“Everything belongs to the Lord”
Behold, Elijah is here. —1Kings 18:8
Read 1 Kings 18:1-16
The priests and Levites had departed from the Kingdom of Israel and gone to Jerusalem. There was no work for them to perform in Israel because there was no temple there. More importantly, sacrifices to Jehovah were not supposed to be brought to Israel, but to Jerusalem. Still, there were some prophets in Israel, nameless individuals referred to numerous times. It is clear that they kept up the service of the Lord on a small scale. They seemed to have visited individual homes and families, a dangerous task since Jezebel had tracked down and killed many of them. It was during this time period that Obadiah lived. Later he declared that he had feared the Lord from his youth. If we asked you whether you feared the Lord, some of you would probably respond that you will do so later in life. Why not fear Him from your youth? Should the Lord be thankful that you are willing to serve Him for half of your life? But some of you can answer, “Yes, by God’s grace I fear the Lord.” If you can, then there is a lesson here for you; all of God’s people have important work to do in the world. While the judgment of God came upon the land for three and a half years, the king’s only fear was that there would not be enough water for his beautiful livestock. Ahab’s sin was not his concern for his animals, but what they meant to him. What sin testifies against us?
What does the Bible say of Obadiah?