Day 1 (Monday)
3 Kingdoms (1 Kings) 18:1-47
Last time, we saw the prophet Elijah sent by God to Ahab, to proclaim a drought, making an open show of the weakness of Baal, the false god Ahab had begun to worship. During the years of this drought, Elijah was sheltered in the home of a widow, where the Lord sustained them miraculously despite the famine and drought, and where Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead. This time, we will see what happens when Elijah is sent back to Ahab.
Elijah’s Message to Ahab
18 After many days the word of the Lord came to Eli′jah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.” 2 So Eli′jah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samar′ia. 3 And Ahab called Obadi′ah, who was over the household. (Now Obadi′ah revered the Lord greatly; 4 and when Jez′ebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadi′ah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadi′ah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadi′ah went in another direction by himself.
7 And as Obadi′ah was on the way, behold, Eli′jah met him; and Obadi′ah recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Eli′jah?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Eli′jah is here.’” 9 And he said, “Wherein have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Eli′jah is here.”’
12 And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you whither I know not; and so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jez′ebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Eli′jah is here”’; and he will kill me.” 15 And Eli′jah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadi′ah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Eli′jah.
17 When Ahab saw Eli′jah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Ba′als. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba′al[a] and the four hundred prophets of Ashe′rah, who eat at Jez′ebel’s table.”
Elijah’s Triumph over the Priests of Baal
20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel, and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Eli′jah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Ba′al, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Eli′jah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Ba′al’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; and I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it. 24 And you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
25 Then Eli′jah said to the prophets of Ba′al, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Ba′al from morning until noon, saying, “O Ba′al, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped about the altar which they had made. 27 And at noon Eli′jah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice; no one answered, no one heeded.
30 Then Eli′jah said to all the people, “Come near to me”; and all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; 31 Eli′jah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; 32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood.” 34 And he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar, and filled the trench also with water.
36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Eli′jah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that thou, O Lord, art God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Eli′jah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Ba′al; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them; and Eli′jah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
The Drought Ends
41 And Eli′jah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Eli′jah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees. 43 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.” 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising out of the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 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 Jezre′el. 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Eli′jah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezre′el.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (There is a lot going on in this reading. There is a subtext, though, that needs to be teased out. Baal is not a false god, in the sense of a made-up and imaginary god, but a false god in the sense that he is a fallen angel, who rebelled against God. He is trying to fight against God in the one way that matters; he is trying to take God’s chosen people away, to enlist them as allies in his rebellion, and ultimately to destroy them. Everything that happens here, then, needs to be seen in that light. God sends Elijah immediately to call the Israelites back to Him; he talks to the king at first, but now he is talking to all the people. Everything that Elijah does shows the weakness of Baal and the power and love of Yahweh, the Lord. And after the fire comes down, when Elijah kills all the priest and prophets of Baal, it is precisely as an exorcism, a destruction of those who are leading Israel into destruction. For anyone in Israel who is paying attention at all, it is crystal clear that Yahweh is real, that He has not forgotten His people, and that He remains faithful to them, and calls them to be faithful to Him. This is God’s response when Israel begins to reject Him; He comes and calls them back, but does not force them back.)
2) What do we learn about God in this reading?
3) What do we learn about human beings in this reading?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) – 9
We return now to the Didache, the earliest text from the life of the Church outside of the New Testament. The Didache has two parts: the first describes the Way of Life and the Way of Death, and the second gives general instructions for the life of the Church. We talked last time about how the Eucharist was celebrated at this time; now we will begin to talk about how each Church community should treat Christian teachers who visited them, and how they need to be careful not to be led astray.
Concerning Teachers
So, if anyone should come and teach you all these things that have just been mentioned above, welcome him. But if the teacher himself goes astray and teaches a different teaching that undermines all this, do not listen to him. However, if his teaching contributes to righteousness and knowledge of the Lord, welcome him as you would the Lord.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that this passage and what follows after tells us that, in the early Church, Christian communities might be visited frequently by traveling teachers. The Apostles are making a point to give guidance to the Church about how to be careful and test these teachers, to make sure that they are not teaching a different gospel than what they themselves had taught from the beginning. We should note that they don’t tell the Church to ignore the teachers if they say anything new, but rather urge them to watch what the fruit of the teaching is. If it undermines the essentials we have already seen in the Didache, then the teacher is a false teacher. But if the new teaching builds the Church in righteousness and the knowledge of God, then the teacher is a faithful teacher of the Lord’s Gospel. So we see that change isn’t always bad, but we have to watch and see what direction it is going, and what fruit it will bear.)
2) What do we learn about God in this reading?
3) What do we learn about human beings in this reading?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 3 (Friday)
Luke 12:35-59
Last time we saw the Lord talk to His disciples about the many things that the world thinks are important (the good opinion of others, safety, and possessions), and how what is truly important is the Kingdom of God, because all of the things of this world do not last; so He urged them to be faithful to Him, and to seek first His kingdom in all things. This time, He will continue to teach them (and us) how to live, being watchful and ready, and not being led astray by the many temptations of this world.
Watchful Slaves
35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
39 “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
The Faithful or the Unfaithful Slave
41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. 47 That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.
Jesus the Cause of Division
49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Time
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Settling with Your Opponent
57 “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
Discussion Questions
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out that Jesus is warning them that even though He is coming to preach and establish reconciliation between God and humanity, the result of this is not going to be peace within humanity. Rather, every one of us has to choose whether we are on the Lord’s side or not; and when we choose to be faithful to God, there will be many people who object, who think we should care more about them and their priorities than about the things of God. This is what creates division. The world at large cares about money, and power, and popularity, and pleasure, and any number of other things; and anyone who doesn’t care about these things, and hopes rather in God, is a threat and a disruption. So we need to be faithful to God, and we also need to understand that this will be difficult, that we will suffer for this…and also we need to understand that it is both the only right thing to do, and that God will not abandon us when we are faithful to Him, and that the Kingdom of God is worth losing the things of this world.)
2) What do we learn about God in this story?
3) What do we learn about human beings in this story?
4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always.).
5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life?