Still 'fine-tuning' our process. You can get to the original article HERE
NOTE: THIS ARTICLE is a reprint from the blog of reverend Kevin Rogers of New Song Church in Windsor, Ontario and is reproduced here for your convenience. You can visit the his blog called "The Orphan Age" HERE.
If God is going to reveal himself, it will be on the basis
of his relationship to his people. There was a great deconstruction happening
in the land. Under Jezebel’s influence the sacred things to Yahweh must be
dismantled. Any unauthorized altars would be torn down, and new altars of
idolatry would take their place.
1 Kings 18:
30 Then
Elijah Said To All The People, “Come Here To Me.” They Came To Him, And He
Repaired The Altar Of The Lord, Which Had Been Torn Down. 31 Elijah
Took Twelve Stones, One For Each Of The Tribes Descended From Jacob, To Whom
The Word Of The Lord Had Come, Saying, “Your Name Shall Be Israel.”
Elijah rebuilds what the people had known previously to be
true. Twelve stones were a sacred reminder that the twelve tribes belonged to
one family. The identity of the people was their union as Israel. The altar was
the place of worship to Yahweh. Then Elijah does something surprising with the
altar that is supposed to set ablaze by God.
1 Kings 18:
32 With
The Stones He Built An Altar In The Name Of The Lord, And He Dug A Trench
Around It Large Enough To Hold Two Seahs Of Seed. 33 He
Arranged The Wood, Cut The Bull Into Pieces, And Laid It On The Wood. Then He
Said To Them, “Fill Four Large Jars With Water And Pour It On The Offering And
On The Wood.”
34 “Do
It Again,” He Said, And They Did It Again.
“Do It A Third Time,”
He Ordered, And They Did It The Third Time. 35 The Water Ran
Down Around The Altar And Even Filled The Trench.
This is a time of famine and draught. Water is scarce and he
pours it out all over the sacrifice and the altar. It’s as if worship requires
us to give what is in short supply. There is a cost to worship and that which
is most valued is given up.
There is a touch of chutzpah here in the ridiculous idea of
dampening your firewood. It’s already a test to say that God is going to send
fire from Heaven to set the fire. But now the implausible moves to impossible.
Elijah is not only repairing the altar, but he is also preparing the faith of
the people.
Elijah has faith in this moment to know that God himself is
ready to act. This is not a psychological wish fulfillment, but it is resting
in the certainty of what God has already committed to do. You don’t get that
kind of faith unless God gives it to you. We find it in our communion with Him.