Thats why Jesus warned his followers to watch out for all kinds of greed (see Luke 12:15). 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 37Lord, answer my prayer so these people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you will change their minds., 38Then fire from the Lord came down and burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the ground around the altar. 34Then he said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the meat and on the wood. Then Elijah said, Do it again, and they did it again. But every bit of ourselves we give to our stuff we snatch away from our true King. His parables tell of farmers destroyed in the midst of their prosperity because they hoarded wealth and failed to be rich toward God (see vv. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. Excerpted from "Practicing the King's Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give," by Michael Rhodes, Robby Holt and Brian Fikkert. How senseless, how brutish, were they in their addresses to Baal! [4.] 29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. 13Havent you been told what I did? 1. Elijah did not interrupt them, but let them go on till they were tired, and quite despaired of success, which was not till the time of the evening sacrifice,1 Kings 18:29; 1 Kings 18:29. First, the Lord was the true God and men were to worship Him. What he said we are not told; but, 1. Share We have here the meeting between Ahab and Elijah, as bad a king as ever the world was plagued with and as good a prophet as ever the church was blessed with. Even Christ and his apostles were thus misrepresented, Acts 17:6. They just added Baal worship to their insurance policy. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. However, it is put to this experiment, "Let each side prepare a sacrifice, and pray to its God, and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God; if neither shall thus answer, let the people turn Atheists; if both, let them continue to halt between two." [3.] And all the people came near unto him. Dont let any of them run away! The people captured all the prophets. There was one very good man, who was a great man at court, Obadiah, who answered his name--a servant of the Lord, one who feared God and was faithful to him, and yet was steward of the household to Ahab. " By afternoon, worshippers of Baal were cutting themselves up and ripping off their clothes, writhing in unspeakable suicidal frustration.When he called on them to shout and wake up . He turned the hearts of his people back to himself. A little cloud at length appeared, no bigger than a man's hand, which presently overspread the heavens and watered the earth, 1 Kings 18:44; 1 Kings 18:45. There he would be alone. Answer The account of Elijah and the prophets of Baal is recorded in 1 Kings 18. We find that the beast which deceived the world does it. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. But no voice was heard; Baal did not answer, and no one paid attention. 14Now you want me to go and tell my master you are here? Ahab issued out writs accordingly, for the convening of this great assembly (1 Kings 18:20; 1 Kings 18:20), either because he feared Elijah and durst not oppose him (Saul stood in awe of Samuel more than of God), or because he hoped Elijah would bless the land, and speak the word that they might have rain, and upon those terms they would be all at his beck. Follow Christ's journey to the Cross. He would not make use of theirs, which had been polluted with their prayers to Baal, but, finding the ruins of an altar there, which had formerly been used in the service of the Lord, he chose to repair that (1 Kings 18:30; 1 Kings 18:30), to intimate to them that he was not about to introduce any new religion, but to revive the faith and worship of their fathers' God, and reduce them to their first love, their first works. Those that fear God need not go out of the world, bad as it is. 22Elijah said, I am the only prophet of the Lord here, but there are four hundred fifty prophets of Baal. Six times his servant goes to the point of the hill and sees nothing, brings no good news to his master; yet Elijah continues praying, will not be diverted so far as to go and see with his own eyes, but still sends his servant to see if he can discover any hopeful cloud, while he keeps his mind close and intent in prayer, and abides by it, as one that has taken up his father Jacob's resolution, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. 26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. He sent the rain in torrents. This happened seven times. All rights reserved. When they called on their god, nothing happened. I. This is the right method. Pursuant to this order we have here, I. Elijah told him to go and look again. VI. There needed no proof of the fact; all Israel were witnesses of it: and therefore Elijah (acting still by an extraordinary commission, which is not to be drawn into a precedent) orders them all to be slain immediately as the troublers of the land, and Ahab himself is so terrified, for the present, with the fire from heaven, that he dares not oppose it. (4.) 33Elijah put the wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Turn them again to the Lord God of hosts, from whom they have revolted, and all will be well quickly; this must be Elijah's doing. And they did it the third time. 43Then Elijah said to his servant, Go and look toward the sea.. The time was that of Ahab, king of Israel. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. Otherwise, the rain will stop him.. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. Now Elijah shows them the absurdity of this. When we read about the Israelites worshiping the god Baal in 1 Kings 18, we tend to think of them developing a preference for wooden idol images. Note, Though the answer of our fervent and believing supplications may not come quickly, yet we must continue instant in prayer, and not faint nor desist; for at the end it shall speak and not lie. Practicing the King's Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give. And he said, Do it the third time. God, at length, ordered Elijah to present himself to Ahab, because the time had now come when he would send rain upon the earth (1 Kings 18:1; 1 Kings 18:1), or rather upon the land. Perhaps Jezebel persecuted God's prophets under pretence that they were the cause of the judgment, because Elijah had foretold it. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word | . Notice is hereby soon brought to Ahab that Elijah had sent him a challenge to meet him immediately at such a place, and Ahab accepts the challenge: He went to meet Elijah,1 Kings 18:16; 1 Kings 18:16. Even in those bad times, when the calves were worshipped and the temple at Jerusalem deserted, yet there were some good people that feared God and served him, and some good prophets that instructed them in the knowledge of him and assisted them in their devotions. He did not think it enough to fear God himself, but, having wealth and power wherewith to do it, he thought himself obliged to assist and countenance others that feared God; nor did he think his being kind to them would excuse him from being good himself, but he did both, he both feared God greatly himself and patronised those that feared him likewise. But in this chapter his appearance was as public as before his retirement was close; the days appointed for his concealment (which was part of the judgment upon Israel) being finished, he is not commanded to show himself to Ahab, and to expect rain upon the earth, 1 Kings 18:1. God never required his worshippers thus to honour him; but the service of the devil, though in some instances it pleases and pampers the body, yet in other things it is really cruel to it, as in envy and drunkenness. Ahab agrees with the request, but only 450 of the 850 priests (those who serve Baal) accept the challenge and show up (1Kings 18:22). He takes it for granted that Elijah would again withdraw (1 Kings 18:12; 1 Kings 18:12): The Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee (as it is likely he had done sometimes, when Ahab thought he had been sure of him) whither I know not. 3:24). You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. They danced around the altar they had built. Elijah satisfied him that he might with safety deliver this message to Ahab, by assuring him, with an oath, that he would, this very day, present himself to Ahab, 1 Kings 18:15; 1 Kings 18:15. He could not bring them to the altar at Jerusalem unless he could unite the two kingdoms again (which, for correction to both, God designed should not now be done), therefore, by his prophetic authority, he builds an altar on Mount Carmel, and so owns that which had formerly been built there. 1. Let the prophets of Baal choose one bull and kill it and cut it into pieces. hear us, O Baal! English Revised Version Money becomes a spiritual power that too often uses us rather than the other way around. So Elijah issued a challenge. Baal promised the rains, so God sent a drought at the word of his prophet (see 1 Kings 17:1). It was great condescension in God that he would suffer so plain a case to be disputed, and would permit Baal to be a competitor with him; but thus God would have every mouth to be stopped and all flesh to become silent before him. It should seem, he made this diligent search for him, not so much that he might punish him for what he had done in denouncing the judgment as that he might oblige him to undo it again, by recalling the sentence, because he had said it should be according to his word, having such an opinion of him as men foolishly conceive of witches (that, if they can but compel them to bless that which they have bewitched, it will be well again), or such as the king of Moab had of Balaam. He bids Obadiah go and tell the king that he is there to speak with him: Tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is forth-coming, 1 Kings 18:8; 1 Kings 18:8. In the myth, Baal returns to life when the rains come. Ahab had continued fasting all day, either religiously, it being a day of prayer, or for want of leisure, it being a day of great expectation; but now let him eat and rink for, though others perceive no sign of it, Elijah, by faith, hears the sound of abundance of rain,1 Kings 18:41; 1 Kings 18:41. Let us therefore never despise the day of small things, but hope and wait for great things from it. But humans cannot serve two kings. The wind began to blow, and soon a heavy rain began to fall. It is a very bad thing to halt between God and Baal. To this fair proposal of the case, which Elijah here makes, the people knew not what to say: They answered him not a word. You and your fathers family have made all this trouble by not obeying the Lords commands. 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. Blessed are those that have not seen what they saw and yet have believed and been wrought upon by it more than those that saw it. 8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. "As long as God keeps bringing me stories that I can honor him with, to me, it doesn't matter what genre they . Tyrants and persecutors, in their passion, are often unreasonably outrageous, even towards their friends and confidants. And they did it the second time. 10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. New Century Version (NCV). 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