As described in 1 King 18:25-26, Elijah had offered a challenge to the prophets of the false god, Baal. Elijah knew that God – Yahweh – was the only true god , so he “magnanimously” allowed the prophets of Baal to go first.
Unsurprisingly, as described in 1 Kings 18:25-29, Baal – who doesn’t exist – didn’t respond, despite the attempts of hundreds of his prophets. In these verses, Elijah mocks them, and the prophets even cut themselves to get their false god’s attention. While this self-mutilation was apparently part of their normal Baal worship (see verse 28), this is yet another example of how following any false god ultimately harms the worshiper, even if the harm isn’t always as obvious as it was for these prophets of Baal.
By the way, per a commentator [Long, p.216], the “dancing” here is the same as the word for Israel’s waffling [see “waver” in 1 Kings 18:21, NIV] between Baal and the true God.
Still, there was no answer, although we’re not surprised at that, are we? (For what it’s worth, I believe that evil forces are sometimes allowed to perform signs, like the Egyptian magicians who replicated early plagues in Moses’ day. However, even their power is limited by God, and if spiritual opponents of God tried to do so on Mount Carmel here, God held them back.)
According to the commentator mentioned earlier (Long, p.215ff), Elijah had already set up this “contest” to give Baal the “best chance” of success. Baal was supposed to bring rain, for instance, so Baal had been looking pretty ineffective for the past few years, as God pronounced a drought. When the true God – Yahweh – answered with fire, it would show even more dramatically that Baal couldn’t even bring what Baal was supposed to be “good at”.
When it is Elijah’s turn, he does two key things.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
1 Kings 18:30-35 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1ki.18.30-35.NIV
First, Elijah built an altar that honored God, while also alluding to the ancestors of the Israelite nation. Perhaps Elijah wanted to remind the Israelites who were watching, 1) where they came from, 2) when God had made them a nation in the first place and, 3) how much God had done for them since that time.
Secondly, Elijah had the people douse the whole thing in water. Have you ever tried to start a fire with wet wood? Imagine doing so without matches, kerosene, or one of those barbecue lighters!
(Having said that, I do not think that this message should motivate us to intentionally make things more difficult for God. Sometimes, we might reject opportunities that God directs us towards, or we might not accept His help, but that’s not God-honoring. However, when we are in His will, He still works through situations today that have gotten way past any hope of resolution…outside of Him.)
We can look at the conclusion of this “contest” in the next article, although you can read it yourself in 1 Kings 18:36-40. In the meantime, though, as Elijah knew, let us remember that God is real and that He works in the physical world as well as in the spiritual world.
God created this world, and He didn’t just leave it alone to run on its own. He isn’t merely a spiritual being to whom we can give a nod to on Sundays and then live our own lives the rest of the week. He is there with us in the noise and the mud and the chaos of this broken world. In fact, He’s the only one who can help us make sense of it.
If you are serving a god who doesn’t actually have any influence in the real world (or if you are serving the God who does, but are treating Him as if He is distant and disconnected), I encourage you to think about that. Since God has shown His power and His involvement in the lives of His people, shouldn’t we act upon that fact?
From Sunday School lesson prepared for May 11, 2025
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1 & 2 Kings, by Jesse C. Long, Jr. © 2002 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 