By Jay T. Robertson, Ph. D.
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Mobile
PROVEN
1 Kings 18:25–39
Because of their idolatry and wickedness, Israel had experienced no dew or rain for three years, resulting in drought and famine in the land. This famine was God’s righteous judgment on Israel.
The Lord is sovereign over all things, including the weather. The Lord through His prophet Elijah had revealed to King Ahab there would be no dew or rain until He said so. The worshippers of Baal, however, believed their god controlled the weather and the seasons and therefore the harvest. As we begin reading in 1 Kings 18, we see the Lord is about to prove He alone is the true God. Elijah has come out of hiding and confronted King Ahab. The battle of worldviews is going to be fought at Mount Carmel.
Futility (25–29)
Elijah challenged the people of Israel to decide between the Lord and Baal, but the people did not want to make a firm decision. They continued wavering between two opinions. Elijah proposed a test that would prove to the people who the true God was. The prophets of Baal would offer a bull to Baal, while Elijah would offer a bull to the Lord. Whichever answered by fire, he was God.
Since they were so numerous, Elijah had the prophets of Baal go first. They cut the bull into pieces and placed it on the altar. Then they began to call on the name of Baal. But there was no answer. Their shouts were accompanied by a ritual dance, limping around the altar. Their rituals continued until noon, but the silence was deafening. There was no one to answer their cries.
After about three hours, Elijah began to mock them. In an attempt to get Baal’s attention and sympathy, they raised their intensity, shouting louder and cutting themselves with knives and spears. Such frenzy was common among pagan worship as they sought to influence the god or arouse his pity. But it was all in vain. After six hours of frantic effort, there was no response.
Preparation (30–35)
Elijah summoned the people to gather around an abandoned altar of the Lord. He chose 12 stones to reconstruct the altar, one stone for each of the 12 tribes of the sons of Jacob. This connection with Jacob and God’s covenant with the original nation was important. It showed the Lord’s claim on the nation as well as its current defective condition because of its division and rebellion against God.
After rebuilding the torn-down altar, he prepared it for sacrifice. He dug a trench around the altar that would hold about 4 gallons of water, arranged the wood, cut up the bull and placed it on the wood. He then thoroughly drenched the sacrifice with water until the trench was filled with water. This drenching of the sacrifice with water was all the more impressive during the midst of the severe drought facing the nation. It would also heighten the impact of the miracle that was about to occur.
Response (36–39)
Elijah’s prayer was very different than the frantic and prolonged activities of the prophets of Baal. It was brief and simple, without any of the elaborate antics of the worshippers of Baal. Elijah was a man of prayer, not a worker of magic who needed to manipulate a reluctant god by formulas and actions.
Elijah prayed for the Lord to accept his sacrifice so the people would know the Lord was God. He also prayed the people would know he was God’s servant and had done all these things at God’s command.
God’s answer came at once. Fire fell without delay. It consumed the altar and the sacrifice. With fear in their hearts, the people confessed, “The Lord, He is God.” People who would not speak earlier could not be silent. Having seen God’s fire fall on Calvary through the eye of faith, may we live to declare, “The Lord, He is God.”
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