Elijah

When Life Blows Up In Your Face – From Smackdown to Smacked Down – 1 Kings 19

/ Bob / Leave a comment

King Ahab with the strong influence of Queen Jezebel had led Israel into idolatrous sin. This led to God using the prophet Elijah too bring judgment on Israel in the form of a drought. At the appointed time Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal and Asherah to a contest to determine which god was the strongest. Elijah (by the power of THE GOD ALMIGHTY) won the Smack Down at Mt. Carmel leading to the execution of the pagan prophets. When Ahab reported this to Jezebel, she put out an execution order – a hit on Elijah.

Upon hearing of the contract on his life, the great and mighty, bold and outspoken, victorious challenger, Elijah, turned tail and ran. . . .and ran . . . and ran all the way to Beersheba on the southern border of Judah. However, God did not scold him. Instead, He sent an angel to to mister to Elijah – to get him strong enough to make a trip to Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai) where Elijah saw firsthand the glory of God and where he worshiped in response.

Our response to the times when life blows up in our faces should be the same as that of Elijah. 1. Retreat. 2. Establish a healthy routine to give us the physical strength to face the issue. 3. Worship personally – just you and God. 4. And God’s never ending question, “What are you doing here?” 5. Get busy doing the next thing on God’s agenda for you.

Whether in times of great victory (Mt. Carmel) or times of great fear (the road to Beersheba) God is with you. Trust Him!

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, January 4, 2026. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is How Great Is Our God: Passing the Faith Along. You can find print and digital versions of this series online at https://gc2press.org/how-great-is-our-god-old-testament-digital-study-guide/. Handouts with class presentation content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


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Class Notes – 01.04.2026 – Lesson 12 – When Life Blows Up In Your FaceDownload

Good Night, Sweet Prince, and Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest

/ Bob

Death, not space, is the Final Frontier. And no other faith than that established by Jesus Christ has conquered death and the grave. All religions have addressed the issue of passing from this life to the next, but none so completely, honestly, and thoroughly as has Christianity. And it’s all because of the Love of God. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

In Luke 16 Jesus paints a picture with his story of Lazarus being carried into the bosom of Abraham – carried there by angels. In Acts 7 Stephen, as he is dying, looks into the glory of Heaven and sees the Father with the Son standing at His right side. While no angels are specifically mentioned we have numerous accounts of those who have seen Heaven and its glory and there are always angels in attendance. The angels are singing Stephen to his rest.

Finally, as we see in the 2nd Chapter of 2 Kings, Elijah is ushered into Heaven on a flaming chariot with flaming horses and flaming horsemen – angels. The slaves on the plantations read this account of Elijah’s departure and sang, “Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin’ for to carry me home.” They dreamed of a deliverance that transcended their earthly bondage. In one of the verses they sang, “I looked over Jordan and what did I see – Comin’ for the carry me home? A band of angels comin’ after me. Comin’ for to carry me home.”

As Horatio lamented over the loss of Hamlet, he said, “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, August 17, 2025. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts. You can find print and digital versions of this series online at https://gc2press.org/heaven-angels-study-guide/ . Handouts with class presentation content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

YouTube – youtube.com/@fromthebackporch

X – FromtheBackPorch@nationalfast

TikTok – tiktok.com/@fromthebackporchintexas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

Class Notes – 08.17.2025 – Lesson 12 – Angels in DeathDownload