Today’s Devotion
Topic: A Passionate Prophet Vrs His Evil King (Part 7)
(Self Assessment 207)
Background:
After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. (1 Kings 18: 1- 2a).
How did Elijah present himself to the king knowing that Ahab was looking everywhere for him (because he blames Elijah for the famine)? How did the king receive him, and what happened afterwards? For answers to these and more, let’s get straight into our weekly Bible discussion.
Text: 1 Kings 18: 2b- 15
2b Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water). 5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.” 6 So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.
7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”
8 “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ 12 I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. 13 Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”
15 Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.” Amen
Questions:
1. What can you say about Obadiah?
2. How does his story reveal the possibility of working under horrible leadership and yet remaining undefiled by the system?
3. Ahab, though king, joined in the search for food for the animals when the famine got very severe. What can we say about this?
4. How does Obadiah’s long explanation to Elijah (after he was asked to inform Ahab that Elijah wanted to see him) prove how desperate the situation in Israel had been?
5. Elijah remained everywhere the Lord told him to be throughout this period till the Lord asked him to present himself to Ahab. Now he was very ready to do that! What can we all, especially ‘men and women of God’, learn from this?
6. What have you learnt from the entire discussion for today?
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