Pick a Side!!

Psalm 97:10

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

What kinds of teams do we hear about frequently?

• Olympic team
• School sports team
• Local sports teams (like the Philadelphia Phillies)
• Teams for the school history test

Out of all of these teams that we just discussed, which team do you prefer to be on – winning or losing? Of course, you want to be on the winning team, who doesn’t?

So tell me, why would you say you want to be on the winning team?

1.              Because they win

2.              All the good stuff happens to the winning team

3.              People remember them

In the Bible, they had winning teams and losing teams too. Actually the entire time we read the Bible, we see the winning team and the losing team.

Tell me, who are the winners and who are the losers in these stories?

1.              Cain & Abel

2.              Noah & the people

3.              Moses & Pharaoh

4.              Jacob & his father-in-law

5.              David & Goliath

6.              Nehemiah & the mockers

7.              The disciples & the Pharisees

Can you think of any others?

So looking at all of these people, what distinguished the winners from the losers?

• Every time God was on the winning side.

Did it just so happen that God was on the winning side each time, or was it really that these people were on God’s side?

For a period of time in the nation of Israel’s history, Israel was divided into two sections – Judah, the southern portion, and Israel, the northern portion. Today when I refer to Israel I am talking about this northern portion.

Judah, in the south, was headquartered in Jerusalem, where the Temple was. The people though not perfectly typically worshipped God the way that He had commanded – at the Temple with the high priests, and the ark of the Covenant, etc. Judah was typically ruled by men who loved the Lord. Although they were rarely perfectly, typically the kings sought after God with their whole heart.

In comparison, the northern section, Israel, was ruled by men who were angry at their brothers and cousins, who ruled the southern portion of the country. They enter Judah, therefore refused to worship God in the Temple. They refused to worship God the way that He commanded them to worship Him. Instead they would change God’s laws, and hire their own priests, and set up their own gardens to worship God, and sometimes they would even try to carve God into a statue, so that they would “blend in” with neighboring countries.

Obviously overtime this became a really big problem. While Israel still technically claimed to worship the one true God, the reality was they started worshipping an idol of God, they started worshipping any idols. And soon God was no longer their God.

God, being the gracious and loving God that He is, sent prophets (men truly believed and worshipped Him) to the people in Northern Israel as evangelists and missionaries so that they could turn back to God and be saved.

In 1 Kings 18, it looked like the winning side this time wasn’t going to be God’s side.

King Ahab ruled of Israel. He believed in God, but he didn’t worship God. King Ahab’s wife – the infamous Jezebel – had ordered that all of the prophets and godly men be put to death. Most of the men who stood for God indeed died, but God allowed a few men to escape from Ahab & Jezebel’s armies – Elijah.

Because of the wickedness of Ahab & Jezebel, Elijah prophesied that it would not rain in Israel. And it didn’t! For three years, Ahab & Jezebel would not repent of their wickedness and turn to God. In fact, they became consumed with trying to hunt Elijah down and kill him. Elijah went into hiding and God protected him. This of course, only made Ahab & Jezebel mad!

READ 1 KINGS 18:1.

So we see here that God has told Elijah to go to King Ahab and tell him that after three years it is finally going to rain. A funny side note – when Elijah showed up to tell King Ahab this wonderful message from God, Ahab was out searching the countryside for Elijah.

Just a reminder, I know we call them “Bible stories” but these are actually real events and real people talking to each other. These things actually happened. These people really lived. So pay close attention to this conversation.

READ 1 KINGS 18: 17-19.

It kind of sounds like, he is saying, "Hey, there, trouble maker!"

But Elijah doesn't bite. He immediately requests/demands that all of the people of Northern Israel, and all the prophets of Baal, and Jezebel’s minions meet him at Mount Carmel for a special event.

READ & DISCUSS 1 KINGS 18:20-41. {The story is very self-explanatory and narrative. The class should have no problem discussing it.}

This entire time God was in control of the situation. Even though all of the other prophets were dead, God was still able to use just one man.

There are times when it is going to be really hard to be on God’s side. Maybe your friends are mocking something that God feels very strongly about in the Bible. Maybe you’re visiting family over Christmas and your immediate family are the only ones who are saved. It might seem at times that this situation is a losing battle, but trust God. Stay on His side.