God Heals the Limp Man (1 Kings 18:16-40)

Text: 1 Kings 18:16-40
Title: God Heals the Limp Man

You've probably heard the word Armageddon, which comes from the Hebrew word harmegeddon, which means Mount Megiddo. It's found in Revelation 16:16, and if you look before and after that verse, it's a place where the kings of Satan who oppose God gather to prepare for war against God before God's final judgment. So Revelation 6:12-16 says, "And the sixth angel poured out his vials upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters thereof were dried up, and the way was prepared for the kings that come from the rising of the sun. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet; and they are spirits of demons, and they go about seeking the kings of the whole world, doing strange things; and they seek to gather the kings together for the war that will take place in the great day of God Almighty, saying, 'Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is the man who watches, who is clothed, who does not go about naked, who does not show his shame to others.' And they saw the kings in the place called Armageddon in Hebrew, where they saw the kings."

There are many different interpretations of this verse, the first of which is a literal interpretation that says that there will be World War III in the end times. For example, the Seventh-day Sabbatarianism says, "It refers to the war that will take place in the last great day of God in the history of the earth, and this war is called the war of Armageddon." This is often said in the church, not only by the Seventh-day Sabbatarianism, but also by those who have a literal interpretation of the Bible, so whenever there is a war in the Middle East involving Israel, they say that World War III will take place, and that is the end time when Jesus will come. So Jehovah's Witnesses have been tricking and luring people into thinking that the end is coming in 1994 with the Armageddon War, but nothing has happened. Since then, many have been saying that Jesus is coming in 2000. Jesus is coming in 2020. Jesus is coming in 2050, and so on, spreading false stories to deceive people. Of course, you may not know this, but recently, there is someone who has been in trouble in the Korean church for his false eschatology. He sells a lot of books, he's famous on YouTube, so a lot of people follow him, but he clearly has a false eschatology.

So somebody comes to you and says, the earth is going to end in a few years. Or the earth is going to end soon, you should always be wary of people who say that. We don't know when Jesus is coming and the Bible talks about the end times from the time Jesus ascended into heaven until Jesus returns, so we are always living in the end times and that's why we live and think as if today is the last day. So what is this war of Armageddon? Well, as I mentioned earlier, it's the Hebrew word for the mountain of Megiddo. Megiddo is a city in the north of Israel, and because it's well-connected and the land is large and fertile, it was the site of important battles in ancient times. So the War of Armageddon in Revelation is a story that shows that the battle between God and evil will continue to take place, just as it has in the past, but in the end, the power of evil will be destroyed and God will prevail.

And the event we read about today, the Battle of Mount Carmel, is one foreshadowing of the War of Armageddon. Of course, Mount Carmel is not in Megiddo, but because Megiddo is visible from the top of Mount Carmel, scholars connect this Battle of Mount Carmel to the War of Armageddon.

The Battle for Mount Carmel

In today's passage, the northern nation of Israel has a king who is the most unbelieving, the most disrespectful of God, and that king is Ahab. And this king, King Ahab, brings Jezebel, the daughter of a king and priest who worships Baal from a place called Sidon, and they marry. And so northern Israel officially turns to Baal, and a lot of the people have gone over to Baal. Baal was the god of storms. He created clouds, made it rain, and struck lightning to help bring life to life, so he seemed like a necessary god for the Israelites who were farming in the land of Canaan. For the Israelites, who had been nomadic and enslaved, the new life of farming for their own sustenance was certainly not easy. They had never done it before, they had no knowledge of it, and so they turned to Baal, who seemed to make more sense, who seemed to be more efficient, and they made sacrifices to him for rain.

So God starts the battle that we see in our text today, the battle of Armageddon, the battle to take down this Baal, so he gathers 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah, and he has Elijah there to prove who's the real god, so he brings in two bulls and they have a public contest to see who's the god of fire.

Unfair Matchups

In fact, no matter how you look at it, the odds were stacked against Jehovah God and Elijah.

1. There was only one Elijah and 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah.
2. Elijah was able to pray to God until almost evening, while the prophets of Baal and Asherah prayed from morning to afternoon.
3. If you look at the place where the fight was taking place, the altars to Baal were big and beautiful, but the altars to God were all broken down because they hadn't been sacrificed for a long time.
4. Baal had the support of the king and all his subjects, but God and Elijah were opposed by everyone.

Who then has the advantage? Baal has the advantage. But God fights that seemingly unfavorable battle because God knows that Baal is not a living god, so he can't do anything about it. So Elijah stands by while the people who believe in Baal scream, sacrifice to their god, and search for their god. And when nothing happens by the afternoon, it's Elijah's turn. But if you look at Elijah, he doesn't fuss; he just prays, relying on God's presence, and then fire comes down and burns up the altar, and then it eventually rains. It's a battle where the odds are stacked against God, but we see God win, because God is the real, living God.

Elijah then asks the people who they will serve, Baal or God? We might think so. Shouldn't we serve God and Baal together? Shouldn't we worship together? No, we shouldn't. Why?

First, because there is no Baal. Baal is not a god that actually exists. If we think about idols well, idols are fake gods created by people's insecurities and greed. The Israelites had this insecurity, what if it doesn't rain and they can't farm? They hadn't farmed in a long time, they didn't have dams like we have now, they didn't have the equipment to water, they didn't have the technology to water if it didn't rain, so if they screwed up this year, they were going to starve next year because they didn't have the technology to store it. So they were insecure, and so they try to relieve that insecurity by making an idol. Also, some people say, I have a lot, but I want more, so I want a god I can command rather than a god who commands me. Like a god that I give money to, that I give food to, that grants my wishes and fulfills my dreams. It's like wanting to have a lamp genie. So you create an idol that you don't have to obey, and you bow down to it and you worship it. This is why powerful people worship idols. So what is an idol? It's a god created out of people's insecurities and greed. It's not a god that was always there, it's a god that humans created.

The 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah in today's text are a very large number of people. They spent the whole day doing the best they could, even tearing their own bodies apart, to sacrifice to their god. If Baal really is a god, this is enough to impress him. But Baal doesn't respond, because Baal is a god made of people. So I want you to remember that all the false idols that come to you in the form of Baal in your time are not real, living gods. For people today, Baal is an emotion, so I'm going to do what I want emotionally. For people these days, Baal is traveling, so if I don't travel, I don't feel alive. For people today, Baal is a pet, so they don't help other poor people and spend a lot of money on their pets. But none of them are real gods, so they can't do anything for us when we need something.

Secondly, because we cannot serve two gods at the same time. In today's passage, Elijah tells the Israelites not to hesitate between God and Baal. The Hebrew word for hesitate is to limp. In other words, not to limp before God. Why? Because according to Leviticus 21:18, a limping person cannot serve God. "21:18 Anyone who is unable to draw near to God because of a blemish on his body, whether he is blind, or has a lame leg, or has a disfigured face, or has any part of his body that is not properly shaped," and then in verse 21, "21:21 Anyone who has such a blemish on his body, from among the descendants of Aaron the priest, may not draw near to the Lord to offer a sacrifice of salvation. No one who has a blemish on his body can come to the Lord to offer food sacrifices." What does this mean? It means that a limp person, a hesitant person, cannot serve God fully. Can you have two parents? Of course you can, and you can be grateful for them, but there is only one who gave birth to you. The same is true for us. There is only one God we can serve, so nothing can be our master except to serve your God, that is, to worship God. Therefore, we must serve God alone.

What it Means to Serve

So what does it mean to serve? Serving is who you listen to when you make decisions. If you serve money, you listen to money when you make decisions. If you serve people, you listen to people. When I say this, some people say, "Well, parents are people, so why do you want me to listen to them?" The reason is because parents are the conduit through which God speaks to you, because God speaks to you through your parents, even though they make mistakes. So when you decide to do something, whether you hear from God directly, whether you hear from God through the Word, whether you hear from God through your parents, if you hear from God, then you are serving God, but if you don't, then you are not serving, so please serve only God.

Sure, our service may fall short. Of course our service can fail, but what is it that God does toward such a person? Grace. It's the fire that Elijah called down on the altar as he prayed. In fact, this fire is more than just a demonstration of God's power, because when God lets it be known that he has received an offering, he brings fire to consume the offering. What that means is that God has accepted this sacrifice in exchange for the forgiveness of the people's sins. So when Elijah prays for fire to come down, he doesn't just pray that it will reveal God's power. He prays that it will cause the people of Israel to repent.

Verses 36-37: "When the time came for the sacrifice, Elijah the prophet stepped forward, and he prayed, saying, 'I pray to the Lord. Lord God, who cared for Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let them know today that you are the God of Israel, that I am your servant, and that I am doing all these things only according to your word. Lord, please answer. Please answer. Let this people know that You are the Lord God, and that You are the Lord who turns their hearts. We pray.' The people of northern Israel have been given the opportunity to repent through this fire. Now all that remains is for them to repent and turn around and serve God. So it's okay if we've made mistakes in our lives. It's okay if we're tempted from time to time. What we need to do is to not stop then, not give up then, rely on God's grace, and strive to believe, obey, and serve God until the end. So today, I encourage you to trust in that God.

Folks, we've been like the Israelites, we've been stumbling, we've been limping, but if we repent and go on, seeking God's grace, God will heal us and give us victory in the fight against our idols, and that fight will eventually come to us in perfect victory at the end of time, with the complete elimination of evil.