Start with Scripture:
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OBSERVE:
Israel (also known as the Northern Kingdom), is in crisis. There is a severe drought in the land, which has led to famine. And there is a spiritual crisis: King Ahab has married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon — and she is a devout worshipper of Baal.
There is a Latin saying that used to apply to nations prior to the modern era of democracy — cuius regio, eius religio. This means, “whose realm, whose religion.” In other words, whoever was on the throne dictated what the state religion would be. And the people, if they knew what was good for them, followed the same religion.
In this case, it might be said — ‘whose wife, whose religion’ — because Ahab was more influenced by Jezebel’s religion than by the worship of the Lord:
He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. Ahab also made a sacred pole. Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.
Nor was Jezebel content with simply converting Ahab to her way of thinking — she was actively trying to exterminate the prophets of the Lord, and with them the worship of the Lord.
This is the background of what we might call, “The Cage Match on Carmel” between the prophet Elijah and the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal (plus four hundred prophets of the female fertility goddess Asherah mentioned in 1 Kings 18:19; all 850 of these prophets of Baal and Asherah were sponsored directly by Jezebel).
Elijah has challenged Ahab to bring all of these prophets of Baal and Asherah to Mt Carmel for a showdown.
However, when all are assembled, Elijah’s first words are not for the king, nor for the prophets of Baal. He appeals directly to the people of Israel who have been invited to witness this spectacle. He tells them they can’t have it both ways — they must choose whether to worship the Lord or Baal:
Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
Perhaps it is indicative of their fear of the king, or perhaps they really are stuck in the middle of their own indecision, but:
The people did not answer him a word.
What Elijah then does is among the most dramatic moments of religious theater. He gives the prophets of Baal the opportunity to get the first shot. They are to sacrifice a bull, lay it on a pile of wood, and call upon their god to set it ablaze; then he would do the same. Whoever wins, well, that must be the true God.
The description of the rituals of the prophets of Baal give us some insight into what pagan worship may have been like. They are described as limping around the altar in what we might imagine to be a kind of ritualistic dance, and even cutting themselves to propitiate Baal as they call out to him:
Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them.
This is not the place to explore the pantheon of pagan gods and goddesses of Jezebel’s Phoenician prophets and their influence on Israel. Suffice it to say, though, that this was a polytheistic religion in which Baal was the god of the storm and of fertility whose consort was Asherah, the goddess of fertility, and who battled against Mot the god of death and sterility. It is easy to see why such a fertility god might have been attractive to the Israelites, especially in a time of drought.
Long story short, however, the prophets of Baal were unsuccessful. Elijah mocks their rituals and their god after giving them all morning to propitiate their god:
At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”. . . As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.
Finally, Elijah, alone among the prophets of the Lord, summons the people of Israel to watch what he does. He rebuilds the altar of the Lord, choosing twelve stones representing the tribes of Israel; then he even stacks the deck against himself!
He has a trench dug around the altar, and after cutting the bull in pieces, calls on water to be poured over the bull and the wood on the altar, and into the trench — not once, but three times!
When Elijah prays over the offering, his faith is grounded in the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel — he is calling the people back to their ancestral faith in the One God revealed in their history.
Elijah’s prayer is simple. He doesn’t dance, or cut himself, or even ask the Lord specifically for a spectacle so that his own reputation will be enhanced. His request is for an answer that will enable the people to know that the Lord is God in Israel:
At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding.
The goal is repentance — turning their hearts back toward the Lord:
Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
What happens next is almost treated as a footnote, given the brevity of the description:
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench.
What ultimately matters is the response of the people:
When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”
That day the people had experienced a dramatic illustration of the contrast between false gods and the true Lord of creation. The numbers of the prophets of Baal and their political connections with Jezebel availed nothing compared to the raw power of the One God and his one prophet.
APPLY:
In the comedy-adventure film The Mummy, one of the minor characters named Beni encounters a disgustingly decayed mummy which menaces his life. As Beni retreats from the mummy, he tries to protect himself by brandishing an assortment of religious amulets and icons he has hanging on chains around his neck— Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish. Obviously his hope was that at least one of the religions was correct, and would offer protection from peril.
This seems to be the attitude of many in Israel at the time of Elijah. Many of the Israelites have become religiously syncretistic, which means that they are seeking to merge the religion of Israel with the polytheistic paganism of Jezebel.
They are limping on one foot and then the other, as Elijah tells them. He is probably mocking the limping dance of the Baal priests as we see in this account.
But Elijah doesn’t leave this option open to Israel. They must choose whom they will serve. The Lord declares over and over again that loyalty to him must be exclusive:
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things (Isaiah 45:5-7).
We also live in a pluralistic, syncretistic age. Many churches sponsor yoga classes. Christians greet one another by saying namaste with hands folded together in a sign of respect. Namaste means “I bow to the divine in you.” Sunday School classes study world religions, and some members opine that “We’re all trying to get to the same place.”
Unfortunately, this is not true. Although we do live in a pluralistic and diverse world, and we must learn to tolerate differences of belief without compromising our own faith, that is not the same thing as mixing all of these beliefs into a kind of stew.
The consequence of some forms of faith is violence and hatred. Jezebel demonstrated that as she attempted to eradicate the prophets of the Lord. And there are belief systems that simply are not true, and that lead their adherents farther from God rather than closer.
For example, I may wish to believe with all my heart that I can live underwater without SCUBA gear, but a few moments without oxygen will suffice to demonstrate that my belief system is wrong. False faith leads to spiritual death; true faith leads to spiritual life. Of course, with faith the consequences are not usually quite so immediate — as with trying to breathe underwater, or with fire coming from heaven to consume a sacrifice! Normally, the consequences of faith are revealed over time in a person’s life, and at the end of life.
Either the Lord is the source of our “oxygen” and our life, or he is not. We also must choose whom we will follow.
RESPOND:
What preacher wouldn’t welcome the kind of demonstration of power that the Lord provides to Elijah? But for the modern Christian, with some notable exceptions, the evidence that the Lord is our God is made by our transformed lives rather than fire from heaven.
What is somewhat astounding is that despite persecution and discrimination around the world, Christians do tend to cleave to their faith.
While I acknowledge that God certainly can, and on occasion does, move in miraculous ways to heal and protect his people, I must admit that I am more moved when I see Christians whose faith endures even in the face of suffering. They are my real heroes.
Our Lord, in this confusing world with so many choices, strengthen my resolve not to be misled by the siren voices of the culture; enable me to follow you no matter how many false prophets may seek to draw me away from you. Amen.
PHOTOS:
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