Dr Paul Allen

The story of the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, found in 1 Kings 18:17-40,  is one the most amusing stories in the Bible.  To give you some background, King Ahab, of the northern kingdom of Israel, married a heathen woman named Jezebel, who henpecked and corrupted him to allow the worship of Baal and Asherah, a pagan fertility god and goddess.  This did not sit well with God, who appointed Elijah, a prophet, to confront Ahab. God sent numerous troubles on Israel due to their unfaithfulness, but Ahab blamed Elijah. Elijah became such a thorn in Ahab’s side that the king (or more likely, Jezebel) sought to kill him. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest Finally, Elijah called for a showdown between himself and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah on Mount Carmel to prove who was the true God. Boy, talk about being outnumbered! He then told the king to assemble the people of Israel so they might ...

What can we learn from Elijah’s struggles? 1 Kings 19:1-4 – Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” Despite seeing God bring fire down from Heaven, and then rain, oppression came over the man of God, Elijah, when the demonic queen Jezebel threatened his life and put a curse on him, and he was gripped with fear and anxiety, running for his life for several miles. Laying in the woods, he told God he just wanted to die. This is...

1 Kings 18:24 – “…And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” One of the primary metaphors the Bible uses to describe spiritual warfare is light versus darkness. God wants His people to live in the light, and Satan wants us to live in the darkness. Much like a dimmer switch, Satan and demonic forces know that if they simply flipped everything from light to darkness, it would be too obvious and stark.  So, evil forces at work in the world slowly turn things darker and darker hoping that, over the course of years and generations, the darkness is winning without being alarming. This is precisely the backdrop for the ministry of Elijah – things had grown dimmer and darker for generations, and Elijah came to turn the light on.  Throughout the Bible, God creates and Satan counterfeits. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created...” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 [NLT] speaks of, “the work of Satan”, as...

History has repeatedly demonstrated that as goes the leader, so go the people. The history of Israel is no exception. During any moment in its history, the health and prosperity of Israel was directly tied to how the king measured up against the Deuteronomic rubric: [The king] must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You shall never return that way again.” And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he ma...

For most of us, the single greatest threat to our faith in God and his promises has been the miles we have walked in the desert. Suffering is the proving ground for what we believe. How will we respond when things go badly? Will adversity, disappointment, and crisis undo our trust in God and hope for the peace, joy, safety, and love of the gospel? The apostle Peter writes his first letter to Christians in conflict. Since following Jesus , these believers have not found the peace, safety, or relief that they might have expected. This world and their lives continue to be marred by inconvenience, disease, disappointment, persecution, and even death. “Jesus offers us inexpressible joy even in the most heartbreaking and excruciating moments of our lives.” Peter writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice” ( 1 Peter 4:12–13 ). Is there a more counter-cultural, counter-hum...

The upper part of The Transfiguration (1520) by Raphael, depicting Christ miraculously discoursing with Moses and Elijah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this ( Luke 4:28). After Jesus began to preach, the people in Nazareth started questioning His words. He was claiming to be the Messiah, but they remembered Him as Joseph’s son, a young carpenter who grew up in their midst. They wanted to see proof. Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your home town what we have heard that you did in Capernaum .’ I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his home town” (Luke 4:23–24). As if to alienate them further, Jesus went on to tell the people that the new kingdom was going to go to the Gentiles . It was going to go wherever people believed the Word. But it was not going to go to faithless Israel , unless they repented and accepted this “home town prophet.” He...

English: A painting created by Leonardo Da Vinci depicting St John the baptist (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah . We might expect to see this important advance work unfolding in the capital city of Jerusalem. Instead, just as was prophesied, John preached, taught, and made disciples in the remote landscape of the Judean Wilderness (Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1; Matt.3:1–3). And he did so for a reason. John’s father, Zechariah, was serving as a priest in the Temple when an angel of the Lord told him what to name his son, that his son would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth, and what his son’s assignment would be ( Luke 1:8–22). Though unable to speak because of his disbelief, Zechariah later rejoiced when his tongue was loosed after the birth of John. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and said, “And you, my child, … will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,” which confirmed specifically what ...

Elijah (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Interestingly, it is in the letter of James (who has so much to say about works) that the term occurs. It climaxes the marvelous teaching on prayer that punctuates the entire letter (see 1:5–8; 4:2–3; 5:13–18). What is even more striking is that the significance of the phrase seems to be illustrated by the experience of one individual, the prophet Elijah . In his case, the prayer of faith was instrumental in shutting the heavens. Perhaps it is not surprising, therefore, that the phrase has come to be associated largely, if not exclusively, with dramatic, miracle-like events—with the extraordinary rather than the daily. The reason Elijah is used as an example is not that he was an extraordinary man; James stresses that he was "a man with a nature like ours" (James 5:17). It is his ordinariness that is in view. Elijah's praying is used as an example not because it produced miracle-like effects but because it gives us one of the clear...

English: A painting created by Leonardo Da Vinci depicting St John the baptist (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 11:7-15  "For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come" (  vv. 13-14 ). Given John the Baptist 's earlier declarations about Jesus , his doubts about the Lord's identity raised in  Matthew 11:1-6  could have led many to question the consistency of his ministry. How could they not doubt his steadfastness and teaching since he has gone from exalting Jesus ( 3:13-17 ;  John 3:22-36 ) to inquiring if He is truly the Christ ? Alternatively, how could they trust in Jesus as the Messiah if the beloved John the Baptist had doubts about Him? Jesus addresses these thoughts with His own questions. When swayed by the wind, the long reeds beside the Jordan River are visual metaphors of those who teach according to the whims of men. Christ's inquiry about the reed intends to ask ...

Whore of Babylon (french illuminated "Book of Revelation") (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD .” ( Malachi 4:5 ) This is the next-to-last verse of the Old Testament and so marks the final mention in the Old Testament of the fearsome theme of the Day of the Lord. As the text says, it will be a “great and dreadful day.” This phrase occurs frequently in the Bible , reminding us over and over again that although God is merciful and longsuffering, He will not remain silent forever. Man’s “day” will end someday, and the day of the Lord will come. Note some of the other prophecies: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! . . . the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light” ( Amos5:18 ). “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come” ( Joel 2:31 ). “The great day of the LORD . . . is a day of wrath, a da...

English: Jesus appears to the disciples (watercolour) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 18:10–14 “It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” ( v. 14 ). After a brief interlude in which Jesus warns us to separate ourselves from those things that tempt us, our Savior returns in this passage leads to a discussion of how the children of the kingdom must treat one another. Matthew 18:10 records His warning that we not “despise one of these little ones.” Given that chapter 18 has thus far emphasized our need for humility ( vv. 1–9 ), Christ is telling us that we must not become puffed up with self-pride and look down on other Christians. Despising another believer means to treat him with disrespect, refusing to receive him as our equal in God’s eyes (see v. 5 ). To treat “any fellow believer with contempt is extremely serious since God and the holy angels are so concerned for their well-being” (The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1,1...

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Rembrandt — The Departure of the Shunammite Woman (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) 2 Kings 4:8-37 ; 8:1-6  Just a few miles north of Jezreel , where Jezebel's story had drawn to its grim conclusion, lived a wealthy Israelite woman whose sharp eye kept track of travelers from Nazareth to Jerusalem. One of the more colorful characters who frequented the road outside her house was Elisha , the prophet who succeeded Elijah . One day the Shunammite woman invited Elisha to linger for a meal. Afterward, she said to her husband, "Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us." Moved by her kindness, Elisha inquired, through his servant, Gehazi , whether he could use his influence with Israel's king on her behalf. But the woman wasn't looking for favors at court, so Elisha pressed his servant, saying, "What, then, can be done for her?" Gehazi merely pointed out t...