Today's readings are 1 Kings 18.1-19 and Ephesians 1.1-23.
Ahab was a cruel, bloodthirsty man. And he clearly had a vendetta against Elijah and the other prophets of God. In the case of Elijah, with Ahab's misunderstanding of the nature of God, this vendetta wasn't altogether irrational. When someone has proclaimed that your nation will suffer from a drought lasting several years, then the drought does happen, you might very well think that person had something to do with it.
What is the question Ahab addresses to Elijah? "Are you the one troubling Israel?" Again, this isn't a bad question, allowing for Ahab's presuppositions. But then we get to see Elijah's response, rather, God's response. It is not Elijah who troubles Israel but Ahab, who has deserted the Lord, the God of Israel. It is Ahab, who by leading God's people astray has brought all manner of trouble on Israel. It is by God's mercy that the people are undergoing a drought rather than invading hordes or a plague that simply kills them outright.
In Romans 3 we read that our sin deserves death. That's all there is to it. Yet we see that Jesus Christ has become sin for us. He has died the death we deserve. And in his final moments he proclaimed the forgiveness of sin. Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, has died for everyone's sin, past, present, and future. He has purchased salvation. All we who have had this Gospel proclaimed to us do is believe that Jesus has done all he said he did.
Yes, there is salvation, even for we who trouble Israel.
Ahab was a cruel, bloodthirsty man. And he clearly had a vendetta against Elijah and the other prophets of God. In the case of Elijah, with Ahab's misunderstanding of the nature of God, this vendetta wasn't altogether irrational. When someone has proclaimed that your nation will suffer from a drought lasting several years, then the drought does happen, you might very well think that person had something to do with it.
What is the question Ahab addresses to Elijah? "Are you the one troubling Israel?" Again, this isn't a bad question, allowing for Ahab's presuppositions. But then we get to see Elijah's response, rather, God's response. It is not Elijah who troubles Israel but Ahab, who has deserted the Lord, the God of Israel. It is Ahab, who by leading God's people astray has brought all manner of trouble on Israel. It is by God's mercy that the people are undergoing a drought rather than invading hordes or a plague that simply kills them outright.
In Romans 3 we read that our sin deserves death. That's all there is to it. Yet we see that Jesus Christ has become sin for us. He has died the death we deserve. And in his final moments he proclaimed the forgiveness of sin. Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, has died for everyone's sin, past, present, and future. He has purchased salvation. All we who have had this Gospel proclaimed to us do is believe that Jesus has done all he said he did.
Yes, there is salvation, even for we who trouble Israel.
--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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