The Prayer Experience - 6

God Vs. Baal

So far we have seen God work in and through Elijah, first Elijah boldly stated to Ahab that there would be no rain or dew for a period of time.

Then Elijah’s supplies were running out in the valley he was staying in, and God led him to go to Zarephath.

There in Zarephath, Elijah meet a widow with a young son, God led him to have the widow prepare him some food.

The city Zarephath was center for Baal worship.

The widow tells Elijah, she only had enough flour and oil for one more thing of bread.

Elijah tells her to make him some bread first, and then for herself and her son, and the flour and oil would not run out.

Things happen just like she was told, Elijah stays with her for some time, and then her son dies, but Elijah takes him up to his room and prays three times for him and he comes back to life.

Last week we see that time was coming for God to send rain, and God instructs Elijah to go and speak to Ahab.

As Elijah is heading to meet Ahab, he runs into Obadiah, who was considered a prophet, but was more of a teacher, then a prophet like Elijah, Obadiah was also in charge of Ahab’s palace.

Elijah tells Obadiah to go and get Ahab, but Obadiah was concerned that Elijah would not be there when he got back with King Ahab, and that he would be killed.

Elijah promises that he would be there, and when Ahab sees Elijah he says that Elijah is the troubler of Israel.

Elijah tells Ahab, that him and his father are the troublers of Israel, because they have brought in the pagan gods.

We pick up tonight in verse 19.

1 Kings 18:19 CSB

19 Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Jezebel is Ahab’s wife and it was her that convinced Ahab to bring in these pagan gods.

Elijah calls for all of Israel, he wanted all the Israelites to witness what was about to take place.

All of Israel was not necessarily man, woman, and children, but probably more the elders and leaders of each tribe.

Elijah also called for the false prophets of Baal and Asherah to come also, and they would all meet at Mount Carmel.

We are told that there were 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.

That is a large number of false prophets, and we are told that they eat at Jezebel’s table.

Looking at this from a cultural standpoint, it was not meaning that they actually eat at the same table as Jezebel, but that they were fed by her bounty.

She supplied the food for them to eat.

That is 850 false prophets that were being fed by Jezebel, that is a large amount of food, and they have been in a drought and famine going on for three years.

Ahab had agreed to this and we are told in

1 Kings 18:20 CSB

20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel.

Ahab was the king of Israel, and had the authority to summons all the people to Mount Carmel.

When thinking of gathering the elders of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, plus the 850 false prophets it probably took a few days.

Once all the elders of the tribes of Israel get to Mount Carmel, Elijah has something to say to them.

1 Kings 18:21 CSB

21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

Elijah was not so much concerned with Ahab, but with the people of the Lord, that is the Israelites.

His objective was not to probe that Ahab was the troubler of Israel and not himself.

His goal was to prove that Jehovah, the Lord God, was the true God and not Baal.

Elijah asks the leaders of Israel how long will you waver between two opinions?

He calls on the people to follow God or Baal, whoever they believe is God, but as Jesus says in Matthew 6:24

Matthew 6:24 CSB

24 “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Elijah wants the Israelites to make up their minds, God had shown them over and over throughout the history of the nation of Israel who was the true God, but time after time, they turned to pagan gods.

The people see Elijah on ones side of this battle and the king and the pagan prophets on the other side, and they do not answer or say anything to Elijah.

1 Kings 18:22 CSB

22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.

Elijah was not saying that the 100 prophets that Obadiah was hiding in the caves had been discovered and slaughtered, but that he was the only prophet there that day representing the one true God.

The 100 prophets in hiding were not there to stand with Elijah, but Baal had 450 prophets there representing the pagan religion.

The odds were against Elijah when looking at it from a human perspective, but it had nothing to do with the human perspective, this was a spiritual war.

Elijah then presents how they will determine who is the one true living God.

1 Kings 18:23–24 CSB

23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, he is God.” All the people answered, “That’s fine.”

Elijah tells the Israelites to bring two bulls, Baal’s prophets will take one and present it for a burnt offering, and he will present one as a burnt offering.

Then the prophets, will call on their respective god to bring fire for the burnt offering.

Which ever god sends the fire will be known as the one true God.

Baal was considered the sun-god and had authority over the elements and forces of nature.

One might have thought that rain would have been expected as the sign of which God is the true God, as they have been through this long drought.

But rain would not be given until the Lord had first been recognized as God.

All the people agreed that this was a good test.

That is they accepted Elijah’s proposition.

Elijah then turns to the Baal prophets.

1 Kings 18:25 CSB

25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”

Elijah is out numbered, but he gives the Baal prophets the opportunity to go first.

They had that advantage of choosing which bull to use, prepare it, and place it on the altar.

The Baal prophets were then to call on Baal to provide the fire, they were not to light the fire for the burnt offering.

1 Kings 18:26–29 CSB

26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.

The Baal prophet proceed, choosing the bull, preparing it, placing it on the altar.

The 450 Baal prophets begin praying, this went on from morning to noon.

After calling on Baal and receiving no answer the prophets begin dancing around the altar.

At noon Elijah begins to mock the Baal prophets, tell them to shout really loud, Baal may be busy or asleep.

The Baal prophets pulling at all the straws, begin to shout loudly hoping they would get an answer.

This did not work so they went even more extreme, beginning to cut themselves.

The Baal prophets have called upon Baal from morning to the evening sacrifice.

The evening sacrifice was at the ninth hour which would be around 3 p.m.

Elijah has given the Baal prophets as much time as they needed, but nothing was happening.

The Baal prophets were not making any progress.

Now it was time for Elijah to reveal the one true God.

1 Kings 18:30–35 CSB

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that 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 will be your name”—32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. 33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

Elijah then calls the people to turn their attention towards him.

Here we see Elijah preparing the altar of the Lord, it had been torn down, but Elijah builds it back.

He not only builds this altar back, but digs a trench around the altar.

He then places the wood on the altar, cuts the bull into pieces and lays them on the altar.

Elijah then calls for four barrels of water, and he pours the water over the bull, the wood, and the altar.

He does not stop there he calls, for another round of water that he then pours over the altar.

He then calls for a third round of water, adding up to twelve barrels of water.

The water has ran down over the wood and altar and has filled the trench that Elijah has dug.

The point in drenching the wood and altar with water was to exclude any suspicion of fraud.

No one wanting to build a fire, takes and drenches the wood before trying to light it, but that is exactly what Elijah has done here.

Now that everything has been prepared, Elijah prays.

1 Kings 18:36–39 CSB

36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the 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. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”

Elijah has soaked the altar with water, then he approaches the altar and prays.

Elijah calls on the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.

Elijah calls on God to make it know that He is the one true God, and that Elijah is a servant of that one true God.

Elijah does not ask God to provide the fire, he does not ask God to make Elijah known, but that the Israelites would known that God was Lord of all.

Elijah does not stop there, he does not stop at the people just knowing that God was Lord over all, but asks God to turn their hearts back to God.

As I think of this, I do not pray that God makes a name for me, or even for this church, but that God is exalted, and that people will be drawn to God for salvation because of what God is doing here.

Verse 38, we are told that the Lord’s fire fell, it was not Elijah’s fire, or Baal’s fire, but fire from the Lord God.

This fire did not fall and just ignite the wood that had been soaked with water, but it consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, the dust and the water.

This fire was greater than anything any of them had ever witnessed before.

The fire was so powerful that no one could say that Elijah did it, or anyone else, it was not some kind of trick, but that this fire was from the one true God that had control over all things.

When the people seen this fire come down they fell on their faces.

The people have recognized who the one true God was, and they fall in an attitude of respect and reverence.

They then say, the Lord, that is Jehovah is God, and then they repeat it again that the Lord, He is the God.

Now the outcome, or the consequences of the contest.

1 Kings 18:40 CSB

40 Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there.

As the people recognize God as the one true God.

Elijah calls on the prophets of Baal to be seized, he wants them caught and arrested so to speak.

Elijah then takes the 450 Baal prophets down the Wadi and slaughters them there.

God had warned against this very issue, of allowing pagan gods to come into the nation of Israel.

Deuteronomy 7:3–5 CSB

3 You must not intermarry with them, and you must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will swiftly destroy you. 5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their carved images.

When we allow a foot hold, such as what God warns here in Deuteronomy, when that pagan god comes in people begin to turn away from the one true God.

It happened numerous times to the nation of Israel.

Now that God has proven to the nation of Israel that He was the one true God the pagan gods and all that is connected to them must be destroyed.

We are also told about this in Exodus 22:20

Exodus 22:20 CSB

20 “Whoever sacrifices to any gods, except the Lord alone, is to be set apart for destruction.

We must be grounded in our faith in God, our belief in what the Bible teaches, as Satan is wondering the earth ready to devour.

Satan will use anything he can to get people to not follow God, if we are led astray, then we are not doing what God has called us to do.

See God had called the Israelites to show His love to the world, but because they had turned to pagan gods they were not doing what God had called them too.

We have also been called to show the love of God to the world, and we must remain faithful to God, trusting and following Him.

We cannot allow pagan/false gods to cause us to get distracted from the work that God has called us too.

We must keep our eyes focused on Jesus.