"At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: 'O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.' Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord--he is God! The Lord--he is God!'" 1 Kings 18:36-39
"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him." Matthew 2:10-11
"at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:10-11
Sunday: Elijah; 1 Kings 18:17-39; Symbol - Stone Altar
Once again, Israel had turned from worshipping God and instead chose to worship the demon-god Baal. As a result, God sent a drought on the land. Elijah, desiring that God would be worshipped by His people, assembled the Israelites on the top of Mt. Carmel. There he challenged the priests of Baal to a contest.
Fire from Heaven...who would send this? Despite their frantic pleas and self-mutilation, the no-god Baal couldn't deliver. But when Elijah asked God to send fire, "Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench" 1 Kings 18:38. At this display of God's awesome power, the people fell on their faces before Elijah and declared that "The Lord - He is God!" Their motivation? Fear of God's awesome and destructive power.
Fast forward many years. A group of scholars from the Middle East have seen another type of "fire from Heaven." This time it is in the form of a star, blazing in the East. They have anticipated and longed for this type of fire. They leave all they have and make a long journey to an obscure village in Israel. Their witness of God's holy fire, the star, causes them to be "overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him." Matthew 2:10-11
The same reaction as Israel, on top of Mount Carmel, they bow down and worship, acknowledging that Jesus is God. But this time the motivation is different. They don't worship out of fear of what God will do to them. They worship out of love and awe, out of a great longing finally fulfilled. They have waited and searched and travelled far to worship God and now, they can finally bow down and worship Him.
Fast forward to some day in the future, however distant only God knows. Fire from Heaven will come again, at the second return of Christ: "This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels." 2 Thessalonians 1:7
At the return of Jesus, "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," Philippians 2:10-11. Some will bow down and worship out of fear of the consequences. Like Israel on Mount Carmel, they have worshipped other gods...gods who have not returned in power. They will recognize their mistake as they confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Others will bow down and worship out of love and awe, out of a great longing finally fulfilled. They have waited and longed for Jesus' return and now, they can finally bow down, in His presence, and worship Him, who their eyes can now see.
The question for us is - what will be our motivation when we bow down before Christ? Fear or love?
The above commentary on 1 Kings is part of a 4-week Advent Reflection for the Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is similar to an advent calendar. Every day you will read a Bible passage to your child(ren), discuss what it means to them in personal terms and color an ornament to hang on your Jesse Tree. A fuller description of this can be found at The Jesse Tree
When you are finished today, you might want to discuss how Christmas is about giving much more than getting. One way that your family can give is through their daily prayers. This might be a good time to pray for a specific country or for a group of people who do not know about Jesus. Today, over 2 billion people, 1/3 of the earth's population, have never heard the Gospel message. They are worshipping false gods, with no knowledge of the one, true God. We need to pray that they will hear about Jesus and follow Him before He returns with fire from Heaven.
Two great websites to help you do this are:
Operation World go to Featured Nation and click on Country Profile
Some of the churches in Charleston that are using a Jesse Tree as part of their Advent celebration are: Charleston Sanctuary
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