In Kings and Chronicles, He's Sovereign....
Before I went to sleep last night, the last thing that I prayed was that God would reveal to me what it was that He wanted me to convey about His sovereignty. It's a huge concept to wrap your mind around, so I asked Him to help me wrap my heart around it instead. Right before I fell asleep, I saw in my mind's eye Elijah and the challenge he made to the prophets of Baal. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the god who answers by fire, He is God 1 Kings 18:24
Elijah threw down the gauntlet of sovereignty, but before we jump into that story, let's talk about what sovereignty means, along with a praise and worship song that came to mind while meditating on this subject this morning.
Above all powers, Above all kings
Above all nature and all created things,
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones,
Above all wonders the world has ever known,
Above all wealth, and treasures of the earth.
There's no way to measure what you're worth.
Crucified, laid behind a stone,
You lived to die, rejected and alone,
Like a rose, trampled on the ground,
You took the fall, and thought of me,
Above all.
Sovereign is defined by Merrium-Webster as "one possessing or held to possess supreme political power or sovereignty."(noun) It also means "of the most exalted kind" and "possessed of supreme power". (adjectives) Two synonyms are: highest and greatest which can translate to "Above All". In Hebrew, sovereign can be expressed through Adonai, which means "Lord" and thus speaks of sovereignty. 11 Thine, O LORD, [is] the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all [that is] in the heaven and in the earth [is thine]; thine [is] the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honour [come] of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand [is] power and might; and in thine hand [it is] to make great, and to give strength unto all. 1 Chronicles 29:11-12
Now let's go back to Elijah. King Ahab had married a Phoenician woman named Jezebel. She wasn't just a king's daughter, she was a priestess of the false gods they served, primarily Baal. She was instrumental in turning God's people even further away from Him where they worshiped her gods, which included child sacrifice. Elijah became a huge thorn in this woman's side and when through him, God showed her gods to be false before the entire nation, her rage and desire for vengeance towards Elijah caused him to flee to the wilderness. What could have possibly happened for her rage to be so great?
This is almost like two kids on the playground and one says to the other, "my dad is better than your dad" and the other says "wanna bet?" The challenge laid out is one that can leave no doubt as to whose dad is better. Elijah tells Ahab to gather all of Israel and the prophets of Baal to gather at Mount Carmel. Once there, Elijah says to the people, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal then follow him." and he's met with crickets. No one says a word. He then tells them that he is one and Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty. One and God is a majority and if He is for you, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31) Sacrifices are prepared and placed on wood, but he instructed them not to put any fire under the wood, and this was done for both parties. He then issues the challenge. "And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord (Adonai): and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God." The prophets of Baal went first, calling on the name of Baal from morning to noon, even jumping upon the altar, but there was no answer. After this time had passed, Elijah mocked them saying "Cry louder! Maybe he's talking or on a journey or maybe he's asleep and you need to wake him up!" So they cried louder and cut themselves with knives but to no avail. By evening, Baal had done nothing to prove himself as god. Then, it was Elijah's turn, and guess whose dad was better?
30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto Him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.
40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. (1 Kings 18: 19-40)
Can you imagine what it must have been like to see fire fall from heaven? A fire so precise that it was in a contained to just the area of a sacrificial alter, consuming everything...the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the water and even the very dust. Seeing that fire come from ABOVE and seeing the hand of a sovereign God in motion, it had to truly put the fear of God into them. At least for a time. If they were able to walk away from Him after seeing such an awesome display of his sovereignty, how much more do we need to guard our own hearts? Proverbs 4:23 says Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Who is the life? Jesus, so for Him to flow from our hearts for others to see, we have to guard our hearts and know that we serve a sovereign God.
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