A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Elijah was ready for the king. It was Ahab who had troubled Israel with his worship of Baal and
flagrant disregard for the Law of God. Elijah would bring an end to the drought but not before he
first met with the prophets of Baal and Asherah. It would be a final battle between the gods of
Tyre and the God of Israel. The battle was to be staged on Mount Carmel near the coast; and on
Elijah’s directions, the king called his nation to witness the event.
At the mountain, Elijah called the people of God to cease from their wavering between
two gods and determine to worship only the God who could prove Himself real. The people
stood silent as the prophet continued explaining his plan. Two altars would be built, one to Baal
and one to Jehovah. On each, a sacrifice would be laid, but neither would be lit with fire. The
challenge was that the God who was real should demonstrate himself real by providing the
flame.
The challenge seemed reasonable to the people assembled that day. It was certainly not
threatening to the worshipers of Baal. They felt he was the god of the elements and if any god
could send fire down from heaven, it was certainly Baal. Even if for some reason he had failed to
provide rain on the earth, they still believed he could cause the fire to fall. And so they began to
call: “ ‘O Baal, hear us! ‘ But there was no voice; no one answered” (v. 26).
The situation was just too much for Elijah to observe without making his own sarcastic
comments. When Baal had failed to answer initially, the prophets became more intense in their
pleading. Elijah encouraged them to continue making fools of themselves, mocking them. “Cry
aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is
sleeping and must be awakened” (v. 27). Throughout the afternoon they continued to abuse
themselves and call on the name of their false god, but still “there was no voice; no one
answered, no one paid attention” (v. 29).
As the sun began to set in the west, Elijah called the people to himself. The prophets of
Baal had had enough time to bring down fire and they had failed. Now it was Elijah’s turn. He
repaired the broken-down altar of the Lord and dug a trench around it. Then he had men fill four
water pots with water and pour it out over the sacrifice. When they completed that task, Elijah
had them do it again and again until a dozen water pots of water had soaked the sacrifice and the
altar and filled the trench surrounding the altar. Then Elijah began praying. “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. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that
this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to
You again” (vv. 36-37).
“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the
stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench” (v. 38). The miracle was
decisive and there could be no question which god had answered by fire. The people were
ecstatic and began to chant, “The Lord He is God!” But the repentance which Elijah sought on
the part of the people had to go beyond mere words. He ordered the seizure and execution of the
false prophets and it was done. Then, turning to Ahab, he delivered his second message about the
weather, the opposite of what he predicted three and a half years earlier. “Go up, eat and drink;
for there is the sound of abundance of rain” (v. 41).
Elijah’s message to Ahab was as much a statement of faith as had his initial message
been three and a half years earlier. There was no distant thunder nor were there any clouds in the
sky. But Elijah had a calm assurance from the Lord that it would soon begin to rain and so
announced to the unbelieving king the certainty of what was about to happen. Then Elijah made
his way to the top of Mount Carmel and began to pray for the promised rain. He prayed seven