Facing the Fire
1 Kings 18:20-40
If you want to prove a point, you make the task even harder before accomplishing it.
Photo by Rishi Pavan on Unsplash
So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 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." The people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets number four hundred fifty. Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God." All the people answered, "Well spoken!" Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it." So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. 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." Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 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. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come closer to me" and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, "Israel shall be your name" with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." Then he said, "Do it a second time" and they did it a second time. Again he said, "Do it a third time" and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. 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. 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." 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. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God." Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." Then they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon, and killed them there. - 1 Kings 18:20-40
It wasn't enough to have God send fire to the offering; Elijah had to make the challenge greater. He covered the bull and altar with so much water it filled the trench around it.
Why?
I don't think he was trying to show off. I think he had that much faith in God.
Could you imagine making the task harder when asking for God's help?
Elijah didn't raise the stakes out of pride. He did it to make it very clear to the people that they needed to turn back to Yahweh.
And when they did turn back, he had them kill the prophets of Baal. But it was more than that. It was a legal response based on the law in Deuteronomy.
These prophets had turned the people away from God, and so they needed to be punished by death..
We Christians have eased our commitment to punishment based on the law. Some say that we have gone soft because we feel for the criminals.
We choose to leave the punishment to God, believing the wrongdoer was led astray or misunderstood.
The people of Israel who followed the wrong prophets were given a task to perform to show they had turned around.
Maybe that is what we should expect of those who do wrong. Either they are dealt with directly, like the prophets of Baal, or they should perform an act of contrition, like the people of Israel.
If no one has to pay for the crime, we will have more crime.
More to come...
"If no one has to pay for the crime, we will have more crime." Absolutely. Very well said. If a child does something wrong and he is never corrected or shown that it is wrong, he will definitely keep doing it. And then he grows into an adult but the adult world will show him the error of his ways according to the law...until the laws are no longer enforced and then we're back to the former scenario, but we're talking about an adult who can do whatever he wants. Bad news all around, especially for those who wish to abide by the law. Wise words and never more relevant than today.