Showdown

“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.”—1 Kings 18:21

Everything Elijah had gone through up to this point prepared him for this exact moment. Three and a half years had passed since his initial declaration of drought to Ahab. The nation was apostate—having embraced Baalism through the leadership and guidance of Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. Baal was the thunder god who poured forth rain upon the earth—but God brought drought to show Baal’s impotence and non-existence. Nevertheless, despite the drought and famine, the people persisted in Baal worship.

The time had come to confront Ahab and the nation for their apostasy. Ever since Elijah had announced the drought, Ahab had been zealously seeking Elijah, going across the country and into foreign lands to ascertain his whereabouts. And now, at the command of God, Elijah was on his way to confront the wicked king.

While on his way, he met Obadiah, one of Ahab’s servants who feared the Lord and had hid away one hundred of His prophets during Jezebel’s persecution. Elijah requested that Obadiah arrange a meeting with Ahab. After initial misgivings, Obadiah agreed to do so, and Elijah determined to meet with Ahab that day.

After learning from Obadiah Elijah’s location, Ahab made his way to him, greeting him with sarcasm: “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" (v. 17). But Elijah set the record straight, clarifying who the real troubler of Israel was:

"I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table" (v. 18-19).

It was time for a showdown to see who the real God was. Ahab gathered all the people and prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah stood up 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” (v. 21).

Elijah laid down the details of the challenge. He was the only prophet of God left (or so he thought), and he would be going against the 450 prophets of Baal (apparently the 400 prophets of Asherah were nowhere to be found). Each side would prepare a bull for sacrifice and lay it on the altar.  And then he laid down the gauntlet—the God who answered by fire is God. Baal was believed to be the storm god, so it should have been no problem for him to send fire from heaven. The prophets of Baal agreed to the challenge.

The prophets of Baal were up first. They prepared their bull, laid it on the altar and cried out all morning until noon, “O Baal, answer us!” But no one answered. They limped around the altar, continuing to cry out, but there was still no answer, only the voice of Elijah’s heckling,  

“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” (v. 27).

Spurred along by Elijah’s taunts, the prophets of Baal began cutting themselves to elicit Baal’s response. The cries rang forth and the blood flowed as the 450 prophets danced around, blood dripping down their bodies as they continued to cry out in an ecstatic frenzy.  Morning turned to afternoon, and afternoon passed to evening— but nothing; as the Bible says, “…there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.”

Enough was enough. Now, it was time. Elijah called the people to himself as he prepared God’s altar.  He set up twelve stones as the foundation (symbolizing the twelve tribes of Jacob), and constructed an altar on top of it with a trench around it. He put wood underneath the altar, and prepared the bull on top of it. He then had four jars of water poured on the burnt offering and the wood—not only once or twice, but three times. Elijah wanted the people to know that this sacrifice couldn’t catch on fire any other way than by God Himself.

As the water dripped off the sacrifice and overflowed the trench, Elijah prayed,

"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" (v. 36-37).

Just as God had answered Elijah’s request to give the widow’s boy life, so now He answered his request by fire. The fire of God fell and consumed the offering, wood, stones, dust, and all the water in the trench.  Once the people saw the fire, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God” (v. 39). God had successfully turned His people back to Himself.

The story of Elijah on Mount Carmel actually centers on worship. God wants the hearts of His people. Worship is serious business, because it is through our worship that God communicates His presence to us. This is why idolatry is so heinous—it turns our focus from the Giver to the gift. We take things that are not gods and make them gods, allowing them a place that ought to be reserved for God alone.

God wants our worship (John 4:23-24), because it is through worshiping Him that He reveals Himself to us. Think about the apostle John with the angel in the book of Revelation—after seeing what will happen in the future, John falls down to worship the angel in two different instances, both times rebuked because worship is meant for God alone (Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9). Peter refused worship offered to him because he knew that worship is meant for God alone (Acts 10:25-26). Satan wants our worship (Matthew 4:9; Luke 4:7) and was thrown out of heaven because he sought to be worshiped (cf. Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:16).

What is it you are worshiping? Is there an idol in your life that is causing you to “limp” back and forth between God and it? You know whether it is an idol if it controls your joy. If your joy is based on the idol, then you must get rid of it (or, depending on the nature of the idol, re-order your priorities to give it proper position in your life). Turn away from your idol, destroy it (if necessary), and turn back to God in repentance and faith, because it is only in God that our true and ultimate joy is found.  He is calling us back to Himself. Are we ready to respond?  Amen.