The Lord Whom I Serve
(1Kings 17:1~7)
God prepared Elijah for his beloved Israelites to stand against Ahab the evil king. Elijah needed to show Ahab how the Lord he served was different from Baal. While Moses stands for the Law, Elijah is the representative of all the Old Testament prophets. Yet despite Elijah, one of the Major Prophets, the Israelites didnt repent. Lets see how God guided Elijah in the dark age of Ahab.
1. God made Elijah dauntless. Elijah was from Tishbe in Gilead. As a descendant of Gilead, a child of Manassehs concubine, he likely received many hurts from the Ephraimites. Probably because of his tough circumstances, he became a man of fiery temperament, who proclaimed 'My Lord is Jehovah' in his land where people worshiped golden calves. God chose Elijah as an opponent of Ahab. The Hebrew meaning of Elijahs expression the Lord whom I serve is I stand before Him, reflecting his resolution to obey, serve, and revere only God. Our humble background makes us bold when we confess that God is our Lord. The recent verdict that the abortion laws are unconstitutional enthroned womens human rather than a fetuss life. It legalized the evil law of Ahab that encourages us to choose a child as if buying an apple, emasculating our current effort to encourage people to deliver a child and risk everything to keep their family for salvation. An abortion that severs a recessive gene in search of the perfect one or a divorce that cuts your spouse at your discretion is the evil way of blocking the gospel. Regarding this sort of evil in Israel, Elijah prophesied that there would be neither dew nor rain in the next few years, referring to the extreme suffering to come. God needed to hit the fatal spot of Baal, the god of fertility for the sake of salvation. Gilead is the place where Jacob and Laban built a stone pillar as a witness to their covenant. Thus Elijah prophesied with the witness of the Word to be fulfilled. We all can be the stones of witness which boldly says, 'I who live in the wilderness know that God surely lives. How then can the king worship Baal? No wonder he brought the drought! Our worldly values are pulled down when our body is pulled down. Likewise the news of our drought situation going on for years is a blessing.
2. God made Elijah learn the spirituality of loneliness and temperance. God knew that Ahab would do harm to Elijah after hearing the news of drought from him. So God informed Elijah of his hiding place, Keith Ravine. Kerith, which means separation and severance is a good place to hide in yet uncomfortable to dwell in. Its the place where the Israelites stayed before entering their promised land of Canaan, living on Manna and quails that God provided. Thus the Promised Land can be tough. We also have our Kerith family-in-law, where we need to dwell temporarily until we enter our promised land. There we need to hide ourselves, forgetting about others recognition. It has the brook for us drink from during the drought. God provides us water to drink under all circumstances when we move forward in obedience to the Word. Gods MVPs are those who obey his instruction no matter how tough their Kerith is. Thanks to Elijahs application of obedience, we are blessed. Its not about the blind obedience for prosperity, but about willing obedience for salvation. For this purpose, we need to stay in the structure where were trained to listen to the Word. The best Christians life is the one guided by the Word. Elijah was ready to be everywhere under the guidance of the Word. God put him in the training place of loneliness and temperance in preparation for the war against the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Do you think you are nobody hanging around in a small group community? Remember! There you will be guided into the way of life at the forked road of life and death.
3. God helped him through most unlikely resources. Elijah lived on the meat that raven brought to him near the brook he drank from. When the brook dried up, the Word came to him. Elijah followed Gods command without hesitation instead of worrying about where and how to live all by himself. Neither ravens nor the widow of Zarephath seemed to be likely helpers. It seems impossible to share the gospel with the idol-worshipers who chase only worldly prosperity. They will most probably stand against us. Yet notice that a widow struggling in her tough circumstances can be our helper. Thus God helps us through the most unlikely resources. I happened to visit Pyeongyang for a joint worship service held by South and North Korea in June 2002. North Korea was the land of no rain or dew. Its shell was hard, unable to be broken because of its idolization of Kim Il Seong. To us, the end of the world is North Korea. We went there for the sake of joint worship services, yet we had to wait stuck in our hotel with 300 guards around us, keeping watch on us. That situation made us long for the worship all the more. On the third day, Sunday, we were asked to attend an event other than a worship service. We got together in the cafeteria, decided to keep our Sunday worship service, and praised and prayed to God risking our lives. Despite the famous pastors who were there, I was honored to deliver a message at the heart of Pyeongyang, the capital city of North Korea because of the strong request of an unexpected person. I delivered a message out of my QT on that day! Because of our weak faith, God trains us through loneliness and trials. But he lets unlikely resources help us out. May God bless us to proclaim that He is Lord whom we serve even by providing us with our customized humble circumstances!
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, 'As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.' (1Kgs 17:1)
