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There's a Cloud on the Horizon

May 13, 2020

There’s a Cloud on the Horizon

by

Rocky Fleming

    And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.  (1 Kings 18:41-46 ESV)     I love the story of Elijah and his confrontation with the prophets of Baal and Asherah.  I ask you to read the whole chapter of 1 Kings 18 to get a better view of the situation.  I will give a quick recap so that my focus today can relate to that period and the one we live in today, for I believe a “cloud” is coming.  The scripture I’ve referenced is the focus I speak of.   The land of Israel had been overtaken by the worship of idols and false gods. There was a large infrastructure of people involved with that industry, based on the fact that Elijah would be facing 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.  One man against 850 prophets of a money-making, life-destroying industry, along with the people who put them and kept them in power.  Sounds familiar in today’s time doesn’t it with the current pornography, drug, and violent, sexual society we live in?  But Elijah was not alone.  The Lord God Almighty was on Elijah’s side, for God’s prophet was only a messenger of the only true God.  When we speak from God’s leadership, and not from our own authority, then it becomes a game changer, as was the case with Elijah.   The land in Elijah’s day had been in a severe drought for years.  Why would God allow this?  It is obvious that the people had lost their way, and the intolerable conditions to God that were being embraced by His people required action on His part.  A severe drought would do this. This would get their attention.  I think of the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the world.  I think of the way we’ve been isolated, quarantined, livelihoods being threatened and so on and I think, “Is God showing us His displeasure and impatience with the people of this world, and especially our nation, or is He showing us the idols we’ve embraced to lead us back to Him?”  I hope that it is the latter and what lies ahead is restoration.   Two weeks ago, we asked for a 24-hour prayer vigilance to pray for revival of God’s Church in America.  It is our hope that this will be a launch of something that we’ve needed for a long time and will continue much longer.  At the heart of revival is the act of turning back to that which was lost.  What has been lost?  I think we are dealing with the same issues that Elijah was seeing.  We’ve lost our intimate love for Christ and have forgotten our first love, which is God’s love for us.  I think we have a lot of idols that have entered our society and the Church, and how we’ve have embraced them.  These idols come before God in our thinking, our priorities, and our activity.  Oh, they are not gravened images such as Baal and Asherah but consider how close our society is with embracing what they worshiped.  Consider:   Worship of Ba‘al involved magic, the performance of rituals that included sacred prostitution.  How close to this perspective have we seen the “prophets” of the entertainment industry who promote the expansion of their lack of biblical values on our society, and have turned purity into prude-ness?  Think of the pressure on our children that leads them to this idol?  Asherah was about the same.  At the core it was the worship of a false goddess who promoted war and sex.  Isn’t sex and violence the hook that the entertainment industry today uses to capture an audience?  Appealing to the sexual pleasures of a person as a religion, would be a seductive force and contrary to God’s gift of the sexual love a husband and wife feel for each other.  It was a seductive force to the people in Elijah’s time, and God had to speak to turn His people back to Him.   Now to the cloud in the story.  As you read the account in 1 Kings 18, you will see the need for fervent prayer and faith by Elijah to actually see with his eyes what he believed would happen.  Elijah told Ahab to get ready for the rains would return, as another sign of God being in control and not the dead, sex idols that they worshiped.  At first Elijah could not see the rains, but he believed they would come, for God had spoken.  He had to wait and trust, by returning seven times to the top of Mount of Carmel.  Seven means “complete” in the Bible.  In this case it was to wait and watch as long as it took for it to come.  Then is came, and it was a gully washer just as God stated.  It started small, it built momentum, and it came raining down in abundance.  The lands were healed, and Sovereign God had returned to the hearts of the people.   I believe that we are seeing the same process of brokenness and revival repeating with the Church in this country.  I see so many similarities to Elijah’s day and our present time and conditions.  This encourages me that God will be raining down great blessings on the Church if we will turn back to Him, and we destroy the idols that have occupied our thoughts and practices.  I believe it is coming and we need to watch for it.   Let’s keep praying and returning to our “Mount Carmel” of prayer and expectation to watch for the cloud that will surely come. To the faithful God always proves to be faithful. We see with our faith before we see with our eyes.  But one day there will be great blessings rained down on God’s Church, and we will see it and feel it.  He will do this for us so that we can turn lost lives to Him.  He is preparing us for the great harvest that will be coming.  So, hold on and get your life jackets on.  The rains are coming … healing rains … and it will be a gully washer.