Elijah and Fire from Heaven: The Cost of Discipleship

“And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word'” 1 Kings 18: 36.

“Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow'” 1 Kings 19: 1, 2. 

Elijah and Fire from Heaven: The Price of Obedience

This is from the familiar account in the Old Testament of the showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of baal. Both groups were to offer a sacrifice to their god. There was just one hitch: They were not to light it. They had to pray to their god to send the fire.

The false prophets prayed to their god all day to no avail. Only one god answered with fire. Elijah’s God. The one true God. So, Elijah killed the false prophets according to the law of Moses. But there was hell to pay. To read the entire passage, click here.

This is a perfect example of why obedience requires trust. God’s will and ways usually involve a threat to our well-being if we submit to them. In our verse we see that it was God who commanded Elijah to have the showdown with the prophets of Baal.

And presumably to execute them once they were found to be false. The law commanded that false prophets be killed. So, Elijah was God’s servant and had done all these things at His word.

I’m quite sure he knew before he did it that it would be a threat to his well-being. And we see from the passage that in fact it was.

Obedience requires trust because it often doesn’t seem to be in our best interest. And unless God intervenes in our behalf the threat we’ve exposed ourselves to will probably be realized.

Elijah’s obedience meant incurring Jezebel’s wrath. . . and a death sentence. He had to trust that God would undertake for him and protect him.

God’s Ways Not In our Best Interest

God has so ordered things that His will and ways will often present a threat to our well-being on this earth. This is no accident. It’s to teach us to trust Him. God can’t accomplish anything in or through us unless we trust Him.

The wilderness that God told the ancient Israelites to travel through to get to the promise land was a threat to their well-being. It was a dead, dry, barren desert that couldn’t sustain life (Exodus 17: 1-3).

Unless God intervened on their behalf, they would certainly die of hunger and thirst before arriving at their destination.

God told Abraham to kill his beloved son Isaac. This was clearly not in his or Isaac’s best interest. And he wouldn’t have been able to do it unless he believed God would intervene (Genesis 22:1-19).

Esther exposed herself to the threat of losing her life in deciding to go before the king uninvited (Esther 4).

Obedience to God’s ways requires trust because it’s often perilous, threatening and even dangerous. It’s not in our best interest.

To read another post related to Elijah and Fire from Heaven: The Cost of Discipleship, see Take Up Your Cross Daily, but What Does that Mean?