I have divided our
text into 6 parts: The Commission, the
Challenge, the Con-god exposed; the Covenant God vindicated, a Conclusion and an Application.
1. The Commission
18: 20-21: “So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and
gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the
people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?
If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people
did not answer him a word. So, Elijah
was commissioned by God
to speak to a double minded
people who, in John Bunyans’ picturesque language in
Pilgrim’s Progress might be described as “Mr.
Facing both ways“. They were like
the man who rows his boat in one
direction, but who in so doing faces the
opposite direction. Elijah challenges
the people of Israel who since
Abraham’s day have called
themselves the LORD’s people, to stop limping
between two opinions. Here are
two opposing systems of religion which they
attempt to cling to, but the fact of the matter is that they cannot both be right. You cannot
serve God and Ba’al just, as Jesus says, you
cannot serve God and money (Matt 6:24). You must choose whom you shall
serve. (Joshua 24:15). YAHWEH is revealed
in the Bible as a jealous God. The first two commandments (Ex 20
: 3-6) deal explicitly with this fact.
Idolatry is the most basic expressions of our human sinfulness, and that
is why the moral law addresses it as a
matter of first importance. Notice that “the
people did not answer him a word“. It might be due to indifference,
but I do not think so. Their consciences were spoken to, and as such they had
no answer to Elijah’s penetrating challenge.
2. The Challenge
V.22 “Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I
only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.” Well, it is not quite true that
Elijah was the only one left
of the Lord’s prophets. In 18:4
we learned that there were in fact one hundred of the Lord’s prophets that were
hidden away in a cave by Obadiah, ironically a servant in king Ahab’s household. But let’s
face it. Prophets who are in hiding are of
no use in this situation, and as
such Elijah would be the only
prophet facing this menacing multitude. The ratio, 1: 450 is awesome. One prophet of God versus
450 false prophets of Ba’al! Once again we see that numbers don’t count
with God. He has done this before in Israel. With God’s help,one in Israel could cause a
thousand flee. (Deut. 32:30)
A.W. Pink says: “… truth cannot be judged by the numbers….: the Devil has always had the vast majority on his side. And
is it any otherwise today? What percentage of present-day preachers are
uncompromisingly proclaiming the truth, and among them how many practice what
they preach?”[1]
God’s army has always been a
Gideon’s army.
The modern church, despite
popular claims of having billions
of people is in fact a very small
minority. But, in God’s economy,
popularity and numbers never determine
the final outcome. The Jesus who
had commissioned 11 poor ( and according to the opinion of the learned in Israel ,
ignorant ) men, shall reign! Thus, Elijah is able
to stand before this formidable
and intimidating group of priests
, people and king. He begins by putting a firm proposal before the people:
Vv. 23-25 : “Let
two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut
it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will
prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And
you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is
God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” Then Elijah
said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it
first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire
to it.” Notice: Elijah dictates the terms and the outcome of this contest: “let
us both prepare a bull as for a
sacrifice, without putting fire to it.
Here is the challenge. Let us call upon our respective (G)god, and the God who answers
by fire, he is God.“ The
people agreed, and Elijah being God’s
gentleman, tells them – “You may go first!” The contest
was to be validated through fire.
This is deeply significant. Ba’al was worshipped as the god of the sun, and his worshippers
frequently brought him sacrifices
burned in the fire, which included even
the sacrifice of their sons and daughters- something that
YAHWEH had never commanded!
I remind you that YAHWEH had also manifested Himself in the history of Israel through fire[2].
Fire is the evidence of the Divine
presence (Ex. 3:2). Fire is the symbol
of His sin-hating wrath (Mark 9:43-49). Fire
is the sign of His acceptance of an appointed and substitutionary
sacrifice (Lev. 9:24). By fire the Holy
Spirit announced His coming (Acts 2:3). When Jesus returns, it will be "in flaming fire , inflicting
vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel
of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thess. 1:8). And in Matt
13:41, 42 it is written: “The
Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all
causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” At Christ’s second coming
this will be true: "if anyone’s
name was not found written in the
book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15). Hebr. 12:29 speaks about our God being a consuming fire.
3. The
Con-god exposed
Vv. 26-29 : “And they took the bull that was given them,
and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon,
saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And
they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked
them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is
relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be
awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with
swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed,
they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no
voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.”
The religious
ceremony to induce a response from Ba’al was accompanied by a lot of shouting and screaming and
activity. But it in the end it does not bring about a response from Ba’al. If
the truth be told, he doesn’t exist. The prophets in Israel’s history had
repeatedly said that these
idols were products of the worshippers imaginations! (e.g. Isa.
44:9-20; Jer. 10).It is no wonder
that the idols cannot answer. "There
was no voice, and no one answered."
What a proof that idols are but "the
work of men’s hands." No doubtthat Satan could have sent fire (Job. 1:9-12), and
he would have, but he could do nothing except what God allowed him to do. In the face of
Ba’als impotence, Elijah’s
mocking of them in v.27 is actually very
funny!
4. The Covenant God vindicated
Vv. 30-38 : “Then
Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near
to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down. Elijah
took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob,
to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” and
with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench
about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. And he put the
wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said,
“Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said,
“Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. And the water ran around
the altar and filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the
offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in
Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at
your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O
LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of
the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and
the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”
Such was the
confidence of Elijah in the living God who answers prayer that
he even encourages them to
drench the wood and sacrifice in
water! Wet stuff doesn’t burn. This will have to be a real miracle , and notice that Elijah doesn’t shout and perform. He briefly and trustingly directs himself in prayer to YAHWEH , the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob) – the
living God of the Universe. And the fire fell and consumed the burnt offering,
accepting Elijah’s sacrifice as the true sacrifice, and thereby vindicating
Himself as the true God , the
faithful covenant keeping God of Israel! The One true God isn’t deaf!
5. The Conclusion
Vv. 39-40: And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.
Say no more! The God
who answers by fire wins, and there was
no doubt who won this contest on Mt.
Carmel. This, my dear brothers and
sisters in Christ, is a picture
of the final scene at Christ’s coming when, like here,
there shall be no atheists, when at the
name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10)
6. SOME FURTHER APPLICATION#
The assumption on which the
prophets of Baal operate is this: “God
will answer us if we
get a flurry of passionate religious activity going.” The commentator D.R. Davies has a very
penetrating analysis by which
he offers a disturbing critique of what he calls ‘evangelical Baalism’ [3]. (We)…
believe that God will surely work if
only we… (a long list of activities follows).
“All this Christian busyness is as exhausting as Baal
worship, even minus the gashes. Most of these (back to the long list) are
not illegitimate activities… but
might an illegitimate rationale (motive)
drive them? Are these means of grace or
gimmicks designed to manipulate, impress or stir up God? You may not be a prophet of Baal, but you may
think like one. If only we…, then God will…
Jesus makes the same
point in Matthew 6:7-9. Pagans pray a certain way because pagans think a
certain way (v.7), but if you know the real God, your Father who knows what you
need before you ask Him (v.8) then (v.9) your praying is different. Then you
can pray briefly, simply, comprehensively as in vv. 9b-13.
Theology not
Psychology explains Elijah’s simplicity (vv. 36-37) on Mt. Carmel. Because he
knew the real God he had no need to ape
the antics and hype of Ba’als prophets.
Do you see the relief
that enters your life and ministry when you serve the real God?
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