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Obadiah Fiercely Feared the Lord

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Bible verse : 1 Kings 18:3-4 (NIV)

and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace.
(Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD.

While Jezebel was killing off the LORD'S prophets,
Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) 

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Among the kings of Israel, there was a king named Ahab who did evil before God. The person who encouraged Ahab to do such an evil thing was his queen, Jezebel.

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Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon. King Ahab had the Israelites abandon God and serve Baal and Asherah, the idols worshiped in Jezebel's motherland.

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King Ahab built high places of idols throughout the country to worship Baal and Asherah. The Israelites, who were supposed to worship only God, were afraid of King Ahab and Jezebel, so many bowed down before the idols of Baal and Asherah.

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Jezebel made a terrible plan to make all the people betray God and serve Baal and Asherah. The plan was to kill and destroy all the prophets who served God.

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ezebel secretly gave orders to the soldiers. “Listen up! From now on, find the prophets who serve God and kill them all. They are of no use to our country and only hinder our country from becoming one by worshiping the god Baal.”

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A man named Obadiah, who was in charge of the royal palace, heard this great news. Obadiah was managing the palace of the wicked King Ahab, but he was a man of faithful faith who served God well.

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Obadiah thought and acted to rescue the prophets from the hands of Jezebel. Unbeknownst to Jezebel, he contacted the prophets to gather them to a place he had prepared.

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About 100 prophets gathered after being contacted by Obadiah.
Obadiah had them hide in two caves prepared in advance.

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Because of Jezebel's evil deeds, bloody winds blew in the land of Israel. Many prophets who could not escape were killed by the swords of Jezebel's soldiers.
The wicked queen Jezebel killed the innocent prophets of God in order to dissuade the Israelites from believing in God.

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But with the help of Obadiah, the 100 prophets who hid in the cave were safely protected. Obadiah even prepared food for them to eat while they were there, protecting them and serving them.

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What would have happened if Jezebel had found out that Obadiah had saved the prophets? Obadiah must have faced a crisis where he had to risk his life.
However, God helped Obadiah to do what he was doing so that he could not be seen by them.

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At that time, most of the people who worked in King Ahab's palace betrayed God because they were afraid of King Ahab. However, Obadiah was a man who worked in King Ahab's palace, but he did not lose faith in serving God truely and rightly there.

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Obadiah feared God, the owner of the whole world, more than Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jezebel, who wielded the greatest power at the time.
He saved the lives of 100 prophets by taking risks and courageously doing what pleased God.

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We, who have confessed Jesus by faith and become children of God, must live a courageous life like Obadiah.
We must strive to believe in God, who is stronger than any other power in the world, and have the faith to do courageous things like Obadiah.
We must become people who ask the Holy Spirit for the courage to do what pleases God like Obadiah, even if our friends around us do bad things.

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Among the Bible characters, Joseph and Daniel were also people who exalted only God in a bad environment. When they did what pleased God, God helped them and made them successful.
We must be people who always seek God's help in order to have the courage to exalt God and do what pleases Him in any circumstance.
God will use and exalt those who have such faith.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)