Challenge By Fire

The Almighty God has many names that people use from time to time to adore, admire, worship and praise Him. However, God Himself has names by which He wants to be called. Many men of God had one form of description or the other of God in the Bible. The Bible also tells us that there are many gods and lords but to us, there is only one God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes when you are calling God, you need to identify the particular one you are talking about. God is known as one who knows no impossibility. God is known as one who is more than enough, that is what we call the Elshadai. When you have enough, that is when He starts to add more to you. God is described as one who shuts a door and no one can open, and when He opens it, no one can close it. When God says He is opening a door for you, anybody quarrelling or fighting with you is wasting his time. For instance, it will be foolish of a person to ask the sun why it is shining. That would be a useless exercise.

God is the one who calls the visible out of the invisible. He is known as the one who is able to do all things, the one who is able to rescue you from any problem, the God that answereth by fire. 1 Kings 18:19-27 says, “Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the grooves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, it is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first, for ye are many, and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us, but there was no voice nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked.” Verses 31-32; “And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying Israel, shall be thy name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed.” Verses 38-39; “Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood, and the stones, and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.”

The contest between Elijah and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal was with a condition which was agreed upon by the two parties. This was a contest between the living God and smaller gods. When it was the turn of the prophets of Baal to call upon their god, Elijah mocked them when there was no response from their god, but when it got to his turn, he called the people near and repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down by Baal worshippers. He used twelve stones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel and built an altar. He put the stones upon mount Carmel, laid the wood in order, cut the bull and put it upon the altar, then he instructed them to pour twelve barrels of water on it, so there would be no room for disbelief. Then he prayed for fire from above. His prayer was answered and fire consumed the sacrifice. What is this telling us? It tells us about the consuming fire. The Bible says the Lord God is a consuming fire. The fire can consume large stones, dust, water, etc. There is nothing that God’s fire cannot consume. His own fire is unquenchable, the God who answers by fire is the unchanging God. When God answers you by fire, your problems are in trouble, for that is an end to their existence. Elijah called down fire to destroy God’s enemies.