Many times, we don’t see, much less appreciate, the real heroes in our lives who help and rescue others by who they are and what they do without any thought for themselves.  It is not in their nature to advertise, take pictures, or proclaim their good works, they merely do what God says as they way of life. As people who fully believe and trust God; they are unusably humble and think it a pure privilege to be able to do good works to please God as a habit. These people live just under the radar of everyone’s attention—even to those who oppose their goodness—and can accomplish as much or more than those who live in the limelight of notice and admiration of others.  Obadiah is one of those living under the radar who rescues and saves God’s prophets who are ordered to be slain by an evil king.

We appreciate heroes like Obadiah but when the known world’s leaders are insanely evil, God also sends His “big guns” to declare His power, authority and sovereignty over all He has created.  Elijah is that man whose heart is fully committed to God, the Lord God, who created all and knows us better than we know ourselves.  God intervenes in a mighty and powerful way that humbles kings and false prophets who worship Baal. 

“BRING IT ON!” God seems to say to the king and prophets of Baal—the mere statue.  Elijah, who walks with God, talks with God, hears God. He obeys God by doing exactly as He says with an expectant joy because Elijah knows and trusts that God will prevail over the idol Baal. Look for the bonus—rain comes after years of drought!  Look also for the awesome humor God displays in and through Elijah! 

1 Kings 18

Elijah and Obadiah

After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine was severe in Samaria, ³ and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. ⁴ While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) ⁵ Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.” ⁶ So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.

⁷ As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸ “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”

⁹ “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. ¹¹ But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ ¹² I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. ¹³ Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. ¹⁴ And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”

¹⁵ Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”

Elijah on Mount Carmel

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”

¹⁸ “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

²² Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. ²³ Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” ²⁶ So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” ³² With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ³³ He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

³⁶ At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

⁴⁰ Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

⁴³ “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

⁴⁴ The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God puts all kinds of people in the right place at the right time for our good but ultimately for His glory to be seen and praised for who He is.  Obadiah, a believer in God, was an administrator to an evil king.  Elijah was a prophet who is walking the countryside, with God leading, declaring the Word of the Lord!  Both are valuable and significant to God!  God provided for both in miraculous ways as they trusted and obeyed His will.  Both are heroes of the faith!

We all are called to be disciples who listen to God with expectant hearts, asking “what’s next, Papa” with a surrendered readiness to do God’s will.  His ways are perfect.   God’s ways are always perfect.  The sooner we realize this truth about God the healthier of lives will be spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally as we grow in our intimate loving relationship with God.  It begins with what is in our hearts.

Jesus provided this relationship.  Jesus, was “the Word made flesh” who moved into the neighborhood of humanity to seek and to save the lost.  Many who knew of God even called Jesus, Elijah!  But they would soon learn that Jesus was much more than a prophet, Master Teacher, Healer, Miracle Worker—Jesus was, is and always will be King Jesus, our Savior—the Promise Kept and fulfilled!  We worship God through Jesus Christ our Lord who reconciled us to God through His sacrifice for our sins.  Pause to dwell in this thought.  Take all they time you need—I am.

Not all of God’s servants are supposed to be in the public eye like Elijah and the other prophets. God has His servants in many places, doing the work He has called them to do. Over the centuries, countless thousands of believers have kept a low profile and yet made great contributions to the cause of Christ and the advancement of His kingdom.  I’m thinking of all my beloved missionary friends who surrendered all for the cause of God—

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, for Your glory, Amen