Revival Stories
Revival under the Prophet Elijah in 870 B.C. (1 Kings 17-18)
After the time of King David and King Solomon, the nation of Israel split into a northern kingdom and southern kingdom, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The capital of the northern kingdom was Samaria, and in 874 B.C. King Ahab came to the throne. Ahab’s father had built up the economic and political strength of Israel during his reign, but it was a time of great spiritual decline as the king and his citizens lost sight of God. Under King Ahab, things became immeasurably worse. Ahab would not only pull people away from the true worship of God, but he also introduced all kinds of false gods and then commanded the people to worship them too. He set up pagan altars to Baal, and then he married Jezebel, the princess from a nearby nation, who was completely committed to Baal worship. Soon, Ahab would violently persecute anyone who served or worshiped the one true God. In these things, King Ahab did more evil in the eyes of God than any of the vile kings before him.
So, God raised up a prophet named Elijah to confront King Ahab. Following God’s lead, Elijah declared that no more rain would come upon the land because of its sins. Subsequently, Israel entered a time of blistering drought, and Ahab blamed Elijah and hated him for it. For years, Ahab hunted Elijah throughout the kingdom, but time and again God would protect his prophet. After 3 years, God commanded Elijah to directly face Ahab again. Elijah told Ahab to gather all of Israel at Mount Carmel and to invite 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. There, Elijah asked all the people, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him!” The people were silent, so Elijah offered this challenge: Bring two bulls. Set up two altars and put wood upon them. Then call upon your god. The one who answers with fire on the altar is the true God!”
The people agreed to this. The 450 Baal worshipers went first. For the whole morning and afternoon, they danced around, cut themselves with knives, and cried out to Baal to set their sacrifice on fire. Nothing happened. The frenzied chanting and prancing increased. Still nothing. As evening drew near, Elijah called the people around the Lord’s altar. He surrounded it with 12 stones to remind the people that the 12 tribes of Israel were chosen by God Himself. He then upped the stakes. He dug a trench around the altar, poured on tons of water to drench the sacrifice. Nothing short of a miracle would ignite this mess, Then, Elijah prayed. And on cue, God answered in the blink of an eye with fire from heaven. Everything on the altar and around it were burnt up. When the people saw this, they fell to the ground, crying, “The LORD, He is God!”On that day, as Elijah continued to pray, God opened the heavens and ended the long drought with a deep and heavy outpouring of rain. Revival had come to the land!
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:
- How would you describe the attack upon faith of the Jews during King Ahab’s time? What similarities do you see with the way Christians today are seeing their faith attacked?
- What do you think would happen if people today were challenged, as Elijah did, to stop sitting on the fence and to decide who will be the God they will follow? What kinds of divine intervention might be required to get people’s attention? What might start to convince then about who Jesus is and what He came to do?
- How can learn to pray better for revival today based on what we see in the life of Elijah?