“You’re the Problem.” “No, YOU’RE the Problem.”
“And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.” (1 Kings 18:17-18)
God wanted Israel to be a special people to Him, showing the nations of the world His love and power:
“Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” (Deuteronomy 4:5:8)
Yet many times Israel strayed from God, and God chastised them by letting heathen people dominate them. After Israel split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, Israel had one evil king after another. The first, Jeroboam, disregarded God and His word and introduced devil worship. The kings that followed also “…walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.” (1 Kings 15:34)
King Ahab was worse than the others: “…Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” (1 Kings 16:33) His wife Jezebel even had prophets of God killed. Yet God, in His love, did not abandon Israel. He sent a drought to get their attention. Elijah the prophet told Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)
For three years there was no rain. Ahab searched high and low for Elijah. Finally they met. Ahab asked Elijah,“Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” Think about that question. According to Ahab, idol worship was not a problem in Israel, nor the moral depravity that went with it. Nor was the persecution of God’s prophets. The problem was Elijah. He was the bad guy. Why couldn’t he just leave people alone?
Elijah was not the problem. Ahab was. Ahab was leading Israel away from God in a sinful direction. If you are a political leader, you may not think of yourself as a spiritual leader as well, but you have power to influence people toward God or away from Him in a sinful direction, as Israel’s kings did. 1 Kings 14:16 tells of “…Jeroboam, who did sin, and WHO MADE ISRAEL TO SIN.” (capitals added)
Jesus said, “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:56) Sin gives pleasure for a season, but in the long run it destroys homes, marriages, lives, and careers. If sin convinces people to refuse Jesus as Saviour, it destroys them for eternity.
If you are a Christian and talk against sin, some may say you are the problem. Yet Ephesians 4:15 says to be “…speaking the truth in love,” Christians should speak against sin and about Jesus because God loves people. Sharing how Jesus forgives and saves is the most loving thing you can do. To see how to have your sins forgiven and a home in heaven, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” to see how to receive the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour.
Brian Miller 7/24/2026