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Faith that Chooses  

When God set up the kingdom of Israel, He made a condition for the kings: They were always to hearken to the words of the prophets, the emissaries of the true High King of Israel. In a more general way, the prophets were also the ambassadors of God to the people. God always gave the people the kind of king they deserved, so that if there was to be reformation in the land, the people as well as the king had to repent. When the kings of Israel and Judah were unfaithful, it was an accurate reflection of the moral condition of the people as a whole. 

The northern kingdom of Israel was separated from the south (Judah) and established by God in response to the sins of Solomon. The first king of northern Israel, Jeroboam I, immediately fell into sin and created a new syncretistic religion. The word syncretism refers to a religion composed of a mixture of two or more other religions. Jeroboam’s new religion was a combination of Yahwism, the true faith, and Baalism. In essence, Jeroboam and his priests claimed to be worshiping the Lord, but they were using the rituals of Baal. 

When Ahab came to the throne, things got worse. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, was a devotee of pure, unadulterated Baalism. She established a pure Baal cult in the land and convinced Ahab to suppress all forms of Yahwism. God raised up Elijah to confront this outbreak of hardened paganism. God brought a three-year drought on Israel, which bankrupted the nation. Then Elijah initiated a contest on Mount Carmel. Both he and the Baal priests set up sacrifices, and whoever sent fire down from heaven to burn up the sacrifices would be shown to be the true God. 

Elijah challenged the people before performing the sacrifice. “How long will you waver between two opinions?” he asked, but the people remained silent. Only when they saw the fire fall from God did they say, “Yahweh, [rendered by the Lord in most modern translations], He is God!” At Elijah’s orders, they killed all the prophets of Baal, purging the land of this gross form of idolatry. It seemed as if revival had come, but soon the people forgot the miracle and lapsed into their former syncretistic ways.

Coram Deo  

True faith has to make choices: God’s way or our way. Too much of the church today is “wavering between two opinions.” What areas in your own life need to be purified, and what areas in the life of the church need to be cleansed? Take one specific step today toward personal and corporate cleansing.