{"id":4551,"date":"2024-04-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/reading-plan\/april-17\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T07:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:09:51","slug":"april-17","status":"publish","type":"reading-plan","link":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/reading-plan\/april-17\/","title":{"rendered":"April 17"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Insight from 1 Kings<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All [the] various scenes [of 1 Kings 17] work together to contribute to the episode\u2019s message. In contrast, 1 Kings 18:1 moves in a new direction, recalling the initial promise of a drought: \u201cAfter many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, \u2018Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.\u2019\u201d Chapter 18 shifts the temporal context from immediately following the initial prophecy to three years later, which suggests that we have likely moved to a new episode\u2026. Because God is both willing and able to care for even the least [see 1 Kings 17], we should affirm that his word through his prophets is true and authoritative. This introductory truth then guides our reading of all the remaining episodes in the section, all of which are governed by the reality of no rain. You likely remember the story of the clash between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. That happens in 1 Kings 18, where the storm god Baal is called on to go head-to-head with YHWH\u2026. Even with all the prophets ranting and raving, no fire came. Then Elijah prayed for God\u2019s miraculous intervention\u2026. At his, YHWH\u2019s fire came, resulting in the people\u2019s turning back to the true God in worship (18:38\u201339). After this, God brought rain on the earth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adapted from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to Understand and Apply the OT<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 42\u201343.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4551","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}