Showdown On The Mountain, Part 1

1 Kings 18:17-29

READ 18:17-19

If you are a hockey fan – there are playoff series that likely stand out in your mind as being particularly intense and memorable. There is no greater series in the history of hockey, than the 1972 Summit Series, between Canada and the Soviet Union. It was the height of the Cold War. Canada was playing the mysterious, foreboding, empire of Evil. It really was a war – between the Western World and freedom – against the Atheist, communist philosophy. It was a battle for supremacy – fought on ice, where the weapons were sticks and pucks.

Life in Canada and the Soviet Union came to a standstill, when the games were on, because these were hockey games, alright – but they were so much more. School classes paused, as kids were ushered into school gyms, gathered around the t.v., cars were pulled over, people huddled around t.v.’s in shop windows. These were more than just sporting contests.

There is no sporting contest in history that can compare with the showdown that takes place in 1 Kings 18, on Mount Carmel in Israel.

Remember the context: It has been 3 years of barrenness - not a drop of rain from the sky - and when the LORD decides the time is right to bring back the rain, He sends Elijah back to King Ahab of Israel, to deliver the news. Ahab is none too happy to see Elijah, which isn’t terribly surprising, since it was at his word that the clouds were sealed and the rain stopped. He had insolently trampled through the palace and dared to speak harshly to royalty - and ever since, it has been nothing but DRY in Israel.

Ahab holds Elijah directly responsible. Verse 17, “Is it YOU .... TROUBLER of Israel?!”

Elijah is having none of the king’s accusation against him. I’m not the trouble of Israel .... that title belongs to YOU, O king. I’m simply God’s spokesman delivering heaven’s messages to you. In fact, YOU are the troublemaker among God’s people. You have turned your back on the God who made this nation and proves for this nation. God makes promises .... He is the One God - sovereign over this universe .... and when you reject Him, of course there are going to be consequences.

You have chosen to worship a completely different God - you’ve entrusted yourself to Baal’s care. THAT’S where the trouble comes from.

There are 2 different worldviews on display. So how do you know which worldview is the right one? Elijah takes charge:

1 Kings 18:19, “Now … send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” “We’re going to decide who’s the troublemaker - because we are going to determine, once and for all, who the real God is.”

Now the stage is set for the drama to come. The way the narrator unfolds the drama is powerful – and I don’t want to wreck it by reading the whole thing first, so we’re going to follow the story as it unfolds. It starts with Elijah’s call, in verses 20-21.

1 ELIJAH’S CALL, vv. 20-21

Elijah says, “This is what we are going to do”, and, v. 20 - Ahab does exactly what he’s told. (I want you to notice, in our text this morning, how passive Ahab is. He’s supposed to be the king, ‘sovereign’ over his country - but he barely says a word. He silently does everything Elijah tells him to do. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be much more than a player with a bit part in this drama – a living example of Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will.”

Elijah says – “let’s gather at Mount Carmel” … so to Mount Carmel we go. This mountain range juts out into the Mediterranean Sea, near the modern day city of Haifa and extends southeast for about 11 miles. See the man of God climb the pathways to the plateau on top. From the perch upon which you now stand, you can see, to the west - the Mediterranean Sea, to the south - the valley of Jezreel, to the east - there is the Jordan river in the distance, the river God parted, led this people through, into the land of promise - and then fought for them against nations bigger and stronger so they could find rest here. To the north - there are the normally, snow-capped peaks of Mount Hermon. All of the plains, hills and valleys of Israel are spread out before you like a table-cloth.

Today, this plateau is crowded with people. A mass of thousands of curious Israelites have made the ascent to watch whatever’s going to happen. This is a big showdown - “The Fight of the Century” - is a schoolyard skirmish compared to a battle of the ‘gods’ over a nation. On one side of the plateau, see the prophets of Baal - religious professionals, with turbaned heads, confidently mingling together - these men have the ear of royalty. They are celebrities in the nation. And there are 450 of them - they make up a small crowd themselves.

The crowd parts, like the LORD parted the Red Sea - a royal procession presses through. The king is being carried in a litter, carried on the shoulders of his secret service, honour guard and surrounded by his top officials. The processions streams through the middle of the crowd and heads straight for the side of Baal’s prophets. That’s the king’s ‘team’.

So there are crowds looking for a show, there is a crowd of opponents, including the king himself - over ‘there’.

And here, on this side, there is one, solitary individual. Elijah the prophet stands alone to represent the LORD of Israel on this mountaintop. Is he afraid? Is he nervous? Does he feel ‘outnumbered’?

Look at v. 21, “Elijah came near to all the people and said ...”. Stop right there. See the lonely man of God walk from his lonely corner - towards the crowd of people that are indifferent towards him, at best and hostile to him - think he’s bringing bad ‘karma’ onto the nation - at worst. He approaches them.

This is no fear. Again, God’s man is taking the initiative, just like God does in a broken world - Elijah CAME NEAR. The buzz of the crowd and the cacophony of noise stops as the man of God clears his throat and speaks.

“Here’s what we’re doing here today - here’s the crux of the issue: You have to make a decision: Which God are you going to worship and serve? You can only choose one.”

And a more timely charge could not be made today than this one. We live in a day when people all around are saying, ‘I have no problem with spirituality. Whatever help you need to get you through the day - whether it’s the Tri-une Christian God, or your horoscope, a little Buddhist thought or some kind of Eastern Philosophy … then go for it. In fact - if one religion is good - then two or three religions MUST be better. And aren’t they all basically teaching the same thing, anyway?’

That’s the mood of our day - and it’s the mood of Elijah’s Israel. “I’ll go make sacrifices to the LORD on the Sabbath and I’ll pop over to the Baal temple on Friday night for some sensual worship with the temple prostitutes. MORE IS ALWAYS BETTER. Well that’s not what I find when I drink too much coffee.

And Elijah says, “More variety isn’t better when it comes to gods, either.”

Let’s read the rest of v. 21, “(Elijah … 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.”

If you’re reading from the NIV here, your translation reads, ‘How long will you WAVER between 2 ...”. That’s not a great translation of this word. The idea here is of someone who’s unsteady on their feet. It’s the word used to describe King Saul’s grandson, Jonathan’s son - Mephibosheth, who was ‘lame in both feet’. It points to someone who is limping - staggering around because they can’t walk properly. It’s someone who can’t stop bumping into things.

You think you can pay lip service to multiple masters and live life to the full - but you can’t. You’re limping around, bruising yourself now - and one day, you’re going to fall on your face, to never get up.

Notice the people’s response, at the end of v. 21, “And the people did … not … answer him … a WORD.” They have no response.

2 ELIJAH’S CHALLENGE, vv. 22-24

In verses 22-24, Elijah presses home his point about choosing ONE God to worship, by issuing a challenge. READ vv. 22-24.

So, on one side, there are 450 prophets of Baal, all on the royal payroll, wearing the finest, most dignified attire that a religious professional looking for status and credibility could ever hope for. Flowing robes - turbans, finely crafted worship implements made from the costliest materials for use in their temples ...

And, on the other side - there is one, solitary, wild-looking wilderness man, named Elijah.

And Elijah is saying, ‘I don’t care about numbers, I don’t care how poor my odds, from a human point of view - we are going to go head-to-head and PROVE which God is TRUE and which one is a fake.’

‘This is how we’re going to do it: Each side gets 1 bull, as a sacrificial offering. Each side will take their bull, cut it in pieces - prepare it, lay it on top of the altar … do everything you need to do to offer up a sacrifice. Everything EXCEPT .... actually light the fire.

And then each side will pray to their respective deity: you pray to Baal; I’ll pray to the LORD - and whichever God answers by sending fire to ignite the sacrifice … well, that’s the real God - you can’t argue with proof and the question will be settled, once and for all.”

Sounds fair. The buzz of the crowd rises again as the people discuss the terms of the contest with each other. The answer comes back quckly: “Sounds fair. Let’s do it.”

Elijah says, “There are more of you than me, so you can go first.” He’s being a gentleman and a great sport here. It’s very sporting of this man of God to let his opponents go first. But it’s also a huge concession!

Remember, this isn’t like extra innings in baseball, or the shootout in hockey - where one side gets a turn and the other side gets to a chance to see if they can keep in the game - this is sudden death - the first fire wins. So if Baal answers here - the contest is over.

Think about what’s going on here: The contest is for fire. First of all, there has been ZERO rain for over 3 years now. The ground, the trees (that are still alive) .... EVERYTHING - is TINDER dry, like the Okanagan of BC on the August long weekend. One lightning strike, one bored kid, playing with a magnifying glass and trying to focus the sun’s light and scorch a grasshopper on the ground … one careless smoker - - there are SO many ways a fire can accidentally start, even WITHOUT any help from Baal. And you know as well as I do, what would happen - victory will be declared and Elijah’s God will come out the loser.

Also - don’t forget that fire is Baal’s specialty. He’s the god who’s depicted carrying a lightning bolt in his hand. He’s the god of fire. This is his specialty. And his prophets get to go first?!

But see Elijah’s confident faith: “You go ahead.”

And that’s exactly what Team Baal does.

3 THE CONTEST – BAAL’S PROPHETS, vv. 25-29

The contest begins in verse 25, with Elijah speaking again: “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.”

I imagine that the people are camped up on this plateau. There’s no way everyone can make their way up this mountain, get all set up - bring up the animals for the sacrifice, have the challenge offered and accepted and then played out, all in one day.

So, the next morning, Baal’s leaders prepare the bull, pile up the driest of the dry wood they can find .... place the pieces of the bull on the altar … and then - they start to pray.

Baal’s prophets begin their prayer meeting - lifting up their voices to the god of lightning and fire.

“Baal, would you send us some fire … please?” Nothing. that’s okay - they’re just getting warmed up. They clear their throats and pray a little louder:

“Baal … fire … please!” Nothing.

They keep praying. There are 450 religious professionals, all begging their god for the same thing - hear the volume building: “BAAL - we need some FIRE! Baal, please answer us!” The prayers keep rising.

Verse 26 tells us that they pray all the way to lunch time. And what’s the result? READ v. 26. Look at the middle of v. 26, “But there was no voice … and no one answered.”

So the men of Baal keep on pursuing their god’s blessing. Notice the end of v. 26: “And they LIMPED around the altar that they had made.”

There’s that word again. Remember, v. 21, Elijah asked how long the people will choose to keep LIMPING around between 2 gods. Here are the leaders of the state religion of Baal worship .... limping around, hobbling as they beg their god to hear them and respond.

There’s a contrast here that I don’t want you to miss. The picture here reminding us of a few generations earlier, when King David is transferring the ark of the covenant up to its new, permanent home in Jerusalem.

It’s a momentous time - there’s a grand celebration, a parade of worship. The ark is the symbol of the Living God’s presence, living WITH His people - he dictated every part of its construction - and inside the ark are the 2 tablets of stone containing the 10 commandments that God wrote with his own finger, as it were - and gave to the people to guide their life.

David has taken Jerusalem as his capitol - the holy city - and the ark is coming home. David leads the procession - and as he does - he is ‘dancing before the LORD with all of his might.”

It’s a picture of absolute delight and joy in the presence of the living God. David DANCED … and here are the 450 prophets of Baal .... hobbling around the altar they had made, out of their own imagination, with their own puny hands.

And all they get in return is heaven’s silence. There is nothing. There’s no joy here.

Well, Elijah is a good sport - he let the other team go first, after all. But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t above a little holy sarcasm. If you don’t think that God has a sense of humour, then you haven’t read 1 Kings 18.

The clock strikes noon. Elijah opens his lunchbag and eats his sandwich, gets his blood-sugar back up … then he starts to mock the other team. Trash-talking is what he’s doing here.

Look at v. 27 - READ.

“Shout a little louder! Baal is a GOD, after all! Surely he has the power to answer you … there must be a perfectly good explanation for his silence.

Maybe he’s ‘musing’ - caught up in deep ‘god-thoughts’.” That’s one guess. I mean, being a god – with all the responsibilities of running a world – why you must have a LOT of thing on your mind.

Or, Elijah says, ‘maybe he’s relieving himself.’ If you are reading from the NIV, you’re not getting the full picture here. The NIV says, maybe Baal is ‘busy’ - that’s a euphemism. The Hebrew word Elijah’s using suggests that Baal is in the bathroom - doing his business.

And as I say that, I can hear my mom, scolding me as a kid - “Please, don’t use toilet talk”. Okay mom - but it’s not me - this is God’s word. And God’s spokesman is suggesting that Baal isn’t answering the passionate prayers of his people, because he’s sitting on a toilet. And that’s not an unreasonable guess - there are some people who take forever in the bathroom.

“Maybe he’s on a journey”- that’s the next option. “He might be out of town and outside of cell-coverage” - Elijah says. After all, according to Canaanite religion, Baal took a trip, every year, to the grave and down to the underworld for his annual death.

Or maybe he’s not dead. The end of v. 27, Elijah says, “perhaps he’s asleep and he must be awakened.” “So just call a little louder!”

This verse reminds me of the end of the Wizard of Oz - when Dorothy and her friends reach the Emerald City, they hear the voice of THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE OZ. At first they’re terrified of him - everyone is, with his booming, thunderous voice. But then Dorothy’s little dog Toto, pulls back the curtain and the great wizard is revealed to be a little old man with a megaphone. “Where’s the beef?”

Elijah pulls back the curtain - and exposes Baal as a fraud and a huckster too.

Team Baal doesn’t see that though. What do they do? Well, v. 28 tells us: “And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.”

More obedience to Elijah. God’s solitary prophet tells them they should cry aloud - and the team of 450 - obey him: they ‘cry louder’.

But voices alone clearly aren’t enough to get the attention of their god - so out, come the weapons. If our voices won’t get Baal’s attention - maybe he will take pity on us in our suffering.

And as the camera pans across the field of combat on Mt. Carmel’s plateau - you see the crowd watching in eager anticipation, you see the king desperate for vindication of his choice of national religion, you see Elijah, standing on his side of the field, shooting his verbal arrows of mockery

.... and you see the leaders of the Baal religion - they’ve pulled out their swords and other deadly weapons - not to attack an enemy in battle

… but to attack themselves. Hoping that enough self-inflicted suffering will get an answer from their god.

What a tragic, tragic picture. See the macabre scene … once-dignified professionals, dressed in clerical clothes designed to impress … now with flesh torn open, bodies battered, blood flowing from open wounds, voices wailing, limping hobbling dance - on and on and on for hour after hour after hour. This is a pathetic sight.

Verse 29, “And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation”… (all the way until twilight’s evening sacrifice), but there was no voice. No one answered; NO ONE PAID ATTENTION.”

“There was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.”

And the curtain closes on the heartbreaking scene.

This is a perfect picture of every religious pathway outside of faith in Jesus Christ. You wonder how I can say that?

I say that because no other religious pathway is about a holy God making a way for relationship … every other pathway is about trying to get the attention of a distant deity.

As long as you don’t need anything - that may seem appealing - there’s no holy God meddling in your business – claiming your life, invading it – refusing to allow you to put Him in your little ‘religion box’. As long as you don’t need anything - you’re in control - building your life, deciding your dreams and chasing them as you see fit – a build yourself religion sounds perfect.

But, when you’re NOT in control - when your health is gone, when your job is lost, when your emotions are shot and when the guilt of your sin is overwhelming … when you need a rescue

… where are you going to find it?

Not in Islam. Allah is watching you and checking his list to see how you measure up - he’s there to observe – he’s not there to rescue.

Not in Buddhism or Eastern religion, or self-help .... It’s all on you - you need to think better and choose better so you can live better. When you need a rescue - the heaven’s are silent and you are left … alone.

Some of you are thinking right now: But I don’t really believe in any religion. I think all religions are the same - they’re all just fantasies made up by silly men with their need for a Santa Claus in the sky. I don’t believe in God, at all.

Oh but friend, you do - you do believe in a God. We all do. Whatever you treasure, whatever you organize your life around, whatever it is that gets you out of bed in the morning and gives you purpose for the day - that’s your God.

I was visiting with someone this week, and they showed me a music album that recently came out. The album is titled, “Music for Scientists”.

I can see a market for an album like that - more and more people I see on Social Media are declaring: “I don’t believe in gods - I believe in science. Science will lead us. Follow the scientists - wherever they lead.”

Well, if you think that there is no romance in atheism, let me assure you there is. The very first song on the album, is a love song. I listened to it – and the music starts wistfully – it’s quite romantic, actually. The name of the song is, ‘For Your Love’.

“We’re here to say we love you for your love of the truth. For your love of the truth. Yeah, we love you for your love of the truth. For the truth.

You follow the data where it may go, Let it rattle the status quo, Yeah this journey began long ago, to push the boundaries of what we know.”

Can you picture a soft, candlelit dinner for two, with this playing in the background?

If you would like something with a little more ‘feeling’ - there’s another song, titled, ‘The Weight of Entropy’. “Entropy”, as the Mirriam Webster dictionary puts it, is: ‘a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder.” It’s the tendency in the universe – towards decay. Here are some of the lyrics to this song of ‘mood-music’:

“I want to know what it means. Reach the underlying theme. Of entropy. I want to see my father’s eyes, Just a moment of quiet life, But that won’t be. Entropy.

Must the universe dissipate? Is darkness the only fate of everything? Disorder will always grow. The second law will always show. Probabilities lead to the end of heat.

I want to hold my mother’s hands, I want to see my brothers again, But that won’t be. Entropy.”

Doesn’t that song just make you want to bound out of bed in the morning and face the day with hope?

The heavens are silent - and you have no hope.

CS Lewis was an aggressive atheist, in his early years. He thought that science made it impossible to believe in God - and that suffering made it hard to take belief in God seriously.

Lewis served in the British Army during the First World War and was badly injured in battle. That experience left him angry at God and appalled that anyone could believe in a God who allowed such suffering and destruction to happen.

But then he found himself increasingly caught in a tension of inconsistency: He wanted to be angry at God … but being an atheist - there was no God to be angry with. Lewis came to the point where he realized that if he wanted to be true to his convictions - he couldn’t be angry at a God who didn’t exist … and that left him with the hard, but consistent conclusion that in a world without God - suffering in a time of war is produced by human beings on their own. Heaven is empty – there’s nobody in charge but us.

In his autobiography, “Surprised by Joy”: he tries to describe his intellectual dilemma as an atheist – an atheist who’s beginning to have doubts about his own faith – who’s not sure, but feels that his reason is saying there’s a very limited world – and that’s not very satisfying.

But there’s another part of him that’s saying, ‘There has to be MORE than this. There’s something beyond the horizon, something we can’t examine in a test tube – but it’s real and is pointing to its existence, begging you to reach out and embrace it.

“On the one side a many islanded sea of poetry and myth .... on the other side, a glib and shallow rationalism. Nearly all that I loved I believed to be imaginary; nearly all I believed to be real, I thought grim and meaningless.” Ultimately he came to see Jesus Christ and the Christian faith - as a ‘BIG PICTURE’ – in other words – a way of salvation, but also a way of seeing reality as it is – that makes sense of science and imagination – and purpose and love.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. not only because I see IT, but because BY IT - I see everything else.”

Oh the difference that Jesus Christ makes: He is the ULTIMATE proof that God is no distant, disinterested Deity.

Look back at v. 21again: “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you go limping between 2 different opinions?’”If you read that quickly, your eyes may slide right past something important right in front of you. ELIJAH CAME NEAR to the people.

That’s huge. Nobody else comes near to the people on this mountain. The king summons the people. He gathers the prophets. The people gather together on the mountain … but Elijah … COMES NEAR.

I see here a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Elijah is God’s spokesman - he represents the living God to His people - and while lifeless Baal can’t hear a thing, let alone do anything to help … God comes near to His people, in the person of Elijah. And He comes near, holding out hope to a foolish, rebellious people - calling them to life! “How long will you keep on stumbling?! Come and find life where life can be found - in worshiping the God of life.” “How long will you keep stumbling?”

Any foolish rebels here today? “Elijah came near”. But this prophet is just a pale, human shadow of Who is to Come. The Bible says, “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Eternal Son to this world.”

In the New Testament, the prologue to the Gospel of John spells out the wonder of the Incarnation so beautifully. The Gospel begins: (John 1:1-5) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

READ vv. 6-14

My heart goes out to those who are living like modern-day Baal worshipers – trying to set your own religious path – trying to get God’s attention by your striving and toiling … or trying to mix your Christian faith – Christ …PLUS – Christ PLUS – wealth; Christ PLUS Sensuality; Christ PLUS fitting in with culture …. CHRIST PLUS anything else, will leave you stumbling and bloodied and wearied.

Let me invite you to look to Christ ALONE – In Him God CAME NEAR to rescue you. He. Loves. You.