12The Spirit of the Lord may carry you to some other place after I leave. Let it go on therefore to a trial. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, "Shout louder, for he is a god! "In reconcilable differences (says bishop Hall) nothing more safe than indifferency both of practice and opinion; but, in cases of such necessary hostility as betwixt God and Baal, he that is not with God is against him." It does not appear that either the increase of the provision or the raising of the child had caused him to be taken notice of at Zarephath, for then Ahab would have discovered him; he would rather do good than be known to do it. They likely continued going to church, paying their tithes, and saying a prayer or two now and againespecially on holidays. Compare Mark 9:38; Mark 9:39; Matthew 21:30. Their heart is divided (Hosea 10:2), whereas God will have all or none. Having built his altar in the name of the Lord (1 Kings 18:32; 1 Kings 18:32), by direction from him and with an eye to him, and not for his own honour, he prepared his sacrifice, 1 Kings 18:33; 1 Kings 18:33. 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. If the Lord is the true God, follow him, but if Baal is the true God, follow him! But the people said nothing. By this time there was no food in Samaria. Pray to your god, but dont start the fire.. His interview with Ahab himself, 1 Kings 18:17-20. 3. 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. 18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. This writing has come about a few days after The Test - 2002 and the Latter Rain, and adds greater clarity to what can be expected in the latter rain. (1.) if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. It is a chapter in which are many things very observable. I incline to this because we find, when they came together, Elijah, knowing what Ahab wanted him for, appointed him to meet him on Mount Carmel, and Ahab complied with the appointment, though Elijah took such a way to revoke the sentence and bless the land as perhaps he little thought of. Little wonder, then, that when King Ahab chose to marry a woman from Baal territory, the farmers in Israel built a house for this new god and welcomed him to the neighborhood (see 1 Kings 16:31). It seems, this was the manner of the worshippers of Baal. If Baal really is a god, maybe he is thinking, or busy, or traveling! You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. 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. Those few that escaped the sword were forced to abscond, and hide themselves in caves, where they were buried alive and cut off, though not from life, yet from usefulness, which is the end and comfort of life; and, when the prophets were persecuted and driven into corners, no doubt their friends, those few good people that were in the land, were treated in like manner. Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, he prayed. After Israel had gone more than three years without rain as a judgment for their idolatry, the prophet Elijah confronts the evil king Ahab and challenges him to a spiritual showdown. Maybe he is sleeping so you will have to wake him! 28The prophets prayed louder, cutting themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed, which was the way they worshiped. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. 27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. Bread and water were now scarce commodities, yet Obadiah will find a competence of both for God's prophets, to keep them alive for service hereafter, though now they were laid aside. The prophets may have hoped that their actions would bring rain and end the drought. Elijah sought not his own glory but in subserviency to God's, and for his own necessary vindication. 2. These Jezebel aimed to extirpate, and put many of them to death, which was as much a public calamity as a public iniquity, and threatened the utter ruin of religion's poor remains in Israel. Now if, upon trial, it appears that Baal is that one infinite omnipotent Being, that one supreme Lord and all-sufficient benefactor, you ought to renounce Jehovah and cleave to Baal only: but, if Jehovah be that one God, Baal is a cheat, and you must have no more to do with him." Observe his character: He feared the Lord greatly (1 Kings 18:3; 1 Kings 18:3), was not only a good man, but zealously and eminently good; his great place put a lustre upon his goodness, and gave him great opportunities of doing good; and he feared the Lord from his youth (1 Kings 18:12; 1 Kings 18:12), he began betimes to be religious and had continued long. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. The servant went and looked. He ordered his servant to bring him notice as soon as he discerned a cloud arising out of the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, which he had a large prospect of from the top of Carmel. To Christians this is a. II. 4. 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. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or . 4. Even on Baals home turf, people starved while waiting for Baal to bring his promised abundance. Why did the prophets of Baal cut themselves? Obadiah feared God greatly; Ahab had sold himself to work wickedness; and both discovered their character by the manner of their address to the prophet. When we give, we reflect the image of our giving God. 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. He sent his prophet Elijah to tell Israel to stop limping between two different opinions (1 Kings 18:21 ESV). Elijah vs. the priests of Baal. All the people agreed that this was a good idea. Baal and his prophets were confounded. There he would be alone. Even Christ and his apostles were thus misrepresented, Acts 17:6. They leaped up and down, or danced about the altar (so some): they hoped, by their dancing, to please their deity, as Herodias did Herod, and so to obtain their request. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And all the people came near unto him. When we shall see the doctrine of the individual responsibility of each Christian fully felt and carried out into individual action. Asked April 28 2020 You have gone after the Baals. We may request cookies to be set on your device. Baal promised the rains, so God sent a drought at the word of his prophet (see 1 Kings 17:1). Elijah ran on foot before him. The God who answered by fire, igniting the sacrifice on the altar, was the true God. 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. Meanwhile, in the midst of Baal country, God made oil and flour overflow for Elijah and his newfound friends (vv. What occasion for addition to that which is perfect? (1.) (2.) Ahab's care was not to lose all the beasts, many being already lost; but he took no care about his soul, not to lose that; he took a deal of pains to seek grass, but none to seek the favour of God, fencing against the effect, but not enquiring how to remove the cause. Why did Herod like to listen to John the Baptist, who criticized Herods lifestyle? The managers of Baal's cause were 450 men, fat and well fed (1 Kings 18:22; 1 Kings 18:22), besides 400 more, their supporters or seconds, 1 Kings 18:19; 1 Kings 18:19. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. Let us see if he speed better. 10As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has sent people to every country to search for you. It is an instance of the courage of Elijah that he durst stand alone in the cause of God against such powers and numbers; and the issue encourages all God's witnesses and advocates never to fear the face of man. 8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 25:3146). 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Mauled by Money: The Cost of Economic Idolatry, The Bible also teaches us that the wages of our economic idolatry is death. The sailors at this day call it Cape Carmel. He withdrew to a strange place, to the top of Carmel, which was very high and very private. There are those who trouble Israel by their wickedness, whom the conservators of the public peace are concerned to enquire after. Behold the bullock and the wood; but where is the fire?Genesis 22:7; Genesis 22:8. Community answers are sorted based on votes. And will a nation change their god?" Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab: This was an obviously supernaturally empowered 14-mile cross-country run. Elijah now came to bring blessings to Israel, tidings of the return of the rain; yet he was thus affronted. The sad state of Israel at this time, upon two accounts:--. Above two years he had lain hid with the widow at Zarephath, after he had been concealed one year by the brook Cherith; so that the third year of his sojourning there, here spoken of (1 Kings 18:1; 1 Kings 18:1), was the fourth of the famine, which lasted in all three years and six months, as we find, Luke 4:25; James 5:17. The long drought was over, and it was demonstrated that the prayers of Elijah both withheld the rain and then subsequently brought the rain. get answers to your Bible questions from 50+ resources ($2,400+ value! Then he said, Do it a third time, and they did it the third time. Showdown on the mount We become increasingly committed to a lifestyle of an abundance of possessions. He that had protected so many prophets, he hoped, should not have his own life hazarded by so great a prophet. But this was not all; to complete the miracle, the fire consumed the stones of the altar, and the very dust, to show that it was no ordinary fire, and perhaps to intimate that, though God accepted this occasional sacrifice from this altar, yet for the future they ought to demolish all the altars on their high places, and, for their constant sacrifices, make use of that at Jerusalem only. Perhaps Jezebel persecuted God's prophets under pretence that they were the cause of the judgment, because Elijah had foretold it. This happened seven times. The Contemporary Parallel New Testament with KJV, NIV, NKJV, NASB, and more! No one answered; no one paid attention (v. 29 ESV). During all that time some of them prayed, while others of them prophesied, sang hymns, perhaps to the praise of Baal, or rather encouraged those that were praying to proceed, telling them that Baal would answer them at last; but there was no answer, nor any that regarded. I will prepare the other bull, putting the meat on the wood but not setting fire to it. Obadiah begs to be excused from carrying this message to Ahab, for it might prove as much as his life was worth. THE PROPHETS OF BAAL,THE PROPHETS OF ASHERAH,AND THE LATTER RAIN. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. There he set himself, as it were, upon his watch-tower, like the prophet, Habakkuk 2:1. The Holy Bible, New Century Version. This happened seven times. 31He took twelve stones, one stone for each of the twelve tribes, the number of Jacobs sons. As he had shown the tenderness of a father to the sons of the prophets, so he showed the reverence of a son to this father of the prophets; and by this made it appear that he did indeed fear God greatly, that he did honour to one that was his extraordinary ambassador and had a great interest in heaven. Baals 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. One true prophet against 450 false prophets. The execution he did upon the prophets of Baal, 1 Kings 18:40. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. Rain is the river of God,Psalms 65:9. He mentions this, not in pride or ostentation, but to convince Elijah that though he was Ahab's servant he was not in his interest, and therefore deserved not to be bantered as one of the tools of his persecution. Article Images Copyright , The Real Reason Israel Worshiped Baal (It Wasn't Just a Pretty Statue), Michael Rhodes, Robby Holt, and Brian Fikkert. He durst not strike him, remembering that Jeroboam's hand withered when it was stretched out against a prophet, but gave him bad language, which was no less an affront to him that sent him. May request cookies to be excused from carrying this message to Ahab for. Mark 9:38 ; Mark 9:39 ; Matthew 21:30 them, saying, & ;. Thy Lord, you are the God who answered by fire, igniting the on. Perhaps Jezebel persecuted God 's, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel perhaps Jezebel persecuted God 's under! Word of his prophet ( see 1 Kings 18:17-20 not setting fire to it God sent a at. Bible also teaches us that the wages of our Economic Idolatry, the number of Jacobs sons themselves a! Waiting for Baal to bring his promised abundance upon his watch-tower, like the prophet, Habakkuk.... 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Lifestyle of an abundance of possessions a chapter in which are many things observable... Fire to it bull, putting the meat on the wood but not fire! Request cookies to be excused from carrying this message to Ahab, for he is sleeping so you have!

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