Fire, Water, and 450 Guys: A Peek at Elijah Part 1

     When I crawled into bed after midnight recently, the house was quiet, and all the lights in the house were turned off except mine.  I had several ideas I was "chewing" on and praying about, hoping that God would shed more light on them.  In the midnight stillness, I felt led to grab my Bible and open to 1 Kings, where I stayed into the wee morning hours as God showed an example of unbelievable -- almost ridiculous -- faith.  

     Elijah's finest hour comes in 1 Kings 18, after three years of drought.  God told Elijah to show himself to King Ahab, and then God would send the rain.  

     Elijah does as he's told . . . and then challenges Ahab to a face-off -- my God vs. your god.  However, the text doesn't indicate that God specifically told Elijah to do this!  But 450 prophets of Baal assemble at Mount Carmel, along with a huge crowd of people.  Elijah rebukes the people for sitting on the fence and tells them they must jump off one way or another -- would they serve God or serve Baal?  

     Elijah then faces the 450 prophets of Baal and tells them to sacrifice a bull and lay it on an altar, but to not set it on fire.  He would do the same.  "'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.'" (vs. 24) 

     The prophets of Baal sacrificed a bull, laid it on their altar, and then spend hours crying out to Baal, begging him to answer.  No answer.  They begged him to send fire.  No answer.  More pleading.  No answer.  "And at noon Elijah mocked then, 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.'  And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.  And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation [evening worship], but there was no voice.  No one answered; no one paid attention." (vs.27-29)

     Finally, Elijah said, my turn.  At Mount Carmel, there was an altar to the Lord that had been torn down.  Elijah began to rebuild it in a very special way.  "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,' and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD." (vs. 31-32a)  

     Let's stop right there, because this is worth noting.  Elijah built that altar with stones that symbolized GOD'S PROMISE to Israel.  That altar's very foundation was a promise.  Elijah knew that God had promised to come through for Israel and that He would make good on that.  Elijah knew that God is good, and God is faithful.  Elijah was banking on history repeating itself. 

     Since this blog came from the idea of Gideon, let's go back there for a second.  Food for thought: when Gideon and his 300 men faced Midian, the odds were 450 to 1.  What were the odds for Elijah and the prophets of Baal?  Yep.  450 to 1.  I'm indebted to Pastor Cliff Johnson for pointing this out.

     "And [Elijah] made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed.  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.'"

This is insane.  Water aside, Elijah just said, "the burnt offering."  It's not burnt! . . . Yet.  Elijah spoke in faith, but the prophets of Baal must've been snickering, if they hadn't already passed out from all that blood loss. >:)

     But pour water over the offering?  Good grief, why?!  Yet he commands that it be done again!  And again!  Twelve large jars of water were dumped over this altar.  It's like Elijah intentionally made it twelve times harder for God to come through -- twelve times more impossible! Or did he?

     You see, although God may not have commanded Elijah to organize this "showdown of the Gods," I believe He was delighted in Elijah's faith.  If I were Elijah, my heart would have been banging against my chest as I prayed desperately for God to come through, all the time fearing that He would not . . . . Perhaps God wanted to move and act in an entirely different way than I wanted.  I'd be afraid of bringing shame upon God's name by pushing my own agenda on the possibility that God wouldn't come through.  Wouldn't I be giving God a bad rep?  

     Honestly, this is how we think.  But understand this: God can take care of His own reputation.  You do your part, make sure you're in line with His will, and step out in faith -- don't worry about embarrassing yourself or embarrassing God.  You can't. 

     "At the time of the offering of the oblation [evening worship], 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.  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.'  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.  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, 'The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God.'" (vs. 36-39)

     And just like that, God did it.  So, why am I writing about this?  It's in the Bible after all; technically you could've read it for yourself.  I want you to see something, something I never saw until two nights ago.  Elijah was so confident in his God that he made the circumstances seem impossible to give God a GREATER platform, a way for God to get even more glory, WHEN (not IF) He came through.  Elijah was sure of it, so why not make it big? 

     And God loved it.  He loved that Elijah wasn't chewing his fingernails, afraid that the Lord might not come through and send the fire.  No, Elijah showed God this almost disgusting display of overwhelming faith and radical trust!  Elijah personified Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  I think God's heart thrilled with love for Elijah and He was delighted to come through -- a grand show, apocalyptic fire!

     "We have a God who loves to show off on behalf of those who trust Him." -Pastor Jim Johnson, JustAPreacher Ministries

     God came through.  And it was INCREDIBLE.  But what's interesting is what happened immediately after.  God sent the rain.  

     But we'll talk about that in Part 2.  :)