November 8, 2015: Elijah at Mount Carmel

1 Kings 18:20-39

²⁰ Ahab sent the message to all the Israelites. He gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hobble back and forth between two opinions? If the Lord^[a] is God, follow God. If Baal is God, follow Baal.” The people gave no answer.

²² Elijah said to the people, “I am the last of the Lord’s prophets, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. ²³ Give us two bulls. Let Baal’s prophets choose one. Let them cut it apart and set it on the wood, but don’t add fire. I’ll prepare the other bull, put it on the wood, but won’t add fire. ²⁴ Then all of you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire—that’s the real God!”

All the people answered, “That’s an excellent idea.”

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of these bulls. Prepare it first since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t add fire.”

²⁶ So they took one of the bulls that had been brought to them. They prepared it and called on Baal’s name from morning to midday. They said, “Great Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound or answer. They performed a hopping dance around the altar that had been set up.

²⁷ Around noon, Elijah started making fun of them: “Shout louder! Certainly he’s a god! Perhaps he is lost in thought or wandering or traveling somewhere.^[b] Or maybe he is asleep and must wake up!”

²⁸ So the prophets of Baal cried with a louder voice and cut themselves with swords and knives as was their custom. Their blood flowed all over them. ²⁹ As noon passed they went crazy with their ritual until it was time for the evening offering. Still there was no sound or answer, no response whatsoever.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here!” All the people closed in, and he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been damaged. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—to whom the Lord’s word came: “Your name will be Israel.” ³² He built the stones into an altar in the Lord’s name, and he dug a trench around the altar big enough to hold two seahs^[c] of dry grain. ³³ He put the wood in order, butchered the bull, and placed the bull on the wood. “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood,” he commanded. ³⁴ “Do it a second time!” he said. So they did it a second time. “Do it a third time!” And so they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar, and even the trench filled with water. ³⁶ At the time of the evening offering, the prophet Elijah drew near 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. I have done all these things at your instructions. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, Lord, are the real God and that you can change their hearts.”^{[d] 38} Then the Lord’s fire fell; it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up the water in the trench!

³⁹ All the people saw this and fell on their faces. “The Lord is the real God! The Lord is the real God!” they exclaimed.

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Introduction

If you haven’t noticed superheroes are big right now (but then again, when are they NOT big?). The Avengers, Superman vs. Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk…the list goes on and on.  Superheroes are larger than life; they possess special powers that excite us; they are meant to protect us and fight for truth and justice.  Their example inspires us and makes us feel safe.  In fact, some comic historians theorize that the creator of Superman, Mitchell Siegel, was originally inspired to create the character after his father died during the robbery of his second-hand clothing store. There’s no way to prove this, but historian Brad Meltzer says "Your father dies in a robbery, and you invent a bulletproof man who becomes the world's greatest hero, I’m sorry but there’s a story there."

Elijah was not a “superhero,” but you could be forgiven for thinking he was. As a prophet of the LORD in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Elijah spoke for the LORD and challenged the rise of “Baal worship” in the LORD’s land.  He accomplishes many fantastic acts through the LORD’s help and power, today’s lesson being one of the most spectacular.  His “super power” seems to be calling down fire from heaven, which happens here in 1 Kings 18 and also in 2 Kings 1.  To complete the “superhero” comparisons, he even has a distinctive outfit. When messengers of King Ahaziah (Ahab’s son) are confronted by a mysterious “man” on their way to consult with a foreign god, the king tells them “describe the man who met you and said these things.” They reply, “He wore clothes made of hair with a leather belt around his waist.” Ahaziah replies, “That was Elijah from Tishbe.” (2 Kings 1:7-8) Like Batman or Superman, Elisha’s costume is tied with his reputation!

And every “superhero” story has a dastardly villain. For Elijah, that nemesis is the foreign-born queen of Israel named Jezebel.  Although she doesn’t appear in our story today, her presence is certainly felt. She has introduced Baal worship into Israel, bringing it from her home of Tyre.  What’s more she has persecuted and killed the prophets of the LORD and later encourages her husband Ahab to use his power selfishly (1 Kings 21).

Our story today is a head-to-head contest between Jezebel’s god Baal and the LORD of Israel. It is filled with theatrics and drama. Elijah shows bravery, courage and poise in his performance and the LORD is vindicated in front of the people who say “The LORD is the real God!”

The Technical Stuff:

This story takes place in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, less than a hundred years after the kingdom was divided.  History and archaeology give us evidence that Ahab was a powerful and militarily successful king who expanded his country’s borders. Kings often married foreign wives as a way to solidify political alliances with neighboring countries.  It appears that Ahab’s foreign queen Jezebel introduced a specific strain of “Baal worship” into Israel during his reign. Baal was a Canaanite god associate with thunderstorms, clouds and lightning. Baal was also connected with fertility, something very important to the farmers, vineyard owners and herders of the Ancient Middle East. Thousands of years later, it’s hard to tell whether there was one, single “Baal religion” or if all of the different references to Baal were different, distinct gods.

Worship of Baal seems to have been rather popular in Ancient Israel and Judah (otherwise, condemnation and opposition to Baal would not come up so often in the Bible!). Israel’s prophets, like Elijah and many others, fought hard to keep the nation true to the LORD, but is must have often felt like a fruitless effort.  Still, the LORD continued to call on prophets like Elijah to speak out and to enact deeds of power that gave witness to the LORD’s importance.

What Does This Say to Us?

While there aren’t many (or any!) Baal worshipers around today, there are many different things that compete with our worship of God. In his Large Catechism, Martin Luther wrote, “A ‘god’ is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart.” (Luther’s explanation of the First Commandment) For some people money, power, or pleasure become their “gods” just as people used to turn to Baal.  Like Elijah, we today are called to place our trust in the LORD of Israel.

But what does this look like? Calling down fire from heaven?

Just as so many children have attempted to emulate their favorite Superheroes over the years, Jesus’ disciples wish to emulate Elijah as well.  Not long after Jesus is transfigured on Mount Tabor and is seen by three of his disciples speaking to Moses and Elijah, he is traveling through a Samaritan village where its inhabitants reject him. Ready to do their best Elijah impersonation, James and John ask him “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?” (Luke 9:54) They must have been well versed on 1 Kings 18 and 2 Kings 1! They must have “connected the dots” and thought that Jesus wanted his followers to follow Elijah’s lead.

Jesus had other ideas, however. He turns and speaks to them sternly, saying that this was not an option.  As followers of Jesus today, we are called to stand firm and remain loyal to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If fire is going to rain down from heaven, we can leave that up to God.  It is through our loving actions and compassionate words that the good news of God will be spread so that people will say “The LORD the real God!”

November 1, 2015: Kingdom Divided

1 Kings 12:1-7, 25-29

Rehoboam went to Shechem where all Israel had come to make him king. ² When Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, heard the news, he returned from Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon. ³ The people sent and called for Jeroboam, who along with the entire Israelite assembly went and said to Rehoboam, ⁴ “Your father made our workload^[a] very hard for us. If you will lessen the demands your father made of us and lighten the heavy workload he demanded from us, then we will serve you.”

⁵ He answered them, “Come back in three days.” So the people left.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive. “What do you advise?” Rehoboam asked. “How should I respond to these people?”

⁷ “If you will be a servant to this people by answering them and speaking good words today,” they replied, “then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But Rehoboam ignored the advice the elders gave him and instead sought the counsel of the young advisors who had grown up with him and now served him. ⁹ “What do you advise?” he asked them. “How should we respond to these people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the workload your father demanded of us’?”

¹⁰ The young people who had grown up with him said to him, “This people said to you, ‘Your father made our workload heavy; lighten it for us!’ Now this is what you should say to them: ‘My baby finger^[b] is thicker than my father’s entire waist! ¹¹ So if my father made your workload heavy, I’ll make it even heavier! If my father disciplined you with whips, I’ll do it with scorpions!’”

¹² Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had specified when he said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king then answered the people harshly. He ignored the elders’ advice ¹⁴ and instead followed the young people’s advice. He said, “My father made your workload heavy, but I’ll make it even heavier! My father disciplined you with whips, but I’ll do it with scorpions!”

¹⁵ The king didn’t listen to the people because this turn of events came from the Lord so that he might keep the promise he delivered through Ahijah from Shiloh concerning Jeroboam, Nebat’s son. ¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king wouldn’t listen to them, the people answered the king:

“Why should we care about David?
    We have no stake in Jesse’s son!
Go back to your homes, Israel!
    You better look after your own house now, David!”

Then the Israelites went back to their homes, ¹⁷ and Rehoboam ruled over only the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.

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Introduction

There is a scene in the musical Fiddler on the Roof where a group of Jews from the village of Anatevka are debating an important issue: how much should they care about the world outside of their small village?  Will caring about politics and economics and other major forces make any difference? One character doesn’t think they should spend their time worrying about what will happen: “Why should I break my head about the outside world?” He says, “Let the outside world break its own head!” After quite a bit of laughter from the group, Tevye (the main character) says, “He’s right! As the good book says, ‘if you spit in the air, it lands in your face.’” But not everyone agrees, a young student named Perchik replies, “Nonsense! You can’t close your eyes to what’s happening in the world.” Tevye takes a long pause, points at Perchik and says “He’s right.” One of the other men in the crowd says, “He’s right and he’s right?” pointing at the two different speakers, “They can’t BOTH be right!” Tevye pauses yet again and says, “You know, you’re also right.”

Our lesson today continues an ongoing debate within Israel: is the monarchy a good thing or a bad thing? Kings can bring stability and prosperity, but they can also bring oppression.  Are kings God’s representative appointed to protect (to “shepherd”) the people, or are they a sign that the people don’t trust God enough to protect them and want to be like all of the other nations. Both sides in this ongoing debate have good points and things are never quite solved… and the conversation never really ends.

“Kings are good!”  “Kings are bad!”  So, which one is correct?

“He’s right and he’s right? They can’t both be right!”

“You know, you’re also right.”

The Technical Stuff:

Those who say that having a king is a good thing can point to many different places: the Book of Judges tells story about a destructive and bloody war between the Tribe of Benjamin and the other tribes of Israel where thousands upon thousands of people died. At the end of the book it says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; each person did what they thought to be right.” (Judges 21:25) The idea is, kings can bring about order and keep bloody chaos like this at bay.

The pro-monarchy crowd can also point to 2 Samuel 7 where God makes a promise to David saying, “Your dynasty and your kingdom will be secured forever before me.  Your throne will be established forever.” (2 Sam. 7:16) One of the reasons for this was so that the people of Israel will have a place where they can live and not be disturbed and “cruel people will no longer trouble them, as they had been earlier…” (2 Sam. 7:10) David’s son Solomon will build a glorious Temple for the worship of God and will be known far and wide for his power and prestige.  “The people of Judah and Israel…lived securely under their vines and fig trees throughout the day of Solomon.” (1 Kings 4:25) The Kings bring protection, prosperity and glory for the nation. What’s the problem?

Kings don’t only protect the people, they take from them as well. When the people of Israel clamored to the prophet Samuel for a king in 1 Samuel 8, the LORD tells him “Comply with the people’s request…because they haven’t reject you. No, they’ve rejected me as king over them.” The LORD equates their request for a king as the same as abandoning him and worshipping other gods. The LORD also tells Samuel to warn the people of how a king will rule them: “He will take your sons, and will use them for his chariots…he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks or bakers…he will take your best fields, vineyards and olive groves and give them to his servants…he will take one-tenth of your flocks, and then you yourselves will become his slaves!” (1 Sam. 8:11-18)

And experience seems to bear this out: once David was king, he misused his power in committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband Uriah. (2 Sam. 11).  Solomon built a glorious Temple, but he did it with drafted laborers who did not have a choice in the matter. (1 Kings 5) In our lesson for today, the people of Israel come to Solomon’s son, King Rehoboam, and beg that they have their labor lessened.  The older, wiser advisors urge the king to agree to this, but his younger confidants say the opposite. I don’t think anyone would react well to being told, “I’ll discipline you with scorpions!” And so the nation of Israel is divided. 

What Does This Say to Us?

Of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Judah is by far the largest and most powerful, but the others band together to form the northern kingdom of Israel.  These two nations will share a culture and heritage, but they will also squabble and fight amongst themselves. If God gives us a Promise, Relationship, and Life (see the title page), then we humans seem to find all sorts of ways of denying or working against God’s plan.  We like to dominate other people, push them around and get our way.  If we have a certain amount of power, it can “go to our heads” and we can act like Rehoboam, threatening to discipline others “with scorpions.”

The advice of the elders is all about relationship and life: “If you will be a servant to this people by answering them and speaking good words today,” they replied, “then they will be your servants forever.”  But Rehoboam will have none of it. The Bible attributes this to the LORD’s doing so that a promise could be kept and because the people of Judah had not remained faithful to God, but usually kings and people in power need little prodding or encouragement when it comes to pushing others around.

There is an exception though. We follow a king who does not disciple with scorpions, who cares about good relationships and who tells those who are beaten down, “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30) Unlike Rehoboam, Jesus uses his power for the benefit of others, giving his life so that we might live.

Are kings good or bad? I suppose it depends on the king.

Which kind do you want to follow?