Nov. 23, 2025

Saints & Sinners

Elijah

Primary Text: 1 Kings 18         

1)  A Tishbite Prophet 

1 Kings 17:1-4:  Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”  Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.  You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”  

DQ 1) What were the circumstances in Israel when Elijah lived and Ahab reigned as king? ___________________________________________________________

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2)  The Widow’s Provisions

1 Kings 17:7-14:  Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.  Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there.  I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”…  “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.  I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”  Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid.  Go home and do as you have said.  But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.  For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’”  

DQ 2) How does God care for widows and orphans? (See Psalm 68)

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3)  The Widow’s Son

1 Kings 17:17-24:  Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill.  He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.  She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God?  Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”  “Give me your son,” Elijah replied….  The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.  Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house.  He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”  Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.” 

DQ 3) How do supernatural events testify to the authenticity of God’s anointing on His servants?

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4)  Obadiah the Protector

1 Kings 18:1-8:  After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”  So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.  Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace.  (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord.  While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)…  As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him.  Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”  “Yes,” he replied.  “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”  

DQ 4) What does the name Obadiah mean in Hebrew? 

DQ 5) Identify different people in Scripture who all have the name Obadiah.  

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5)  The Troubler of Israel

1 Kings 18:16-21:  So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.  When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”  “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied.  “But you and your father’s family have.  You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals.  Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel.  And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”  So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.  Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”  But the people said nothing. 

DQ 6) What was Baal and Asherah worship?  Does it still occur today? 

DQ 7) Who was Jezebel?  What were her characteristics?

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