Spiritual warfare

Elijah stood in front of all the people and demanded to know how long they were going to limp between opinions.   But the people answered him not a word. Canaanite mythology believed that Baal ruled the earth and was responsible for harvest, rain and fertility and that Mot ruled below in the underworld, as the god of death. These two were engaged in constant battle and when Mot was winning, there was cold, drought and famines but when Baal got the upper hand, there was rain and blessings harvest and life. The ministry of Elijah was set in direct opposition to the supposed power of Baal. When Elijah declared that there would be neither “dew nor rain” it was a clear challenge to Baals’ supremacy.  At Zarephath, he is seen to overcome death (seen as the power of Mot) when he raised the widow’s son from the dead.   We too live our lives on a battleground not a playground but like Elijah, our God is with us to bring victory. The nation had turned away from God. God’s people were not fully following Jehovah but they weren’t fully following Baal either.  There was accommodation in their life to his influence. After all, his religion was more satisfying to their flesh. He offered unbridled sexuality without restrictive standards. Baal titillated their imaginations. Many were not fanatical worshippers like Jezebel but they knew his philosophy and Baal was all the gossip around the nation. Sure we love God he has been our traditional God for generations but we like Baal too.    We think there are some good things about Baal; we feel we can relate to Baal, he’s not all bad. Friend, surely we can see the picture here of the Western nations in the last days.  The nations were forged and strengthened by God and His Word, but now they are post-Christian. They may still have prayer in parliament on occasions but there are new false gods in the land. Our leaders may choose to be like Jezebel in its state-sponsored syncretism and denial of the God of Israel but let not the people on the mount be a picture of ourselves!