Preached February 6, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church
Introduction
We all have limits.
Money we spend, activities we do, entertainment, work… Thing we will and will not do.
When it comes to obeying the Lord, do we have any limits? When we grow in our faith, we are going to be pushed and challenged. And at some point, we will reach a place where we have to make a decision– obey God fully or pull back and disobey him.
● After three years, God tells Elijah to go and appear before Ahab. We learn in 18:10, Ahab has been pursuing Elijah everywhere. And it is not for a friendly chat.
● Sometimes, God will call us to do extremely uncomfortable, dangerous things.
● Elijah has been so conditioned though in 1 Kings 17 with his experiences at Cherith and Zarephath to trust God when he tells him to do something.
● Obeying God take courage. Or to say it another way, obeying God means we have to trust God when he directs us.
● Every act of obedience carries some level of risk.
● Obadiah & Ahab
○ Ahab is selfish and cares nothing about the people. His great concern is making sure he doesn’t loose his livestock.
○ Obadiah is providing for 100 prophets of God. At great personal risk and sacrifice.
● Obadiah & Elijah
○ There is more than one way to serve the Lord.
- Elijah was bold, confrontational, intrusive.
- Obadiah was also bold, but he worked within the system to make a difference.
○ Elijah and Obadiah both served the Lord in their own way.
○ Obadiah feared the Lord. This dictated his actions.
- He saved 100 prophets, at great risk and cost to himself.
- Jezebel was trying to kill the prophets.
● Like Elijah, we need some believers who will confront the culture and work from the outside in.
● Like Obadiah, we need some believers who will engage the culture and work from the inside out.
● All believers are to fear God and choose to obey him in and out of the culture.
● Obadiah sees Elijah in the distance. Elijah has a mission for him. Tell Ahab he has returned.
● Obadiah is nervous. He knows this may not go well for him.
● Obadiah had been faithful to God, stuck out his neck, and wrecked Jezebel’s plot to kill off the prophets. Surely he had done enough.
○ Do we limit our obedience to God? Do we think “I’ve put my dues in? I’ve done enough? Surely someone else can do this part!”
● Simon Robinson comments: “Surely he had done enough for the cause. Wasn’t there someone else who could replace him as the risk-taker now? When he hid the prophets, he had a sense of being in control; he could hide them, feed them and cover his tracks. However, if he were to tell the king that Elijah wanted to meet him, he would have no control over the possible outcome.”
● Elijah assures him that he will in fact be right where he tells him he will be.
● Obedience is never the easy choice.
● Obadiah goes and tells Ahab.
● This sets up one of the most incredible moments in the entire OT.
Application
Proverbs 29:25 (ESV) The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
There are three levels of obedience I see in this passage. Each level brings some measure of risk and some level of commitment required.
Level 1: Personal Conviction
Obadiah feared the Lord.
Level 2: Private Action
Obadiah aided the prophets.
Level 3: Public Declaration
Obadiah announced Elijah to King Ahab.
How far will you go when it comes to obeying the Lord? Are you drawing boundaries or limitations on your obedience?
Following the Lord may cost you and may be dangerous. Obadiah came to a cross-roads and had to make a choice. He chose to serve the Lord. It was tough and frightening, but ultimately he chose wisely.
Obadiah and Elijah both served God faithfully, in different ways. You don’t have to be a radical prophet living in the wilderness to serve God. You don’t have to quit you job. You don’t have to disengage from society and live in the wilderness. But you do have to be willing to do anything God asks of you.
Will you fear man, and fall short of obeying God?
Or will you fear God?
Proverbs 14:26-27 (ESV) In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. [27] The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.
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