The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 433

Vers. 17, 18.-The Troubler. Elijah, who dming the temble drought was con- cen.led, now, at the word of the Lord, ea.me forth to show himself to Ahab, as God was about to give rain. What a. meeting I One of the worst of kings with one of the noblest of prophets. What confrontings will there be in the great day of juc1gment I Here each charges the other with being the troubler of Israel. Observe, then- I. THAT THE WICKED SEEK TO MALIGN THE GOOD, 1. Ahab acCWJeil Elijah. (1) He assumed that all the horro1·s of the famine were the work of the prophet, and therefore sought to slay him. How many precious lives, in all ages, have been sacrinced to the theories of tyrants. (2) This persecutor was terribly in earnest. He sought the prophet in Israel Then in neighbouring kingdoms. He even took an oath of the kingdoms that they did not slielter him. It were well for the world if men were as earnest in good as they are in evil. (3) But God can hide Hie ser,ents from the fury of their adversaries. In the solitudes of Cherith. In the stir of Ze.rephath. (4) Now Ahab accuses the prophet to his face. But see how his courage cools in the presence of the man of God. He frames his accusation mildly in the form of a question, "Art thou he the,t troubleth Israel? '' Conscience makes tyrnnts tremble. 2. He found a pretext. (1) Theorists can easily find pre- texts for tyranny. Ahab seized upon Elijah'e words (eh. xvii. 1), and drew his own inference. (2) A.I; these words were verified to the letter, the tyrant S!l.W, or affected to see, his theory confirmed. Thie kind of reasoning is very common. (3) 'Why did he not accuse God? Elijah acted as the servant of God. He feared to do this in form, though he did it in fact (see Prov. xiv. 31; Matt. x, 40-42; xxv. 40, &c. ; Acts v. 39 ; ix. 1-15; Heh. vi. 10), 8. He had a motive. (1) Why did not Ahab accuse himself? His conscience no doubt did this for him. (2) But he could not afford publicly to bear the odium of having brought the miseries of the fnmine upon his people. (3) Therefore be ehlfts the responsibility on to the shoulders of the prophet. How essentially does the spirit of the lie enter into all sin I II. TRUTH COMES HOME IN DUE TIME. 1. Gooilness will be vindicated. (1) It may suffer long under the reproaches of liars. This is permitted because God is long-suffering. He makes the trial a blessing to" those who are exercised thereby." (2) But God is jealous for His servants. Therefore the triumphing of the wicked is but for a season. If the vindication tn.kes not place in this world it certainly will in the next. (3) Elijah had his opportunity. He repudiated the imputation of Ahab. Good men are true patriots. The trial on Carmel settled the question. 2. Sin will be shamed. (1) Let it only be brought home, and it will cover the sinner with confusion. (2) " Thou and thy father's house " have troubled Israel "in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord." Complicity in the sin of Jeroboam is specified here. This sin was a. breach of the first and second com• me,ndments of the decalogue. It was also a forsaking of the Levitical law, whieh prescribed ceremonies that were but parodied in Ephraim. This offence was carried to its height in the statutes of the house of Ahab which were those of Omri (see Micah vi. 16). (3) "And thou hast followed Baalim." This was a sin introduced by Ahab himself, no doubt prompted by Jezebel. The way of error is from bad to. worse. Sin is the troubler of humanity. It invaded the tranquillity of Eden and broke it up. It brought down judgments of God upon individuals and communities. Upon Cain. Upon the antediluvians. Upon the cities of the plain. Upon Israel. It has provoked wars, in whose wake came pestilences and famines. It troubles the abyss of hell.-J. A. M. Vers. 19-21.-Chriat or Belial.' Here is a curious phenomenon. A mone,rch, who bad searched all kingdoms for a prophet that he might reek nnger upon Lis life, now sought out and confronted by that prophet, ancl submitting to his orders to call an assembly of the nation I How God can turn about the hen.rte of :princes I Conspicuous in this vast concourse arc the idolatrous priests with gnnsh- mg teeth. Elij11h stands alone undaunted, a witness for Jehovah, ancl, appealing 011. xvm. 1-46.l THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 443