SLIDE Introduction (I Kings 18:1-2)
God has demonstrated His presence, His judgment and His power -
many times in scripture by FIRE.
I want us, today, to look at a time when God used His fire
To demonstrate His power, and, indirectly, His presence.
During the reign of King Ahab, the children of Israel had drifted from God,
worshiping Baal and Asherah instead.
Baal was a Canaanite deity and was in the form of a bull/ram
Asherah was considered the Queen of Heaven (wife of Jehovah)
Both Baal & Asherah were identified with fertility rites.
The leaders and the people had violated
the terms of their covenants and agreement with God.
King Ahab, with the support of his manipulative wife, Queen Jezebel,
destroyed the altar of the Living God
and built altars and high places unto Baal and Asherah.
The situation was so bad that God sent Elijah to go tell Ahab,
I Kings 17:1b, “..…there shall not be dew nor rain these years,
but according to my word.”
And the rain, and even the dew, ceased for three and half years.
All of Israel began to suffer.
But neither King Ahab, nor Queen Jezebel, nor the people
turned back to God from their evil ways.
At the end of the three and a half years,
God sent Elijah to King Ahab again,
the rain & dew was about to come again.
SLIDE I Kings 18:1-19 The Desperation
King Ahab called Obadiah
Obadiah was the governor of King Ahab’s household.
Obadiah was entrusted with the management
of the affairs of the King’s family,
and highly valued by the king on account of his ability
to govern and the discipline of being reasonable
in his management & governance -
and due to his loyalty and faithfulness to the King.
V3 tells us that Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
Obadiah hid and provided for 100 prophets of the Lord.
King Ahab divides the kingdom between himself and Obadiah.
King Ahab tells Obadiah to go into all the land,
search all over for any available water.
Lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, anything…….
Why? So they can save the horses and mules.
Horses and mules were used for more than just transportation.
They were vital for the fighting forces to use to protect the nation.
Everyone is struggling due to the lack of water
and all the problems that the lack of water brings.
So they divided the land between them and began searching.
During Obadiah’s travels and searching, he came across Elijah
Elijah tells Obadiah to go tell King Ahab to come meet him (Elijah)
Obadiah finds Ahab and tells him what Elijah said.
King Ahab forgets about his search for water,
instead, he travels to meet Elijah.
(Elijah told King Ahab that it wouldn’t rain until Elijah said it would.)
So King Ahab goes to meet with Elijah
(Maybe to convince him to let it rain again….)
SLIDE I Kings 18:20-25 The Challenge
Elijah tells King Ahab to gather all the people of Israel -
to meet at Mount Carmel.
Elijah tells King Ahab to bring 450 prophets of Baal -
to meet at Mount Carmel.
King Ahab sent a message to the tribes of Israel -
to meet at Mount Carmel.
King Ahab brought 450 prophets of Baal - to meet at Mount Carmel.
Everyone is gathered at Mount Carmel.
This is going to be a VERY PUBLIC event.
Elijah came before all the people, all the prophets, and the King:
He said, “How long halt ye between two opinions?
“If the Lord be God, follow him”
“If Baal be God, follow him.”
Quit playing around.
Quit straddling the fence.
It’s oil and water It’s law and grace It’s light and dark.
Pick ONE. Do something, rather than doing nothing.
Elijah told the prophets of Baal:
-Choose a Bullock – prepare it for sacrifice to your (so called) god.
-Build an altar
-Split some wood for the altar
-Put the prepared sacrifice on the wood of the altar.
-BUT NO FIRE!
-Instead - Tell the god you serve, to send fire to consume the sacrifice.
You go first – then it will be my time.
SLIDE I Kings 18:26-29 The Failure
The 450 prophets of Baal took the bullock,
dressed it for the sacrifice,
built an altar,
put the wood on the altar
and their sacrifice on the wood.
They prayed from morning till noon.
They leaped on the altar in a frenzy
Around noon time (some 5 or 6 hours after they began)
Elijah begins to mock them.
I thought Baal was supposed to some kind of a divine entity, a god,
Maybe he is in meditation or perhaps talking with other gods,
Maybe he is pursuing (gone off somewhere private)
Maybe he is on a journey (gone somewhere far, far away)
Maybe he is just sleeping and needs to be awakened.
Maybe you guys need to scream longer and much louder
Maybe you guys need to do something to get your gods attention.
SLIDE
So they did…..
They prayed longer and louder,
then they screamed louder and louder.
They began to cut themselves to get Baal’s attention.
They kept this up till the time of the evening sacrifice (4pm)
No fire, no smoke, no sparks, nothing – just dead silence!
No answer from Baal. Total failure.
SLIDE I Kings 18:30-38 The Triumph
Elijah called the people to come near him.
Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord ,that King Ahab had destroyed.
-He took 12 stones and rebuilt the altar of God
-He made a trench around the altar
(it could have contained two measures of seed)
Quite a large and deep trench.
It would hold the water that fell down from the altar.
-He put the wood for the sacrifice on the altar
-He prepared the sacrifice and laid it on the altar.
SLIDE-He had them fill 4 barrels of water (4)
(either from the creek Kishon or the Mediterranean Sea)
In a 3 year drought, he wastes 4 barrels of water.
He poured those 4 barrels of water over the altar
SLIDE -He had them fill 4 more barrels of water (8)
(either from the creek Kishon or the Mediterranean Sea)
In a 3 year drought, he wastes another 4 barrels of water.
He poured those 4 barrels of water over the altar
SLIDE -He had them fill 4 more barrels of water (12)
(either from the creek Kishon or the Mediterranean Sea)
In a 3 year drought, he wastes another 4 barrels of water.
He poured those 4 barrels of water over the altar
SLIDE -He had them fill 4 more barrels of water (16)
(either from the creek Kishon or the Mediterranean Sea)
In a 3 year drought, he wastes another 4 barrels of water.
He poured those 4 barrels of water over the altar
16 barrels of water – during a 3 year drought – poured out…..!
Of course, the water ran down from the sacrifice,
down from the wood,
down from the stones,
and filled up the trench!
Then Elijah prayed aloud - to the true & living God, Jehovah.
-He prayed aloud
-He prayed publically
-He prayed in faith
SLIDE V38 “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.”
One – quiet – simple - 63 word prayer from Elijah to Jehovah
And whoosh – Fire Fall Down
Everything got burned up! (even the rocks!)
SLIDE I Kings 18:39-40 The Result
The extremely public event was seen by the people,
It was seen by the prophets of Baal,
It was seen by King Ahab…….
There could be NO doubt as to who was (and is) God.
They confessed publically and loudly:
“The Lord, He is the God
The Lord, He is the God.”
After a full day of prayer and yelling and demonstrations
By the Prophets of Baal – crickets, yawn, nutten!
But a demonstration of absolute, full power of Jehovah
Got their attention – and the desired response.
God just wanted His people to turn to Him.
Wouldn’t it be great if we God acted and demonstrated
His presence and power that way for us today?
But, it’s not needed …..
We have it recorded for us in the unchanging Word of God.
We, in these days, see it by faith.
We, in these days, believe it by faith.
We, in these days, act based on our faith of what saith the Word of God.
