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Elijah #1

 [Elijah] OBEYING GOD_ 

1 Kings 16:29 – 17:4 

 
Jesus was very clear about what it would mean to follow him. 
In John 16:33 he said, “In this world you will have trouble...” 

Jesus knew that we would live in troubling and insecure times. 
He knew that being his disciple would mean opposition and persecution. 
Jesus didn’t promise to change our circumstances... but he DID promise to give us strength to face whatever the world throws our way. 

“...Take heart! I have overcome the world!” 

 
[Group discussion-starter] What recent news story or life experience made you feel insecure or threatened? Why? 

 

Elijah lived in a threatening world. Ahab, the king of Israel, had pushed God’s people deep into idolatry. He had married Jezebel, a pagan who promoted Baal as the new god in Israel. The prophets of Yahweh were hunted down and killed, while the prophets of Baal were supported by taxpayers. 
One faithful family in Gilead refused to cower in fear. They named their son “Elah” (El-ee-yah) which means “my God is the Lord”... not Baal or Asherah or any of the others, but Yahweh the true God... 

 
[Read 1 Kings 16:29-17:4] 

 

[Activity] Using specific phrases, found in 1 Kings 16:29-33, plot out the progress of Baal worship in Israel under Ahab’s leadership. 
 

 

If you had been a follower of Yahweh during Ahab’s reign, what pressures and temptations would you have felt? 
 

 

There’s no mention of any widespread protest against Baal worship in the nation. What does this tell us about Israel’s attitude towards this change in spiritual loyalty? 
 

 

In James’ commentary on the life of Elijah (James 5:17) James says that Elijah prayed that it would not rain and it didn’t. What does Elijah’s announcement to Ahab (1 Kings 17:1) tell you about his confidence in God? 
 

 

Hundreds of years before this, in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, God had told His people that if they began to abandon Him for false gods, He would hold back the rain from the land. 
So why did Elijah have to pray for something that God had already promised? 
 

 

Baal was considered the god of the storm. 
Why does Elijah issue such a direct challenge as the withholding of rain? 

How is this a link back to the Exodus story? 
 

 

God told Elijah to hide himself in a secluded ravine. 
Which do you think was harder for Elijah – confronting Ahab publicly or waiting in the obscurity of the ravine? Why? 
 

 

In your own life, do you find it easier to do God’s will or to wait for God’s time? 
Explain what’s difficult about each. 
 

 

James also describes Elijah as “a human just like us”. 
What kinds of situations can you expect to encounter in Elijah’s life if he’s really just like the rest of us? 

 

What confidence does that fact give you as you face the routine of your own life? 

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