Context: Who was Elijah? (v25, 1 Kings 17:1-4, 17:7-9,16:31,18:1,17-18, Luke 4:25-26)
- A prophet and not a king.
- It’s not very clear whether Elijah got his first message about famine, from God
- Except that he says “I have done all these things at your word” 1 Kings 18:36
- God’s word came to Elijah, after the message to the king, to flee and hide
- To flee! Go away and hide near brook Cherith. Cherith flows into Jordan.
- Drink the water from the brook and be fed by Ravens
- However, famine was so severe, that brook ran out too
- Drink the water from the brook and be fed by Ravens
- To flee! Go away and hide near brook Cherith. Cherith flows into Jordan.
- God’s word came to Elijah, telling him to go to a widow in Sidon
- Ahab’s wicked wife, Jezebel, is the daughter of the king of Sidon!
- Is there a better place to hide? 🙂
- After three years, to let King Ahab know, that God will send rain
- Ahab’s wicked wife, Jezebel, is the daughter of the king of Sidon!
- According to King Ahab, Elijah is the troubler of Israel
- According to Prophet Elijah, Israel’s troubles were thanks to Ahab
- According to Prophet Elisha, Elijah is the chariots and horsemen of Israel
What was the challenge and how did it work out for the prophets of baal? (v25-29)
- To offer a burnt offering but without putting a fire under the offering
- Prophets of baal had the “first dibs” on the bull and also they went first
- They called on the name of their gods from morning to evening
- They were mocked by Elijah
- That their god may be deep in thought, on a journey, or sleeping
- They cried aloud
- Cut themselves with knives and lances
- They were mocked by Elijah
- Results:
- No voice, no answer and nobody paid attention
How did the challenge/showdown end? How did the people respond? (v30-39)
- Elijah called the people together and
- Repaired the altar of God that was thrown down
- Built it up with 12 stones – a stone per each tribe
- Interestingly, this is the divided kingdom (Israel) with only 10 tribes
- Built a trench around the altar
- After placing the wood and the cut pieces of bull on top
- Drenched the whole thing with water
- And the trench was also filled with water (did it overflow?)
- Drenched the whole thing with water
- Elijah called on the name of the God, so the people of Israel may know
- That He is the God
- That He is not only the God of their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Israel
- But also He is the God in Israel (Children of Jacob)
- That Elijah is his prophet
- And all that was done, was according to God’s word
- Fire fell down and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, dust, and the water
Conclusion
- Elijah not only believed that Yahweh is the only God and the God in Israel
- He was willing to take on 850 (or 450?) baal prophets to prove it
- How far are we willing to trust God?
Main Passage 1 Kings 18:25-39 – World English Bible (WEB)
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
26 They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, “Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice, and nobody answered. They leaped about the altar which was made. 27 At noon, Elijah mocked them, and said, “Cry aloud; for he is a god. Either he is deep in thought, or he has gone somewhere, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.”
28 They cried aloud, and cut themselves in their way with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 When midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the evening offering; but there was no voice, no answer, and nobody paid attention.
30 Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me!”; and all the people came near to him. He repaired Yahweh’s altar that had been thrown down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Yahweh’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in Yahweh’s name. He made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two seahs[a] of seed. 33 He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood.” 34 He said, “Do it a second time;” and they did it the second time. He said, “Do it a third time;” and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
36 At the time of the evening offering, Elijah the prophet came near, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again.”
38 Then Yahweh’s fire fell, and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”
Footnotes
- 18:32 1 seah is about 7 liters or 1.9 gallons or 0.8 pecks
Notes / Cross References
1 Kings 17:1-4 Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” 2 Then Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
1 Kings 17:7-9 After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.”
1 Kings 16:31 31 As if it had been a light thing for him (King Ahab) to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
1 Kings 18:1 After many days, Yahweh’s word came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain on the earth.”
1 Kings 18:17-18 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken Yahweh’s commandments, and you have followed the Baals.
2 Kings 2:12 Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
Luke 4:25-26 25 But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. 26 Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
