Unit 1: Faithful Prophets
Elijah: Prophet of Courage | Bible Background • 1 KINGS 18-19; MATTHEW 17:1-3 | Printed Text • 1 KINGS 18:5-18 | Devotional Reading • LUKE 19:28-39
AIM FOR CHANGE
By the end of this lesson, we will COMPARE Elijah’s response to speak to Ahab to that of Obadiah’s response to report back to Ahab, GAIN a sense of Obadiah’s concerns when reporting Elijah’s message to Ahab, and ACT in boldness when speaking the Word of God.
IN FOCUS
When Cris fled her abusive husband, she vowed never to depend on another human. She packed her bags and drove across the country to a new job in a strange new town. She worked hard and at the end of the day she would sit down with a cup of tea and a book. She went to church, but the closest she ever got to anyone was to Mandy, a single mother living in the same apartment complex. She would nod at Mandy as they passed each other in the halls and quickly turn away with a polite little cough. As the weeks went by, the polite cough became serious and a throbbing pain settled in her chest. The violence she suffered had taken a toll. A series of contradictory doctors discouraged her and slowly her apartment and solitary life started falling into disarray. Mandy met her one day as she was catching her breath on the stairs. “Hey Cris! Want a hand with those groceries?”
“No, thanks. Actually… yes. That would be great.” She accepted Mandy’s help but hesitated a bit to let her into the chaos her apartment had become. Cris rested on the couch and Mandy cooked dinner for them. “I see where you’re coming from,” said Mandy, after hearing Cris’ story, “but shutting yourself off from other people isn’t the best way to go. God made us be part of a community, and that means sharing your struggles with other people and listening to their advice.” Cris nodded. “I can see that now. I thought I’d be safer by myself, but it looks like that wasn’t meant to be.”
Whom could you reach out to for advice and help?
FOCAL VERSES
KJV 1 Kings 18:5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?
8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.
11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.
13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.
15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim