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God vs. Baal
The Challenge: Fire from the Sky
Now after seeing this, Elijah begins to taunt them: "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god? Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened."
Bible Study Article Covers: 1 Kings 18:16-40
No More Hiding
In the last article we'd learned that Jezebel was beginning to lose
patience, when it came to the current "famine judgment" that God had
been unleashing upon the land, for the past three years. It's for this reason, Jezebel begins her plan, to seek revenge against the Most High God. She does this by initiating a season
of vengeance, against His beloved prophets. And it would be during this time, one of God's most faithful servants, who was known as Obadiah, would come on the scene. And
even though he was totally faithful to the Most High God, he was still able
to serve as a governor, from within Ahab's royal administration. Remember, Ahab and his household, did not serve the One True God.
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Be that as it may, it was because of Obadiah's efforts, 100 prophets were able to be spared, from Jezebel's wrath. Nonetheless, as we begin to move forward, we've now entered into the third year, when it comes to God's three-and-a-half drought.
Remember, God was using this drought, to wreak havoc upon the city of Samaria. This judgement was happening, because Ahab and Jezebel had placed Israel in the unfortunate
position, when it came to sinning against the One True God.
Nevertheless, it
would also be at this time, where we find God telling His prophet Elijah,
that rain will soon come, and once again, fall upon Samaria.
The Most High also tells His prophet, this would be a good time for him to go, and show himself to Ahab. Needless-to-say, Elijah obeys God. And he follow through with his obedience, by telling Obadiah to go and tell Ahab, the prophet is here, and that he wants to meet with him face-to-face.
Now keep in mind, at this point in time, Ahab was very upset with Elijah. And the king was doing everything in his power, when it came to apprehending the prophet. But now we find, in Elijah's obedience to God, he's no longer in hiding. As a matter of fact, he's now ready to confront the very king , that's been hunting him for the past three years. So Obadiah does what Elijah had told him to do, and he delivered the message to Ahab. And after the king had heard what Obadiah had to say, he immediately sets out to go, and meet with the prophet.
Biblical Prophets - Bible Study Online
The Troubler of Israel
Now upon his arrival, when Ahab comes before Elijah, he immediately blames the prophet for the problems
and hardship, Israel had been going through, for the past three
years. This is why we find Ahab calling out to Elijah: "Is that you, you troubler of Israel!?" And after Elijah
hears this, the prophet responds by saying: "I have not made trouble for Israel. But I tell you this, you and
your father's family have. For you have abandoned the Lord's commands,
and instead, have decided to follow the Baals."
Note: Ahab's father was king Omri, and his account can be found at 1 Kings 16:21-28. Now the
Scriptures points out, at the time, Ahab's father also did evil in the
eyes of the Lord. During Omri's time, he had sinned more, than all those before him. And to his
credit, Omri did build the city of Samaria. And he did reign over it for
twelve years. Now we find his son Ahab, following in his father's footsteps. And
to make matters worse, Ahab is now found, to be doing more evil, than all
who came before him, including his father.
However, as we turn our attention back towards Ahab and Elijah, we find that in
spite of Ahab's allegations, when it came to placing Samaria's problems on the prophet, instead of placing it on himself. We find Elijah telling the king, to go and summon the
people from throughout the land of Israel, and meet him at Mount Carmel.
The prophet also made sure to specify, Ahab was to bring the
450 prophets that were serving the storm god Baal, along with the 400
prophets that were also serving the goddess that was known as Asherah.
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Make Up Your Mind !
Now soon after Ahab had heard Elijah's demands, he follow through, by sending word throughout all the land, as he'd assembled all the Baal and Asherah prophets at Mount Carmel. Now perhaps, Ahab had fulfilled Elijah's demands, simply because he'd felt, the prophet would have been able to quickly bring an end, to the "famine judgment" that was devastating the land of Samaria, for the past three years.
Nonetheless, as we now move forward, we find that it's at this time, Elijah starts to go before the people, that had been gathered at the mountain. And as he came before them, Elijah spoke out to them saying: "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him." Elijah also points out that he's the only prophet that was their, representing the Holy One of Israel. And he'd also mentioned that Baal had 450 prophets assembled there, representing him. Now after hearing this, the people said nothing.
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Elijah's Challenge
Nevertheless, after this had happened, we find Elijah sending out a request for two bulls, for they
would be used for the sacrifices. Know that one of the bulls would be offered to God, and the
other bull would be offered to Baal. Now these offerings would be cut into
pieces, and afterwards set upon the wood altars that were dedicated between God and
Baal. Then after this was done, the two parties would then call on the
deity that they were serving. And so basically the deity that answers, by setting the
offering on fire, would be considered the One True God.
Note: Understand
that the people believed that Baal was the god of rain, as well as being over the
fertility of the fields. Now personally, I find this to be very
interesting, being that for the last three years, they had to deal with a
very serious drought, being that there was no rain, and the fields had became severely
barren. So I'm wondering: "Where was their so-called god that they called Baal?" I mean after all,
here you have the God of Israel coming onto this deity's so-called territory,
causing all kinds of havoc, and yet, Baal was nowhere to be found.
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Prophets of Baal
Call Your So-Called god !
Nonetheless, we now find Elijah telling the prophets of
Baal, to call upon their god. "Call your god, so he can set fire to the
offering that's been placed on the wood altar before him!" So the Baal
prophets accepted Elijah's challenge, as they proceeded to call on their
storm god. The Baal prophets did this, by calling out to their god in
one great voice. They kept calling out his name, over and over again,
and yet... there was no answer. Then the Baal prophets proceeded to dance
around the altar, by leaping and jumping all over the place, and yet, Baal was nowhere to be found.
Now after seeing this, Elijah
begins to taunt them even more: "Shout louder! Surely he is a god? Perhaps he is
deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be
awakened." And after hearing Elijah's taunts, the prophets of Baal
began to shout louder, but this time around, they took things to another level, by slashing
themselves with their swords. They did this until blood began to flow from their
bodies. They continued to do these things, through the morning, and through the
evening, and yet, there was still, no answer from their god.
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Now It's My Turn
Now after seeing all of this, Elijah had seen and had enough. So he'd called the people that were watching the Baal prophets, over to his area. After they'd came over to be before him, Elijah began by repairing an old altar that had been built to the Lord, some years back. Keep in mind, this was an altar that had been found to be in ruins. Nevertheless, he repaired this altar, by using twelve stones. Understand, each stone would represent one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
And after doing this, he proceeded to dig a
three foot wide trench around the altar. Now I'll like to point out, this trench would be able to hold
twelve barrels of sea water. Next, the prophet would arrange the wood
and the offering, and after doing so, he had the people pour four large
jars of water onto it.
Next he would have the people pour four
more large jars of water, onto the wood and offering, two more times
(which made three times in total, which brought the total of jars, that was actually poured on the wood and offering to 12) nevertheless, this caused the water to eventually flow
down, and around the bottom of the altar, therefore filling the trench
in the process. Then Elijah begins to pray: "O Lord, God of Abraham,
Isaac and Israel, let it be known today, that you are the God of
Israel, and that I am your servant, and have done all of these things at
your command. Answer me O Lord, answer me, so these people will know
that You, O Lord, are God; and that You are turning their hearts back
towards You again."
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God Answers Elijah
Then immediately after Elijah had finished saying this, fire fell from the heavens. And in the
process, as the fire fell, it brunt up the offering and the wood, along with the twelve
stones and water that had surrounded the altar. So it would seem that the Lord had sent a fire, that they had never seen before. And this is why, after seeing this,
the people fell on their knees, and proclaimed that Elijah's God, is the
One True God! Then after hearing this, Elijah told the people to have
every prophet of Baal seized. And after they had seized the Baal
prophets, Elijah had them taken down to the Kishon Valley, so they could
be executed.
Note: By Elijah executing the prophets of Baal, to many,
this may have seemed cruel and unnecessary. But one must remember, that
Jezebel had already slaughter many of God's very own prophets, before
this had happened. And thanks to Obadiah, 100 of the Lord's prophets would be spared. Also keep
in mind, Elijah was not acting own his own accord, he was acting
in full accordance, when it came to the Spirit of the Lord.
Biblical Prophets - Bible Study Online
In The Next Upcoming Article:
Elijah has now executed the Baal prophets, and by doing so, we'll learned how Ahab responded to this horrible news. As for Jezebel? Keep in mind, she was already bringing vengeance against the servants of the Lord, when it came to the "famine judgment" that was already taking place in the land. Now with Elijah executing most (if not all) of her very own prophets, how will she respond? And what about the rain? Will it still fall and provide the much needed relief, when it comes to the city of Samaria, like the Lord had promised earlier?
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02) Obadiah and the Caves of Refuge
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04) The Gift of Rain That Came From The Heavens
05) Elisha The Prophet Apprentice
06) The Thirty Two Kings of Mass Destruction
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13) Elijah and the Chariot of Fire
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