Read: 1 Kings 18:1-46; Acts 11:1-30; Psalm 135:1-21; Proverbs 17:12-13
The Kings are the history of Israel’s kings with Judah’s kings in the background but the Chronicles are the history of Judah’s kings with Israel’s kings in the background.
The drought had brought a famine and it had been going on for three years. Ahab and his officer, Obadiah had separated to look for grass for Ahab’s horses and mules. Obadiah, a godly man, ran into Elijah who was looking for Ahab. He told Obadiah to have Ahab, the people and all the 850 prophets of Baal and Ashtorah meet him on Mt. Carmel where God was going to give them rain.
When they got there, Elijah had Ahab give him two bulls, one for the Baal prophets and one for the Lord. He told them that they were both going to make a sacrifice to their god and the one who answered with fire would be the true God. The prophets of Baal would go first.
They prayed, danced, cut themselves and did all sorts of ritualistic acts from morning till afternoon with no results. Now it was Elijah’s turn and it was also the time of the evening sacrifice in the temple on earth and in heaven. Elijah prepared his sacrifice the had them pour water three times on the altar till it overflowed the altar. The thing they were in short supply was water. That was their sacrifice.
Then Elijah looked to heaven and prayed for God to answer with fire. As soon as he finished, fire came from heaven and consumed all the sacrifice, licked up the water and the people fell face down on the ground.
Elijah commanded that they capture all the false prophets and took them down to the Kishon Valley where Elijah had them killed. (There is quicksand there so that might have been how he killed them.)
He told Ahab to eat and drink because a rainstorm was on its way. Then Elijah went to the tope of the mountain and prayed it in. It came and God gave Elijah supernatural strength to out run Ahab’s chariot back to Jezebel.
In Acts, Paul returned to Jerusalem with his story of how God sent him to the Gentiles and they received the Lord and the Holy Spirit. They were amazed. Others started spreading the gospel to the Gentiles and they were receptive also. They began to see that the good news of Jesus was for everyone. Antioch was one of the towns that the gospel was spreading quickly so the believers in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to help. He sent for Paul and together they began the first church. They stayed there for a year teaching the people and discipling them. They started calling believers, “Christians.”
One of the prophets, Agabus had a word about a famine that was coming to the entire Roman world. Everyone gathered supplies to help the ones affected by it.
Lord, thank you for the spreading of the gospel. May we be bearers of your good news.
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