King Ahab accused Elijah for troubling Israel

1Ki 18:18  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. 

King Ahab accused Elijah for troubling Israel: “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” (v.17b). He did not hesitate to blame the godly prophet Elijah for the problems of Israel. The drought was very severe throughout the whole of Israel. The drought was God’s punishment to Israel for its idolatries and persecution of His prophets. But Ahab found it easier to blame the godly prophet.

Elijah answered Ahab: “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” (v.18).

Elijah was bold to tell the wicked king that it was his own evil deeds that had caused this drought to trouble Israel. He told Ahab right in his face that he had forsaken the commandments of God and had served Baal. Ahab was the real troublemaker!

The one who goes against the commandments of God is the troublemaker. It was true then and, it is true even today. False teachers are the troublemakers.

Who is a troublemaker – the liar or the one who exposed the lie? Obviously, the liar is the one who brings trouble to family, friends, workplace, and society. Yet, how is it that when it comes to the doctrines taught in the Bible, those who stand up for the truth are being branded as troublemakers?

Who are the real troublemakers in the house of God today? Is it those who are preaching a doctrine that is different from the Bible and those who are committing and condoning sin in the church? Or is it those who expose sin and testify against the wicked deeds of these false religious teachers?

The church is united when its members are united in the same mind: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

The person behind division is the one who teaches contrary to the truth, not the one who defends truth. Hence, Paul calls us to mark false teachers (Romans 16:17). It means to identify them to limit their sphere of influence and to protect innocent souls (Acts 20:29).

Paul says false teachings will spread like cancer if left alone. Paul marked two false teachers, Hymenaus and Philetus, who taught that the resurrection was past (2 Timothy 2:17). Yet, today, some are still teaching this false doctrine that the resurrection has happened already. And, there are some who believe them. Didn’t they read 2 Timothy 2:17-18? They trouble and divide the church.

These are the things that can divide the church – Sin and False Doctrines. They are the real troublemakers. All trouble in God’s house is the result of those who forsake the Lord’s commandments and those who condone sins. Paul warned the elders of Ephesus about certain men who would trouble the church: “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:31). Sin troubled the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:1).

The Scripture marks these folks as troublemakers: Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Timothy 2:17), Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:20), Alexander the coppersmith (2 Timothy 4:14), Diotrephes (3 John 1:9), and Jezebel (Revelation 2:20). Likewise, we must continue to mark those who are troubling the church with their false teachings and sins.