Showdown
I. I Kings 17:1, 18:1.
A. One type of movie that this story of Elijah reminds me of is those old western movies that we used to watch on TV. You remember those movies. Many of them had the same story. The bad guys would come in and run the town, hold the townspeople in terror, and do whatever they please. Then the good guy, either a Marshall, sheriff, John Wayne or Clint Eastwood would ride into town, make a vow to make things right, the bad guys threaten to get him, then the stage is set for the climax of the movie, the showdown. The good guy and the bad guys face each other in a shootout. The good guy wins, the townspeople rejoice, and the good guy rides off into the sunset, sometimes with the girl.
1. It’s a pity they don’t make too many westerns anymore. In those movies, you can tell the good guys from the bad guys. In a lot of movies today, you can’t tell who the good guys are. In some of them, you find yourself rooting for the bad guys.
a. This Bible story is similar to those western movies because you have a bad guy terrorizing the town, a good guy who vows to clean it up, and a final showdown. This is why I titled my message "Showdown at Mount Carmel," or if you prefer a shorter title, "Showdown."
B. Our story begins when Ahab, the king of Israel, steered his people away from the Lord by worshiping Baal. He was more evil than any of the other Israelite kings who ruled before him. He married Jezebel, a woman from an enemy land, who brought her own prophets with her. Not only that, but she was responsible for killing off the Lord’s prophets in order to promote her religion to the people of Israel.
1. As punishment for Ahab and Jezebel’s sin, God sent the prophet Elijah to announce to them that there would be a drought across the land for several years. Nothing for the people or animals to drink, plant crops or bathe on a regular basis. No rain, no dew, nothing. Three years later, God told Elijah to present himself to Ahab.
II. II Kings 18:16-19.
A. Despite Ahab trying to put the blame on the prophet for the drought, Elijah calls the king out for bringing Israel under God’s judgement because of following other gods rather than the true one.
1. Elijah then offers Ahab a challenge. "If your gods are so great, if your Baal is so bad, then let’s have a contest. You tell everyone in Israel and all your prophets (I don’t care how many, I’ll take them all on) to meet me upon Mount Carmel for a showdown at high noon."
a. Elijah might have seemed arrogant, he might have seemed cocky, but he was confident that his God was the one in charge of Israel.
b. We need to be that confident about our God. There are hundreds of people who read their horoscopes in the daily newspaper before they start their day, and believe what it says. If other people are willing to let their life be guided by a couple of riddles that may not come true, then we can be cocky for God.
III. I Kings 18:20-24.
A. Before the contest began, Elijah offered the Israelites a challenge. "How long will you dance between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal is God, follow him." He was challenging them to make a choice. Either worship Baal or worship the Lord, make up your mind.
1. One of the biggest problems in the church today is that we waver, and we dance between two opinions. We teeter between what is right in the eyes of the Lord, versus what is popular or "politically correct" with everybody else, never mind whether it’s good for the church or not. We need to decide concerning what or who we need to follow.
B. Elijah then gave the ground rules for this contest. We’ll take two bulls, cut them up, then we each call on the name of our God. Whoever answers by fire will settle the matter once and for all who God is.
IV. I Kings 18:25-29. Now the showdown begins.
A. Let me set this up for you. We have our hero, the good guy, the prophet Elijah all by himself with his offering, against not one, not two, not ten, but four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal with their offering, plus 400 prophets of Asherah. They weren’t just 850 prophets, but they were the queen’s prophets who also had the backing of the king and most of the people of Israel. You couldn’t ask for worse odds than that.
1. So Elijah said, "You go first."
B. After they prepared the bull, the prophets of Baal started doing their thing dancing around the altar, crying out to him to answer them. The scriptures say this went on all morning.
1. While all this was going on, I can see Elijah sitting back, relaxing, taking it easy, patiently waiting for those prophets to get through. At noon, he started making fun of them. "Shout louder! Surely he’s a God! Maybe he’s busy or asleep."
a. Bible scholars have said that to be busy or deep in thought is a Hebrew slang term for using the bathroom.
2. Then the prophets of Baal shouted louder, and they started cutting themselves in a desperate attempt to get his attention. But as evening came, despite the self-mutilation, nothing happened.
a. The last part of verse 29 said it best, "But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention."
b. Then Elijah said, "It’s my turn."
V. I Kings 18:30-39.
A. First, Elijah took twelve stones and repaired the altar to the Lord, which was probably destroyed by the false prophets. Then he dug a trench around the altar. After he finished that and prepared the bull for the offering, he had the altar drenched twelve times (four jars x three times).
1. Why so much water? To eliminate any doubt about whom God is. One jar of water or four jars of water would have silenced most doubts, but twelve jars of water, soaking the offering and filling the trench would eliminate any questions whatsoever as to who reigns in Israel.
2. We still need to remember that there’s a major drought going on. You don’t take all that water and waste it like that. You don’t, unless you’re confident you can get some more.
B. Then Elijah prayed. Reading over his prayer, I noticed that he only asked for an answer. He didn’t ask for fire. But he prayed a simple prayer, not anything flowery or fancy, just to let the people know who is the one, true God.
1. When we’re in a showdown with the enemy, we don’t need to make any fancy prayers, we just need to tell him what we want.
C. And the fire came, consuming everything, even the stones and the water in the trench.
1. After seeing this, the people fell and worshiped. "The Lord - he is God!" they said.
VI. I Kings 18:40-41.
A. After the fire of the Lord consumed Elijah’s offering, and the people realized which god they should serve, the first thing they did was follow levitical law and have all the false prophets of Jezebel executed.
1. We need to follow Elijah’s example and get rid of any false prophets who are hanging around in our life. Whether it’s to quit reading the page with the horoscopes or to quit hanging around those friends who will lead us nowhere but trouble, if they stand between you and God, get rid of them!
B. I want you to notice what Elijah said to Ahab after the showdown was over. He told him to go home and eat some dinner because he hears the sound of a heavy rain coming.
1. He was telling Ahab to go home and take it easy, but the Lord is not finished yet. To give his people more proof of whom he is, he lifted the drought and sent the rain.
a. When we know God is going to do what he said he’d do, we just need to sit back, and wait for the rain to come.
VII. What does this mean for us?
A. Someday, you may be challenged to a showdown. It could be anytime, anywhere, against anybody. It may be where you work, against your co-workers or your boss. It could be against your family. It could be against the crack dealers on your street, but you may be challenged to a showdown against your God and theirs.
1. Oh, their god may not be Baal, but they have other names, greed, power, success, drugs, etc.
B. You may have to perform this showdown alone. While the other prophets were in hiding, Elijah had to face the king, queen, and 400 false prophets by himself. You might be the only Christian at your workplace or in your household, and your showdown may come at a time where you are alone, which leads to my next point.
C. With God, you’re never alone. He’s on your side. Even though Elijah was outnumbered 400 to one, he had God on his side, which outnumbers the opposition every time.
VIII. Let me tell you about another showdown that happened a long time ago.
A. There was one who was all alone against the forces of hypocrisy and hatred, power and greed, and finally, the devil himself.
B. One day, he was challenged to a showdown, against the forces of death and the grave. They thought they had him.
C. But on the third day, he emerged victorious, his six guns blazing.
1. And he won that showdown for you and for me. Trust in Jesus, and he will fight your battles. He’s your lone ranger, he’s your Marshall Dillon, he’s your rifleman, he’s your John Wayne, he’s your Clint Eastwood, he’s your Wyatt Earp, he’s your God!
IX. Invitation.
