And so it was at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." (1 Kgs.18:27).
INTRODUCTION:
Call it satire. Call it mockery. It also could be a comic relief, or sarcasm. Whichever way we look at it, our text above captures the unusaul approach of a vessel of God, and a prophet at that, to the foolishness of a nation, that holds on tightly to her ignorance of worshipping 'gods' that do her no good. The statement was a departure from the usual Hebrew opening zinger, " Ko Amar Yahweh" - translated "thus says the LORD" , whenever a prophet in Israel wanted to speak the mind of God. However, knowing that the battle at hand here was a mere walkover in his favor, Elijah brought in some humor, to ridicule the helpless 'gods' and their worshippers, ahead of their mass shame and destruction.
WHO ARE THESE gods?
They are indolent, lifeless, and useless not only to themselves, but also to their ignorant teeming adherents. Their existence is of no appreciable impact in anyway. They rather compound the woes of and afflictions of their worshippers, "so they cried aloud and CUT themselves as was their custom was, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them." (1 Kgs.18:28). One would wonder why a true 'god' would have to be invoked by its worshippers by cutting [themselves]... and the more they did this, the more the same gods sunk into deeper slumber! These were the same 'gods' imposed on the nation of Israel, by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, "...nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin." (2 Kgs. 3:3). He fashioned two gold calves, one in Bethel, and the other in Dan, and proclaimed, "here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" (1 Kgs.12:29).
The national worship and enfrocement of these gods found continuum in the days of Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. Ahab, a man who held the track record of he "who did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him" (1 Kgs.16:30). Ahab happened to hold the reins of power in the days of Elijah, the ferocious and passionate prophet of God. He was burning with the zeal to put an end to the atrocity of the proliferation of these sleeping 'gods'. To put this debacle to rest once and for all, he called for a contest between his GOD and these inanimate 'gods'. The seemingly endless confusion and conflict must end. And the end must be initiated by a man worthy of his calling and confident of his GOD. The desecrated land must be cleansed. Elijah took the bull by the horns. Though taking the position of minority in terms of the number against the contestants, GOD gave Elijah an upper hand.
In what was a dramatic-like display of power, he taunted the gods and thier worshippers as in our text above. He, in addition, gave them enough time, till past midday, to see if their gods would respond to their offering, yet, "there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention" (1 Kgs.18:29). These 'gods', truly were on a journey and in deep slumber. He that is deep asleep gives no attention, anyway. Whatever their worshippers fashioned for them as ears, vocal chords, legs, hands, and whatever, to equate them to the status of a living being, are practically useless! Our GOD is a complete and unfailing attention Giver. The simple process of repairing the altar was what Elijah needed to do to call down fire symbolizing His sovereignity and Power, and as the Only True God. The GOD of Elijah, our GOD, and the One and Only true GOD, routed them in no time. Shame and reproach were their lot. The followers scampered for safety when their 'gods' met their waterloo. Prophet Jeremiah was instructive on this, "the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens" (Jer.10:11).
Sidebar:
Our God is a complete and unfailing attention Giver.
He that is deep asleep gives no attention.
PLURALITY OF gods:
Towards the end of his ministry, Joshua, in his valedictory speech, lent his voice to the disgusting relationship between the patraichs and these sleeping and indolent 'gods'. He called the attention of the Israelites to certain truths they were ignorant of, "your fathers including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor ...and they served other gods" (Jos.24 2). [ It is not unlikely we, even in our days, are ignorant of the 'gods' our earthly fathers served in their years, whose influence and presence may still be bearing strong and firm authority in lineages, as we talk]. In some cases, their physical presence and symblos are still conspicuosly displayed in homesteads and, venerated seasonally, occasionally, or as at when due. In some cases, they receive daily libations. All these taken into consideration, empower these 'gods' and give them leeway into, and authority over the lives of the entire household, up unto the unborn generations. And granted that they can be seen physically in their molded forms, they are spirits (non-living beings), yet in that capacity, they hold so much influence as much as families permit them.
OUR DUTY:
The onus is on us, like Joshua, and other prophets did, to call the attention of our generation on the need to jettison these unGodly 'gods' through our evangelism, prayers, and preaching the WORD, granted that we have set the example by the salvation of our souls.
HOUSEHOLD IDOLS:
These "other gods" were the household idols that were worshipped at the expense of the ONLY TRUE GOD. These were the gods that later metamorphosed to national deities in the days of subsequent kings in Israel, always in their sleeping mode, like we have in our text above. Joshua emphasised the need for the Israelites to break away from the hold of these 'gods' for their own good and for the benefits of oncoming and unborn generations. They are nothing but obstacles and obstructions to worshipping the True GOD. Our generation MUST do likewise, if we have not done so...
Unfortunately, many had been, and are still being misled and held ransom by these and unfortunate and unreliable 'gods'. Several people had fallen, and are still falling victims of these 'gods' and many had been incapacitated by giving in, to these 'gods' by reasons of having their spirit closely knitted with theirs, through intense belief, worship and transferring of such to generations and lineages. Several people are still under the spell and bondage of these plurality of 'gods'. May the True GOD deliver such.
Prayers:
By the Power in the name of the LORD, I and my household break loose from the influence of those "gods" that my fathers served.
By the Power in the name of the LORD, i dissociate my family and ministry from from any binding oath to these "gods" in my linage.
By the Power in the name of the LORD, i declare my household and ministry free from all spells and covenants my fathers had with these "gods."
CONCLUSION:
Beloved, the undisputable truth is, there is ONLY ONE TRUE GOD. He's the One that saves and sets free, and does not deny His Own. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He cannot be intimidated. He is GOD all by Himself. He's not subject to anyone and neither can He be threatened. The Oneness and Supremacy of the Only True GOD is reiterated in the Torah, using the Hebrew word, Shema ( HEAR ), "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our GOD, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." (Deut.4:6).
He never goes on a journey, and neither does He sleep nor slumber, "indeed He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps.121:4).
WISHING YOU ALL A BLOSSOMING CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY 2025 IN ADVANCE! AMEN.
© December 2024
Being A Monthly Scripture Bulletin
From The Desk Of
Olusegun A Emosu (The Blessed, The Chosen, & The Preferred)
The Redeemed Christian Church Of God,
Rehoboth Parish,
2244 Panola Rd, Suite 2, (3 D Complex),
Lithonia GA 30058
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