Word of Encouragement (05/21/2024)

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." (1 Kings 18:36-37)

This prayer of Elijah’s is from the famous incident at Mount Carmel—the battle between the prophets of Baal and Asherah and Eljah, the prophet of YHWH. The pagan prophets spent the whole morning past midday, praying to their god and goddess to send down a fire from heaven to consume their sacrifice. They cried out, they danced, and they even cut themselves with swords and lances. But there was no response. When they finally gave up, exhausted and bloody, Elijah gathered the people around him. After mending the altar of the LORD that had been destroyed, setting up twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel, putting the bull that had been cut up for sacrifice, and ordering four jars of water to be thrown on the altar and sacrifice three times(!), Elijah prayed this prayer.

We can see how Elijah is taunting the pagan prophets. Not only was the battle between 450 prophets of Baal and just Elijah on YHWH’s side, but Elijah also ordered the altar with the sacrifice for YHWH to be drenched with water. The fire to consume the sacrifice could not be any fire made by men; it had to be a supernatural fire that was so strong that no amount of water could put it out. Elijah was confident in God’s power to do far beyond what man could ask or imagine.

Was Elijah testing God by having water poured on the altar? Not if the LORD instructed him to do so. The narrative does not mention it, of course. But a narrative does not have to mention everything to tell the story, especially if it is not pertinent to the purpose of the story or if it can be easily deduced from the rest of the story. Sometimes, in a movie, we see a character whispering to another—often a secret scheme—but we can’t hear what he is saying. But as the plot unfolds, we find out what the content of his whisper was. At the beginning of this chapter, we are told, “After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, ‘Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth’” (v. 1). No instruction about this battle of the prophets is mentioned. Either this whole thing was devised by Elijah, or it was included in God’s instruction (even though we were not told at the outset). I think the latter is more likely.

We can see the powerful effect of a lively faith in God’s word. It was no small thing to go against 450 prophets of Baal all alone. On top of that, Elijah had a ton of water poured upon the altar. But it didn’t matter in the end. If your faith is in the one and only true God, if you are carrying out His command, does it matter how many falls prophets come against you? As Frederick Douglas said, “One and God make a majority.” If God is for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)? Surely, no obstacle can stop the advance of someone who by faith is carrying out God’s command! God put Elijah in a situation where all earthly advantages and methods are removed so that God’s work might be unmistakably clear. Because Elijah was able to grasp the spiritual reality of God and His power, he could face the prophets of Baal without any fear. May the Lord open our eyes and show the immeasurable advantage we have because we are on God’s side!