![]() Hello Everyone: This article is taken from 1Kings 18:17-20 Well, Obadiah had to go back to King Ahab to tell him that he saw Elijah and that he is to go out to meet him. Of course, a proud arrogant hateful king is not going to be happy with that. He meets him with a bit of disdain and anger greeting him with: “So you are the trouble maker in Israel! You are the one who has brought this dreadful drought upon us. You are to blame for the awful famine!” As evil as Ahab was, Elijah was not intimidated at all. He had been sent by God to stand before this atrocious monarch. He would face his fury. Elijah looked down at Ahab and retorted, “It is not I who has troubled Israel but you. Both you and your family before you have chosen deliberately to forsake the laws of the Lord. And instead you have followed the falsehood of Baal.” It was a straightforward statement of fact. It could not be denied or debated. Ahab could not defend his deeds. He stood fully exposed to his evil. God’s wrath of a drought and famine fell on Ahab’s shoulders for his sins. Corruption and purity are not compatible. Righteousness and wrongdoing polarize each other. Falsehood and truth repel one another. As God’s people, we simply have to see this and not follow the ways of the world that are steeped in sin. Paul put it like this in 2 Timothy 3:12, “All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And Our Lord declared to his disciples just before his death, on the way to the cross, “If they (the world) have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20. The world is forever looking for someone upon whom they can pin the blame for the disasters that overtake them. If it is not God Himself Who is charged with the blame; then it will be His people. The profound truth is this. Every law, every edict, every command, every guideline for proper and appropriate behavior given to men by God has been bestowed upon us for our own well being and properity. He always has our own best interests in mind and when we go against God’s commands and His Will, there will be consequences to help us see our error; and hopefully we will repent and turn back to His ways. Any man, woman, family or nation that disobeys those laws, who repudiates and rejects them willfully, soon discovers to their sorrow that it is not only the laws of God that are broken but also themselves. In violent disregard for the commandments of God, Ahab led Israel into deception and debauchery. The whole nation was sold out to the false gods of Baal and Ashteroth. Their whole society was rotten with immorality, greed, violence and malicious materialism. They were a people now mired in the muck of man-made humanism. God had to bring them back. (Sound familiar?) Elijah was not content just to charge Ahab with these calamities but to have a face-to-face confrontation with all the false prophets of the heathen gods who had victimized his people. (Looks like we need Elijah to come again!) He challenged Ahab to summon all the devotees of Baal and Ashteroth to the summit of Carmel. There had been some 450 of Baal’s false spokesmen and at least 400 equally despicable parasites who pandered to Ashteroth who were supported by Queen Jezebel who wanted to see the death of God’s influence in Israel. (Nothing changes – A repeat of history here!) Elijah was determined to exorcise and eradicate all the evil forces at work in his beloved homeland in a single daring, dramatic confrontation. He had been away for three long years. During his absence, the voice of God had been silenced in Israel. The worshipers of these false God’s permeated Israel. Atrocities of every kind, identical to what we see in our present day were present. Satan still tempts man in the same ways even 2900 years later! Israel was just as slimy as what we see today and she had to be delivered from utter destruction. The place for this confrontation was to be Mount Carmel with its magnificent setting overlooking the blue Mediterranean. It was the most favored and fruitful spot in the whole of Palestine. On Carmel, the soil was unusually rich and productive. This was a most curious spot for Elijah to choose to have his confrontation because he made it easy for a false god like Baal to call down rain there. It was a mark of Elijah’s enormous faith in God that the prophet did not even reconsider the choice of site for the divine duel. Now was the time for Elijah to have this dual against the enemy on Mount Carmel. His confidence would be in the Lord to conquer the enemy and confirm his power. SUCH FAITH! Lesson for us: We see the exact same scenario today. The earth everywhere is inundated with complete perversion and sin against the True God. God will not stand for this and yet in His infinite wisdom, He knew it would come down to this. It is in Revelation - all that we see before us now. It is time to be like Elijah and know that God is God and will protect us and/or give us the graces to endure all that lies ahead for those Christians that will be persecuted like their Master. And when this current dual is over and God is shown triumphant - there will be peace! For us followers of Jesus Christ, the result is eternal life with our Creator, Lord and Master. Let us pray for the conversion of poor sinners, Let us continue the Reparation prayers taught at Fatima. Let us wear our Brown Scapular and consecrate ourselves to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Pray for us! St. Elijah, Pray for us!
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AuthorBernadette Porter is a Traditional Catholic, a wife of 44 years with 6 adult home-schooled children and 7 grandchildren. A sincere devotion to Mary, the Mother of God leads me to want to share "The Church's best kept secret" - Mary! Archives
January 2025
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