Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

1 Kings 18

“Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’” 1 Kings 18:21

In the third year with no rain in Israel, God told Elijah to go meet with Ahab. When Ahab saw Elijah, he greeted him by saying, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” Elijah told Ahab that he and his father’s family were the ones who were making trouble for Israel by abandoning God’s commands and following false gods.  Ahab’s wicked wife Jezebel had murdered all the prophets of God she could find, but not all of them had been killed. Obadiah, a worshiper of the true God, had hidden 100 of God’s prophets in a cave.

Elijah challenged Ahab to a showdown on Mt. Carmel. This is one of the most exciting and dramatic stories in the Old Testament. Picture the scene. The people from all over Israel gathered at Mt. Carmel. There were two altars. Around one altar were 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, the false gods many of the Israelites were worshiping. At the second altar stood Elijah, God’s prophet. On each altar a bull was placed and cut into pieces to be burned. Wood was piled under each bull. The challenge was to call upon each one’s gods or God to set fire to the sacrifice. The one who answered would be proven to be the true God.

The prophets of Baal went first. They prepared their bull and began to pray to their god. They called him from morning till noon. No answer. They danced around their altar. Nothing. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. He said maybe Baal was asleep or deep in thought or busy or traveling. The prophets of Baal shouted louder and cut themselves with swords and spears until they were bleeding. They continued all this until time for the evening sacrifice, but there was no response.

Then it was Elijah’s turn. He arranged his wood and laid the pieces of his bull on top. He instructed some of the people present to fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood. They did this three times. There was so much water it ran down the altar and filled the trench around the altar. Then Elijah prayed. And God sent fire which burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and licked up all the water in the trench. When the people saw this, they acknowledged, “The Lord--He is God!”

There is only one true God, one who hears and answers prayers and undertakes on our behalf. False gods can do no more than Baal did on Mt. Carmel--nothing. Choose carefully whom you will worship. The Lord--He is God.

Father, I thank You that You are the Creator and Sustainer of this world and its people, including me. You hear and answer prayer and undertake on our behalf. You are Almighty, the one and only true God. I praise You. Amen.