Our story begins with wicked Ahab, the 8th king of Israel. Instead of worshiping Jehovah, the one true God, he worshiped a fake god named Baal! 1 Kings (16:30, NLT) says, “…Ahab…did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him.”By contrast, Elijah was a faithful prophet of God. A prophet was a person God chose to deliver His message. It was time for Israel to turn their hearts back to God and give up their false idol worship. The practice of worshiping false idols was disobedient to the very first commandment God gave to Moses, which said, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3, NASB)Elijah proposed a test for Ahab, the 450 false priests of Baal, and the people of Israel. (see 1 Kings 18:22)The test took place on Mount Carmel and would demonstrate – without a doubt – who the TRUE God was.This was the test: the priests of Baal were to prepare a sacrifice, lay it on their altar, and then call upon Baal. Elijah was to do the same on an altar built for God. Whichever god answered by setting fire to the sacrifice was the one, true God.The priests called upon Baal all morning, shouting and dancing wildly around the altar. Of course there was no reply because their god didn’t exist!Around noon, Elijah began to tease them, because obviously their behavior was silly. Elijah mocked them, suggesting they shout louder – maybe Baal was asleep or on vacation! (see 1 Kings 18:27) (Of course Elijah knew Baal was NEVER going to answer them no matter what they did!) Finally, around 3pm, it was clear there would be no response.Now it was Elijah’s turn.Elijah repaired an altar of Jehovah that had been torn down. He assembled 12 stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel. Then he dug a trench all around the altar. He piled wood on the altar and put the sacrifice on top of the wood. He told the people to fill four large jars with water and pour them over the sacrifice and the wood. He had them do this three times until everything was soaked – even the trench was filled with water. Elijah then stepped up to the altar and prayed, (1 Kings 18:36,37 NIV) “LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”We serve an intelligent God who does not need to be shouted at to get His attention. Elijah’s prayer was simple and sincere – not boastful. He recognized he was merely a servant of God. His goal was not a personal display of power, but to draw the people’s hearts back to God.God responded to Elijah’s prayer immediately! Fire flashed down from heaven and burned up everything – the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the DUST on the GROUND – even the WATER in the trench! (see 1 Kings 18:38)When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD is God!” (see 1 Kings 18:39)We may look back at the Israelites’ behavior and say, “Well, I don’t worship false gods – I don’t have any idols!” But in OUR day, there are other types of idols. They may not look like the ones that Ahab and the Israelites worshiped, but they exist.Today, an “idol” means anything that takes our main focus away from God. Examples might be money, possessions, popularity, or more influence on social media. These things can distract us so we have to be careful how we spend our time and what we pay attention to! Let’s remember what Jesus said in Luke (4:8, NIV): “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”So, what happened with Elijah and the priests of Baal? Elijah proposed a test to demonstrate whether Jehovah or Baal was the true God. Of course, Baal never “answered” the priests, but Jehovah heard Elijah’s prayer and immediately responded. He sent fire to miraculously burn up His completely soaked altar, thus showing everyone that He is the one true God!
This video is from Christian Questions Podcast. For more information please go to https://christianquestions.com
