Thurs 30th July  –  Read 1 Kings 19:1-3 V1:  Sadly, nothing has truly touched or changed Ahab. He returns home only to report to Jezebel – increasingly seen to be the “power behind the throne” who dominates her husband – what Elijah has done, including executing the prophets who were her proteges. V2:  She immediately…

Wed 29th July  –   Read 1 Kings 18:42-46 V42: As Ahab goes, Elijah seeks God’s face in humble prayer, as shown by the posture he adopts. Here surely is an intercessor praying for and identifying with his people. Compare Moses, in Exodus 33:30-32. Note also, that though Elijah is confident in what God will do,…

Tues 28th July  –   Read 1 Kings 18:39-41 V39: At such a revelation of God’s power, the people who have been “sitting on the fence” back in v21, now fall on their faces before the Lord they have disobeyed, and cry out that He is indeed the ( only ) true and living God. V40: Elijah…

Mon 27th July  –  Read 1 Kings 18:36-38 V36: After the utter failure of the prophets of Baal and their so-called god, Elijah, at the designated time of the evening sacrifice to the Lord, calls on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel and became the name of the…

Sat 25th July  –  Read 1 Kings 18:30-35 V30:  Elijah calls the people around him, and first builds up an altar of the Lord that had been knocked down. One man has commented ” how sad to see that broken and disused altar in the midst of Israel.” V31:  He takes 12 stones, symbolic of…

Fri 24th July  –  Read 1 Kings 18:25-29 V25:  Elijah gives the prophets of Baal ” first go.” Let them choose their bull, prepare it, but light no fire. Rather, let them call on Baal to vindicate himself! V26:  So they do, and Elijah lets them carry on ” from morning to noon” – we…

Thurs 23rd July  –   Read 1 Kings 18:20-24 V20:  Ahab does exactly as Elijah says, clearly under a compulsion from God, but one wonders what he anticipates from the confrontation to come. Even as believers, we do not always see or know what God is doing, but we are called to “trust Him for all…

Wed 22nd July  –  Read 1 Kings 18:15-19 V15:  Elijah, in absolute conviction that he is in the hands of the living God, tells Obadiah he will see Ahab this day. His God is ” the Lord of hosts” – sometimes rendered ” the Lord of the heavenly armies”- , the Almighty God whose full resources…

Tues 21st July  –   Read 1 Kings 18:10-14 V10:  We learn that Ahab has searched for Elijah – no doubt blaming him for the drought – in all the neighbouring kingdoms. God has kept His servant from Ahab’s anger until this moment – perhaps using the very fact that the prophet had been concealed in…

Mon 20th July  –  Read 1 Kings 18:5-9 V5:  Ahab sends Obadiah to search for any remaining source of water – does his emphasis only on livestock here suggest he is more concerned about these animals and their economic benefit to him and his kingdom than about his people? V6:  So Ahab himself will search in…