“Showdown on Carmel” (1 Kings 17 & 18)
Published 3 Dec. 2025
Scroll down for “Lessons Learned…”
Designed for Personal Bible Study or for Bible Teaching
⚠️ Lessons Learned – Warnings
- 1️⃣ Spiritual compromise invites God’s discipline (1 Kgs 18:21).
- 2️⃣ Ignoring God’s prophets leads to national decline (1 Kgs 18:17–18).
- 3️⃣ False religion promises much but delivers nothing (1 Kgs 18:26–29).
- 4️⃣ Miracles do not guarantee long-term obedience (Ps 106:13).
- 5️⃣ A hardened heart can resist even God’s fire (1 Kgs 19:1–2).
💥 Lessons Learned – Failures
- 1️⃣ Ahab failed to lead with righteousness (1 Kgs 16:30).
- 2️⃣ Israel failed to choose God until forced by crisis (1 Kgs 18:21).
- 3️⃣ Jezebel’s prophets failed to demonstrate any power (1 Kgs 18:28–29).
- 4️⃣ The widow initially failed to trust God’s promise (1 Kgs 17:12).
- 5️⃣ Fear failed Elijah when he fled afterward (1 Kgs 19:3–4).
🚫 Lessons Learned – Sins
- 1️⃣ Idolatry is spiritual adultery (Ex 20:3–5).
- 2️⃣ Violent devotion to false gods is wickedness (1 Kgs 18:28).
- 3️⃣ Rejecting God’s voice hardens the heart (Heb 3:15).
- 4️⃣ Blaming others for our sin blinds us (1 Kgs 18:17–18).
- 5️⃣ Murdering God’s servants provokes judgment (1 Kgs 18:4).
🏆 Lessons Learned – Successes
- 1️⃣ Elijah obeyed God boldly (1 Kgs 17:1).
- 2️⃣ God provided miraculously again and again (1 Kgs 17:6).
- 3️⃣ The widow trusted God and received provision (1 Kgs 17:15–16).
- 4️⃣ Elijah prayed and God raised the dead (1 Kgs 17:22).
- 5️⃣ God answered by fire and revealed Himself (1 Kgs 18:38–39).
🌱 Lessons Learned – Spiritual Growth
- 1️⃣ Trust God when all resources dry up (1 Kgs 17:7).
- 2️⃣ God hears desperate prayers (1 Kgs 17:20–21).
- 3️⃣ Faith grows when we step into risk (Heb 11:6).
- 4️⃣ God proves Himself stronger than every false god (1 Kgs 18:38).
- 5️⃣ God turns hearts back to Himself (1 Kgs 18:37).
🧭 Lessons Learned – Leadership Principles
- 1️⃣ Leaders must confront evil when God commands (1 Kgs 18:18).
- 2️⃣ True leaders point people back to God (1 Kgs 18:21).
- 3️⃣ Leaders must show courage even when outnumbered (1 Kgs 18:22).
- 4️⃣ Leaders pray boldly for God’s glory (1 Kgs 18:36–37).
- 5️⃣ Leaders act decisively to remove destructive influences (1 Kgs 18:40).