The Battle

Introduction

Recap Series

Announcement of no rain

Time alone at the wadi

Traveling to the Widow

Raising the Widow’s son from the dead

Going to fast forward a little bit

Today - The Battle!

Fighting is something that people do not necessarily like to do

there are some boxers who love it

but most people do not want to be in a physical fight with somebody

but if I learned anything from when I was a kid, everybody like to watch

they would even encourage it

Today we are going to look at one of if not the most epic battle in the Bible

I say Epic because of the amount of people that were there

Epic because of the notoriety, there was probably well over a thousand people there

most of all, epic for what it means…

1 Kings 18:20–40 CSB

20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 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. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 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.” 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.” 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. 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. 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!” 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.

PRAY!

Retell the story, start with the part that we skipped…

God tells Elijah to go back to Ahab

Elijah throws out a challenge…

450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of Ashera (female companion god of Baal)

No sign of Ahab not thinking that this is a good idea… and all the prophets show up, along with a lot of the people of Israel

now, this is not every citizen, but the prominent people of Israel

Elijah gives them the ground rules

we both get a bull… you have your altar, and I will have mine

whichever God sets the altar on fire wins

everyone agrees…

False prophets go first

they try everything… crying out, dancing, cutting…

Elijah mocks them…

dance more provocatively, cry out louder, cut deeper

maybe he is not paying attention, maybe he busy, maybe he is sleeping, maybe he is relieving himself

these may sound a little funny to us, but to assign a human characteristic to a god was simply insulting

this goes on for hours upon hours

Then it is Elijah’s turn

he builds the altar of the Lord

does not use the one for Baal, he is going to show who is God

he gets twelves stones, representing the twelve tribes of the unified Israel,

reminding the people, of what God has done for them

that they are God’s people

he pours water on it…

making sure that everyone knew that this was a miracle, not just some magic trick

if you are wondering, 3 1/2 years of drought, where did this water come from, Mt. Carmel is near the Mediterranean Sea

sea water was readily available, not drinkable, but it could wet down an altar that you wanted to set on fire real well

He prays…

v 37 - so that these people will know that you are God

then the fire that so many thought would come from Baal, come crashing down onto the altar of the Lord

so intense the sacrifice, the water and the altar are consumed

The false prophet are killed

I know this sounds harsh to us

remember, this goes back to what God asked the Israelites to do when they entered the promise land

remove the nations that worship false gods

this was a cancer that had creeped into the nation of Israel because they refused to do it long ago

they did not need to just acknowledge the problem, they needed this cancerous tumor removed

The True Battle

Fighting is contagious

you can be in the middle of one without even realizing it

really easy online, you can make a comment that you thought was innocent and then all of the sudden, BOOM!

The media in our country make a lot of money on you being upset and ready to fight

we now see people of other political stripes as our enemy, or an enemy to our country

1 Kings 18:20 CSB

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

1 Kings 18:22–24 CSB

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

Who the battle was not against…

it was not against Ahab and Elijah

it was not against the false prophets and Elijah

it was not against the people of Israel and Elijah

This battle was between the false god Baal and the Lord God

this was not so that one people could brag that they won

this is so that all people who know who the true God is

It is the same for us

but do not be confused by this...

it would be easy for us to look around in our nation and say, “with all the trouble we have, our nation needs to know who the true God is!”

this battle is not for a nation, but for a heart

the true battle right now is who the real God of your life?

what false gods do you have in your life

idols or anything that you love and worship more than the Lord himself

The true battle is the the battle between God and evil, false gods that both want your heart

one to love you, free you and give you life

the other to bind you to your sin and lead you to an eternal death

The Battle has no Spectators

When I was a kid and people were fighting, there were always spectators

even today, the pay per view industry of professional fighting is a million dollar industry

there was a UFC fight last week that cost $65 to watch it on TV from your own living room

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.

This is a fascinating way of phasing this

it is not simply choose who you are going to follow

the original language is basically saying that they are leaning on two things

think crutches, as in people are dabbling a little in both faiths, or religions

as if, if they go through the motions in both, whichever is the right God they will be good

God does not want your worthless little sacrifices… he wants your heart and devotion

1 Kings 18:30–32 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.

When this battle is over they are going to know and there is no way they can simply walk away and say, oh that was a good fight

what an entertaining battle, glad they won, that is really who I was rooting for

God is the one who battles, but he has chosen to do this through his children

you are to put on the full amour of God and prepare yourself or battle… everyday

The Battle is Never to Big for God

Elijah was outnumbered

450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of Ashera (the female companion god of Baal)

the King of Israel

all the people of Israel who did not seem to have a big problem with whoever won this battle

but notice that these are all earthly problems or obstacles that we see

1 Kings 18:36–40 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!” 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.

Oh, don’t you see, there is nothing impossible with God

there is no enemy that can threaten him

there is no obstacle that is challenging to him

What we must realize, is that the battle is already won

the grave has been defeated by the work that Jesus did on the cross

He cried out, it is finished!

the veil was torn and you who were dead are now alive!

if God can bring the dead soul to life, there is nothing in your life that he cannot overcome