Counter Culture

Counter Culture

This Sunday, I was privileged to hear a message from Pastor Lim of PJEFC on Counter Culture based on 1 Kings 18.

In those days, it was the reign of the evil, corrupt king Ahab and Elijah the prophet was the only one who stood up against him. In Ahab’s idolatry, he led the whole nation of Israel astray and there was worship of the pagan gods Baal and Asheroth in the land. Because of this, God sent a terrible drought upon Israel and there was no rain in the land for 3 years.

Before the start of World War II, the Prime Minister of England Neville Chamberlain together with leaders from France and Italy made the Munich pact with Adolf Hitler of Germany agreeing to cede certain territories in Czechoslovakia to Germany so that Germany would stop their aggressive territorial expansion. This negotiation treaty, known as appeasement, backfired shortly when Hitler broke it and went on to conquer the rest of Czechoslovakia and proceeded to attack Poland in 1939. Neville Chamberlain stepped down and Winston Churchill became the new Prime Minister of England in a time of war and proved to be the perfect man for the job. The lesson here is that you can’t compromise or negotiate with evil, but you have to confront it and do away with it.

Another similar but fictional story is of a bear running towards a hunter aiming a gun with him who suddenly stops and says “let’s negotiate, what do you want?” So they sat down and the hunter said “I want a fur coat to keep warm” and the bear said “I need to fill my stomach because I am hungry”. And both got what they wanted. The hunter got a fur coat and the bear got the hunter for dinner. Again, like the bear, we can’t negotiate with evil.

In those days, the king had great power and influence, and if the king was a corrupt leader, the people would also become corrupt. Some politicians dabble in Black Magic to gain power and popularity and by drawing power from dark forces, they too become evil and do evil things.

Idolatry had to be cut off totally before Israel could come back to God. We cannot serve both God and idols. Either Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. There can be no compromise in this.

Elijah proceeded to ask Ahab to bring all the Israelites to Mount Carmel and all the priests of Baal and Asheroth. Mount Carmel although used before as a place of worship to God in Heaven had become the primary site of Baal worship. All the priests of Baal went, all 450 of them while Elijah was just one. This was a confrontation between God and evil. However, although the odds seemed to be stacked heavily in favor of Ahab’s prophets, it was really no contest at all.

Looking at the people, three responses are recorded. Firstly, Elijah challenged them, “How long will you waver between two opinions, if Yahweh is God, follow him, if Baal is God, follow him?” The word “waver” in Hebrew gives the picture of jumping from one stance to another. It is the same word to describe how the prophets of Baal danced. The people wanted blessing from both, and could not make up their minds. Their response was silence, indicating their apathy, their indifference. Then Elijah proposed the challenge to see which God would respond by fire, and the people responded, “that is good”. And so the prophets of Baal danced around their altar from morning till noon, cutting themselves, but nothing happened. Baal was purportedly the storm god, the god of lightning, but nothing happened. Then it was Elijah’s turn. He repaired the altar of God and prepared the sacrifice and after He prayed, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the altar and even the soil. The people fell down and exclaimed “The Lord is God, the Lord is God!”

Then Elijah ordered for all the prophets of Baal to be exterminated, and a great source of evil was cut off from the land. One man standing up for God brought a great revival in the land. Just one man made a great difference.

Another lesson we learn by looking at this event is that the spiritual precedes the physical. In the battle against the Amalekites, Moses was lifting up his hands towards heaven as Joshua and the Israelites battled below. When Moses’ hands grew weary and came down, the Israelites were losing but when Aaron and Hur helped lift Moses’ hands up, the Israelites were winning. Lifting hands to heaven symbolize prayer, and the spiritual had great impact on the physical. That’s why it so important for us to pray and engage in spiritual warfare for breakthroughs to happen in our lives.

During the Roman rule, watching gladiator fights were a favorite past time of the Romans, and the people enjoyed the blood and gore and death that came with it. But all that changed during the reign of Emperor Honorius who had become a Christian. The Gladiator fight had been arranged as a celebration for a Roman victory against the Goths. However, as they were about to begin, a devout monk named Telemachus came and called out to the Emperor to stop the fight crying “Do not dishonor God who has given you victory”. Despite the boos of the people, this holy man refused to allow the fight to continue and was killed. Shortly after, the Emperor published a decree outlawing gladiator fights. One man gave his life and by doing so, saved many by ending a cruel, senseless entertainment.

In closing, the call is for us not to compromise with evil but to get rid of it totally. When Jesus said to pluck out an eye or cut off a hand rather than let the whole body go to hell, He was not advocating it literally but for us to take every step possible to get rid of evil completely. It is also a call to relook our relationship with God which may have broken down like the broken altar and need to be repaired by coming back humbly to God. Finally, it is a call, to be determined and stand up for God, even if we are alone, for even one man can change the destiny of a nation.