John 1:29-51
John saw Jesus and said, “Behold, the LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John knew! John knew Jesus was coming to take the sin of the world as a sacrifice.
In verse 48, Jesus says He saw Nathanael under a fig tree before Philip called him, a vision given to Him by the Spirit. Nathaniel acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God. These disciples didn’t follow Jesus because they had nothing better to do; they followed Him because they saw the anointing on His life.
1 Kings 16-18
The Lord uses Prophet Jehu to speak to Baasha, king of Israel.
Baasha was an evil man; however, in 1 Kings 16:2 God says, “I lifted you up out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel…” God is the One who called Baasha to leadership. The wickedness Baasha did was his choosing. Baasha dies and his son, Elah, becomes king. Elah’s servant, Zimri, causes Elah to get drunk and then murders him.
Again, we see a shift in lineage outside of a family line for the kings of Israel. This king dies and two other leaders rise up, dividing the northern tribes of Israel. Omri defeats the other leader and becomes the next king of Israel. When he dies, his son, Ahab, becomes king of Israel. Ahab did evil, more than any that were before him.
Ahab married Jezebel, a king’s daughter that worshipped Baal. Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel caused Israel to worship Baal as well.
God calls Elijah as a prophet to speak to Israel. Elijah speaks God’s word, declaring a drought, so a drought begins. Notice how someone calling it to be so was God’s way. It caused God’s will to be done in the earth. The drought was God’s judgment.
God miraculously provided for the prophet through a widow. What a display of His power to choose to use this poor widow and her last meal to feed Elijah. God uses the weak.
Because this widow gave, she stayed alive, God continually providing for her until the rain would come again. When her son died, Elijah raised him from the dead. God blessed her and gave her back her son.
Elijah’s calling is as a prophet, to speak for God. God gives Elijah a message for Ahab in the third year of the drought. He gives the message through Obadiah, the prophet who hid 100 prophets in 2 caves from Jezebel, the queen who massacred the prophets. The queen was out to kill Elijah, so to go to the king with a message from Elijah was dangerous.
Verse 12, Obadiah says the Spirit of God will carry Elijah away to protect him, again thinking that he will be killed when Elijah can’t be found. Elijah assured Obadiah that he would show himself to Ahab. Apparently the Lord would transport Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:16).
When Ahab saw Elijah, he recognized him, and called him a “Troubler of Israel.” This is because Elijah declared the drought. Elijah threw it back at Ahab, saying the king had troubled Israel through his sin.
Elijah tells the king to gather Israel and 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess. Elijah spoke to the people about being between two opinions, serving God and Baal. The people did not answer. I want to point out that Elijah was not behaving in a weak or frail manner. He was calling Ahab and all of Israel out to repent.
Elijah calls down fire, and shows the people that the Lord is God! Then Elijah says the drought is over, saying “there is the sound of abundance of rain.” Elijah begins to intercede, asking his servant to report back about the rain, continuing to pray until a breakthrough.
Ahab flees from Carmel to Jezreel on his chariot, and Elijah outruns him to Jezreel on foot, a distance of about 25 miles. This is a supernatural miracle.