When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
Parallel Translations
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When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
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And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
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And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him: 'Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?'
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 18:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 7:25 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.
- 1 Kings 21:20 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight.
- Acts 16:20 When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city
- Acts 17:6 When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
- Amos 7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
- Acts 24:5 For we have found this man to be a plague, an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
- Jeremiah 26:8-9 When Jeremiah had finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You shall surely die! Why have you prophesied in Yahweh’s name, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant?’ ” All the people were crowded around Jeremiah in Yahweh’s house.
- Jeremiah 38:4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab…
1Ki 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubleth Israel?
Ver. 17. Art thou he that troubleth Israel?] Alas, what had the righteous prophet done? he taxed their sin, he foretold the judgment: he deserved it not, he inflicted it not; yet he smarteth, and they are guilty. As if some fond people should accuse the herald or the trumpet, as the cause of their war. Or, as if some ignorant peasant, when he seeth his fowls bathing in his pond, should cry out of them as the causes of foul weather. {a}
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{a} Bishop Hall.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Have I at last met with thee, O thou…
Have I at last met with thee, O thou great disturber of my kingdom, the author of this famine, and of all our disquiets and calamities?
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain We have here the meeting between Ahab and Elijah,…
We have here the meeting between Ahab and Elijah, as bad a king as ever the world was plagued with and as good a prophet as ever the church was blessed with. 1. Ahab, like himself, basely accused Elijah. He durst not strike him, remembering that Jeroboam's hand withered when it was stretched out against a prophet, but gave him bad language, which was no less an affront to him that sent him. It was a very coarse compliment with which he accosted him at the first word: Art thou he that troubleth Israel? Kg1 18:17. How unlike was this to that with which his servant Obadiah saluted him (Kg1 18:7): Art thou that my lord Elijah? Obadiah feared God greatly; Ahab had sold himself to work wickedness; and both discovered their character by the manner of their address to the prophet. One may guess how people stand affected to God by observing how they stand affected to his people and ministers. Elijah now came to bring blessings to Israel, tidings of the return of the rain; yet he was thus affronted. Had it been true that he was the troubler of Israel, Ahab, as king, would have been bound to animadvert upon him. There are those who trouble Israel by their wickedness, whom the conservators of the public peace are concerned to enquire after. But it was utterly false concerning Elijah; so far was he from being an enemy to Israel's welfare that he as the stay of it, the chariots and horsemen of Israel. Note, It has been the lot of the best and most useful men to be called and counted the troublers of the land, and to be run down as public grievances. Even Christ and his apostles were thus misrepresented, Act 17:6. 2. Elijah, like himself, boldly returned the charge upon the king, and proved it upon him, that he was the troubler of Israel, Kg1 18:18. Elijah is not the Achan: "I have not troubled Israel, have neither done them any wrong nor designed them any hurt." Those that procure God's judgments do the mischief, not he that merely foretels them and gives warning of them, that the nation may repent and prevent them. I would have healed Israel, but they would not be healed. Ahab is the Achan, the troubler, who follows Baalim, those accursed things. Nothing creates more trouble to a land than the impiety and profaneness of princes and their families. 3. As one having authority immediately from the King of kings, he ordered a convention of the states to be forthwith summoned to meet at Mount Carmel, where there had been an altar built to God, Kg1 18:30. Probably on that mountain they had an eminent high place, where formerly the pure worship of God had been kept up as well as it could be any where but at Jerusalem. Thither all Israel must come, to give Elijah the meeting; and the prophets of Baal who were dispersed all the country over, with those of the groves who were Jezebel's domestic chaplains, must there make their personal appearance. 4. Ahab issued out writs accordingly, for the convening of this great assembly (Kg1 18:20), either because he feared Elijah and durst not oppose him (Saul stood in awe of Samuel more than of God), or because he hoped Elijah would bless the land, and speak the word that they might have rain, and upon those terms they would be all at his beck. Those that slighted and hated his counsels would gladly be beholden to him for his prayers. Now God made those who said they were Jews and were not, but were of the synagogue of Satan, to come, and, in effect, to worship at his feet, and to know that God had loved him, Rev 3:9.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel…
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel..... No doubt but more discourse passed between Ahab and Elijah, though not recorded, before he made this motion to him; it is very probable, that after some dispute between them, who was the true God, and about idolatry, as the cause of want of rain, Elijah proposed to the king what he afterwards did to the people, to which he could not object; and being desirous of gratifying his curiosity, and especially of having rain, which the prophet might promise him in the issue of this affair, he agreed unto it; and therefore Elijah desired that all Israel might be convened, that it might be openly and publicly done, and to the conviction and reformation of them, which was what was chiefly designed; and he chose Carmel, a mountain in the tribe of Issachar, well situated for the people that came from all parts; and the rather this than Samaria, that he might meet with no obstruction from Jezebel, and from whence: he might be able to see the rain when coming, as he did. Of this mountain; see Gill on Jer 46:18, to which may be added, the description of it by Mr. Sandys (n).
"Mount Carmel stretcheth from east to west, and hath its uttermost basis washed with the sea; steepest towards the north, and of an indifferent altitude; rich in vines and olives when farmed, and abounding with several sorts of fruits and herbs, both medicinal and fragrant, though now much overgrown with woods and shrubs of sweet savour.''
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From the following solemn transaction at it, it seems in later times, to have become sacred, and was very venerable with the Heathens; from this mountain, a deity with them had the name of Carmel, and was worshipped here, without an image or a temple, only had an altar erected for it, in imitation of the God of Israel, worshipped here in like manner; here Vespasian sacrificed to this deity, assisted by the priest of it, Basilides, as Tacitus (o) relates; Suetonius (p) also makes mention of this deity, and of Vespasian's consulting its oracle, which gave him hopes of obtaining the empire; and from hence, in Popish times, there were an order of friars called Carmelites, instituted in the year 1180, pretending to be the successors of the children of the prophets Elijah left there:
and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty; who are supposed to be dispersed in the various parts of the kingdom, to teach and practise the worship of Baal, and encourage and spread it in the nation:
and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table; for it seems there were now more groves than that one Ahab first made, Kg1 16:33, for which such numbers were appointed to attend, and which, perhaps, were near Samaria, since they ate at Jezebel's table, and were a sort of domestic chaplains of her's. "Asheroth", we render "groves", the learned Selden (q) takes to be Ashtoreth, or Ashtareth, or Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, for whom, and so for these prophets, Jezebel might have a peculiar respect, see Kg1 11:5.
(n) Travels, l. 3. p. 158. Ed. 5. (o) Hist. l. 2. c. 78. (p) Vit. Vespasian. c. 5. (q) De Dis Syris Syntagm. 2. c. 2. p. 232, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Ahab said - Have I at last met with…
Ahab said - Have I at last met with thee, O thou disturber of my kingdom, the author of this famine, and all our calamities?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Ki 18:17-18. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? —…
1Ki 18:17-18. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? — Have I at last met with thee, O thou disturber of my kingdom, the author of this famine, and of all our calamities? He answered, I have not troubled Israel — These calamities are not to be imputed to me, but to thine and thy father’s wickedness. They trouble a nation who break the laws of God, not they who keep and defend them. Elijah answered him boldly, because he spake in God’s name, and for his honour and service. Ye — All of you; have forsaken the commandments of the Lord — The whole nation almost had cast off the yoke of the divine law, as in other points, so especially in deserting his service, and worshipping idols. And thou — Thou, their king in particular; hast followed Baalim.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Art thou he ... - Meaning, “Can it possibly…
Art thou he ... - Meaning, “Can it possibly be that thou dost venture to present thyself before me, thou that troublest Israel by means of this terrible drought?” The charge of “troubling” had never before been brought against anyone but Achan (marginal reference “e”); it was one which must have called to the prophet’s recollection Achan’s miserable fate.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Troublest Israel? Thus the wicked esteem those disturbers of…
Troublest Israel? Thus the wicked esteem those disturbers of the public repose, who will not suffer them to go on in their wickedness unmolested. Thus the Jews complain of Jesus Christ, Luke xxiii. 5. Such a war is better than a false peace: and Achab, in fact, proclaims the praise of Elias, who strove by easy means to make the people open their eyes and return to their God. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Art thou he that troubleth Israel--A violent altercation took…
Art thou he that troubleth Israel--A violent altercation took place. Ahab thought to awe him into submission, but the prophet boldly and undisguisedly told the king that the national calamity was traceable chiefly to his own and his family's patronage and practice of idolatry. But, while rebuking the sins, Elijah paid all due respect to the high rank of the offender. He urged the king to convene, by virtue of his royal mandate, a public assembly, in whose presence it might be solemnly decided which was the troubler of Israel. The appeal could not well be resisted, and Ahab, from whatever motives, consented to the proposal. God directed and overruled the issue.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. Art thou he that troubleth Israel — The…
17. Art thou he that troubleth Israel — The question was equivalent to an affirmative. The king assumed, and charged it upon Elijah, that he had caused the famine. We might render: Art thou that Achar (Achan) of Israel? Compare Jos_7:1, with 1Ch_2:7.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17–40. Meeting of Ahab and Elijah. Baal proved to…
17–40. Meeting of Ahab and Elijah. Baal proved to be no god. Slaughter of Baal’s prophets (Not in Chronicles)
17. Art thou he that troubleth Israel?] R.V. Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel? For Ahab would ascribe the drought and consequent famine directly to Elijah, after the language of 1Ki_17:1.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) Art thou . . .—Probably (as in 1Ki_18:7)…
(17) Art thou . . .—Probably (as in 1Ki_18:7) the rendering should be, “Thou here, the troubler of Israel!”—defying vengeance (that is) in the very land which thou hast troubled.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah,…
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him Art thou he Rather, here: same words as in ver. 7. "Do I at last see thee again? Hast thou ventured into my presence?" that troubleth Israel? Heb. thou troubler of Israel. For the word (rk) see Gen_24:30; Jos_6:18 Jos_7:25; Pro_11:17; 1Sa_14:29. When Rawlinson says that this charge of troubling Israel has "neverbeen before brought against any one but Achan," he apparently forgets the passage last cited. "My father hath troubled the land." Wordsworth paraphrases, "Art thou the Achan of Israel?" but it is very doubtful whether this thought was in Ahab"s mind.
Vers. 17-20.
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The King and his Master.
For three and a half years king- and prophet have not met. (Luk_4:25) For three and a half years, forty and two months, twelve hundred and sixty (Rev_11:2, 8 12:6 13:5; Dan_7:25) the mystical period of persecution and blasphemy, the plague of drought has afflicted the land. But now the time God"s "fulness of time has arrived for its removal. The time to favour Israel is come, and king and prophet meet again. It was an anxious moment for each of them. It was a critical moment in the history of the Church. Let us mark their words; let us observe how they bear themselves; we shall surely learn something from their carriage and discourse.
I The king goes to meet the prophet. Elijah would seem to have waited in the place where Obadiah left him until Ahab appeared. He is not going to take the place of a suppliant. Subject though he is, he is Ahab"s superior. He has a commission higher and nobler than the king"s. It is his task to reprove the king; hence, in a manner, he summons him before him. The proud monarch who has scoured all lands in search of him must now humble himself to go before the prophet. "Behold Elijah.
II Ahab fears to meet Elijah. It is true he is the first to speak, and accuses the prophet of troubling the land; but we may well believe that, despite his brave words when Jezebel was at his side, and the cheap courage he manifested when he had the court and the priests of Baal at his back, he must have looked forward to this meeting with something like dismay. He had good cause for misgivings and fears. First, he was to encounter a true prophet, and one vested with supernatural powers. Of one thing he could have no doubt, as to the" sure word of prophecy" in Elijah"s lips. No less than the Sareptan, he had proved that the word of the Lord in Elijah"s lips was truth. (1Ki_17:24) "He spake and it was done." He had denounced a drought, and it had come to pass, a drought beyond all precedent, a drought which still cursed the country, and was at that moment taxing its resources (ver. 5) And of another thing Ahab must have been equally certain, that this drought was no chance which had happened him. The coincidence between the word and the event negatived that idea. He must see in it the finger of God; he must recognize in the prophet the power of God. But
(2) the man for whom he had been searching over hill and dale, in town and hamlet, in his own and in adjoining lands, now proposes a meeting. Clearly, then, he is not afraid. He almost compels an interview will show myself unto him today.
(3) Even if Ahab ascribed his power to magic or witchcraft, still men tremble in the presence of a sorcerer. We cannot wonder, therefore, if his courage almost failed him, and if he looked forward to the meeting with something like dread. But he remembers his imperious consort; he thinks how full of threatening and fury he himself has been, and he feels he must put on a bold front; he must carry himself proudly; he must tax the prophet with wrong doing. And so, when at last they meet, the king is the first to speak. "Art thou here?" he cries, almost frightened at the sound of his own voice. "Art thou here, thou troubler of Israel?" Words have often served to conceal men"s thoughts, often been a veil to hide theft abject fears.
Now, we have heard words like these, we have read of them in other mouths than Ahab"s. It is a common charge against the prophets and people of God. The saints are always in the wrong. It is always they who "turn the world upside down"; (Act_17:6, Act_17:8) always they who "do exceedingly trouble our city". (Act_16:20) Our Lord was accused of sedition. The first Christians were called "enemies of the human race." All manner of evil is said against them falsely. Ahab only speaks "after his kind." He saw that Elijah had been instrumental in bringing down the drought and the terrible famine which accompanied it. He never pauses to ask what moved Elijah to call for a drought; what caused Elijah"s God to send it. The herald is accused as the cause of the war. "There is nothing new under the sun." The same charge is made, and with the same unreason and perversity at the present day. The lamb must have fouled the stream, whichever way it flows. If the Baptist comes neither eating nor drinking, they say, "He hath a devil." If the Son of man comes eating and drinking, they say, "Behold a gluttonous man and a winebibber." If we pipe, they will not dance: if we mourn, they will not lament (Mat_11:16 sqq.)
III Elijah denounces the king to his fence. "I have not troubled Israel, but thou," etc. "The righteous are bold as a lion." There is no trace of fear in these words. The truth has nothing to fear. And the truth it was then, and is now, that the trouble and suffering of the world spring out of sin, out of forgetting and forsaking God. If men will leave Him out of their thoughts and lives, their sorrows cannot but be multiplied. (Psa_16:4) It is like leaving the sun out of our solar system the world would revert to primaeval chaos. The French revolution shows the result of the negation of God. Communism and Nihilism do the same. "There is no peace to the wicked." But not only do they "pierce themselves through with many sorrows," but they trouble Israel, (Eph_6:16) the peaceful people of God. But for them this world would be a Paradise. It is they who make wretched homes and broken hearts. It is they who necessitate our armies, our police, our gaols, our poor rates. It is they who sometimes make us wonder, with some of the ancients, whether this earth is not really a place of punishment. But for them, and the confusion and misery they cause, men would never ask "whether life is worth living;" still less conclude that "the greatest good is never to have been born into the world, and the next to die out of it as soon as possible." We are entitled, therefore, like Elijah, to denounce the godless and the vicious as the enemies of society, as conspirators against the world"s peace and prosperity. "The only common disturber of men, families, cities, kingdoms, worlds, is sin." It is one of the arguments for our holy religion that, sincerely practised, it ensures "the greatest possible happiness of the greatest possible number." It is the brand of Atheism that it brings trouble, uncleanness, selfishness, suffering, at its heels.
IV The king endures the upbraiding of the prophet. To Elijah"s "Thou art the man," he makes no reply. He is taxed with the ruin of his country, and is speechless. His courage has soon evaporated. He who would accuse Elijah cannot defend himself. Though anointed king, he is weak and helpless, (2Sa_3:39) and owns his subject his superior. How soon have they changed places! Ahab has been hunting for the prophet"s life, has been vowing vengeance upon him if found. Now he has found him, and he trembles before him And this because conscience has made him a coward. He knows in his inmost heart that Elijah has spoken the truth; that God is on his side; and he is afraid of him, just as Saul, giant and king though he was, was afraid of the stripling David. And men are still afraid of a true saint of God. They regard him with almost a superstitious dread. Sometimes it is fanaticism they fear; but sometimes it is the holiness which condemns their sinfulness. (Luk_5:8)
V The king obeys the prophets commands. Elijah might be king from the commands he issues. "Send and gather to me observe "to me Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal," etc. Did Ahab know why they were wanted? Did Elijah then tell him of the ordeal by fire? It is extremely improbable. It is probable that, though Ahab hoped for rain, still he anticipated no good to his or Jezebel"s prophets from this meeting. He would have disobeyed this command if he dared. But he has found his master, and it is in the uncouth, untutored Gileadite. We are reminded of Herod and John, of Ambrose and Theodosius, of Savonarola and Lorenzo de" Medicis, of Mary of Scots and John Knox. At Elijah"s bidding, his posts go throughout the land. The prophet has had a triumph already. Truth and the consciousness of right, and the rower of God"s presence, have proved greater than sceptre and crown.
Vers. 17, 18.
The Troubler.
Elijah, who during the terrible drought was con-coaled, now, at the word of the Lord, came forth to show himself to Ahab, as God was about to give rain. What a meeting! One of the worst of kings with one of the noblest of prophets. What confrontings will there be in the great day of judgment l Here each charges the other with being the troubler of Israel. Observe, then
I THAT THE WICKED SEEK TO MALIGN THE GOOD.
1. Ahab accused Elijah.
(1) He assumed that all the horrors of the famine were the work of the prophet, and therefore sought to slay him. How many precious lives, in all ages, have been sacrificed 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 shelter him. It were well for the world if men were as earnest in good as they are in evil.
(3) But God can hide His servants from the fury of their adversaries. In the solitudes of Cherith In the stir of Zarephath.
(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 that troubleth Israel?" Conscience makes tyrants tremble.
2. He found a pretext.
1. Theorists can easily find pretexts for tyranny. Ahab seized upon Elijah"s, (1Ki_17:1) and drew his own inference.
2. As these words were verified to the letter, the tyrant saw, or affected to see, his theory confirmed. This 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 Pro_14:31; Mat_10:40-42 Mat_25:40, etc.; Act_5:39 Act_9:1-15; Heb_6:10)
3. 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 famine upon his people.
(3) Therefore he shifts the responsibility on to the shoulders of the prophet. How essentially does the spirit of the lie enter into all sin!
II TRUTH COMES HOME IN DUE TIME.
1. Goodness 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 takes 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 commandments of the decalogue. It was also a forsaking of the Levitical law, which 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 Mic_6:16)
(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.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
1Ki_18:17-18
Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
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The source of a sinners trouble
Our theme lies in this controversy between Ahab and Elijah as to the cause of the trouble which had come upon Israel. Ahab accused the prophet of being the cause of the trouble, while of course Elijah had nothing to do with it. He was simply Gods messenger. It is a very common thing for a man who has been brought into trouble by his sin to find fault with Providence and with his neighbours and his relatives, or with anybody who points out his iniquity. He feels that some one else is to blame rather than himself. But Elijah lays his finger on the root of the difficulty. Sin is always a source of trouble to the sinner. Ahabs greatest enemy was in his own heart and in his own house. Seragastio, a servant in one of Plautus comedies, asking another, How doth the town seem to be fortified? the answer given was this: If the inhabitants be well governed and good, I think it will be well fortified; and then, reckoning up many vices, he concludes, Unless these be absent, a hundred walls are but little enough for the preservation of it. And the history of the world shows us that that is a true representation of the destructive nature of sin in a nation. It will level the walls of the strongest governments. No nation is great enough to stand if it is honeycombed with sin in the hearts of its people. Sin is the great troubler in the individual soul. It was after Adam and Eve had broken the law of God that they were troubled, the first trouble they had ever known, and they tried to hide themselves among the trees of the garden so that God would not see them. Here is a young man who has fallen into the habit of strong drink and has lost his self-mastery, and he comes home drunk to his mother. Oh, the trouble that comes from such a sin. Oh, sin is the great troubler. But do not imagine that this sin or other outbreaking disgraceful sins that are easily detected are the only ones that give trouble to people. Disobedience to God is sin, and if we fail to keep Gods commandments, it does not matter which one, it will get us into trouble, and if unrepented of and unforgiven, into terrible and eternal trouble. Beware of being self-deceived. Sometimes the foulest sins are cherished underneath what appears a very respectable exterior. I have seen somewhere the story of Sir Francis Drake, that after he had made his long sailing journey around the world and had returned to London he was one day in a boat upon the River Thames in a very rough tide when it seemed almost certain that they would be capsized. The famous traveller exclaimed, What! have I escaped the violence of the sea and must now be drowned in a ditch? And a man may drown in a ditch quite as easily as in the ocean. And many a one who has escaped vulgar, disgraceful sins that bring men into shame has been led away from God and finally kept from God by secret lusts and hidden selfishness and evil desires that prevented him from obeying God and keeping His commandments. Let us not forget that what we may esteem a little sin has the power to open the door of the heart to sins of which at first we would not dream of being guilty. The historian tells us that when Pompey could not prevail with the city to admit his army he persuaded them to admit a few weak, wounded soldiers. But these soon recovered their strength and opened the gates to the whole army. Thus it is that the devil persuades us to admit some small sin and soon gains the whole heart. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
1Ki_18:17-20
When Ahab saw Elijah.
Deliverance from the mouth of the lion
I. The wonderful protection of the prophet;
II. The unjust accusation brought against him;
III. The bold language he uses; and,
IV. The secret power he exercises. (F. W. Krummacher, D. D.)
Elijah meeting Ahab
I. That in darkest times God reserves some men and keeps them true to himself. Conspicuously does this appear in the great character Elijah. The word itself covers a wide field--Elijah. The history of an age is covered by such a character. As time goes by, after he vanishes from scenes on which he came suddenly, his proportions increase, as a mountain seems greater the farther you go from its base. By and by it comes to pass that the mighty hero of Gods making will be expected again on earth when the extremity of human need is reached. Elijah must come, men said, as the forerunner of the great Messiah, and as a restorer of all things. God keeps such spirits as these in His unseen Army of the Reserve; and, when darkness covers the earth, and mens hearts fail them for fear, suddenly an Elijah steps upon the scene, pronounces doom on the guilty, gathers together the righteous, and re-enacts the eternal law by His word.
II. we learn that God determines to let men know that He governs this world.
III. We learn from the lesson before us, still further, that wicked men charge the righteous with being disturbers of the peace. Whatever, said George Shepard, may be true in medicine, Gods system of moral cure is by contraries. He puts forth the truth to crowd out the error, and what if it does happen, in the fierce antagonism, that there are seasons of confusion and trouble? What though the tempest twirls everything into disorder, if it only blows away the miasma? There are people who are exceedingly alarmed at the presence or the prospect of agitation.
IV. Finally, we must feel, as we read again this familiar meeting between Elijah and Ahab, that it would be well if there were more of elijahs stamp to-day. (Monday Club Sermons.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.