Category: Saturday Study

Esther 9.14.24

Grab your Bibles and let’s go deeper into the life and testimony of Esther.

Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia, rose from humble beginnings to become the deliverer of her people from certain death during the reign of King Ahasuerus. To save the Jews living in Persia while many of the children of Jacob were still living outside the Promised Land even after the exile, she had to overcome her fear of what might happen to her own life. But, to overcome her fear, she had to be convinced to trust in the Lord’s invisible hand of providence and the truth that His people are always under His watchful eye even when they must risk everything for Him (consider Matthew 10:29–31).

We read the story of Esther in the book that bears her name. 

Esther 1 gives us the story of a grand banquet that the king of Persia held. In the midst of the celebration, the king decided to call forth his beautiful queen, Vashti, to come and dance before his friends at the feast. When Vashti refused, King Ahasuerus banished her from the court.

In Esther 2, we learn that after Vashti was sent away, the king embarked on a search for a new queen. After searching high and low in his realm, the King’s advisors found a Jewess named Hadassah, who was being raised under the name Esther by her cousin, Mordecai. After many months of preparation, Esther won the king’s favor and became queen.

Esther 3 describes the plot of Haman, one of the king’s important advisors, to annihilate the Jews in Persia because of Mordecai’s refusal to bow to Haman. He bribed the king with a huge gift of money to be given permission to send the summons to have the Jews wiped out. The king took him up on his offer and the order was sent out. Truly, this was a key turning point in the history of redemption. If Haman had succeeded, the Jews would have been wiped out, and there would have been no Messiah and no salvation for the world. So, what happened next was critical for the Jewish people.

Mordecai, and the Jews in the area, went into great mourning that led to Mordecai’s plea to Esther to intervene on her people’s behalf. Fearing for her own life, Esther initially refused. But Mordecai warned her that if she did not involve herself, the Jews would be rescued by the hand of another. However, Esther herself would not escape death if she thought she could preserve her own life by doing nothing. Upon hearing this, Esther vowed to go before the king, even upon threat of death. Her courage was even more remarkable when we consider that the name of God is not mentioned even one time in the book of Esther. Surely, God’s hand of providence is working in ways that are not always immediately discernible to us. Esther trusted this providence even when she had no idea how things would turn out for her.

This is often true for us as well. God’s hand of providence remains hidden from us, and we do not know how things will turn out before they actually occur. Still, we must trust the Lord and do what honors Him even if it will cost us greatly. Why? Because we trust in God and we obey His commands. We need to do this, especially when what is ahead of us is out of sight for us. To do it our own way is to deny the sovereign hand and wisdom of God and to be so arrogant as to pursue our own wise ways even though the future is unknown to us. It is during these times that we must remember that God is ever working for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28); we must trust Him and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Lord Accomplishes His Will Despite His People’s Sin 

Yahweh never covenanted to destroy His people Israel completely, even if they were unfaithful. Esther expands on this, showing us that He may freely use even the questionable motives of His people to save them. Esther and Mordecai were compromising figures, and yet God made use of the positions they obtained by dubious means to rescue His people in Persia. Sin is never praiseworthy, but our transgression cannot bind the Lord’s hand.

King Ahasuerus’ reign was viewed as lavish and extensive, but, ironically, this king who was sovereign over the most powerful world empire in his day could not even get his own wife Vashti to follow his wishes. He was the ruler of the known world, but he could not even rule his own house!

The Pride of Man’s Flesh is His Demise

Thinking Ahasuerus wanted to honor him, Haman suggested a fitting way to exalt himself. Yet Haman ended up honoring the one he detested. Our plans are so inferior to God’s. While we may think we have it all together we must realize who truly rules all things. 

Throughout the history of mankind, human rulers and governments have often considered themselves infallible, sovereign, and omnipotent, and, therefore, worthy of undue honor. The book of Esther is a display of the faultiness of this delusion.

Esther 8:2 The king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

Clearly, the author of Esther wants us to understand that God is invisibly, but sovereignly, present in the events he recorded in his citation of the ancestry of Haman and Mordecai. Haman was an Agagite, a descendant of Agag, the ruler of the Amalekites during Saul’s reign. The Amalekites were the first to attack Israel after the exodus, and God pledged to destroy Amalek and his offspring because of their evil. In his day, God commanded Saul to finish wiping out the Amalekites, but he disobeyed the Lord and preserved Agag alive for a time. Thus, God rejected him as king over Israel.

Like Saul, Mordecai was a Benjaminite with an ancestor named Kish. When reading Esther, the exiled Jew would have readily recalled God’s promise to destroy the Amalekite enemies of His people and Saul’s failure to be the instrument of destruction. Recall that Esther, Mordecai, and the other Israelites lived in Persia because they failed to keep the Mosaic covenant. Since the Lord’s chosen people did not obey God, they naturally wondered if He would keep His pledge to destroy their enemies. 

The book of Esther shows, again, that God keeps His word even when His people do not. Even in the exile, our Father sovereignly orchestrated history to give His people a second chance to destroy their foes. Saul failed, but another Benjaminite named Mordecai, with the help of his cousin Esther, accomplished God’s purpose against Agag and the Amalekites.

God was in the details of all of these events working His ultimate will. When we look back over our lives, we often find that the Lord was at work in those times when we thought He was absent. During the times when we suffer from doubts about God’s love and faithfulness, we should not focus on whether or not we “feel” His presence. The Lord may not be revealing Himself, but He is there.

In Esther 7, Haman is hanged on the gallows he intended for Mordecai, and in chapter 8, Esther is given the house of Haman. 

Esther 8-10

Esther 8:2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

What an amazing turn of events!

In Esther 8:3-8, the order to wipe out the Jews was reversed. 

In Esther 8:16-17, it says, “The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.”

Esther 9:16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. 

Esther 10 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Nehemiah 9.7.24

Grab your Bibles, and let’s dig back into Nehemiah and see what God has for us today!

After the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians, they became the new world power. Persia often allowed exiles to return to their homelands; this included the Jews, following Cyrus’ proclamation in 538 BC (2 Chronicles 36:22–23). Since the restoration of Israel did not get off to a very good start, God sent prophets and leaders to encourage the people to rebuild the temple and prepare for the Messiah. Nehemiah was one of these key leaders. Nehemiah, a Jew serving in the Persian court, was facing the loss of his traditions as Jerusalem lay in ruins and the people of God were held in reproach. He had to learn how to be faithful to the Lord while under the rule of a king who did not know the God of Israel.

We are faced with a similar dilemma with the current state of our modern culture. The moral decay of our youth and the aggressive invading of worldly agendas into everyday society is more and more prevalent. It is too easy to get caught up in focusing on the demise of the culture, but we must never forget that this world is demised in sin. Only salvation in Jesus brings true and lasting obedience to God. We must lead in all we do with the gospel of Jesus Christ and never set it down to play only in the political realm. Our greatest weapon is the good news. Let’s be sure to keep it in the center of all we do. Our hope is not in this kingdom nor in our next leader nor the next laws on which we will vote. Instead, our hope is in Jesus. Do we need revolution? Yes! But the only true and lasting reformation will come when the church leads with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In Nehemiah 1:4-11, we read Nehemiah’s prayer. This is an outstanding prayer because of its emphasis on the Lord’s covenant faithfulness, which God displayed not only in blessing His people but also in bringing about the curses that He warned of in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. God is, by nature, faithful, and thus He keeps His promises; so, when Israel boldly violated the terms of the covenant and refused to repent, they reaped the consequences. Nehemiah was not afraid to acknowledge both sides of God’s covenant faithfulness, and so this prayer stands as a great model to us. What we must also realize is that the faithfulness of God to His promises also involves disciplining us for sin. We should not think that He is being less than faithful to His covenant when we feel His hard, but loving, hand of discipline.

Assassinations by poisoning were common in the ancient world, and kings would take precautions to ensure that their food and drink were safe. Often they would employ cupbearers who would taste their food and wine ahead of time to make sure it was not poisoned. A cupbearer held an important place in the royal court and had to be a trustworthy individual. The fact that Nehemiah served as the cupbearer to the ruler of Persia shows he was a trustworthy man. Nehemiah understood that confidence in the sovereignty of God does not mean that we say a prayer and then sit around waiting for Him to move. Instead, those who rightly understand the Lord’s sovereignty pray and act at the same time, knowing any risk they take for the kingdom will not, ultimately, derail the plan of God. He went to work, and God used Nehemiah’s faithfulness to set the table for big things. 

In Chapter 2, we read that Nehemiah shared his sadness over the poor condition of Jerusalem and asked the king for help in returning to the Holy City and rebuilding the wall. Amazingly, the king granted Nehemiah’s request, providing him with letters of safe conduct and materials to use in reconstructing the wall around Jerusalem. On his way back home, Nehemiah heard of the opposition to his efforts by Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite. These men would surely threaten the progress of rebuilding the wall, but that should not be surprising to any of us who belong to Christ. Satan does not like it when the people of God are in the process of returning to Him, and he often stirs up people to speak and act against the work of God-honoring reformation. There is always a cost to serving the Lord, and Jesus Himself warns us of the price to be paid in this world for following Him in Luke 14:25–33. I pray that none of you underestimate this cost, but you are willing to pay it for the glory of Christ.

In Nehemiah 5, we see it is easy to become wearied and feel like giving up after a long period of suffering. This is what happened during Nehemiah’s wall-building project. Eventually, the people complained that they were unable to continue their work because of financial problems. Famine made food scarce, families were in over their heads financially maintaining their farms, and so on. Some of the people did not give because they were too focused on storing grain for themselves. This is the faulty thinking that plagues many in the modern-day church. It is often not a lack of funds that keeps them from giving regularly and sacrificially but an unwillingness to give up a certain lifestyle in order to obediently give God His firstfruits. We need to see it as our joy to be saved and to get to participate in the building of God’s kingdom. Here we are given a practical view of what happens when we get too focused on building our own kingdoms. 

Having rebuilt the wall, Nehemiah recognized that a physical defense for the city wouldn’t matter without a change in the hearts of the people. So he gathered the people together to hear Ezra read the law of God and express repentance for the sins that had put them into exile in the first place. There was also a great celebration at the dedication of the wall around Jerusalem, for the Lord had been faithful to grant the people success in their important endeavor. 

In Nehemiah chapter 13, we read that there was much going on that could have led to the reintroduction of idolatry into the covenant community. Nehemiah kicked Eliashib the priest out because he was related to Tobiah the Ammonite, and Eliashib had been trying to make the house of God into a house for the pagan ruler. Intermarriage with forbidden, as God had commanded Israel not to intermarry with the Ashdodites, Ammonites, and Moabites because of the temptation that these peoples would lead the hearts of the Jews to follow after other gods. Other violations in Nehemiah’s day included the breaking of the Sabbath and the failure to provide for the clergy. Evidently, these sins were renounced in public, but the hearts of a majority of the people remained hard. Therefore, Nehemiah’s effort for reformation did not last, and things faded out until the coming of Christ. 

One of the huge reminders we are given from this testimony is that the gospel must be embraced and lived out in every generation. In this time, we need to be sure to obey God’s word in all things and keep the true and living gospel at the center of our words and testimony. We need to be reminded of the gravity of our sin and the greatness of our Savior in order to live in grateful obedience to His word. My prayer is that many will realize their sin and their need for Christ alone, that they will repent and believe, be saved, and their lives will be transformed. 

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Ezra 8.31.24

Hopefully you have been amazed at what God has done from the beginning of Ezra chapter one: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia …” A little background will be helpful to set the stage of what is going on in Ezra. 

The people of Israel where carted off into captivity. If you remember back in Deuteronomy, we read this:

Deuteronomy 31:16-18 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.”

This text was written when Moses was still alive. Judah was carried off into captivity in about 580 B.C. The northern kingdom was carried off much earlier (790 B.C). It is important to remember that in the time before Christ, the numbers run backwards–they are counting down to Christ–which is the central point of all history. In Ezra 5:10 and following, we see the leaders of Israel acknowledge that their forefathers have angered God, and that Israel worshipped false gods was not a surprise to the God of heaven, as He knew when He made His covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai that this would be the case. God ordained this to be a part of His perfect plan to bring about redemption, which was promised in the Garden. 

Two takeaways from this brief history: First, nothing surprises God. There is nothing that has cropped up in history that has God surprised or wasn’t ordained by first or secondary causes. Man’s wickedness, Israel’s disobedience, Israel being conquered by another country; none of this was outside of the preordained plan of God. The Scriptures tell us that God raises up kingdoms and tears them down according to His good, wise, and perfect counsel. This should be a comfort in this time of turmoil as we come to elections. The Lord holds the heart of the king in His hand. He orchestrates and what He has ordained will be the outcome. Israel chose to follow after the false idols, and they are held accountable for these actions. God is not responsible for Israel’s sins of disobedience, idolatry, and all the other commands they broke. God cannot be tempted by evil. 

Second, we see God’s faithfulness or steadfast love. Ezra 1:1 says, “… that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing.”This is a huge statement leading off the book of Ezra. Hopefully you see God’s active hand in the life of Ezra. God promised through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11,12; 29:10, 14) to bring His people back, and His promise was written in His word—written to the people to comfort them. God gives comfort in trial via His unchangeable word/promise. If God says it in His word, it will happen. We need to trust that God does what He says He will do. This is a comfort and a warning. Israel was God’s chosen people, and God still punished them for their disobedience. Many thought that since they were the physical descendants of Abraham, this would not happen. God disciplines those whom He loves so that we will repent and honor Him again. Take comfort that God did not leave them in their exiled place. God actively worked in Cyrus’s heart to bring about His holy will. Cyrus did not know God (Isaiah 45:5), but that doesn’t matter because God holds the heart of the king. God is sovereign over all things, and people will act in accordance with this. 

Now, this does not give us free reign to throw our hands up and not do anything! God has given us responsibilities. We are to act in accordance with what He has commanded us. We are to engage the public square based on God’s character and attributes. We are to obey our civil government as if following the command of God. We are to help the fatherless and the widows in their afflictions. We are to raise our families in ways that glorify God, because this is the expectation of what God has given us. We don’t just let our children do anything they want, but we train them and nurture them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. When we do this, we know that we have been faithful and obedient, and that God will do what is good and right according to His counsel. We do not always understand what is good and right, but we can trust that God does and He is good and right. 

In our reading, we find God ordained Ezra to play an important role. Ezra was a priest and a scribe of God. He was a Levite, which means he was of the priestly tribe. He was sent by Cyrus to help the people of Israel to follow after God. Ezra 7:10 says, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” First, notice that Ezra was ruling his heart (referring to his inner most being–emotions and mind). He was not allowing fleshly things to control him but was choosing to act in accordance with God’s desire. He actively went after God’s law. Second, Ezra was a man of God. The Law of God was living to Ezra. This was a challenge, as Ezra had to respond and deal with an Jewish culture that had absorbed many practices of the cultures around them and where breaking the commands of God without even realizing it. 

In chapter eight we see Ezra lead by an example. In Ezra 8:21-23 it says, “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.”

This is a great passage. When Ezra was preparing to lead the people back to Israel, he didn’t ask for protection from the king but fasted and prayed. This is a great example for us. Many times we can reach out and get the problem solved, but we do it without trusting in God. What would it look like if instead of looking to just fix it yourself, you fasted and prayed more often? When we slow down and seek God in faith, He shows us the way. This does not mean that we forsake the means He has given us. It is simply slowing down to acknowledge that He is God and is at work. It is a way to protect us from getting out of step with His will and ways. Many times we solve the problem ourselves without involving Him. This is not what Ezra does; he went to God and trusted Him, and God listened! God hears our prayers. Let’s go to Him more than we do. 

As things progressed, Ezra had to make some radical changes in the latter part of the book, to bring Israel back into submission to God’s word. If Ezra had not studied the word, he would have not known this was necessary. In Chapter 9, we see again that Ezra prays about it first. This is the pattern of Ezra: problem, pray, trust God, obedience. This is the cycle that we as believers should follow. What problems do you need to use this pattern for? How can you make this a regular practice? 

Ezra, as a scribe and a priest, was a type that points to Christ. As a priest, he fulfilled a mediatorial role for the people of Israel. He interceded between the people and God—performing the sacrifices, showing them that sin needs to be atoned for. All the while, Ezra was a man who did not fulfill this role perfectly. In this he shows us our need for the truer and better priest, Jesus Christ. In the New Covenant secured in His blood, Christ pleads our case before the Father against the accuser because we are His. Praise the Lord. 

Ezra was a shadow of Christ in teaching the Law. Jeremiah 31:31 tells us we have the law written on our hearts. This is in a greater way than just knowing it; it is following it willfully. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, the law is written on the believer’s heart in a way that we now can obey it and glorify God. Do you know God? Have you trusted in Jesus’ mediatorial work for you, that He has robed you in His (Jesus’) righteousness and that you can come before the Father with boldness? If you have not cried out to God, ask Him to give you saving faith. If you have, then walk and talk with Him every day, as you obey His commands and navigate this broken world for His name’s 0sake and others’ good. 

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

*Special thanks to J.Taylor who helped me prepare this week’s devotion

Elisha 8.24.24

Grab your Bibles, and let’s go deeper into the life and testimony of the prophet Elisha.

Elisha was a prophet whose faith and miracles were a great sign of an awesome God at work in and through him. 

In 2 Kings 2:1-14, we see Elijah’s handoff to Elisha. In this, Elisha is being given the ministry of Elijah. This is confirmed in the fact that Elijah’s cloak falls on him. Also, God parts the waters for him, just as this was a sign of God’s favor on the leadership of Moses and of Joshua before him. Leading up to this, we know that Elisha had served with Elijah for some time before succeeding him as prophet. When asked what Elijah could bless him with in his parting, Elisha requests a “double portion” of the spirit that was upon Elijah. In this, Elisha shows incredible wisdom, as he understands it is not enough to just seek success, but it is far better to have the Person who works in and through His people, namely the Holy Spirit of God. If we were offered one wish, we would likely burn it on something temporary, but not Elisha. He sees the lasting benefit of the Holy Spirit upon him. For those of us who are saved, we don’t realize how good we have it. Are you making the most of the fact that in Christ, the Holy Spirit is present and able to convict you of sin and guide you in all things? Let Elisha’s longing for the Holy Spirit be a great reminder to us today.

Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe: “… When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (NIV). Praise God for this!

In this exchange, Elisha faces a moment of decision. He could take up Elijah’s mantle of prophethood, the anointing of the Spirit, and the rejection by the world that went with it, or he could go his own way. Elisha goes on to be one of the greatest prophets in the history of God’s people. Although none of us are a prophet like Elisha, we, likewise, face a moment of decision when the Lord calls us. The question is will we take up His mantle and follow Him?

In 2 Kings 4:1-9, we read one of the most memorable testimonies of Elisha’s ministry. A widow is being threatened to have her sons taken, and Elisha tells her to take her little remaining oil and to pour it into large vats to be sold off. Once again, we see the sovereign hand of God working His supernatural ways to bring provision and blessing in a way only He can. The vats are filled, and the sons are spared. This stands as another marker that God can, and will, provide for His people. Our lives are His, and He will continue us for as long as He has determined. We need to remain in faith, and rest in Him, even when our situation seems bleak. Philippians 4:19-20 says, “my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

I love the testimony of the wealthy woman we read about in 2 Kings 4:8-10, who provides a regular space in her home for the man of God who would often pass through. Many who are of wealth are often the ones who are pickier with their means and slower to share. But here we have one entrusted with much using it for God-honoring purposes. What are you doing with what God has entrusted to you? Now some of you are thinking, “But I am not rich like the woman in the story.” I want to encourage you to reconsider that view of your life. In 1 Timothy 6:17, Timothy is instructed to command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth. 

Here is our problem: Most of us hear this verse and we think that it is for someone else—someone rich. But most of us have a car! Some of us own more than one. Do you realize that only 8% of the people in the world own a car? That means 92% of the world looks at us and sees wealth. 

I went to Vietnam in 2013 on a mission trip where, in Ho Chi Minh City, there are 6.5 million people (the same as the entire state of Arizona), and only a tiny group of people own cars. The Vietnamese travel their family of four, and sometimes more, mainly by moped, because there is no way they can afford, in a lifetime, to buy a car. 

In the world, 780 million people don’t have access to clean drinking water. That is three-and-a-half times the population of the United States. This is the reason 3.4 million people die each year from water-related diseases. You and I are so wealthy that we can literally go to any hose bib in our city, open it up, and safely drink from it. But most of us won’t even do that—because it tastes bad—not because it’s contaminated, because chlorine tastes gross. Do you realize millions of people in this highly-advanced world don’t even know what it’s like to turn on a water source—any water source—and have something come out for them to drink? They don’t know what this is like.

How many freshly prepared meals and yummy snacks will you consume today? Over 800 million people will not eat anything today. Even the homeless in America can beg and get food in their bellies. Our homeless are wealthier than 800 million people around the world. 

So, we must read a text like this with new eyes and realize we have been entrusted with so much by God. Our response should not be guilt but to use it for His purposes. So, let me ask you, do you hoard what you have and consume it all, or are you looking for ways to invest into the kingdom and others who have need? God wants us to be good stewards of the resources and talents with which He entrusts us. The question is, are we leaving a legacy like this woman and investing those means into others?

In 2 Kings 6:8-23, we see another great example of God at work in and through Elisha. God gives Elisha the “gift of knowledge” (1 Corinthians 12:8-11; 1 Corinthians 14:6), by which he knows King Aram’s secret plans. With that gift, he is able to advise the King of Israel in the foiling of Aram’s every move. When the siege starts, God gives Elisha “spiritual vision” to see the armies of heaven protecting him. This no doubt helps Elisha remain calm and confident in the face of the enemy siege. When Elisha prays, God answers him by opening His servant’s eyes and blinding the enemy’s army. 

Do you often feel like you are surrounded by the enemy? While we may not be facing a crisis as large as what Elisha was facing, it can certainly seem that way to us. We have the opportunity to look at such situations as opportunities to exercise our faith and obey God, rather than responding with fear. 

When we are surrounded and taunted by the enemy, we are tempted to look at our adversaries and cower in fear. When that happens, I find it helpful to follow Elisha’s example and remember that God is with me and has a plan for me. We too can pray, “O Lord, open my eyes so I may see,” so that His will and word is in full view as we look to honor Him with our lives.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Elijah 8.17.24

Grab your Bibles, and let’s go deeper into the life and testimony of the prophet Elijah.

1. Faith

1 Kings 17:1-16 

This account in 1 Kings 17 reminds me of one of my favorite parables I have told for years. It goes like this: 

Many years ago, a weary traveler hiked for miles across the desert with the hot sun beating down on his back. His water supply was gone, and he knew that if he didn’t find water soon to quench his thirst, he would surely die. In the distance, he spotted a deserted cabin, which brought hope that maybe water was to be found there. He made his way to the cabin and discovered an old well. He frantically pumped the handle of the well to draw water, but all that came from the pump was dust. Then he noticed a tin can tied to the pump with a note inside. The note said:

“Dear stranger: This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer in it, and it should last for quite a few years. But the washer dries out and the pump needs to be primed. Under the white rock, I buried a jar of water, out of the sun and corked up. There’s enough water in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first. Pour about 1/4 of the water into the pump and let her soak for a minute to wet the leather washer. Then pour the rest medium fast and pump hard. You’ll get water. Have faith. This well has never run dry. When you get watered up, fill the bottle and put it back as you found it for the next stranger who comes this way. – Pete”

If your life hung in the balance, would you just consume the water you had as a guarantee, or would you have faith to pour the jar of water into the well as Old Pete’s note instructed? This is what faith is. In Webster’s Dictionary, there are 17 definitions for faith. There are so many definitions, and so many ideas of what faith is, that it becomes difficult to have this conversation about what faith really is. Thank God for Hebrews 11. 

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

Faith is a confidence that what you hope for will happen. It is a conviction that what you can’t see is real. Now, I don’t know about faith in Desert Pete, but faith in the living God is an absolute necessity. 

The parable about Desert Pete’s well helps us feel some of what the woman was feeling when Elijah told her to take her last flour and oil to make him a cake. She and her son were at the edge of starvation and death, and she was asked to trust that God would supernaturally keep her flour and oil supply full, if she would just have faith in Him and give her last to Elijah. 

It is one thing for us to trust in God when we have options or ways out. But when you are on the brink of death or great loss, or are experiencing great loss, do you trust in God? Do you trust that He is good and perfect in His ways and will? Do you trust His faithfulness to fulfill His promises? Faith in God is not an add-on to our life; it is what we put our entire life on. It is an all-in decision, much like the widow faced.

The woman put her faith in Elijah’s word from the Lord, and God was faithful and kept His promise. 

1 Kings 17:15-16 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

2. The Life-Giver

1 Kings 17:17-24 

Elijah was a faithful man of God who brought the widow’s son before Him in prayer, knowing if God willed him to live, he would. Did you notice he also acknowledged that it is God who ordained his death? Job makes this clear that it is God who gives life and who takes it away (Job 1:21) and who determines the number of our days (Job 14:5). Elijah gets this, and so he goes to the One who ultimately controls all these things. God listened to Elijah and put life back into the boy so he would live longer. Now, we are often guilty of giving praise to God only when He gives us what we want. We are guilty of saying, “God is good,” when He ordains a loved one lives longer instead of dies. But God is still good when He ordains a loved one’s time on earth is done, too. Our circumstances do not determine God’s goodness. He is good all the time. His ways are always perfect. He is God. If you remember our study of David, he prayed for his son to live; when God ordained he would not, David got up, took a bath, and went to the House of the Lord to worship God (2 Samuel 12:14-31). Why? Because God is worthy of our worship despite our circumstances. Do you believe this to be true? Do you still praise God for who He is and trust His will even when what you are experiencing, or facing in the moment, makes absolutely no sense to you?

In this event, Elijah proved to be a true prophet of God, as the woman declares of him: “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth” (1 Kings 17:24).

3. Will the True Prophets Please Stand Up?

1 Kings 18:20-40 

No look at Elijah’s life would be complete without a consideration of the most memorable event of his ministry: his confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. In this interaction, we see the true courage and faith that the office of God’s prophet required, as well as the power of God, Himself, to do amazing things. 

To set this event in context, know that King Ahab ruled about 150 years after David, and by that time, the northern kingdom of Israel was practicing the very evil that the Israelites were supposed to have driven out of the land, namely idolatry. Under the patronage of Queen Jezebel, prophets of the Canaanite god Baal had full reign to do what they wanted in Israel (1 Kings 19:1-2). These prophets brought paganism to the ancient Israelites. For his opposition to this pagan worship and the kings who endorsed it, Elijah was labeled the “troubler of Israel” by Ahab. This sparked a well-known confrontation between Elijah and the false prophets on Mount Carmel. Right there, before the people of Israel, Elijah called the nation to choose whom it would serve: the Lord, Yahweh, or Baal. It was not possible for them to serve both nor to be double-minded (as per 1 Kings 18:20–21). God is not interested in halfhearted vows or a part-time relationship (cf. Joshua 24:15; Psalm 119:113; Matthew 6:24; John 14:6).

From a human perspective, Elijah was outnumbered by the false prophets of Baal 450 to 1; however, that did not stop him from confronting them, for he knew who the true God was and who the imposters were. Elijah was so confident that he did everything possible to prove beyond any doubt that Yahweh is the true God. He even soaked the sacrifices, and built a moat, so that only a powerful fire from heaven could consume the offering. And that is exactly what happened (1 Kings 18:22–40). Grounded in the word of the Lord and trusting fully in God’s mighty power, Elijah stood down a powerful enemy and testified to divine truth.

Make this personal for yourself. Are you divided in your allegiance and devotion? Do you have things or people or a status that is equal to God in your life? It is many times easy to say “no,” but what does your life say about this? Think about the way you spend money and time. Who gets your radical devotion and first priority in your day and decisions? I believe many are willing to trust their hearts to God, but are you willing to trust your reputation, your family, your money, and your life to God? Is it truly and fully His? 

Another way to truly test this in your life is to really ask how utterly submitted you are to God’s word. Do you submit yourself to what He says about Himself, you, and the life you should live; or do you constantly ignore it and or make excuses for why you don’t submit fully to it in all areas of faith and life? 

4. The Still, Small Voice of God

1 Kings 19:1-18 

Elijah was faithful to God even when he stood alone. Elijah said to the Lord, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Are we so jealous for the glory and name of our Lord that we will daily put our lives on the line for Him? Are we willing to stand in the face of death and persecution to call out those who forsake the Lord and make a mockery of His name? These are hard questions to answer in the modern world in which we live, where the persecution of Christians has not reached most of our households. But the temperature is turning up. The question is, are we grounded in God and His word and in strong Bible-teaching, Bible-believing churches where we can unite and fight and testify of our Lord? 

When there is so much noise all around us, are we slowing down enough to get with God and His word, so we can hear His still, small voice? Are you letting the noise and the wicked culture that is all around us get you down, or are you standing strong in God and His word to carry on like Elijah? God saw that Elijah was faithful and devoted and called on him to go do great things. Praise God for this example. Praise God we have His living word to speak to us every day and direct our paths. May we turn off the noise and dive into His word and obey His commands on our lives!

5. Make Disciples

2 Kings 2:1-14 

Here we read the amazing end to Elijah’s life. He and Enoch were the only ones to be taken to heaven without dying. What a display as the fire of God was a holy escort to the presence of God in heaven. Elisha’s request was for Elijah’s ministry to be handed to him to carry on. What a massive honor this was. In the New Testament, God’s commission on our lives as the Church is to make disciples (Matthew 28:18). Elijah’s handoff to Elisha was a great Old Testament example of this kind of God-focused legacy being passed on. 

Who are you being discipled by? I mean who has full access to your life, who is teaching you the word of God, and who is helping you mature to the place of readiness that you can disciple others? If you have been discipled, then who are you discipling? One of the biggest markers that we stewarded our lives well for the Lord is that we were serious, not only about our faith in God, but about being trained and then training others. This could be your kids, church family, neighbors, or friends. 

Elisha being given the ministry of Elijah was confirmed in the fact that Elijah’s cloak fell on him. Also, God parted the waters for him, just as this was a sign of God’s favor on the leadership of Moses and of Joshua before him. 

6. The Finished Work of the Cross

Matthew 17:1-13 

Puritan commentator Matthew Henry says that “there is a proneness in good men to expect the crown without the cross.” This is a comment on Matthew 17:1–8 and Peter’s desire to build “tents,” or “tabernacles” for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter is rebuked for his wish, indirectly. Once more, Peter has missed the entire picture about the Savior. He thinks it is time to celebrate the fullness of the Messianic Age according to Zechariah 14:16–19, a vision of the Feast of Booths on the Day of the Lord. But as Jesus has said, the full revelation of His glory can come only after the cross.

The Lord’s disciples were confused after Jesus mentioned His death, especially since they had just seen Elijah (Matthew 17:10). Based on Malachi 4:5–6, first-century Jews looked for Elijah’s return to restore righteousness in Israel and bring reconciliation between God’s people prior to the Messianic Age. As Malachi predicted, the new Elijah (as John the Baptist was known) was rejected, even executed by the authorities (Matthew 14:1–12). The stage was set for the Messiah to, likewise, be killed. In His ministry, atonement, and resurrection, Jesus finished the task necessary to bring repentance to Israel and His people of the nations. Today, He uses us to proclaim this work to the world. 

What a sight. What a revelation. May we not only be in awe of the work of God in and through Elijah and ultimately in and through Christ, but may we respond with a bold testimony of what Jesus has done on behalf of His people. May we be as bold as Elijah in our daily faith walk and testimony. May we run the race until our God-decided end, when we will reign with Him in holy heaven with the giants of our faith who have gone before us.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church