Slices
Prepare
‘Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word’ (Psalm 119:161). Pray: Lord, give me a listening heart as you speak through your Word. Amen.
Bible passage
Elijah and Obadiah
18 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.’ 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) 5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, ‘Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.’ 6 So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.
7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognised him, bowed down to the ground, and said, ‘Is it really you, my lord Elijah?’
8 ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Go tell your master, “Elijah is here.”’
9 ‘What have I done wrong,’ asked Obadiah, ‘that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, “Elijah is here.” 12 I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshipped the Lord since my youth. 13 Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, “Elijah is here.” He will kill me!’
15 Elijah said, ‘As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.’
Elijah on Mount Carmel
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that you, you troubler of Israel?’
18 ‘I have not made trouble for Israel,’ Elijah replied. ‘But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.’
Explore
It takes courage to follow God in a culture where everything except God is worshipped (v 12). It takes perseverance to keep your heart and mind focused on the Lord when your workplace is hostile to God (v 13). It takes wisdom and discernment to know when to do what is right ‘behind the scenes’ (v 4) and when to speak out (v 16). But it is not easy! For Obadiah every day was a battle between faith and fear.
Elijah’s ‘chance’ meeting with Obadiah (vs 1,2,7) is, of course, a God-incidence. As Ahab’s official, Obadiah’s duty was to arrest the nation’s most wanted man. Through Elijah’s request God tests Obadiah’s loyalty, challenging him to make a choice. Is his priority God (and God’s prophet)? Or his earthly boss, King Ahab? Will he live by faith or fear (vs 9,14)?
For most of us, speaking up for God’s truth may not be a matter of life or death, but it may cost us a promotion, a relationship or our reputation. The question for Obadiah that day, as it is for each of us every day, is what is more important: my job, relationship, reputation, life… or God and his Word?
Respond
How is the Holy Spirit challenging you? Is he asking you to speak out where previously you have been silent?
Deeper Bible study
Pray ‘for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.’1
Three years into the drought, the situation was desperate. Ahab and Obadiah divided the country between them and walked through the land looking for fodder for their animals (vs 5,6). Now the Lord spoke again, telling Elijah to visit Ahab: he is going to send rain on the land (v 1). Everyone will benefit, good and bad alike!2
Obadiah was the chief servant in the royal palace, but he was also a devout believer (v 3). When Jezebel was having the Lord’s prophets killed, he hid a hundred of them in caves and fed and watered them (v 4). He was just the person who was needed at that time.
‘The Lord has his faithful servants planted in the places they are least expected so that they can carry out the work of God where it is most opposed.’3
Whilst Obadiah was searching, Elijah met him – no doubt his hairy clothes and leather belt made him easy to recognise4 – and told him to let Ahab know that he was there (v 8). For Obadiah, that felt like a death sentence (v 9). Seemingly, Elijah had a reputation for being elusive, like The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Obadiah feared that when he told Ahab, Elijah might disappear again, and it would be doom for him (v 12). However, Elijah could be trusted and he confirmed his promise with an oath (v 15). Keeping his word, Elijah told Ahab the unpopular truth about himself and his family and set in motion plans for a huge contest between himself and the prophets of Baal and of Asherah. This ‘troubler of Israel’ (v 17) was not afraid to speak truth to power.
Are there things you need to say to powerful people – politicians, church leaders, business people, even family members? Ask for courage to speak up clearly.5
1 1 Tim 2:2 2 Matt 5:45 3 Musa Gotom, in Africa Bible Commentary, ed by T Adeyemo, Zondervan, 2006, p437 4 2 Kings 1:8 5 Esth 4:14
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Song of Songs 7,8; Psalms 99–101
Pray for Scripture Union
Praise God for releasing the resources needed to help the Diocese of Durham and SU to respond to his calling to enable young people to connect, explore, respond and grow in faith. (This week's prayers relate to this story.)