DAY THIRTY-NINE: 

Elijah and the Prophets of Baal 

1 Kings 16:29-19:18 

We're fast-forwarding over a hundred years from yesterday's passage to today's. So a little bit of summary is in order. Yesterday I mentioned that Solomon, the wisest man in the world, became an utter fool. He turned his back on the Lord who had given him everything, including his great wisdom. He worshipped the gods of his many foreign wives. The Lord withdrew His blessings. Enemies arose and nibbled at the corners of Solomon's kingdom. His very profitable world trade began to dry up and he had to tax the people and draft them for forced labor to complete his public works. The day finally came when Solomon died, and his son Rehoboam became King of Israel. He inherited all of his father's excesses but none of his wisdom. The people came to ask for relief from the burden that Rehoboam's father had placed on them. He replied, "My little finger is thicker than my father's loins! I'm going to INCREASE your burdens." The northern tribes, already resentful of Judah's prominence, said "What share do we have in David? To your tents, Israel!" They broke away and made Jeroboam, a foreman for Solomon's forced labor projects, their king. God offered Jeroboam the same deal He gave David: stay faithful to Me and I'll make you into a great dynasty. But Jeroboam was worried that if his subjects were to go up to the Temple in Jerusalem that they just might revert to following Rehoboam. So he built two shrines, one in Dan, the extreme northern part of Israel, and at Bethel, less than a day's journey north of Jerusalem. There he placed golden calves, like the one Aaron made many years earlier, as symbols of God. The Levites and the priests living in the north objected, and Jeroboam threw them out. He ordained his own priests and established his own feasts. This is called "the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin." That phrase repeats itself over and over again in the history of the northern kingdom of Israel, dooming it from the start. Baal worship came in unchecked. And what about Judah? Rehoboam inherited his father's wealth, but could not keep it. A new dynasty arose in Egypt, and a pharaoh who didn't care that Solomon made a treaty and married a daughter of the previous Pharaoh. Shishak came and stripped the palace of its gold, silver and precious gems. The Nation of Israel went from a first-class super power to a third-rate banana republic in one generation.

This is where we pick up today's passage. Ahab is now King of Israel. He married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon. Ahab and Jezebel were zealous Baal worshippers. They generously endowed the temples of Baal and Asherah and fed hundreds of priests and priestesses. They also persecuted those who would follow the Lord. Ahab was arguably the most evil of the kings of Israel.

In the midst of this evil and perversion a man named Elijah from Tishbe in Gilead rose up and said, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." Thus began a terrible drought that gripped the entire nation. Crops failed, flocks and herds died and the people suffered greatly. Ahab would not repent and call upon the Lord. Meanwhile the Lord protected and provided for Elijah as things became desperate. We read a beautiful story of how Elijah stayed with a widow in Sidon. When she served him the last of her bread, the jars of flour and oil never went empty!

Then the day came when the Lord told Elijah to go and see Ahab and settle this matter. Ahab called Elijah a "troubler of Israel." Elijah told Ahab that HE was the real troubler of Israel because he rejected the Lord and embraced Baal. Elijah issued a challenge: Call the whole nation of Israel to gather at Mt. Carmel. I, just me, will throw down with all 450 of your priests of Baal. We'll see who's really God, the Lord or Baal.

The day came and everyone was there! Elijah chided the people for limping between the Lord and Baal and told them to choose one. No answer. So Elijah proposed that he and the priests of Baal build altars and prepare sacrifices but not put any fire to them. Let Baal send fire if he is God, and let the Lord do the same. Priests of Baal, you're up first.

The priests of Baal went into their ceremonies, invoking Baal and asking him to burn up the sacrifice on their altar. Nothing happened. They tried harder. Still nothing. By this time Elijah began to ridicule them: Shout louder, maybe Baal's asleep, or maybe he went to the bathroom! They even cut themselves in their vain attempt to call on their god. Finally they fell exhausted, their sacrifice untouched.

Now it was Elijah's turn, and he wasn't above showboating. He ordered that four large jars of water be poured over his sacrifice. Then he said do it again, and again a third time. Where did they get the water in a time of drought? Mt. Carmel is by the Mediterranean Sea. Plenty of water there! I wonder what was going through the minds of those men who had to make three trips down off the mountain and then return carrying those large, heavy jars! By the time they were done everything was sopping wet, and the water was running off. Even the most skilled Boy Scout couldn't light a fire on that altar! Then Elijah prayed a simple prayer that took less than thirty seconds to say. Then fire came from Heaven and burned up not just the sacrifice, but the stones of the altar as well! The people fell on their faces and said "The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Elijah ordered that the people kill the priests of Baal, and he told Ahab to get back home before the rain comes. And rain it did! A big soaking rain. The drought was over! Surely all Israel would now serve the Lord.

When Ahab got back to his palace and told Jezebel what happened, she was furious! She swore by Baal that she would see that Elijah was just as dead as her 450 priests! Elijah had the people on his side. One word from him and they would have killed Jezebel. But Elijah's courage left him and he fled into the wilderness. Perhaps the showdown at Mt. Carmel left him physically and emotionally drained. He sat under a broom tree and said, "Let me die. I'm no better than my ancestors." But an angel came and provided some food and water and told Elijah to go to Mt. Horeb, another name for Sinai where God spoke to Israel in the days of Moses. He found a cave and holed up in it. The Lord asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm all alone! They've killed all of your prophets and evil is in control" God told Elijah to stand outside the cave. He caused a strong wind, an earthquake and a firestorm to come before Elijah, but God was not in any of those. Then the Lord came in a gentle breeze, and Elijah knew He was there. God said that He had preserved for Himself 7,000 men who had not kissed Baal, and that Elijah had some work to do. Judgment is coming to Ahab and his house!

Tomorrow we fast-forward another 200 years to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile into Babylon.

The story of Elijah is so powerful! This office of prophet is unique in all of ancient history. Nathan could walk right into the palace and up to David's throne to expose his sin. What would have happened to any prophet who tried that with Ahasuerus (Xerxes), Esther's husband? Whether or not the people and their rulers listened, God spoke with power through His prophets. We'll spend more time looking at the prophets in a couple of weeks.

God delegated to Elijah His very own authority. Elijah said that it would not rain until he said it would rain. James 5:16-18 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit." Do we understand the great power that God has entrusted to us in prayer? Prayer is in fact the most powerful tool and weapon in the world! Do we use it as we should, as God wants us to? Here's a link to a book that has made a big difference in my life, Power Through Prayer by E. M. Bounds. It's in the public domain and a free download. This book made me realize that all the shifting and reorganizing in the world is not going to solve the church's problems. Only persistent and faithful prayer will do that!

Elijah felt like he was a failure in the midst of amazing success, and that he was all alone. We face the same thing today. We often feel like we're the only ones serving God and that the evil in this world is overwhelming. But God told Elijah that He had kept back 7,000 men who had not worshipped Baal. Elijah was not alone! When Paul faced strong opposition in Corinth, the Lord said to him, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." (Acts 18:9-10) There's strength in numbers and we can support one another in our trials. That's why it's so important to find a church family where you can grow and share fellowship. Hebrews 10:23-25 says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

What better song to leave you with than Days of Elijah? Paul Wilbur, a Messianic Jew, has a magnificent rendition: