1 Kings 18 Verses 30 to 40 Fire from Heaven September 24, 2023

1 Kings 18 Verses 30 to 40 Fire from Heaven September 24, 2023 Class Presentation Notes AAA

Background Scriptures:

· James 5:17-18 (NASB) 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

· 1 Kings 17:12-14 (NASB)

Main Idea: Put God first and watch what God does.

Study Aim: To understand we must pray in faith and with persistence.

Create Interest:

· Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel is an exciting, suspenseful story that is high drama at its best. It is a well-known story among Christian circles and its importance cannot be overemphasized.

· The purpose of the confrontation between God’s prophet and the prophets of the false god Baal is a critical lesson for every generation to learn: to prove that the Lord(Jehovah, Yahweh) is the only living and true God. Scripture gives a descriptive account of the contest:[1]

· God will prove Himself when the odds are against Him, and the circumstances seem impossible. This is when the Lord really shines and shows His power. We can see His hand clearly when He performs the impossible. When our dreams and desires are drenched and ruined, God has a way of fulfilling them in His own time and way. So how do we respond when our dreams are drenched? Let’s find out.[2]

Lesson in Historical Context:

· Ahab’s personal name means “father’s brother.” The seventh king of Israel’s Northern Kingdom, married a foreigner, Jezebel, and incited God’s anger more than any of Israel’s previous kings. Ahab was the son and successor of Omri. His 22-year reign (874–853 b.c.), while enjoying some political and military success, was marred by spiritual compromise and failure (1 Kings 16:30).[3]

· As a political and military leader, Ahab received good marks. He was effective in defeating Israel’s Syrian enemies. He joined in a coalition army which halted the invasion of a great Assyrian force under Shalmaneser III. And Ahab maintained the borders of his land. Assyrian records tell us that Ahab was able to contribute 2,000 chariots (the tanks of ancient warfare) to the coalition army, as well as some 10,000 foot soldiers.

· Economically, Israel also prospered. The Phoenician alliance meant that sea trade routes were open to landlocked Israel, and the great “ivory house” Ahab built for himself (1 Kings 22:39) testifies to the land’s prosperity.

· Yet that same Phoenician alliance opened the door to introduction of Baal worship in Israel. Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel, a devotee of Baal, forced a direct confrontation. Jezebel was not satisfied with coexistence: she insisted that Baal worship replace any worship of Jehovah. She not only slaughtered the Hebrew prophets of Jehovah (18:4); she also imported hundreds of prophets of Baal to establish worship centers for this pagan deity.

· Here we meet no trace of repentance in king or people: Only the sullen silence of hopeless misery. What man could do, had been attempted, but had signally failed. As the want and misery among the people became more pressing, King Ahab had searched both the land and all neighboring countries for Elijah, but in vain (1 Kings 18:10), while Jezebel had wreaked her impotent vengeance on all the prophets of Jehovah on whom she could lay hands, as if they had been Elijah’s accomplices, to be punished for what she regarded as his crime.

· Jezebel’s aim was to replace the worship of Yahweh with Baal-Melquart worship. Her plan included killing off the Lord‘s prophets (1 Kings 18:4).

· Ahab had abandoned the Lord‘s commands in His Law and had instead followed the Baals. The plural “Baals” refers to local idols of Baal (cf. Jud. 2:11) sometimes with differing names. This was the real issue and the root cause of all the trouble in Israel, spiritual as well as physical.

o If all the representatives of Jehovah were exterminated, His power could no longer be exercised in the land, and she would at the same time crush resistance to her imperious will, and finally uproot that hated religion which was alike the charter of Israel’s spiritual allegiance and of civil liberty. Yet neither Ahab, nor Jezebel succeeded[4]

· Baal-Malquart, commonly called simply Baal in this part of Scripture, was the expression of Baal worshiped in Tyre, Jezebel’s home city. The term baal simply means “owner” or “lord.” In Canaan the baals were nature gods, regarded as owners of particular localities, and believed to control fertility. Thus, good crops as well as the human birth rate demanded that a people remain on good terms with the local “owner” deity.

· As Canaanite religion developed, it focused on the cycles of the year. And extreme cult activities were required to ensure the coming of the needed rains. A prominent feature of these rites was prostitution by both sexes (see Jdg. 2:17; Jer. 7:9; and Amos 2:7). At times the rites even involved child sacrifice (Jer. 19:5). These orgiastic religious practices are well documented in hymns and poems from the period, which show a deadening moral depravity associated with the religious worship.

o Jezebel and Ahab went about imposing this entire system on Israel, aggressively seeking to blot out the worship of Jehovah[5]

· In the third and last year of the famine God directed Elijah to present himself to King Ahab. Elijah had God’s word that He would soon end the drought.

· The famine in the land was particularly severe in the capital, Samaria. (Cf. the famine[s] in Elisha’s days, 2 Kings 4:38; 6:25; 7:4; 8:1.) God was directing this calamity especially at the guilty parties, Ahab and Jezebel.

· In view of Elijah’s directive that Ahab summon the people from all over Israel, it is likely that Ahab excitedly sent word of a contest throughout all the Northern Kingdom, summoning the people to attend. There were multiplied thousands who gathered together to witness the contest.

· The contest was for the benefit of the people to learn who truly ruled Israel—the Baals of Ahab and Jezebel or the Lord God of their fathers. The contest consisted of preparing a sacrifice and praying for the deity to prove his existence by answering with fire from heaven. Baal was reputed to be the god of storm and therefore should at least have been able to bring down fire (lightning).[6]

· Mount Carmel was agreed on by Ahab. It would be a fitting site since it lay between Israel and Phoenicia, the lands of the deities in question. Also Mount Carmel was regarded by the Phoenicians as the sacred dwelling place of Baal.

o No doubt Ahab was highly pleased with this suggested site for the contest because it would have given the Baal prophets a definite advantage; but this did not worry Elijah. It was also a geographically prominent location and thus a fit setting for Elijah’s contest.

· When all the people had assembled.… Elijah stood before them and challenged them to end their doublemindedness, wavering between two opinions. It was not good to try to “walk the fence” worshiping two gods.

o Apparently, the Israelites thought that if Yahweh let them down they could turn to Baal, and vice versa.

o Elijah was saying that if One is the true God and the other false, they should follow the true One wholeheartedly and forget about the impotent impostor.

§ The people could not argue with this statement, so they said nothing.

· Elijah then pointed out that in this contest the odds would be 450 prophets to 1—a humanly impossible situation in which to win! Elijah knew there were other prophets of Yahweh besides himself (cf. v. 13), but as far as this contest was concerned he was the only one of the Lord‘s prophets left.

· Of the two bulls required, Elijah let his adversaries select their favorite. Each side would prepare to sacrifice its bull as a burnt offering to its god. Then they would each call ontheir god and the god who answered by firewould be shown to be the true God.

o 1 Kings 18:23-24 (NASB) 23 "Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. 24 "Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people said, "That is a good idea."

· All morning Baal’s prophets … called on their god and danced around his altarto arouse him to action. At noon Elijah began to taunt them, mocking their ineffectiveness. This continued for three hours (the time for theIsraelites’ evening sacrifice; cf. v. 36, was 3 p.m.), but still there was no response[7].

o Elijah was mocking them, because their god, Baal, was the sun-god, and how could he be forgetful of them at the hour of noon when from the heavens itself he was seen looking down upon them in his glory.

o Then the prophets of Baal cried aloud and cut themselves with knives and lances until the blood rushed out upon them. It must have been a horrid sight. The people stood amazed. The Baal god did not speak. He also could not emit enough heat to set the offering on fire and burn up the sacrifice[8].

Bible Study:

1 Kings 18:30-37 (NASB) 30 Then 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 LORDwhich had been torn down. 31 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." 32 So 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 measures of seed. 33 Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. 34 And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And 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. 35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.

· Elijah weighed the test in favor of the prophets of Baal. They could build their altar first, select their sacrifice and offer it first, and they could take all the time they needed to pray to Baal.

o When Elijah said he was the only prophet of the Lord, he wasn’t forgetting the prophets that Obadiah had hidden and protected. Rather, he was stating that he was the only one openly serving the Lord, and therefore he was outnumbered by the 450 prophets of Baal.

§ But one with God is a majority, so the prophet had no fears😊. Surely the prayers of 450 zealous prophets would be heard by Baal and he would answer by sending fire from heaven! (See Lev. 9:24 and 1 Chron. 21:26.)[9]

o He called all the people to him and repaired the altar, which actually signified Israel’s spiritual condition (vv. 30–32).

· 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 (Gen. 32:29; 35:10), Israel shall be thy name,” and built these stones into an altar.

o The twelve stones were a practical declaration on the part of the prophet that the division of the nation into two kingdoms was at variance with the divine calling of Israel, inasmuch as according to the will of God the twelve tribes were to form one people of Jehovah, and to have a common sacrificial altar;

§ While the allusion to the fact that Jehovah had given to the forefather of the nation the name of Israel, directs attention to the wrong which the seceding ten tribes had done in claiming the name of Israel for themselves, whereas it really belonged to the whole nation[10].

o He built the altar properly (cf. Exod 20:25; Lev 1:6–8) with 12 stones. He was reminding them of the faith of their fathers and saying he isn’t proposing something new.

o Notice that Israel was onenation. It was not Israel and Judah, or Samaria and Jerusalem, but all twelve tribes as the one nation, Israel.

So, Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord.

o Then he made a trench around the altar, put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces.

o Finally he ordered that four barrels be filled with water and poured on the sacrifice and on the wood. Now it was a long way down to the water supply but Elijah was in no hurry.[11]

§ Elijah was calling them to return in repentance to the covenant God.

o Vs. 32-33: Elijah shocked everyone. Three times he has them pour four jars of water on the offering and on the wood. It was enough water that it “ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water” (v. 35). Elijah wanted everyone to know for sure that what is about to happen can only be explained by the power of God. He wants them to know that this handicap is no problem to the living God.[12]

A short pause for the inquiring mind troubled by all the water near the end of a three-year drought and digging a large trench in rocks around the alter.

· The natural features of the mount exactly correspond with the details of this narrative. The conspicuous summit, 1,635 feet above the sea, on which the altars were placed, presents an esplanade spacious enough for the king and the priests of Baal to stand on the one side, and Elijah on the other. It is a rocky soil, on which there is abundance of loose stones, to furnish the twelve stones of which the altar was built—a bed of thick earth, in which a trench could be dug; and yet the earth not so loose that the water poured into it would be absorbed;

· 250 feet beneath the altar plateau there is a perennial fountain, which, being close to the altar of the Lord, might not have been accessible to the people, and whence, therefore, even in that season of severe drought, Elijah could procure those copious supplies of water which he poured over the altar. The distance between this spring and the site of the altar was short enough as to make it perfectly possible to go three times and back again; whereas it must have been impossible once in an afternoon to fetch water from the sea (Van de Velde, ii., p. 893).[13]

1 Kings 18:36-37 (NASB) 36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. 37 "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again."

· Elijah’s petition (vv. 36–37). Elijah prayed that God would burn the wet wood and the sacrifice. In contrast to the lengthy prayers of Baal’s prophets, consider how short Elijah’s prayer is! Take out your watch, and time it. Ready? Here it is:

o Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel, and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back. (paraphrased for emphasis)

· The differences in Elijah’s prayer and those of the false prophets are obvious. “Baal’s boys” had home-field advantage, but that didn’t matter, for God isn’t bound to a place.

o They prayed longer prayers, but that was of no consequence either. God responded instead to a 30-second, heartfelt prayer.

o They “worked themselves into a feverish pitch in a cacophony of noise and a trail of blood” (House, 1, 2 Kings, 237), but God was not impressed by this bedlam.

o You cannot manipulate God with gimmicks.

§ He was drawn instead to the humble, heartfelt prayer of Elijah. Don’t buy into the practices of Baal’s boys. Believe that God really does hear the prayers of His children when they pray in sincere faith.[14]

Thoughts to Soak on

· His prayer (36–37) further shows his supreme faith at this crucial moment in Israel’s history—a history whose beginnings were recalled by naming Yahweh as the God of Israel’s ancestors. The prayer also shows Elijah’s priorities: his petition that he would be vindicated as Yahweh’s servant is framed by two petitions that Yahweh would be acknowledged as the true God of Israel.[15]

· The simple prayer (cf. v. 24) contrasts with the long Baalistic ravings. He asks not just for a miraculous demonstration that Yahweh is God but for the conversion of Israel. He reminds God of his previous interventions, using ‘Jacob’ for Israel possibly as a term of rebuke for the latter’s apostasy.

· On ‘fire from heaven’ (v. 38) as demonstrating God’s power and judgment, see 2 Kings 1:10, 12; Job 1:16. The people’s acknowledgment (v. 39) is itself an answer to prayer (cf. vv. 21, 24).

· The confrontation between Elijah and Ahab is a clear picture of judgment due to sin. Drought and famine had stricken the land because of the sin and wickedness of both Ahab and the Israelites. Through chastisement or discipline, God was seeking to lead the Israelites to repentance, to arouse them to turn away from lives of wickedness. He was seeking to turn them from false worship and idolatry back to Him.

· So it is with us: when we sin, God chastises us just as a parent does when his or her child misbehaves. Through the chastisement, God hopes to arouse us to turn away from our sin and back to Him.

o If we continue in sin, we will eventually harm ourselves or damage the lives of others.

o Thus, God disciplines us to keep us from destroying ourselves or others. This is the clear teaching of God’s Holy Word:[16]

§ John 15:2 (NASB) 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

§ 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 (NASB) 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

§ Hebrews 12:5-6 (NASB) 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

§ Revelation 3:19 (NASB) 19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

1 Kings 18:38-40 (NASB) 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God." 40 Then 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 slew them there.

· Vs. 38-39: The prayer, with its triple invocation of Yahweh’s name, and its seven rhythmic lines, was no sooner ended than down streamed the lightning and consumed the bullock and the wood and shattered the stones and burned up the dust and licked up the water in the trenches. With one terror-stricken impulse, the people all prostrated themselves on their faces with the cry, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God!” This cry was almost identical with the name of the victorious prophet Elijahu, “Yah, He is my God.” It is after Elijah’s time, and perhaps from his influence, that from this time proper names compounded with Yahweh become almost the rule—as in Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash, Pekahiah, etc.[17]

· Vs. 40: The prophets of Baal had committed the highest crime against the state and the people by introducing idolatry, and bringing down God’s judgments upon the land; therefore, their lives were forfeited to that law which had ordered every idolater to be slain. It seems also that Ahab, who was present, consented to this act of impartial justice.[18]

· This sentence of Elijah’s was in conformity to the law; and Ahab could not dare to deny it. See Deut. 13:1, 2, 5. But it is evident by what follows in the next chapter, that had the sentence have not been executed in the moment, while all Israel were under the impression of this solemn scene, in all probability Baal’s prophets would have escaped.[19]

o The slaughter of the Baal prophets was not an act of wanton cruelty but the necessary retribution, ordered by Elijah as the ‘new Moses’ on behalf of God, against false prophets as decreed in Deuteronomy (13:5, 13–18; 17:2–5) following the action of Moses and Phinehas (Num. 25:1–13). Christians view idolatry as no less sinful, but see total judgment as reserved for the final Day (1 Cor. 6:9; Rev. 20:11–15; 21:8; 22:19). The Kishonis the Nahr el-Muqatta‘ below Carmel. Those who seized the false prophets might include men freed from caves nearby (v. 4) or the people who saw the falsehood of their worship.[20]

Thoughts to Soak on (a minor play on words here)

· Elijah, doubtless, had a special commission from God to put it to this test, otherwise he would have tempted God and affronted religion; but the case was extraordinary, and the judgment upon it would be of use, not only then, but in all ages.

· It is an instance of the courage of Elijah that he dared to stand alone in the cause of God against such powers and numbers; and the issue encourages all God’s witnesses and advocates never to fear the face of man.

· Elijah does not say, “The God that answers by water” (though that was the thing the country needed), but “that answers by fire, let him be God;” because the atonement was to be made by sacrifice, before the judgment could be removed in mercy.

o God therefore that has power to pardon sin, and to signify it by consuming the sin-offering.

o God can relieve us against the calamity. He can give fire can give rain; see Mt. 9:2, 6.[21]

· They needed revival before rain. Revival comes before rain, not rain before revival. Pray for revival in your own life. When your dreams are drenched, the tendency is to doubt and get discouraged. Don’t let this happen to you! You stay close to the Lord! Does God overcome impossible situations or drenched dreams today? You better believe He does[22]

When given a clear opportunity to acknowledge the one true God, we should realize that our silence may indicate the degree of unbelief in our lives.

· When the children of Israel gathered in front of the huge stage at Mount Carmel, Elijah issued a great challenge. In some respects, it was reflective of the challenge Joshua set before the children of Israel—to choose then and there whom they were going to worship (Jos 24:15). The response in Elijah’s case was far different. The audience chose to say nothing (1Kg 18:21), which spoke loudly. They were demonstrating their unbelief.

· Internal conflict is not new, even when we live under God’s grace. The apostle Paul testified to this reality in his own life:

o For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. (Rm 7:19)

o Thankfully, Paul did not stop there. He went on to describe the way out of this ambivalence: living “according to the Spirit” (Rm 8:1–4).

· As Christians, we’ll always struggle to make right decisions. However, these struggles become less frequent and less intense when we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives rather than our sinful flesh. In this sense, we have a great advantage over the children of Israel. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, waiting to empower us when we commit our lives to Him. (See Rm #13: Inner Conflict, p. 1544; Rm #14: The Indwelling Spirit, p. 1545.)[23]

Where do we see Jesus in this passage?

The Sacrifice of Jesus

· Not only the separation from the world, but the sacrifice of Jesus—the sacrifice of Jesus. “And he put the wood in order”—this is … Elijah did this—“and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him [upon] the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood” (1 Kings 18:33).

· Now, what did that sacrifice represent—just a bull upon an altar, just the blood of some animal? No, every Old Testament sacrifice—bloody sacrifice—pointed to Calvary. If you don’t understand that, you’re not going to understand the Bible.

· The Book of Hebrews says, “It’s impossible that the blood of bulls and goats can take away sin” (Hebrews 10:4).

o This was a picture, a prophecy, an illustration, of the Lord Jesus Christ. What it spoke of was the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

· In the Book of the Revelation, we read about a great dragon, and then we read about the saints who go to war against this dragon. And, the Bible says the saints “overcame [the dragon] by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11).

· Do you believe in the power of Calvary? Jesus, when He died upon that cross, said, “Now is the … prince of this world … cast out”—“now is the judgment of this world” (John 12:31). I

· It’s already passed—2,000 years ago. Satan rules a doomed domain. Satan sails a sinking ship. His back is broken by the death, the blood, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

o And, we need to pray in the authority of the shed blood of Jesus Christ and believe that there can be victory in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.[24]

Grace and peace to you this day as you soak on what you have read and pray about sharing it with others😊

[1]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1 Kings, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2003), 194–195. [2]Rod Mattoon, Treasures from 1 Kings, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2003), 288. [3]John J. Davis, “Ahab,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary(Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 36. [4]Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament, vol. 6 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975), 9–10. [5]Lawrence O. Richards, The Teacher’s Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987), 259-260. [6]Kenneth A. Mathews, “The Historical Books,” in Holman Concise Bible Commentary, ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 142. [7]Thomas L. Constable, “1 Kings,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 526. [8]R. E. Neighbour, Wells of Living Water: Old Testament, vol. 4, Wells of Living Water (Union Gospel Press, 1939–1940), 103. [9]Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Responsible, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2002), 136–137. [10]Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 3 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 174. [11]J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: History of Israel (1 and 2 Kings), electronic ed., vol. 13 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 120. [12]Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 1 Ki 18:33–34. [13]Robert Jamieson, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Joshua–Esther, vol. II (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 355. [14]Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 125–126. [15]John J. Bimson, “1 and 2 Kings,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 359. [16]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1 Kings, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2003), 195. [17]Gregory A. Lint, ed., Kings, The Complete Biblical Library: Study Bible (World Library Press, 1997), 1 Ki 18:36–40. [18]Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, New Edition., vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014), 460. [19]Robert Hawker, Poor Man’s Old Testament Commentary: 1 Kings–Esther, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2013), 123. [20]Donald J. Wiseman, 1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 9, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 182–183. [21]Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 510. [22]Rod Mattoon, Treasures from 1 Kings, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2003), 293. [23]Gene A. Getz, Life Essentials Study Bible: Biblical Principles to Live By (B&H, 2011), 1 Ki 18:20–39. [24]Adrian Rogers, “Let the Fire Fall,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), 1 Ki 18:1–39.