SHOWDOWN ON MT. CARMEL
(Fighting Evil)
(1 Kings 18:17-40)
Tonight we are going to talk about the fight against evil, and we will be looking at 1 Kings chapter 18, verses 17-40.
Trouble comes to us in many forms. It can be health problems or money troubles. It can be family squabbles, or trouble with our neighbors.
For one lady, trouble came in the form of a 4-legged furry intruder.
A lady called the police department and screamed, “Sir, you’ve got to help me. We have a skunk in our basement. How can we get it out?”
The police dispatcher calmly told her to take some bread crumbs and make a trail from the basement out to the back yard. Then leave the basement door open.
A few hours later the lady called back and said, “ Sir, I’m the lady who called about the skunk in my basement.”
The dispatcher said, “Ma’am, you didn’t have to call back and thank me. I’m just glad I could help a citizen in need.”
“That’s not why I called,” said the lady. “ Now I have two skunks in my basement!”
The lady found herself with more trouble than she started with.
That is also what happened with the man we’ll talk about tonight. The prophet Elijah had a whole wagon load of trouble.
For starters, Elijah had been the messenger of bad news. God had sent him to Ahab, the king of Israel and his wife Jezebel, with a message.
Elijah was to tell them that because of their disobedience, a drought was coming – no rain, no dew – until he said so.
This message from God didn’t cause Ahab to turn from his wicked ways, though. Instead, Ahab blamed Elijah and came after him. Somehow, he felt that killing Elijah would end his problems.
So Elijah became Israel’s most wanted fugitive. From the time Elijah delivered God’s message to the king, until the Scripture reading for today, he has been a wanted man. Now, it is time for Elijah to face Ahab.
It’s time for the showdown, and it’s going to be a big one. The man that Ahab has been chasing is now standing in front of him. Let’s begin reading 1 Kings 18:17-40 and see how this showdown shapes up.
(Vvs. 17-21) “ 17Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” 18And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. 19“Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.”
Ahab starts off by calling Elijah the “troubler of Israel.” He blames Elijah for causing the drought by making Baal angry. But Elijah isn’t bothered by Ahab’s false accusation.
He tells Ahab that the troublemakers are those who don’t follow the commandments. The real problem wasn’t the drought.
The real problem was Ahab’s disobedience to God. Elijah challenged Ahab to obey God.
So Elijah challenges Ahab and the false priests to a contest. He says I want the nation of Israel and all the false prophets to meet me on Mt. Carmel. He tells Ahab that it is time to stop straddling the fence.
He told Ahab that he couldn’t be for both God and Baal. There can be no middle ground, and it was time for Ahab to choose.
He had been trying to worship the true and living God, but he also worshiped the false gods of Baal and Asherah.
He had tried to make everyone happy by worshiping all the Canaanite gods, but instead, he made the true God angry. So Elijah threw down the challenge.
He told Ahab to meet him on Mt. Carmel for a showdown.
Now, Elijah gives him the rules of the showdown. Look at verses 22-24:
(Vvs. 22-24) 22Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23“Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24“Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
The contest was going to be a trial by fire – God’s fire. The people who believed in Baal called him the god of the sun. They said that Baal rode the thunderclouds and sent down lightning.
They believed that Baal had the power to control the weather, and they figured that if Baal was all that, surely he could meet this challenge.
But they had not stopped to consider the fact that Baal had not been able to end the long drought they were in.
Now it was time for the showdown to begin. Look at verses 25-29:
(Vvs. 25-29) “ 25Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” 26So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. 27And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.”
Elijah allowed the false prophets to go first. He said, “Since there are so many of you and only one of me, why don’t you go ahead.” So they went through all the ceremonial motions of preparing the sacrificial bull.
They placed the bull on the altar, and they began crying out to their false god. I can just see Elijah as he stands on the sidelines, his arms folded, grinning, and getting bored with all the commotion.
The false prophets were jumping around and chanting, crying, and begging Baal to show himself. They did this all morning long until noon, and still Baal didn’t answer them.
Elijah begins to mock their ridiculous gyrations and silly chants.“What’s the matter? Do you think Baal is asleep?
Maybe he had to go to the bathroom. Maybe you aren’t yelling loud enough.
Maybe he’s got more important things on his mind or maybe he’s gone on a trip.” Elijah was being kind of sarcastic, but his point was well taken. So far Baal has given no sign of showing up for the showdown.
But the false prophets just got angry at Elijah’s sarcastic remarks. They began jumping and dancing, and screaming even more. They really went at it. But by the end of the afternoon, their feet were sore.
They had shouted until they were hoarse. They were cutting themselves in hopes that their blood would get Baal’s attention. Still no answer from the false god. The prophets of Baal were very disappointed.
Folks, we can take a lesson from the prophets of Baal. Faith and sincerity mean absolutely nothing when your faith is in the wrong place.
These false prophets had faith, and they were sincere in their rituals and prayers, but their faith was in the wrong place.
Now comes Elijah’s turn to take his place at the altar of the Lord. Look at verses 30-35:
(Vvs. 30-35) “ 30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
32Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.”
To begin with in these verses, we see something shameful. The altar of the Lord was in pretty sad condition.
It was broken down, which means that either the people had lost reverence for the Lord, and had not kept the altar in good shape.
Or someone had intentionally broken it down. Either case did not speak well for God’s chosen people.
The altar was supposed to be a place of worship. It was a place where the people were to remember what God had done.
Elijah starts the repair of the altar using twelve stones. These stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel.
They were to remind the people that they had a destiny to fulfill for God. He had called them out as His chosen people.
The broken altar was like the nation of Israel at this time.
The nation was no longer united, and they had turned away from the One who had given them this land.
When Elijah prepared the altar, he made sure that no one would accuse him of trickery or fraud. He drenched it with water. There would be no way that wood was going to catch on fire unless God did it.
Next, Elijah prays that God will manifest His power and glory. It is time for God’s power to show up for the showdown. Look at verses 36-38:
(Vvs. 36-38) “ 36And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37“Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” 38Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.”
Elijah prayed for the glory of God to come down, but he didn’t just ask for the power of God, he asked that God would turn the hearts of His people. I can see the United States of America so plainly here.
The people of Israel had wandered so far away from God. They were prideful, selfish, arrogant, and independent.
They had walked away from the One who created them and loved them.
They were so entrenched in the ways of the world that they thought they no longer needed the God of their fathers.
Our nation is like Israel in Elijah’s day. We’ve wandered far away from God. We are no longer one great “nation under God.”
We are no longer looked up to and respected by all nations around the world. We are hated and ridiculed by almost everyone. Since the war in Viet Nam, we are the “cut and run” nation.
Since Roe vs. Wade, we are no longer the nation who protects the innocent.
We stand up for the so-called “rights” of the evil, and we try to destroy the rights of those who want to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ in public places.
We are now in those perilous times that Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy chapter 3: 1But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
The people of Israel had come to this point in the days of Elijah. God tolerated their disobedience for a long time, but there has to come a time when He must judge evil.
God answered Elijah’s prayer. He wasn’t silent and lifeless like the god of the false prophets. God responded. “The fire of the Lord fell!”
I imagine there was a blinding light, and a booming sound of thunder.
In a flash, the fire came down and consumed the “burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.” What a mighty God we serve!!!
Nothing was left. They didn’t need a cleanup crew. It was all gone. And God proved once and for all that He is real, He is powerful, and He is the true and living God. And He showed that Elijah was His true prophet and messenger.
This demonstration of God’s mighty power had a great impact on the people of Israel. Look at verse 39:
(vs. 39) 39Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
The people saw the error of their ways. They saw that the false gods of stone and wood were no more powerful than the materials they were made of. A rock is just a rock and a piece of wood is just a piece of wood.
They found out that the graven images they had been worshiping had no power at all. The show of power from the true and living God brought them back to their senses. They fell on their faces.
They had just witnessed something wonderful and awesome and it had humbled them. They confessed that, “The Lord, He is God!” They stood in awe of His glory.
The false prophets must have realized the error of their ways also, but for them it was too late.
Verse 40 says, “ 40And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.”
The people of Israel took drastic action and purged themselves of the ones who had been deceiving them all this time. They had played with evil long enough and this evil had to be removed from their nation.
How does this Scripture passage from 1 Kings apply to our lives today? Even though we are told to be peacemakers, there are times when we have to fight evil.
We must have the courage to do battle.
When the Lord calls us to do battle we don’t have to be afraid. We can be strong. We can be of good courage, because when the Lord is on our side it is enough.
To do battle, we must be right with God.
When the false prophets saw that they were losing the showdown, they were pretty agitated. They knew they were in trouble and all they could hope was that Elijah was a fake too.
But Elijah was at peace. He knew that his God was real. God had cared for him and had lead him all his life.
When you have a personal relationship with God, you can be at peace in the eye of the storm. When you are on God’s side, it is enough.
When you are right with God:
You don’t have to sit down and shut up.
Elijah was bold when it came to obeying God’s will. God called and he went. Today the world expects Christians to be quiet and reserved about the evils that threaten our nation.
God’s creation and God’s Word is to be respected, honored and protected. It is time for Christians to stand up and speak up about the issues of marriage and family. We are to speak out on issues of purity and right and wrong.
God doesn’t want us to conform to the standards of this world. He expects us to live by His standards of righteousness and to have the courage to fight for what is right and not compromise.
