I don't know about you, but I love a good showdown--especially the classic good guy versus bad guy. And I like it when the good guy wins.
Today's chapters depict one of the biggest showdowns in Scripture: The contest at Mt. Carmel.
In one corner, we've got 450 prophets of idol Baal. They're backed by the queen. They've got lots of power and resources at their disposal.
In the other corner, we've got Elijah. One guy. The good guy. God's guy.
Take a look at Elijah's contest set up:
"I'm the only prophet of God left in Israel;
and there are 450 prophets of Baal.
Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen;
let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don't ignite it.
I'll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire.
Then you pray to your gods and I'll pray to God.
The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God."
All right--we've set the stage. You know the rules. The 450 prophets of Baal won the coin toss and had the first opportunity to ask their god to ignite the fire. They prayed. They begged. They pleaded. They cut themselves (ewww...). And Baal didn't answer.
This part I'm including just for fun--because I think our friend Elijah the underdog enjoyed watching their silly rituals that yielded na da:
Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made.
By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting,
"Call a little louder—he is a god, after all.
Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other,
or maybe he's gotten involved in a project,
or maybe he's on vacation.
You don't suppose he's overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?"
Oh, I love our brave comedian. :) He challenged the prophets of Baal, but he also challenged God, drenching his altar with water before asking God to set it on fire. Check it out:
The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water.
When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered,
Elijah the prophet came up and prayed,
"O God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
make it known right now that you are God in Israel,
that I am your servant,
and that I'm doing what I'm doing under your orders.
Answer me, God; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God,
the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance."
Immediately the fire of God fell
and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.
Wow. I love how God immediately showed up and showed He was real. Elijah didn't have to sing, dance, yell or cut himself--God answered his simple prayer in a miraculous way. Even though Elijah might have seemed like the underdog (1 guy versus 450), he knew he was on the winning team. He trusted God and took some brave steps to prove it. I would have liked to witness that showdown...it sounds pretty stinkin' awesome.
Tomorrow: 1 Kings 21-22
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