This passage tells about two godly men with differing relationships with the evil King Ahab. Let me remind you of Rom. 13:1-7 where, in the context of the Roman empire, Christians were commanded to be submissive to governmental leaders. How does the Romans passage fit with today’s story?
Elijah’s response is what it must be as the
prophet of the LORD, a man of God (1 Ki. 17:24). His calling places him in a position where he
exercises authority over Ahab. He is
required to reprove the king (18:18).
Thus he is a troublemaker (18:17), having already been in open opposition
to the king (17:5,10).
Ahab’s official Obadiah (don’t confuse him
with the prophet whose name is on a later book in the OT) is a very remarkable
man of God. Given the extreme idolatry
and the death sentence on those who promoted the true religion of Israel (such
as by hiding the prophets of the LORD when Jezebel was trying to kill them),
this man is a bright light in near-total darkness.
He feared the LORD greatly (18:3) and
he had feared the LORD from his youth (18:12).
To fear the LORD is to delight greatly in His commandments (Psalm 112:1)
and to value and walk in the truth of the LORD.
Given this devotion to the true God, you might wonder how he ever rose
to such heights in the administration of Ahab?
In our society it seems that the power of evil is on the rise. What would we say about someone like
Obadiah? We might criticize him for being
an aide to leaders of the wrong political party. We might wonder why he did not quit and use
his skills to serve someone more righteous and deserving. We might say, “I could/would never associate
myself with someone like that!” I don’t
know what you might think but we ought to consider this man and his situation:
a God-fearing man achieving success working among idolatrous people.
Can I say one more thing about Obadiah’s situation? I have seen this often, that people who have
no interest in knowing and serving God are happy to have those who do fear God
to work for them. They are often the
most valued employees they have. Isn’t
that the way it should be? 1 Peter 2:18:
“Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good
and gentle, but also to the harsh” (cf. also Col. 3:22-25). With respect to Obadiah, he disagreed with
Ahab’s policies but he respected Ahab (18:5-6).
Interesting: he respected the boss, even though he secretly disobeyed
Ahab’s unjust laws (18:4). Thus he was
like Peter and John who would not stop preaching, and Daniel who would not stop
praying.
So we have two godly men in this story. Both were in danger of losing their
lives. Both feared God and not the
king. One was openly challenging the
king because it was the ministry he had from God. One worked in the presence of the king because
it was the ministry he had from God. God
used both!
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