I Kings 18:1-16 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.
And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?
And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
And he (Obadiah) said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.
Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.
And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
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I've often thought of the way people are terrified of prophets!
I see that in the Old Testament and I've experienced it in my own life.
When I was a young woman in my late 30's, and attended Word of Faith church outside of Dallas, I was very attracted to a man at that church group. But he showed no interest at all in me. A woman from our church group even said to him, "It looks like Joan Boney would be the right person for you." He replied, "OH ... I'd be afraid she would see something I was doing wrong!"
And I did see things he was doing wrong. God showed me. And I told him.
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I think of those Old Testament prophets who often ran about the country in pacts.
Can you imagine how terrified people would be when they saw the prophets appear on the road leading toward their town?
"Hide and lock the door and close the shutters. That group of prophets are outside of town!"
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He replied: "It was terrible! I turned 50 and God got all the prophets after me!"
***
Really, we're not that bad! unless you are doing bad things and hiding in the church!
One of our church group was getting married. I had very uncomfortable feelings about this wedding. And so did another woman from our church, whom I thought to be a prophet.
Both of us shared our concerns with the woman who was planning to marry.
She postponed the wedding as a result of our warnings.
The man she was planning to marry said he was a Christian. But when his son was going to marry a divorced woman, and the woman to whom he was engaged, shared the scripture where Jesus said, "The man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery," (Matthew 5:32), then this man no longer wanted to marry her and the wedding was cancelled.
A few years later, she was very glad she did not marry this man.
So prophets can greatly benefit you if you are really serious about living a godly life in Christ Jesus.
If you are just playing at church, then you certainly do not want to encounter a prophet. For you will likely hear truth from the Holy Spirit from that prophet and you will not like that truth. But if that is the case, you have more problems than just seeing a prophet. God will be your problem!
A pastor invited me to speak at a small church in San Angelo, Texas.
At the end of the meeting pastor invited people to come forward for prayer. He asked me to pray for the individuals. I went to one woman and I asked her, "And what is it you want from the Lord?"
She replied, "I's jest wants more of God."
I said to her, "God will tell me what you are doing."
She became very disturbed and began waving her arms in the air and screamed out, "OH, NO LORD! Don't tell her!"
The room broke out in gales of laughter!
That ended that meeting.
A prophet is not looking for wrong doing. But when something is wrong, God might choose to show a prophet the wrong that is being done. And when that happens, the prophet is responsible to God for dealing with the wrong.
In the early 1980's, I became friends with a famous radio minister. (She later became a TV minister also.)
She came to Dallas, where I lived, to give a meeting. I picked her up at airport to help her get to her hotel. She had large numbers of boxes shipped with her luggage. These boxes contained both Bibles and tapes which she sold at her meeting.
I was surprised that she could afford to ship all those boxes of Bibles and cassette tapes.
She explained this to me: The way to do this is to get a large roll of dollar bills in your hand. Drive up to curb side check in and let the porter see all that money that you are about to give him to handle your luggage and the boxes. This way you can get the boxes shipped without extra cost.
God did not open my eyes to see that this was sin until much later.
So God might not show you their sin and God might show you.
But we are never looking for sin.
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God told the prophet Samuel to go to a certain city where he would find a son of Jesse, and to anoint him as king of Israel.
God says to Samuel:
And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me.
And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto ME him whom I name unto thee.
4 And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?
5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
These elders had some experience with prophets.
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I Kings 18:17-40 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
And he (Elijah) answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.
And Elijah says to Ahab:
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.
(850 false prophets & Elijah, the prophet of God)
(850 false prophets & Elijah, the prophet of God)
So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:
And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let HIM be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.
And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am THY servant, and that I have done all these things at THY word.
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.
And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am THY servant, and that I have done all these things at THY word.
Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that THOU art the Lord God, and that THOU hast turned their heart back again.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, HE is the God; the Lord, HE is the God.
And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
(450-prophets of Baal slain)
So Ahab went up to eat and to drink.
And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.
Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, HE is the God; the Lord, HE is the God.
(450-prophets of Baal slain)
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I Kings 18:41-46 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
(There had been a 3 year drought and no sign of rain when Elijah said this to Ahab.)
So Ahab went up to eat and to drink.
And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.
And he (the servant) went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing.
And he (Elijah) said, Go again seven times.
And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he (the servant) said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.
And he (Elijah) said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.
And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
II Peter 2:1-2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
(When you see the multi-thousands of people attending their meetings, is this a sign of good? or of evil?)
Once I attended a secular dinner at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. There was assigned seating at the dinner. They had placed me next to a man who was wearing around his neck the biggest cross I have ever seen. He quickly identified himself as the former pastor at Indiana Street Baptist Church.
Then he began telling me about the terrible problem they were having at the church. He said, "We keep adding onto the building but we still do not have enough room to seat all the people."
I replied: "If you would begin teaching what Jesus said, 'The man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery', then about 1/2 of the people would leave you and you would have no seating problem."
He looked startled! I fled. I wasn't going to stay there and sit by this man.
II Peter 2:3-16 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time.
Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
II Peter 2:18-22 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
***
There are many false ministers in today's churches.
Peter said this would happen.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
Once I attended a secular dinner at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. There was assigned seating at the dinner. They had placed me next to a man who was wearing around his neck the biggest cross I have ever seen. He quickly identified himself as the former pastor at Indiana Street Baptist Church.
Then he began telling me about the terrible problem they were having at the church. He said, "We keep adding onto the building but we still do not have enough room to seat all the people."
I replied: "If you would begin teaching what Jesus said, 'The man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery', then about 1/2 of the people would leave you and you would have no seating problem."
He looked startled! I fled. I wasn't going to stay there and sit by this man.
***
II Peter 2:3-16 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
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II Peter 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
So many preachers say nothing. They just wave their hands and stomp about the stage and shout with great blustering words.
People think it to be wonderful.
But what did they say?
Often no one knows.
Once a woman told me how wonderful the preacher was at the Sunday morning service. Then she went on to say, "I couldn't understand a thing he said."
Paul said: And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. (I Corinthians 14:7-9)
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II Peter 2:18-22 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
*****