Man of God Versus Man of Baal (1 Kings 16:29-17:7)

 

Our leaders are both an example to us, and a reflection of us.

  1. The Character of Ahab (16.29-33)
    • Ahab = Father’s brother. Jezebel = Baal exalts or Baal is husband to. Ethbaal = With Baal or companion of Baal.
    • ‘Jeroboam’s state cult is like drinking polluted water; Ahab’s imported paganism is like sucking raw sewage. Neither is good, but one is worse than the other.’ – Dale Ralph Davis
  2. The Character of Israel (16.34)
    • Hiel = Brother of God or God lives. Bethel = House of God.
    • ‘Israel no longer conquers the Canaanites but instead embraces their religion and courts their fate.’ – Iain Provan
  3. The Character of Elijah (17.1-7)
    • Elijah = The LORD is God.
    • ‘God wonderfully suits men to the work he designs them for. The times were fit for an Elijah; an Elijah was fit for them. The Spirit of the Lord knows how to fit men for the occasions.’ – Matthew Henry
  4. The Character of God (17.1-7)
    • ‘Physical suffering is a smaller calamity than moral delinquency. And the love of God does not shrink from inflicting such suffering, if, as a result, the plague of sin may be cut out as a cancer and stayed.’ – F. B. Meyer