursuit apart from seeking God is vanity.

“But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them” (Ps 115:3-8). Those who make and worship idols become like those idols. They become spiritually deaf, dumb, and weak. Their hands become weak; therefore, the work of their hands will not prosper. They cannot walk by faith. They cannot make fast progress in life. Their soul (mind, emotions and will) becomes weak. The worship of idols is like spiritual suicide! Selah!

TRADITIONAL DEITIES IN NIGERIA

*The Yoruba people in Nigeria are extremely religious. It is believed that the Yoruba have about 6000 deities. Descendants of Yoruba people live in Cuba, Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Tobago and in many countries in Africa. The Supreme God has three manifestations: Olodumare – The God of Creation; Olorun – The God of Heaven; Olofi – The God of the Palace, connecting heaven and earth. Other deities are: Orunmila- the god of wisdom, divination, and destiny; Shango, the god of thunder and lightning; Osanyin, the god of the forest, herbs, and medicine; Aje, the god of wealth; Olokun, the god of the sea; Yemoja, the mother goddess of women.

*The Igbo people call God Chukwu, ‘the Great Spirit’. Chukwu is often referred to as Chineke, the God who creates the Nature. Chukwu is often connected with the sun and called the ‘the Face of God’. Parallel to the idea of Chukwu as a masculine deity associated with the Sun is the idea that the Moon is feminine and closely associated with the goddess Ala, the goddess of Earth. Ala is also the ‘womb’ that holds and nurtures. The Igbo, an agrarian people, regard her as the ‘mother’ of all crops. Before planting and harvesting they hold days of ritual ceremonies to appease Ala so that she will facilitate abundant harvests. The third most important divinity in the Igbo traditional religion is Chi, the spirit believed to inhabit each individual or the soul. Amadioha is a god similar to the god Shango in the Yoruba religion. It is the god of thunder and lightning. He is therefore considered ‘The Owner of the Sky.’ Agwu is a god people fear and respect. They say it is able to cause confusion in the mind of the wise, or to clear confusion in the mind of the simple.

*For the Urhobo and Isoko people Oghene, is the supreme God. They believe he created the world. Oghene is beyond human comprehension and is only known through his actions. Because the Oghene God is so distant and unknown, he has no temples, no priests and no prayers or sacrifices are offered directly to him. Traditional Urhobo people believe they are surrounded by spiritual forces called edjo that can exist in any natural object, be it a tree, a forest, or a body of water. The edjo are unapproachable entities. They are contacted through large wood and clay sculptures that are maintained in remote, often almost inaccessible shrines. A more direct spiritual force is the orhan, a shrine for healing and health. The orhan takes the form of an elaborate clay vessel, usually sunk into the earth, containing herbs and other sacred objects.

*Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Itsekiri people believe in Oritse, the Creator and Supreme Being God. The deity most worshipped is called Umalokun, believed to be the god that provides food from the sea.

*For the Ijaw people, the most common name for God is Tamara. It means the Creator. Another name for God is female, Woyengi, meaning ‘our Mother’. An important deity is Egbesu, whose symbols are the leopard and lion. Egbesu is a god of justice or a god of war. One of Egbesu’s laws is patience. An Ijaw person should not be the one to start a fight and should respond only when he must. Ijaw people believe that God is only one, but besides him there are many lower beings: spirits, deceased ancestors, demons, etc. The water spirits are the most worshiped ones.

ELIJAH’S CHALLENGE (1 Kg 18:1-46).

This is the Jewish History: The Jews tended to worship other gods. That is why God sent them into exile. The people from the Northern Kingdom got assimilated with the pagans. The Southern Kingdom was later conquered by Babylon. In Babylon, they repented of idolatry. From the time the Jews came back from Babylon, they never worshipped a visible image of another god. Although the Jews have separated themselves from the worship of images, statues or persons claiming divinity, the tendency toward and practice of magic arts (chants, spells, charms, healing devices, special foods, magical numbers, and many secret rituals) has continued to be found among Jews until today.

God uses prophet Elijah to confront the worship of Baal in Israel. During the time of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, Elijah declared drought in the whole country as God’s punishment for idolatry. After three years of drought, famine and suffering, Elijah confronts the worshippers of Baal on top of Mount Carmel. The God that ‘answers by fire’ was to be declared God. Baal was totally impotent to help his worshippers. Jehovah proved to be the only God! When Elijah prayed, the fire fell. It was not an ordinary fire! It was the fire of the Lord!!! Lesson: The greatest need in the church today is not money, or gifted men, it is revival, the power from on high or the fire of the Lord. It is the symbol of the presence and power of God. What is the difference between a Spirit filled Christian and a backslider? It is the fire of God! The Christian on fire is passionate, holy, and pure for Jesus! Elijah did some things before the fire fell. To experience revival, we must do the same.

1-The fire fell when the man of God became courageous and confronted sin!

People hate changes. They were blindly following Ahab and Jezebel. Elijah came to them and confronted them: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word” (1Kg 18:21). The people were brought to a decision because they have suffered for three and a half years. God humbled them. They are now willing to change. Elijah also has learned that he is nothing and God is Everything. God is now ready to use Elijah! Three times we read the words; ‘Elijah is here!’ Revival starts with courageous faith!

2-The fire fell when the altar was rebuilt

Elijah did not use the new altars Jezebel made. The people ignored the old altars. He repaired the old unused altar. Elijah waited until ‘the evening sacrifice’. He wanted to pray and offer the sacrifice at the same time as the worship done in the temple at Jerusalem. He wanted to keep the unity of the Spirit. The altar was made of natural stones, not polished stone (Ex 20:22-26). Lesson: God rejects the work of men for salvation. God wants the worshippers to be humble as they bring sacrifices to Him. The Altar stands for Christ.

3-The fire fell when the sacrifice was presented.

The priests of Baal killed the bull and threw it carelessly on their altar. Confusion followed. But Elijah did everything in order, obeying God’s Word. “And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood” (v 33). Lesson: every piece of our lives is to be surrendered to God. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:1, 2).

4-The fire fell when the water was poured

Because of the drought, more than silver or gold, water was the most expensive thing that day. Elijah commanded: pour water! “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water” (v 34, 35). True worship is expensive. Praise is a sacrifice! We must worship God from an overflow of love!

5-The fire fell when prayer was made

Finally, after everything was properly set, Elijah ‘came near and prayed 63 words in English. The words in Hebrew are even less than that. The prayer lasted 20 seconds. He prayed to the point. He did not pray for those who forsook God. He prayed that God would glorify Himself. That is a prayer from a pure heart with 100% faith. Elijah did not want to use God’s fire to become famous. It was all for the glory of God. “And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again” (1 Kings 18:36, 37). This is one of the greatest prayers in the Bible! Elijah prayed! Elijah prayed to the unchangeable God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. He prayed that God would vindicate His name, that He is God. He prayed that God would confirm that he, Elijah is God’s faithful servant who has obeyed God’s Word. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (Jam 5:16). The prophets of Ball prayed for hours but none answered them. Elijah prayed for 20 seconds, and the fire came down.

‘Then’ (and only then), the fire of the Lord came. This is not an ordinary fire. It was the fire that came from God in heaven. Natural fire goes upwards. But this fire came down. It destroyed everything in its path. The fire first consumed the sacrifice, not the wood. Secondly, it consumed the wood, the stones, the dust, and the water. The fire did not fall on the people, but on the sacrifice. Jesus died on the Cross that we may not die. Nothing resists God’s fire. It is the fire of judgment on sin. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29). All the people fell down worshipping and acknowledging that Jehovah is the only God! After this mighty manifestation of God’s presence, the long-awaited rain came on the land! Both in judgment and blessings, God alone is God! Lesson: if we fulfill the conditions, revival will come to this nation! Amen!

Elijah was a man of faith, “who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness… escaped the edge of the sword” (Heb 11:33, 34). Elijah was like us, with natural weaknesses but he was also a man of prayer. “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. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit” (Jam 5:17, 18). Too many Christians worship a God that is too small to be the God of the Bible!

The altar and the sacrificed bull on the altar, are symbols of Christ. The Fire of God that consumed all is a proof the God has accepted the altar and the sacrifice on it. Christ crucified is the sacrifice and the Cross is the Altar. The resurrection of Christ proved that God has accepted the sacrifice of His Son. At Pentecost, the Fire came from heaven as proof that God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ and so, the Church was born.

There were seven thousand men who did not bow their knees to Baal. But these men were afraid and hid in the mountains. They did not encourage Elijah. They did not stand with him in public. Elijah did not even know that they existed. It is said that the most painful word in English is ‘alone’. Elijah stood alone! He stood before Satan and his servants. He stood alone against King Ahab and four hundred and fifty priests of Baal. Elijah was a great man. Elijah was not a clown in the church! He was a solo voice without a choir, singing God’s praise in the wilderness. Elijah was a voice in the desert. He was not an echo or a parrot. He was a man who knew his God! Lesson: ‘One with God is majority’ (Martin Luther). If we fulfill the conditions, we’ll experience revival! Amen! Worship the Lord!