Join us as we read the scriptures and a daily devotion written by Don Crisp. We pray these messages will bless us all at this time.
Sat 18th July – Read I Kings 18:1-4
Categories: Don’s Daily Devotions
Sat 18th July – Read I Kings 18:1-4
V1 In the third year of drought ( 3 and a half years in total according to James 5:17) when Elijah has stayed with the widow and her son for “many days”, ( what must the conversations in that house have been like during that time?) God sends him back to Ahab – this time with a message of mercy after judgement.
V2: The famine is still at this time severe. Samaria is the capital of the northern kingdom – ( usually referred to as Israel, where the southern kingdom is Judah, where at least there is some legacy of faith and obedience, though often sadly flawed )- of the divided nation, where Ahab reigns. Like almost every king of Israel he has no real faith in God, of course. How sad to trace the history of God’s covenant people!
V3-4: Obadiah, Ahab’s steward is introduced. He does know and fear the Lord – he has protected and hidden 100 of God’s servants during the drought. And it is also made clear here that Jezebel is the prime persecutor of God’s people.( We know nothing else of these men in Scripture, but clearly God has other servants than those who figure in the biblical pages ), but – though a genuine believer, he surely must have been in some sense a “secret disciple” to hold a high and trusted place in Ahab’s court, and later verses will show how this has weakened his confidence in God!