LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE: 1 KINGS 18 :5- 18
Lesson 4 March 27, 2021
Key verse
“And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim”.
1 Kings 18:18
INTRODUCTION AND STUDY.
Many times our loving Father in Heaven have a problem with us. Despite all the good things that He has done for us we tend to be influenced by other people who do not know God and who do not want to do what God has advised us to do if we want to live a good, prosperous, and blessed life. Sometimes these things that we see around us are so attractive that we have a difficult time rejecting them and sticking to the things that the true God tells us is really the important things.
The people of Israel had this problem. They were always worshiping idols of wood and stone. It was crazy. How would one believe that these idols would really help you since you made them up yourself. But the people in the land worshiped a god called Baal and they thought that he would make them have good crops, bring them wealth, make them have a lot of children, and do all kinds of good things for them.
But God had warned the people of Israel and Judah not to follow those other people. But unfortunately they did not obey God.
Things got really bad. The people of Israel which was made up of Ten tribes never had a good King. They were all bad. The King named Ahab worshipped all kinds of false gods and did all kind of things that angered God.
Some of the people were what we call two- timing worshipers. They tried to worship the God of Israel sometimes and then they worshiped Baal at other times. They figured that if God did not give them what they want maybe Baal just might give them what they wanted.
But the King Ahab had a wife that was one of the worst women in the Bible. Her name was Jezebel and she was so bad that she hunted down and tried to kill all the prophets of God and the people that worshipped God. But some of the people in Israel had courage and didn’t go against the covenant that the nation had with God.
Things got really bad and God had to raise up a prophet called Elijah to tell people the truth. He was not afraid of the king whose name was Ahab or his wife Jezebel. He told both of them and the rest of the people in the country that since they did not obey God there would be a drought in the land for 3 1/2 years. There would be no rain. The crops would not grow, and the animals would die. The people would have a hard time because it would be very difficult to find water to drink.
That would teach Ahab and Jezebel a lesson for they thought that Baal was the God of rain. They had worshiped Baal because they thought that he was responsible for bringing rain which would make the crops grow a lot and they would become rich. But when Elijah told them that God would send a drought and there would be no rain this was telling them directly that the god Baal that they worshiped had no power at all. The God of Israel named Jehovah was the real God. When they worshiped other gods they were being very foolish. God therefore had to teach them a lesson and Elijah told them bluntly that this lesson would be “no rain” for 3 1/2 years.
Elijah made the people in Israel remember that they had a covenant with God for God had taken them out of slavery in Egypt and had looked after them, saving them from their enemies, and then giving them the Land of Canaan in which to live.
Then God told Elijah to go and hide himself from them for they came looking for Elijah to see if he would change the drought. They searched all over the land and even went to other nations but nobody could find Elijah.
At the end of the three and a half years Elijah turned up and told Ahab’s right-hand man, whose name was Obadiah, who was a secret believer in Jehovah, that he was there and wanted to talk to Ahab and show him and the people of Israel all the sins that they had been committing which made God angry. Their sins had caused Jehovah to bring drought to punish them.
When Ahab met Elijah he did not want to take responsibility for his sins which have damaged the nation but said that it was really Elijah that had cause the problem. Elijah told him right away that it was he Ahab and his family that had brought trouble in Israel.
Some people you meet will do all kind of foolish and bad things and get themselves and you into trouble. When trouble comes they will not accept responsibility for what they did. They will try to blame others though they caused the mess. So be careful of people like that.
But Elijah was a courageous man and he was not prepared to accept any blame for the sins of Ahab and his family.
Elijah challenged Ahab and the false prophets of Baal to a contest to see who could really bring rain. This was a famous contest on Mount Carmel which will come in another lesson. Of course you might know the story for Elijah won the contest.
The prophets of Baal could not bring rain when they were challenged to do that, but when Elijah prayed to God a lot of rain came. Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal and cleaned up the land.
We can learn a lot of lessons from this. Among them are these:
First, we must only worship God. Do not worship any other gods.
Second, not because you might have had a terrible father and grandfather who did not love God, you do not have to behave like them. Ahab had a chance to listen to the prophet Elijah who God sent. God was being merciful to Ahab for God was warning Ahab that if he did not change direction he would have a bad end.
Third, those who will follow God should have courage. They should always do what is right. They might live in a corrupt place and they might have to live among people who did a lot of evil but that does not mean that they should join those people in doing what was wrong. They should love God, and keep a close relationship to God for He would save them and look after them.
Fourth, believers in God should not underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit to keep them going.
Fifth, when we do what is wrong God will always bring punishment so that people will learn that God is supreme and that the forces of evil are now much for God. But remember God is merciful and He will show mercy and kindness to you even if you are being punished. So do not be afraid of God. Keep loving Him and trusting Him for He wants the best for you.
Sixth, do not worship idols whether you can see them or whether you cannot see them. Do not worship money, houses, cars or anything else. You should only worship God and want to do what God tells you to do.
So have courage. Be strong. God will give you strength to follow and obey Him.