Elijah Part II
“Showdown on the Mountain”
Let’s begin this morning by reviewing briefly our previous sermon in this series dedicated to the life and ministry of Elijah. First of all, do you remember what Elijah’s name in the Hebrew means? It means “Yahweh is my God.” This prophet’s name very clearly defined his mission, to demonstrate or prove that “Yahweh is, in fact, not only his God but the only true and living God.”
At the time, the nation of Israel as a whole no longer exclusively worshiped Yahweh, they had progressively integrated the pagan god Baal and his female counterpart, Asherah, into their religion. In fact, king Ahab and his wicked queen Jezebel were well on the way to making Baal the primary god of Israel. As a result, God brought a severe drought upon the land and He commissioned Elijah to proclaim its soon arrival.
We remember that the moment Elijah pronounced this judgment to the king, he was told by God to flee to a remote location where he would be fed by the ravens and drink from a brook. So he followed the Lord’s instructions, and after a while when the brook finally dried up, he was told to go and find a certain widow in Zarapheth and stay with her. While Elijah lived with this poor Phoenician widow and her son, God miraculously supplied them with flour and oil in the midst of one of the most severe famines Israel had ever seen.
During the entire length of the drought, Elijah was in hiding. Because ever since he announced to the king that it was not going to rain, he became the most wanted man in all of Israel. You might say that King Ahab and his wife Jezebel issued an APB on this troublemaker. In fact, during the course of the drought, Jezebel had put to death all of the Lord’s prophets that she could find. Yet, the prophet she wanted most of all seemed to have disappeared into thin air. So, for three long years, not a single drop of rain fell on the land and for three years king Ahab and Jezebel diligently searched for Elijah.
In 1Kings 18 is recorded “phase two” of God’s plan to reclaim His children. And to initiate this part of the plan, God finally tells Elijah; “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” There’s something very important that I want us to remember about Elijah—he was quite human; he was subject to the same weaknesses and fears that we are. In James 5:17; James tells us that Elijah was a man “just like us.” With that in mind, I want you to think about the reservations that Elijah may have had with the thoughts of confronting the king of Israel knowing that he would enjoy nothing more than to kill him. Once again, God sends Elijah somewhere he would much rather avoid. Yet Elijah faithfully obeys the word of the Lord and, fighting the most powerful human instinct, self-preservation, he sets out for Samaria.
Meanwhile the famine had grown so severe that even the king’s royal household was very much in despair. The royal mules and livestock were in danger of starving to death. So king Ahab himself and his most trusted official, Obadiah, set out to scour the land in hopes of finding somewhere for his animals to graze. The bible tells us that, in order to cover more ground, the two split up and began searching.
Now you may or may not know that Obadiah was secretly a devout believer in the Lord God of Israel; in fact, while Jezebel was busy killing all the Lord’s prophets, he hid a hundred of them in two caves and continued to supply them with food and water. Obviously, if the queen ever discovered his treasonous act, he too would be killed.
Anyway, as Obadiah was walking along that day, searching for this illusive grass, Elijah was on his way to Samaria, and their paths intersected. When they met, Obadiah immediately recognized him as the Lord’s prophet and bowed down to show him honor. Elijah told him, “go and tell your master that Elijah is here.”
Obadiah’s expression quickly changed from one of joy to one of fear and disbelief. He said, “what have I done wrong that you are handing me over to Ahab to be put to death? My master has sent someone to every nation and kingdom searching for you, and when they claimed you were not there, he made them swear that they could not find you. If I go and tell the king that I have found you and then the Spirit of the Lord takes you away somewhere, he will most certainly kill me!” (1Kings 18:8-14 {paraphrased})
Elijah reassured Obadiah by saying; “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.” With that, Obadiah was contented and immediately went off to get his master.
After three years of searching, Ahab finally comes face to face with his greatest enemy. Let’s look at 1Kings 18:16-17.
"16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
It’s interesting how, even though Ahab had knowingly led the nation of Israel into idol worship and apostasy, he now has the nerve to blame Elijah for the result of his own sin! This is a pattern that has existed ever since Lucifer fell and will continue on until the very last day. Evil always points the finger at that which is righteous. It was this unwritten law of the Great Controversy that drove the Jews to crucify the very Son of Righteousness. And even now, the wicked stand ready to point their fingers at those who seek to live a life devoted to God. That’s one of the reasons why in Revelation 12; Satan is referred to as the “accuser of the brethren.”
Anyway, I’m sure that Ahab would have loved to kill Elijah on the spot, but unfortunately, this prophet seemed to be his only hope of ending the devastating drought. So now the king is forced to listen to the orders of the prophet. Elijah told Ahab to send a proclamation throughout Israel and assemble the people on Mount Carmel. He made certain to specify that the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah were also required to attend.
Cerainly,Ahab knew that this was to be some sort of “showdown” between “the gods” but he was somehow nevertheless still confident in the power of Baal. And to make things even more interesting, the location of the showdown was to be Mount Carmel, which was believed by the Phoenicians to be the sacred dwelling place of Baal. To put it in sports language, Baal would most definitely have the “home-court advantage.”
So, early one morning, Ahab assembled all the people on Mount Carmel, just as Elijah had specified. Imagine yourself in this crowd of people anxiously waiting to see what was going to unfold. Some had rumored that Elijah was going to make it rain and others that a number of other great miracles were to be performed by both the Lord and Baal. You watch as the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah make their way to a very prominent place on the mount. They enter, as always, with much pomp and majesty only to be upstaged by the king himself who finally takes his place and signals for the massive crowd to come to order.
Silence falls over the anxious multitude and then, out of that silence rings one lone voice that echoes a life or death proposition from God. Elijah steps forward and says; “How long will you waver between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
The scriptures tell us that, in response to that proposition, “the people said nothing.” What could they say? After all, this is a most reasonable proclamation. Yet so many standing there had been giving their allegiance to three different gods in hopes that if one failed them, another might come to their aid. The nation of Israel was no longer a people of God; they were now a people of many gods. And, what was even more disheartening was the fact that the one true and living God was, by far, the one least revered.
You know, it’s so easy to look back on the Israelites and condemn them for not serving the Lord with all their hearts. We think it a detestable thing to serve any other god but the Almighty… But, I believe that even now, the angels in heaven and—who knows, maybe even Elijah himself is looking upon us with frustration and disbelief because we too are, even now placing other “gods” before the one True God. Although our gods are not necessarily made of wood or stone—today, they tend to be constructed of something even less substantial, paper—usually green in color. And when we are not busy “worshipping” this god, we are bowing at the altar of entertainment or offering incense to the god of self-exhortation. So, as we imagine ourselves there on Mount Carmel listening to the words of Elijah, I hope we realize that he is not speaking only to the Israelites.
There on the mountain, were two altars, one dedicated to Baal and the other to the Lord. The altar of Baal was well used and in good condition, but the bible tells us that the altar of the Lord was not well used—in fact it was “in ruins.” This goes to attest to the fact that, like the altar, the people had all but abandoned the Lord. Looking at the broken down altar, Elijah says, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, yet Baal has 450 prophets.” Of course he knew that there were at least 100 other prophets hidden in a cave somewhere, but he alone was the only one left who dared to step forward and represent the Lord.
As he stood there, surrounded by a sea of opposition, I’m sure the feeling he was experiencing was indescribable. Yet, if you and I are truly “born—again Christians, if we have really accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we have indeed experienced at least a miniscule taste of what the lone prophet must have been battling with inside. But, Elijah suppressed those feelings of terror by constantly drawing strength from his Lord.
He proposed to prove to the people that their worship in front of that pristine altar and the sacrifices to Baal burned on it were in vain. He called for two bulls, he told Baal’s prophets to choose one, slay it and lay it on the altar. But he told them not to light the wood. And after, he would do the same. He said, call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of my God, and the one who answers by fire; He is truly God. Then all the people said, “what you say is good.”
The prophets of Baal quickly prepared their altar with the wood and the sacrifice laid upon it and then began to call upon almighty Baal to consume it with fire. This should have been quite easy for Baal seeing how was supposedly the god of the elements, including lightning. They began praying to Baal and dancing around the altar expecting fire to fall any minute. An hour went by…..nothing. They called upon him from morning ‘til noon but still, nothing happened. They called out, “O Baal answer us!” No response from their god.
Vs 27-29 say;
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
I can only imagine what kind of chaotic scene it must have been. I’m sure a good number of these desperate prophets must have passed out from exhaustion and loss of blood. But even with all their efforts to rouse the god in whom they had trusted and sacrificed to, “no one answered, no one paid attention…”
Elijah had the altar of the Lord repaired and then, to remove all doubt that it was God who answered, had the entire altar and sacrifice doused with water three times over. Indeed, God would be the only one who could kindle a fire to consume a saturated altar. And then, at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah prayed;
1 Kings 18:36-37
“….O LORD, 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. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
After Elijah’s prayer, the bible tells us that the fire fell from heaven in the sight of all and totally consumed not only the sacrifice, but the wood, stones, soil, and even the water in the trench! Then of course, all the people fell on their faces and cried; “The LORD (lit; ‘Yahweh’)—He is God! Yahweh—He is God!”
I have to believe that at that point, with all the people now shouting praises to the LORD, Elijah must have also been praising God in his heart thinking that the bulk of his work was done—the people have finally seen the err of their ways and now were returning to the true God of Israel. And now, this same prophet who brought the news of the coming drought three years earlier now told King Ahab; “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” (vs 41)
How many conversions on Mt. Carmel that day were genuine? We have no way of knowing, but one thing is for certain; God revealed Himself to His people in the only way that they seemed to understand at the time. What will it take for the Lord to get your attention? Will He have to shut the heavens as He did with Israel?
During my walk with the Lord, I have come to realize that God reveals Himself to different people in different ways—for He alone knows our hearts and sees the motives behind our actions. Our salvation is not merely a matter of which side of a conscious choice, but it is much more accurately a matter of a RELATIONSHIP.
Even today, we are faced with that age old ultimatum first given by Joshua in Joshua 24:15; “ If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living..” [or perhaps the gods of money, power, self-sufficiency, pride, ect..]
May we all say with our brother Joshua; “… as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
