day 118: time to repair and rebuild the altar

Today I listened to a message about Elijah the Prophet. The passage (1 Kings 18:30-39) attached below is a narration on how he followed the Lord’s instructions and showed to the unbelieving people and their king that the Lord God is the only true God. As I have been worshipping God at home I am interested in a number of things that happened in this event.

Elijah followed the exact instructions of God.
He repaired and rebuilt the altar according to the exact requirement and specification of God.
Similarly he prepared the sacrifice accordingly.
He eliminated the possibility of unbelievers rationalizing that the fire could have been caused by the dry weather etc. He made sure that the whole place was practically soaked in water.
He offered the sacrifice at the time of offering of the evening sacrifice.
He testified to the people that he was praying to the true God, the Lord God.
The fire of the Lord came to the altar at the above time-at the right time and the right place only.
Today’s application:

None of the things I do in seeking to know God could originate from me and be acceptable. All that I do in relation to worship, singing praises, praying in understanding and in the spirit must be led by the Holy Spirit Himself. I have grown to be more and more aware of this important requirement. In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15, the Holy Spirit plainly stated through the Apostle Paul that the natural man (as contrasted with a spiritual man) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned, but he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself id rightly judged by no one. “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16)

The fire of the Holy Spirit falls on the altar and at the time of the sacrifice (prayer) as prescribed by the Lord. When I was in my natural state, I could not receive any revelation or any message at all. Only after I have worshipped for sometime I began to discern clearly what the Holy Spirit had led my spirit to see or read or sing. Once that happened I knew and could testify the presence of God.

I must admit that I still lean heavily to being a natural person instead of a spiritual person. That is why I could spend a lot of time doing religious activities in vain. (I cannot fool myself for long and when I realized that, I stopped the activities.) But God is a merciful God and He likes us to seek to get closer to Him to know Him better. That is why I am still on this quest of Biblical living, making baby steps.

AAA Jack

1-7-2009

1 Kings 18:30-39 (New King James Version)

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”[a] 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.


36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”


38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”