Those that procure God's judgments do the mischief, not he that merely foretels them and gives warning of them, that the nation may repent and prevent them. If the ruler said you were not there, Ahab forced the ruler to swear you could not be found in his country. Elijah allows it to them (1 Kings 18:25; 1 Kings 18:25), gives them the lead for their greater confusion; only, knowing that the working of Satan is with lying wonders, he takes care to prevent a fraud: Be sure to put no fire under. This will, by no means, justify those who ridicule the worshippers of God in Christ because the worship is not performed just in their way. He himself retired to pray (for though God had promised rain, he must ask it, Zechariah 10:1), and to give thanks for God's answer by fire, now hoping for an answer by water. 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. IV. (1.) The servant went and looked. 20So Ahab called all the Israelites and those prophets to Mount Carmel. Second, Baal was a false god and men were not to worship him. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. What is the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal? Baal and his prophets were confounded. 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. Paul goes even further. (3.) Money becomes a spiritual power that too often uses us rather than the other way around. The sailors at this day call it Cape Carmel. Compare Psalms 135:7. 25:3146). Elijah swears by the Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hands, and is therefore able to protect his servants against all the powers of hell and earth. You can also change some of your preferences. 1 Kings 18:40. By this time there was no food in Samaria. 2. Why did Elijah kill the prophets of Baal? 5. Paul declares that greed is idolatry, that to be greedy is to worship other gods (see Col. 3:5; Eph. When we give, we reflect the image of our giving God. Also bring the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebels table.. We find that the beast which deceived the world does it. By this time there was no food in Samaria. Perhaps Jezebel persecuted God's prophets under pretence that they were the cause of the judgment, because Elijah had foretold it. Had it been true that he was the troubler of Israel, Ahab, as king, would have been bound to animadvert upon him. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. There are those who trouble Israel by their wickedness, whom the conservators of the public peace are concerned to enquire after. If we can find one that has more right to us, or will be a better master to us, than God, we may take him at our peril. 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. Had he, by his spies, surprised Elijah, he would have triumphed over him; but, now that he was thus surprised by him, we may suppose he even trembled to look him in the face, hated him, and yet feared him, as Herod did John. Thou employest me; Lord, make it appear that thou dost so;" see Numbers 16:28; Numbers 16:29. So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. Roumie said he was drawn to both "The Chosen" and "Jesus Revolution" because of their scripts and characters, which "spoke to his heart.". (Mark 6:20). V. Elijah hereupon hastened Ahab home, and attended him himself. Idols could do neither good nor evil. The people join issue with him: It is well spoken,1 Kings 18:24; 1 Kings 18:24. The Lord is God!. Now in their experiment observe. His interview with Ahab himself, 1 Kings 18:17-20. He sent fire from heaven. Elijah, doubtless, had a special commission from God to put it to this test, otherwise he would have tempted God and affronted religion; but the case was extraordinary, and the judgment upon it would be of use, not only then, but in all ages. His parables tell of farmers destroyed in the midst of their prosperity because they hoarded wealth and failed to be rich toward God (see vv. One true prophet against 450 false prophets. Micah 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? 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. Of course, most Israelites probably didnt totally reject Yahweh, the God of Israel. It seems, this was the manner of the worshippers of Baal. 30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. Who has required these things at your hands? His interview with Obadiah, one of Ahab's servants, by whom he sends notice to Ahab of his coming, 1 Kings 18:2-16. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Dont let any of them run away! The people captured all the prophets. 2. Then he said, Do it a third time, and they did it the third time. V. The return of the mercy of rain, at the word of Elijah, 1 Kings . That wanting to get rich inevitably causes such destruction? Rain is the river of God,Psalms 65:9. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out on them. Ahab, like himself, basely accused Elijah. To this fair proposal of the case, which Elijah here makes, the people knew not what to say: They answered him not a word. He ordered abundance of water to be poured upon his altar, which he had prepared a trench for the reception of (1 Kings 18:32; 1 Kings 18:32), and, some think, made the altar hollow. But there was no voice. 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. "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." If, in this trial, they could but bring it to a drawn battle, their other advantages would give them the victory. 12The Spirit of the Lord may carry you to some other place after I leave. Their heart is divided (Hosea 10:2), whereas God will have all or none. To demonstrate that he was neither ashamed of, nor afraid for, what he had done, though he knew how Jezebel would resent it, but durst venture himself in the midst of his enemies, as being confident of the Divine power and protection. (Poole), ii. 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? 40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. Log in, Barton W. Stone: The Preachers Are Working While the People Are Gazing, Thoughts on the Asbury Revival (02.23.23), The Serious Sin of Proselytism (02.16.23), Christians Becoming a Minority Group in America (02.02.23), Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. 28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. I would have healed Israel, but they would not be healed. And nothing can't answer you when you call out to it! That Elijah could have made such a run is assured in the Arab runners could easily cover one hundred miles in two days. (Patterson and Austel), 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. St. Joseph New Catholic Version New Testament: Pocket Edition - Slightly Imperfect, St. Joseph New Catholic Version New Testament: Pocket Edition. Baal was chief of the Canaanite gods. (28-29) The prophets of Baal work harder at their prayer. In it, Elijah, the prophet of Gd, puts to the test what was at the time perceived as the most supreme and powerful of all the godsBaal. As one having authority immediately from the King of kings, he ordered a convention of the states to be forthwith summoned to meet at Mount Carmel, where there had been an altar built to God, 1 Kings 18:30; 1 Kings 18:30. After all, if youre a farmer, its only practical to invest in getting the rider of the clouds to like you. Deserters must not look for God's favour till they return to their allegiance. VI. 33Elijah put the wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. The Holy Bible, New Century Version. Baals 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. Is it True for Christians That 'Once Saved, Always Saved'? Those that were firm for God doubted not but it would end to his honour; those that were indifferent were willing to be determined; and Ahab and the prophets of Baal durst not oppose for fear of the people, and hoped that either they could obtain fire from heaven (though they never had yet), and the rather because, as some think, they worshipped the sun in Baal, or that Elijah could not, because not at the temple, where God was wont thus to manifest his glory. 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. 39When all the people saw this, they fell down to the ground, crying, The Lord is God! Probably on that mountain they had an eminent high place, where formerly the pure worship of God had been kept up as well as it could be any where but at Jerusalem. See Luke 1:16; Luke 1:17. Then let them put the meat on the wood, but they are not to set fire to it. Their perishing thus is the using, as the apostle speaks of them (Colossians 3:22), was to intimate the utter abolition of them after a little while, Hebrews 8:13. Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, he prayed. April 28 2020 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. Each would take a bull and place it on their own altar. The glory of God: "Lord, hear me, and answer me, that it may be known (for it is now by the most denied or forgotten) that thou art God in Israel, to whom alone the homage and devotion of Israel are due, and that I am thy servant, and do all that I have done, am doing, and shall do, as thy agent, at thy word, and not to gratify any humour or passion of my own. Did they tithe to themselves? b. 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. When we cannot carry a reformation so far as we would we must do what we can, and rather comply with some corruptions than not do our utmost towards the extirpation of Baal. Hence we read of those that hide themselves in the top of Carmel,Amos 9:3. Through Elijah, God declared that Baal couldnt deliver the goods and his people couldnt have it both ways. It should seem, he made this diligent search for him, not so much that he might punish him for what he had done in denouncing the judgment as that he might oblige him to undo it again, by recalling the sentence, because he had said it should be according to his word, having such an opinion of him as men foolishly conceive of witches (that, if they can but compel them to bless that which they have bewitched, it will be well again), or such as the king of Moab had of Balaam. ly. They got their sacrifices ready; and we may well imagine what a noise 450 men made, when they cried as one man, and with all their might, O Baal! Those fear God greatly that keep up the fear of him in bad times and places; thus Obadiah did. "I love Jesus and it is the honor of my life to get to portray him," he said. Start FREE. 10 million Ukrainians without power because of Russia. 25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, There are many of you, so you go first. 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