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time to confront

1 Kings 18:1-19 (JDV)

1 Kings 18:1 After a long time, the word of Yahveh came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.”
1 Kings 18:2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.
1 Kings 18:3 Ahab called for Obadiah, who oversaw the palace. Obadiah was a man who greatly feared Yahveh
1 Kings 18:4 and took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel slaughtered Yahveh’s prophets.
1 Kings 18:5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and to every wadi. Perhaps we’ll find grass so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to destroy any cattle.”
1 Kings 18:6 They divided the land between them to cover it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
1 Kings 18:7 While Obadiah was walking along the road, Elijah suddenly met him. When Obadiah recognized him, he fell facedown and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
1 Kings 18:8 “It is I,” he replied. “Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here! ‘”
1 Kings 18:9 But Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death?
1 Kings 18:10 As Yahveh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear they had not found you.
1 Kings 18:11 “Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!”‘
1 Kings 18:12 But when I leave you, the Breath of Yahveh may carry you off to some place I don’t know. Then when I go report to Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared Yahveh from my youth.
1 Kings 18:13 Wasn’t it reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered Yahveh’s prophets? I hid a hundred of the prophets of the Lord, fifty men to a cave, and I provided them with food and water.
1 Kings 18:14 Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!” ‘ He will kill me!”
1 Kings 18:15 Then Elijah said, “As Yahveh of Armies lives, in whose presence I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”
1 Kings 18:16 Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
1 Kings 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one ruining Israel?”
1 Kings 18:18 He replied, “I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned Yahveh ‘s commands and followed the Baals.
1 Kings 18:19 Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

time to confront

Elijah determines that the time for hiding is over. It is now time for a confrontation. Sometimes safety is the best that you can ask for. But when the Holy Spirit is ready for a show-down, the old way of doings things will not do.

LORD, give us courage to act when it is time to confront the evils of our land.