There Can Be Only One

Introduction

I often wonder what it looked like to have a prophet speak on behalf of God to the people. It is true that now a days people are prophetically calling people to repentance from their sin. But if a prophet where to call our culture out for worshipping God and something else what would be the work or display that would happen.

I often wonder if our lack of dependence upon God would be called into question.

1 Kings 18:20–40 ESV

20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown 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 came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” 32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 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 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. 36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that 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 hearts back.” 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 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

The Throw Down Decided

Elijah has seen enough of Israel riding the fence. Remember his name means “My God is Yahweh.” His life is about worshipping God alone and not straying from that call. But the King of Israel has led the people to worship God and Baal. And enough is enough, a throw down is about to happen. God verses Baal in a cage match. One prophet of God verses the 450 prophets of Baal.

Elijah is irritated, flaming with zeal for God. He cannot handle the lack of passion the people have for God. He words the challenge this way:

“The challenge ‘How long will you go on limping (waver) between two opnions?’ can be interpreted also as hobbling between two forks (denoting tree branches or crossroads, or even crutches). The english idiom to ‘sit on the fence.’”

“The people are noncommittal at best. They “limp” along without conviction, wanting to follow halfheartedly one god or the other.”

As we hear the words that the people are non committal about God, they are half hearted, what do we envision their lives looked like?

They worked, they raised families, they spent time at the temple of God as well as the worship place of Baal. Family get together occured, and I wonder who they prayed to as they ate?

I imagine that their lives looked like most of ours. But what is it that we gravitate to for worship if it is not God. When I hear a word like half hearted I hear a word that could describe my worship of God on a given day. I spent time this week trying to see how I am just like the people of Israel.

For me, my own self sufficiency could be the Baal I run to. I take pride in being able to handle most anything on my own strength. Perhaps it could be my ability to reason and process through situations, instead of prayer, there are times that I can run through pro and con lists, risk analysis, and potential solutions quickly.

To diagnose how I am like Israel I contemplated on what I run to instead of prayer. I thought throw what sources of wisdom to I look to instead of Scripture. I also thought about what I gravitate towards when things are going well, what do I think about and what do I spend my time doing. Then I thought about the rough times and what habits of mind and action do I switch to.

Where are you on this?

What stands out to me about Elijah’s question is the accusation of a lack of conviction inherent in the wording. Why do you limp between. Why do you not have any conviction?

“Only Elijah and ironically, the prophets of Baal have any conviction.”

I wonder what convictions the people of Israel would have claimed to have had…love of country, love of God, love of family, love of freedom to pursue work and hobbies...

But their lives declared a lack of conviction. What conviction does your life declare? Is that the conviction you want your life to declare? How do you change that?

What if your conviction more matches the prophets of Baal? What if you are super passionate and live your life for the an idol or false truth.

So the throw down was happening at Mount Carmel. This is the same place where King Saul set up a monument after the defeat of the Amalakites. It is a place that King David visited and was disrespected. it was a fruitful and meaningful place.

Each group of worshippers was to take a bull prepare it for a burnt offering, but do not light the sacrifice on fire. Rather the deity who answers the prayer of either group will prove who is truly God.

“As the storm god Baal was thought to be responsible for lightening as well as rain, so this should be an easy contest.”

Vain Efforts

So the prophets of Baal choose the bull for their offering and prepare it. Then they began in the morning calling out to Baal. They prayed and prayed and prayed fervently for hours.

I am trying to imagine the conviction it takes to believe in Baal and how much conviction it would take to cry out for hours to a deity who may or may not answer. From what I have seen and studied, God is the only one who spoke to his prophets.

After this display of crying out for hours, Elijah begins to mock Baal. The first mock Elijah says cry louder…perhaps he cannot hear. Then

“Elijah’s lofty conception of God virtually excludes all other objects of worship and makes all the gods idols. Elijah apparently proved by his action that he believed the God of Israel not to be limited by the territory of Israel, and he demonstrated that God can perform miracles in Phoenicia as well, thus showing his belief in a universal deity.”

“Was Baal asleep and Yahweh was not?”

One Remains

“In pouring the water Elijah was just ‘loading the dice against himself’ as a guarantee against fraud.”

“This prayer incorporates concern then, for God’s reputation, the validity of the prophet’s work, and for the people’s well-being.”

What is your Baal? What is it that is causing you to flip flop between faith in God and faith in this other thing, deity, or possession?