Obadiah
Today we
have a choice to make. I find myself
torn this morning as we read the passage on Obadiah the prophet. On one hand I have tremendous respect for
Obadiah. Yet as I read one of my
favorite commentaries I find a perspective completely contrary to my own
perspective. So, I am going out on my
own today – going away from the thoughts of one of my closest theological
friends. But this is life sometimes, and
of all the days to go out on a limb, the day where we celebrated the gift of
Grace coming in the bodily form of Jesus Christ seems to be a good day to do
so!
As I read
the story of Obadiah, it is easy to see how Obadiah was a “compromiser.” He was still working under King Ahab. As we can see with the pursuit of grass for
the animals, we can see that he is still taking orders from the king. It is easy to come down in judgment against
his choices.
However,
we also see a person that God used in the place that He was in. When Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord
it was Obadiah who was there to save a good number of them! When God wanted Elijah to come and confront
Ahab, it was Obadiah that God used to get Elijah into Ahab’s presence. I personally believe that Obadiah is not a
compromiser; rather I believe that Obadiah is serving the Lord in a context
that is very difficult.
I mean no
personal slam against Elijah in what I am about to say. Anyone can go away and hide. Now, I mean this as no slam against Elijah
because Elijah was doing what God told him to do. So don’t take that comment as me comparing
Obadiah to Elijah. But look at what
Obadiah does. Obadiah finds a way to
fear the Lord and remain in contact with the king in spite of Jezebel’s
personal vendetta against the prophets of the Lord! Obadiah could have easily hid himself, but he
sticks his neck out on the chopping block so that he is in a position to be
used when God should need him – and we see at least twice that God does use
him!
However,
anytime a spiritual person remains in contact with the enemy – in this case,
Ahab - or even more generically “sinners” it is easy for the “spiritual elite”
to judge the person who chooses to remain among the sinful. It is easy to look at the one who remains in
contact and speak of them as one who compromises their faith. It is easy to say that their faith is not
strong enough to abandon everything for the Lord. But it may be those who stay in contact who
have the stronger faith. It may be them
who have picked up the mantle of Christ and who are trusting God to continue to
use them in the midst of sin and evil.
In the
end, I do not mean to judge either position.
One can separate oneself from sin and evil in a holy way; one can
separate oneself from sin and evil in a way that demonstrates cowardice and
refusal to obey God. One can dwell among
sin and evil in a holy way; one can dwell among sin and evil in a way that
leads to corruption. My point is not to
lift one position above the other.
Rather, my point here is to say that the important thing is to follow
the Lord’s calling in this world and do what He asks. Judge not others who are also pursuing the
call of the Lord – as long as they are genuinely pursuing the Lord. We see Elijah and Obadiah serving the Lord in
opposite ways in this chapter and the prior chapter. The important part is not their differences,
but the fact that they are available and willing to be used by God.
Elijah and the Prophets of Ba’al
As we turn
to look to one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament, let me pause
and point out one of Elijah’s strongest character flaws. Again, I don’t illustrate this in judgment
against him. We all have flaws. But we can learn from Elijah’s flaws –
especially those of us in spiritual leadership.
The flaw comes in verse 22 where Elijah says, “I, even I only, am left a
prophet of the Lord.” Elijah’s pride and
confidence leads him to a poor place of spiritual discernment. He sees himself as alone, when God has been
working to save others just like him.
We’ll see this again much more clearly tomorrow. So let’s hold onto this phrase and surge
ahead.
Elijah had
just met Obadiah and Obadiah had told him about the prophets that were
saved. God has just shown him that He is
not alone, but he doesn’t see Obadiah as a “real” person of God. His pride gets in the way.
But the
truth is, I suffer from the same flaw. I
think that’s why I needed to point it out today. As I read this text the Holy Spirit was
illustrating that I have a very similar fault.
I think it is a natural character flaw for leaders to have. When we see people serving in a different capacity
than ourselves we jump to the conclusion that they aren’t serving God when
really they could be serving them in a context far more difficult than our own.
In spite
of this flaw (which naturally comes out of confidence, of course), God uses
Elijah to show His great power. The
priests of Ba’al cannot bring down fire because God was not willing. But in spite of the water, God was willing to
bring down fire upon His own altar. God
demonstrates to His people that He is powerful.
The prophets of Ba’al are seized and slaughtered. It seems like quite a victory for God.
Even more,
after this victory the Lord sends rain and Elijah speaks of it to Ahab. Ahab sees the cloud coming and God’s prophecy
through Elijah is proven true. Not only
has fire consumed a damp altar and God’s presence was proven to be real, but
God also showed Himself true to His Word (prophecy, promise, etc). This really sounds like it should be a
victory for God among the people.
I’ll leave
us there until tomorrow. There we shall
see the result of God demonstrating Himself in such a visible means. Tomorrow we will discover how the world
reacts to such a visible display of God’s presence. For today, let’s simply bask in the glory
that is God’s presence. God revealed
Himself to the people through Elijah’s sacrifice. It is good to stop and acknowledge God when
we see Him.
Speaking
of which, God has come and dwelled among us, has He not? Jesus was born. Jesus Christ was born to die. Jesus the Christ was born to save. He will come again! Yet I end up asking the same question as I just
asked a paragraph prior in the end of my blog on 1 Kings 18. How will the world respond to such a visible
display of His presence?
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment