The way we view events or ideas will usually determine how we respond
to the same. When Elijah appeared before Ahab, he predicted drought as God's
judgement. He was simply stating God's prescribed result of compromising
Biblical standards. Ahab and the entire society rejected God's message through
Elijah and continued affairs as usual. They did not believe the circumstance
to be as bad as Elijah suggested. Most considered Elijah to be an alarmist
and reactionary.
Even more interesting is the response of Ahab to Elijah when God fulfilled
his judgement! Ahab's greeting to Elijah rings loudly through the centuries,
"Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" Ahab and his cohorts did not see that
they were the ones who had changed Israel. Elijah was simply calling Israel
back to God's standard of truth. He did not cause the trouble, he just pointed
it out. Ahab was the trouble maker. He and others like him led Israel away
from Biblical values. From Ahab's perspective, however, Elijah was causing
the trouble. There was harmony, and everything was going smoothly until
this old fashioned prophet showed up sounding the alarm. Then matters started
to fall apart. Though Ahab remained king for several more years, this was
the beginning of his demise.
We must answer the question, "Who are the trouble makers?" Are the trouble
makers those who point out a departure from Biblical values and try to affect
a return to those values? Or are the trouble makers those who turn from
the Biblical value? How we answer this question will determine our response,
but it will also reveal our heart. For Ahab, righteousness and holiness were
unimportant in relationship to the smooth, harmonious, and unopposed operation
of his kingdom. For Elijah, the nation was not to purchase harmony at the
expense of Biblical holiness. In all reality, Ahab and his wicked predecessors
were the real culprits in robbing Israel of her genuine harmonious existence.
It was Elijah's sad responsibility to call Israel back to the Lord, and
disrupt a falsely obtained counterfeit harmony.
Who is the "troubler of Israel?" It is a matter of perspective. The believer who loves the Lord and Biblical obedience cannot remain silent when there is a departure from truth. When he sounds the alarm, the status quo will consider that believer to be a rabble rouser and trouble maker. In reality, the trouble maker is the one who forsakes Biblical truth for something counterfeit. May God give us the courage to stand firmly for truth and righteousness, even when the accusations of "trouble maker" ring out!