Sketched XI Day 10 Fist Sized Faith: Digging Deeper
June 30, 2023
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
1 Kings 18:20-45
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, he is God.” All the people answered, “That’s fine.”
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: 31 Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”— 32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. 33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.
36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
40 Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there. 41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.” So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” 44 On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up from the sea.”
Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’”
45 In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel.
The Original Intent
1) Why did Elijah mock Baal’s prophets? (verse 27)
The prophet Elijah wanted God’s people to know it was time to make a choice between the God of Israel and the false god, Baal, who, according to author Bethany Verrett, was “a universal fertility god and a storm god associated with bringing rain and dew in the Canaan area.” Frustrated by the way God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6) allowed Baal worship in their households, Elijah wanted to emphasize how powerless Baal was in a showdown between Baal and Jehovah.
When the false prophets could not implore Baal to produce fire, Elijah mocked them, taunting them, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” (1 Kings 18:27)
It seems Elijah enjoyed teasing his enemies, pointing out how useless the false prophets’ efforts were in getting the (non-existent) attention of their inferior deity. Albert Barnes notes, “The object of Elijah’s irony was two-fold; to stimulate the priests to greater exertions, and so to make their failure more complete, and to suggest to the people that such failure would prove absolutely that Baal was no “god”.”
Elijah wanted to convince the impressionable Israelites how absurd and pointless it was to follow impotent gods and ignore the Almighty One True God (Revelation 1:8) while actively disobeying their covenant with Him (Deuteronomy 28).
Elijah mocked the false prophets in an effort to demonstrate just how ridiculous it was to rely on imaginary gods when the One True God (Jeremiah 10:10) wanted to honor His covenant (Deuteronomy 7:9) with them.
The Everyday Application
1) Why did Elijah mock Baal’s prophets? (verse 27)
If you’re on social media you’ve probably seen a video by TikTok sensation Khabi Lame, famous for mocking unnecessarily complicated “life hack” videos in which he wordlessly demonstrates a simpler method for the same task. His videos end with a sarcastic, “this- is- how-it’s-done” hand gesture, head-shake and eye roll at the ridiculous, convoluted process that was on display.
The prophet Elijah could have done something similar on Mount Carmel in his face-off with the prophets of Baal. Both sides had the same task: entreat your deity to ignite the sacrifice on your altar. When the false prophets tried and failed to produce a response from Baal, Elijah mocked their fake god, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” (1 Kings 18:27)
Elijah wanted to prove that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:6) was the only God worth serving. He wanted them to see that reliance on a powerless god was futile. It is a message that still serves us well today. Worshiping any other god besides the Holy One (Isaiah 12:6) unnecessarily complicates our lives and leaves us empty-handed (Psalm 97:7).
Ann Voskamp suggests, “It’s our wavering between the gods of things and the God of everything – that’s what has us flailing and drowning soundless in it all. […] Every moment you live, you live bowed to something. And if you don’t choose God, you’ll bow down before something else – some banal Baal.”
Lord, help us recognize any idols we have set up in our hearts for the ridiculous shams they are and turn with our whole hearts to the Only God. (Jude 25)
The Original Intent
2) Why did Elijah make a point of making the sacrifice difficult to ignite? (verses 33-35)
Once the prophets of Baal proved their god was useless to ignite their sacrifice, Elijah went to great lengths to prove his God was more than able to answer his pleas to consume the offering. In 1 Kings 18:33-35, he commanded 12 pots of water to be poured over the wood and the bull on the altar, which also filled the trench surrounding the altar with water.
One reason he did this may have been because there was precedent for false prophets to set fires “from hollow spaces concealed beneath the altars, in order to make the credulous people believe that the sacrifice had been miraculously set on fire by the deity.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
Elijah’s elaborate water-logging of his altar area and sacrifice made it clear he was not faking a fire. Elijah wanted there to be no doubt it was God Almighty who answered his prayer. Not only was Elijah asking God to do the miraculous, but he was making it impossible to do under normal circumstances to prove that it was God and not Elijah bringing the fire.
David Guzik notes, “In wanting to make a deep impression upon the people, Elijah required more of Yahweh than he did of Baal.” Elijah had no doubt that God would come through (Psalm 36:5), so making it harder to accomplish by human standards would make it that much more impactful to the people.
Elijah wanted this dramatic presentation to ensure that his ambivalent people would no longer vacillate between serving unworthy gods and serving the One Worthy of all praise. (Revelation 4:11)
The Everyday Application
2) Why did Elijah make a point of making the sacrifice difficult to ignite? (verses 33-35)
What is more unlikely than a team from tropical Jamaica entering the bobsled race in the 1988 Winter Olympics? This surprising occurrence captivated the world and made the team an instantly beloved underdog, winning hearts if not medals in that first race that inspired a 1993 movie, Cool Runnings, and eventual Jamaican victories in the winter sport.
Everyone loves stories about a come-from-behind win or an against-all-odds tale of victory. I suspect the prophet Elijah knew this about human nature when he made a drastic point of increasing the difficulty for God to burn his sacrifice (1 Kings 18:33-35) by drenching the whole thing in water many times over. He knew God would win this competition between Him and Baal handily, but he wanted to make it memorable and undeniable that the Lord of Lords was above all gods. (Psalm 95:3) It was equivalent to him saying, “My Awesome God can beat your pathetic god blindfolded with one hand tied behind His back!”
He was both magnifying God’s greatness and emphasizing Baal’s weakness at the same time. Elijah wanted his people to have this big, come-from-behind win because they had long been trying to serve God and Baal; Elijah wanted them to come down decidedly on the side of God.
John Piper notes that even though the odds are 450:1, “God loves to be at a disadvantage just before He wins.” Elijah wanted God’s decisive victory to remind his people of just how strong and mighty is the God they serve, and how deserving He is of their worship and allegiance. (Psalm 96:4)
The Original Intent
3) Why did Elijah order the prophets of Baal to be seized when they attempted to escape? (verse 40)
Once Baal’s prophets had been defeated, they tried to retreat and evade capture, hoping to avoid punishment. When Elijah saw this, he ordered, “Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there.” (1 Kings 18:40)
David Guzik suggests, “Now that the fraud of Baal was exposed, his prophets had to answer for it and were dealt with according to the Law of Moses.” (Deuteronomy 13:5, Deuteronomy 13:13-18, Deuteronomy 17:2-5, and Deuteronomy 18:9-22)
Elijah simply demanded the prophets of Baal receive the treatment they promoted for the prophets of Yahweh.” Elijah wanted the evil-doers to be punished, and he wanted those with bad influence over the people to be permanently removed. The sins and degradations of Baal worshippers were many, including ritual prostitution, according to author John Ritenbaugh, and they wreaked havoc on the children of God.
Elijah knew the Law of Moses laid out specific penalties for the sins committed, and he believed that carrying them out would promote justice and end the influence of this evil over his people. Adam Clarke writes, “They had committed the highest crime against the state and the people by introducing idolatry, and bringing down God’s judgments upon the land; therefore their lives were forfeited to that law which had ordered every idolater to be slain.”
Because God’s law required death for those who promoted idolatry, Elijah wanted to capture every false prophet and obey the will of God.
The Everyday Application
3) Why did Elijah order the prophets of Baal to be seized when they attempted to escape? (verse 40)
While leaving church one Sunday, my young son kicked rocks down the sidewalk. He was having fun when suddenly his rock took a crazy bounce right into a car’s windshield. My son froze in horror for a few moments until the event registered in his brain, and then he bolted towards the safety of his grandmother’s nearby car.
Before I could determine whose car was damaged or call him back to face the music, grandma’s getaway car shot out of the parking lot, whisking the accidental vandal to safety. While he eventually had to open his piggy bank to pay for his negligence, I had to sheepishly locate the owner and offer apologies.
I imagine the prophets of Baal were trying to hightail it off of Mt. Carmel in much the same way as my son, and with good reason. Elijah wanted to do to them what they had threatened to do to him. Elijah was on a mission of justice as a deputy of the Lord God, who had just decisively won an impossible battle.
When Elijah saw them running away, he demanded, “…Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there.” (1 Kings 18:40) Elijah enacted the punishment of death demanded by the law of Moses for idolaters. (Exodus 22:20)
They were already experiencing severe drought because of the idol worship in their land. (1 Kings 17:1) With the defeat of the false prophets would come the end of the drought. (1 Kings 18:45) Elijah wanted to break the power of idolatry and refocus his people on the power of their God.
Today we can also refocus by turning away from anything that tries to supplant God in our hearts and minds and by purposing intently to love and serve Him alone. (1 Corinthians 10:14)
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