One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in 1 Kings 18. Before I jump into the story allow me to set it up for you. The kingdom of Israel has been split in two. There is the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah; this happened as a result of Solomon’s sin in 1 Kings 11. Since then, the kings of Israel have grown wicked, beginning with Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12:25-33. Each king following Jeroboam continued in the sins of Jeroboam by leading Israel into idolatry. Fast forward to 1 Kings 16; Ahab is now king, and the Scripture says, “Ahab…did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.” Eventually, God raises up a prophet whose name is Elijah and soon he will confront Ahab.
That’s where 1 Kings 18 comes in. Ever since 1 Kings 17 God ordained that there would be no rain; so there has been a drought and by 1 Kings 18, the drought has been on-going for three years. In the third year of the drought God commissioned Elijah to go to Ahab, who by they way had been hunting Elijah to have him killed. After some time, Elijah finds Ahab and tells Ahab to have his 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to meet him at Mount Carmel. Elijah is going to go up against 850 pagan prophets by himself! I don’t know about you, but I love an underdog story. And just imagining one prophet of God going up against 850 pagan prophets really gets me motivated. This is my kind of story!
So, they meet on top of Mount Carmel and all of Israel must have been gathered that day because the Scripture says that “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” (1 Kings 18:21). How do you think the people responded? They were silent. The text says in 1 Kings 18:21, “the people did not answer a word.” They were probably shocked and in awe that one prophet, who had essentially been deemed an enemy of the state, was so bold to speak as he did.
What happens next is amazing to me. To help the people choose whom they shall serve and to prove which really is God – Baal, Asherah, or the LORD – Elijah proposes a contest of sorts. Each prophet was permitted to make an altar and make an animal sacrifice to call on their god or God. Whichever answers by fire, thus consuming the sacrifice on the altar, is God.
First up was the prophets of Baal and Asherhah. From morning until noon they danced, they limped, they shouted, they even cut themselves for their pagan gods to answer them. There was no response. Now came time for Elijah. He rebuilt the altar with twelve stones, made a trench around it and filled it with water. Then he cut wood, put it on the altar, and then placed the bull on the wood. He then called out to the LORD who is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to answer him. Guess what happened? The text says, “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” (1 Kings 18:38). How do you think the people responded then? The Scripture says, “when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God” (1 Kings 18:39). And in the end the prophets of Baal were put to death (1 Kings 18:40).
It truly is an awesome historical story. As I think about it, it makes me want to be like Elijah. To be the one standing for God, even if I were the only one, in a culture that has rebelled against Him. To be the one that preaches the truth of God’s Word in a culture that believes there is no such thing as absolute truth, even if no one else will. Such courage comes only from the LORD. Such courage comes from knowing who God is. And I believe Elijah is a demonstration of how followers of Jesus should be: courageously standing up for God and opposing the gods of this age.
I am also reminded of where our nation is now. Like Israel then, there is much idolatry in our land; and yes, even in our churches. Anything we delight in more than Jesus, is idolatry; and when idolatry is present, the Word of God is abandoned (see 1 Kings 17:18). It’s decision time. We are either for God or against Him, but we cannot be both. Whom shall you serve?