Joke

Dorma Guice
Mar 15, 2021
5 min read

Definition: a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter, especially a story with a funny punchline*

Approximate Number of Occurrences in Scripture (28)

Read: 1 Kings 18:16-40 for full context of this account

1 Kings 18:27 (NIV) At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened."

That Was Then

The Old Testament, rich with fascinating stories is jam-packed with history, adventure, suspense, and a great laugh. Embedded in the middle of one of the most riveting showdowns in scripture is the last thing you would expect to find – humor. At the tail end of a three-year famine that is reaching chronic stages (a famine that existed because Elijah declared it would not rain on the land for 3 ½ years except at his word) the prophet reemerges to confront King Ahab.

Elijah ordered Ahab to summon the people of Israel along with all the false prophets – (450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at his wife Jezebel’s table) and meet him on Mount Carmel. (vs. 20). Once assembled, Elijah addresses the crowd saying, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is GOD, follow him; but if Baal is GOD, follow him." (vs.21). He then had them prepare two bulls on separate altars without setting fire to them. Finally, he challenged them to call on the name of their god and he would call on the LORD – the one who answers by fire, He is GOD.

A spark of humor ignites as Elijah lets them go first “since there are so many of you”. They called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, but there was no answer as they danced around the altar. Perhaps it was his cynicism or the absurdity of this spectacle that caused Elijah to give in to joking around, but he started taunting them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." (vs. 27). In response, they turned their madness up a notch. They shouted louder, danced harder and began cutting themselves with stones to mingle their blood with the sacrifice to no avail. Baal never answered.

Tiring of this foolishness, Elijah decided this was no longer a laughing matter. It was time to shut it down. He prepared his altar, dug a trench around it and had them fill it with water three times until liquid spilled from the altar and filled the trench. With one short prayer from Elijah, the fire of the LORD fell from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and licked up the water in the trench. When the people saw this they said the LORD – He is GOD! The LORD – He is GOD! All of Israel’s hearts were turned back to GOD from idol worship, and to make sure it stayed that way, Elijah ordered that the prophets of Baal and Asherah be brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered. This was one show where the jokester (literally) slayed his audience.

This is Now

A number of studies conducted in recent years have proven that frequent and whole-hearted laughter alters our cortisol levels, reduces stress and aids our bodies in fighting off harmful diseases. If laughter really is the best medicine, then comedians are walking pharmacies. The jokes they dispense circulate down to the core of our souls (which is comprised of our mind, will and emotions) and alters our systems for the better or for worse. The style and delivery of their jokes determines how therapeutic it could be for the listener. While some jokes go down easy and soothe our pain, others can cause us to choke. Like all medication, we need to be careful what we ingest. It would benefit us to consult our great physician, scrutinize the label and pay close attention to the long list of side effects before swallowing (may cause hurt feelings, broken relationships, injured self-esteem, self-loathing, bitterness, regret, racial tension, sexual misconduct, illicit backlashes, impure thoughts, character assassination and homicidal tendencies). Stop taking (or partaking) if discomfort occurs.)

This advice does not just pertain to jokes told by others, but for us when we’re self-medicating. More often than not, we are the comedians unconsciously performing our one-man-shows – coarsely joking about how fat, broke, sick, dumb, unattractive, dysfunctional, or unlovable we are. This is not healthy material and should be permanently stripped from our monologue. One can just as easily bring the proverbial house down by embellishing the positive or desired result rather than underscoring the negative condition. For instance, instead of professing “I’m so broke I have enough in my 401K for about a month and a half of Netflix”, you can say something like “This time next year I’ll be so rich Warren Buffett will be applying to intern for me so he can learn my investment strategy”. Positive assertions spoken in a serious or joking manner not only foster ideal physical, spiritual and mental health; but effectively bring about the desired results.

GOD has a great sense of humor and encourages a good joke as long as it doesn’t cross the line into course joking. Not because He’s a dud, but because He’d prefer not to have to clean up the mess made by our tactless monologue. His wittiness goes beyond scripture and can often be recognized in our daily circumstances. Think of something quirky that happened in your life and you knew no one but GOD could have done that. He often uses humor to get our attention. For example: a friend of mine was on a 6-month search for a rare bottle of French wine. She looked in every specialty store in Chicago and online to no avail. Her search even expanded to international borders. While visiting the neighborhood mom & pop shop next door to her building, she tripped over a huge box – an entire case of the wine she searched the world for.

Who Said That?!!!

“The past, the present and the future walked into a bar. It was tense!” – Unknown**

What Do You Say?

AFFIRMATION: "I love to laugh and when appropriate, create opportunities for people to laugh with me."

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