When you feel like you're under the rodem
When you feel like you're under the loadem
1 Kings 19:1-8
November 10, 2007 (Sat) Tel Aviv Joppa Church
There are places that impress us when we make our pilgrimage. The Church of the Tears of Olives, where we held the field service last week, is one such place. And Mount Carmel would be one such place. Heading up north from Tel Aviv is the city of Haifa, and Mount Carmel from there is also impressive.
When you think of Mount Carmel, who comes to mind and what events come to mind? Elijah, and the battle of Mount Carmel. Chapter 18 of 1 Kings deals with that very event. It was during the reign of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
Ahab himself was evil, and he married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon. When Jezebel got married, she brought in a large number of Canaanite priests from her country and turned the northern kingdom, which had already been rampant with idolatry, into a den of idolatry, corruption and crime. make it up The husband and wife consistently oppose God and worship idols such as Baal and Ashera, leading Israel into the path of sin.
It was Elijah who had a difficult confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel. A typical example is the battle of Mount Carmel. If you go to Mount Carmel, there is a monastery built on a place called Muhraka, which is believed to be the same place.
There, Elijah confronts the 450 prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal also built an altar, and Elijah also built an altar, but instead of igniting a fire, they called on the names of their gods and answered them with fire, proving that the true God is. You know well whose altar you answered. After winning the battle of Mount Carmel, Elijah led the 450 prophets of Baal to the brook Kishon in the plain of Jezreel, where they were all killed.
And the next event was a prayer that brought rain to end the long drought. In 17:1, Elijah tells Ahab that there will be no rain or dew on the land of Israel for many years because of the wrath of God. As you know, this land survives a year with rain in the rainy season, and dew plays an important role in the growth of plants in the dry season.
Pray for an end to the drought. when? Immediately after the Battle of Mount Carmel.