What is God’s response to a nation whose kings have rejected Him, or what is His response to a nation who refuses to have Him as King? In our previous article we glanced at the litany of kings populating the pages of 1 Kings 14-16, who were trusting in their golden calves. We compared that situation to the parables Jesus told about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 13. It all leads us to wonder why God gives humanity the time of day, considering our intractable resistance to His goodness in our lives. And yet, we see the grace of God reaching out in salvation through judgement time and time again: in the sacrifice provided to reestablish relationship in the garden of Eden; in the ark that preserved Noah and family through the flood; and supremely, in the cross.
1 Kings 17 opens with a start! The usual formulas of a king’s reign and death are disturbed. A new character bursts onto the scene. Elijah, from the obscure town of Tishbe, walks in on king Ahab and pronounces judgement from God. The true God, YHWH, is making Himself known. Elijah declares that there will be a drought (no rain or dew) that will last years – and that water will only return at his bidding (1 Kings 17:1). Talk about unsettling the political class – especially when what he said actually came to pass!
Meanwhile, over in Matthew’s gospel, the parables of the kingdom are completed with a people in unbelief. Unbelief reigns, even in Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown (Matthew 13:58). Curiously, the next chapter opens with a man in jail for his message of righteousness to a king. John the Baptist, the New Testament fulfilment of Old Testament Elijah (Matthew 11:14), has indicted Herod the king for his immoral practices.
Ahab and Herod share a few characteristics. Not least, is their common attraction to wicked women. The reaction of Herod’s wife to John the Baptist’s message results in her arranging for John’s head to be removed, thus silencing the prophetic witness (Matthew 14:3-11). Elijah’s nemesis, although not stated so clearly at the beginning, is Ahab’s counterpart, Jezebel (compare 1 Kings 19:2). After declaring the drought, Elijah is instructed by God to hide (1 Kings 17:3) as it is evident that Ahab is seeking to kill him (1 Kings 18:9).
Elijah is supernaturally sustained in hiding. Bread and meat are brought twice daily via a surprising source – ravens, that are listed as unclean birds (Leviticus 11:15; Deuteronomy 14:14). Interestingly, when Jesus heard of the murder of John the Baptist, He went into a desolate place (Matthew 14:13). The people followed Him there, but they came without food. In His compassion for them, He refused to send them home hungry. Supernaturally, He fed the crowd bread and meat, and there were twelve baskets left over (Matthew 14:20). A discussion breaks open shortly afterward between Jesus and the Pharisees. They have noticed that Jesus’ disciples are unconcerned about following the rituals and traditions of the Pharisees (Matthew 15:2). Jesus uses the opportunity to explain the real purpose of the Old Testament teaching on cleanness and uncleanness. They were convinced that external purity was meritorious before God – thus their scrupulosity in external cleanliness was their perceived means of exhibiting personal holiness. Jesus explodes their worldview (Matthew 15:16-20) by declaring that what makes a person unclean and unholy is not external at all – it is what flows out from within! This is what Elijah was learning when he was being fed by ravens. Even food provided by an unclean bird is food to be enjoyed and received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:4-5).
These experiences were preparatory for Elijah and, similarly, for the disciples of Jesus. The answer to the question posed at the opening of this article (“How does God respond to those who reject Him?”) is about to be answered. Both Elijah and Jesus leave Israel for Sidon and find themselves ministering to Gentile women in need. Elijah finds safety and provision in the home of a widow who puts her faith in Israel’s God (1 Kings 17:24). And Jesus blesses a Canaanite woman whose exemplary faith (Matthew 15:21-28) is noted by the Lord, and results in her daughter’s deliverance from demonic possession.
So, what does God do in the face of unbelief and rejection? He judges the wilful unbelievers and reaches out in grace to the distant and lost. In the contexts we have considered, the Jew is left behind while the needy Gentile receives the blessing. The carefully crafted expectations of goodness and seeking to merit the favour of God are dismantled, and the grace of God flows out to the undeserving who receive it by faith.
Where does this analysis find you? To which group do you belong? The group to which God is god in name only, rejected and ignored other than in a religious context? Perhaps you belong to the group which expects God to answer according to your merited goodness? Or are you a part of the happy few who have recognized their profound unworthiness, and have been overwhelmed by the river of grace that only God can bestow?
“By grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), the apostle avers, and it is by grace that we are still being saved, through faith (1 Corinthians 15:2 ESV) – every day.
And you?
