1 Kings 18
McGeeCHAPTER 18THEME: Elijah versus the prophets of BaalThis is one of the most spectacular chapters in the Scriptures. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest to determine who is really God. The prophets of Baalall 450 of themare about an even match for this one man Elijah. He is a great man!
1 Kings 18:1
ELIJAH AND OBADIAHGod is ready to use Elijah. This man can now step out with boldnesshe has learned that he is nothing and God is everything. He goes out to meet Ahab, and he is prepared.
1 Kings 18:3
The famine was now in the acute stage. Much of the vegetation had dried up and the cattle could no longer find places to graze. So Ahab and his servant, Obadiah, set out in search of possible pasture land. Ahab went one direction and Obadiah went another. Now Obadiah was the governor of Ahab’s palace. He was a God-fearing man, and he had hidden one hundred prophets of God from Jezebel’s wrath.
1 Kings 18:7
While Obadiah was looking for grazing sites, he met Elijah. Elijah told him to tell the king, “Behold, Elijah is here.” My, how we need a voice like Elijah’s today. I believe he is coming back in the last days after the church leaves the earth. This earth will need a strong voice then, and it will have one in Elijah.
1 Kings 18:9
Obadiah does not want to deliver Elijah’s message as he is afraid that Elijah will disappear before Ahab sees him. Obadiah is fearful for his own life, and he makes it very clear that he does not want to do what Elijah has asked.
1 Kings 18:14
We have read the message three times now: “Behold, Elijah is here.” With Elijah’s assurances that he will certainly meet Ahab, Obadiah goes to the king. And you know what this man said? He said, “Behold, Elijah is here.” And that will be the message again some day.
1 Kings 18:17
ELIJAH’S CHALLENGE TO AHABElijah said to Ahab, “I am not the one who is troubling Israelyou are!” Elijah’s kind of preaching cannot be misunderstood. It is not double-talk; it is telling is like it is. Before we go any further, I want to say that the liberal is always blaming the fundamentalist for causing division in the church. But who really caused it? The church held very fundamental beliefs at one time. Who brought bifurcation into the church? Who was it that led the church away from its foundation? The liberal did. I have been accused of leaving my former denomination, but I did notmy denomination left me. I still have the same beliefs that I had at the beginning. Unfortunately, my denomination has departed from these historic beliefs. It has always been the custom of the liberal to blame any trouble in the church on the fundamentalist. The liberal is never to blame. In the same way Ahab blames Elijah for the problem in the land. He accuses Elijah of stirring things up. The Word of God will always stir up things. The interesting thing is that rats will always scurry to a dark corner when the light is turned on. Then Elijah challenged Ahab to a contest between himself and the prophets of Baal.
1 Kings 18:19
The contest was actually one between the Lord and Satanbetween the worship of the living God and the worship of Baal. Outwardly it was a battle of Ahab and Jezebel with the 450 prophets against Elijah. Elijah, however, was worth a whole army.
1 Kings 18:20
THE LORD VERSUS BAAL AT MOUNT CARMELThe people of Israel have assembled at Carmel. It is going to be quite a contest. Elijah knew what was in the hearts of the people. They were pretending to worship the living and true God, but they were also worshiping Baal. The reason the people did not answer Elijah is that they were guilty of sin. It is that type of double-talka two-faced way of lifethat today has become so abhorrent and is a stench in the nostrils of God.
The double standard of many Christians has turned off many people as far as the church is concerned. If the average unsaved man knew the church as I know it today, I have my doubts that he would ever darken the door of a church. If there ever was a place where things should be made clear and plain, simple and forthright, it is in the church. Unfortunately, that is where there is more double-talk and beating around the bush than any place else.
1 Kings 18:22
Elijah had what I am pleased to call an Elijah complexsome of us develop that even today. Many times in my ministry I feel that I am the only one left. Then I find out that there is a preacher in a hollow in Tennessee, or on the side of a hill in Georgia, or down around a lake in Florida, or up in the mountains of California, or in the suburban areas of Chicago who is standing for God and paying a bigger price than I have ever paid. Then I just get rid of my Elijah complex and thank God that there are men standing for God and His Word in these days in which we are living. Now I recognize that there are many big-name preachers that you hear about but who are not actually standing for God. Instead they are pussy-footing around.
They are trying to compromise. I heard one preacher give a certain message in one part of the country and then turn around in another part of the country and practically reverse his message. There is something wrong when you can’t give the same message everywhere. There is something wrong with the message or with the man who gives it. Elijah says to the people of Israel, “I am the only one who is standing for God.” Now he was wrongthere were seven thousand people hiding in the hills who had not bowed the knee to Baal. I never cared too much for that crowd, but at least they did not worship Baal. Elijah did not even know about them. If Elijah had been on the radio in those days, he never would have received a letter from any of those folk. It is too bad that they did not encourage him a little bit, but they did not. Elijah continues his message to the people and his challenge to the prophets of Baal:
1 Kings 18:23
In other words, Elijah said, “Let us taste of the Lord and see whether He is good or not. If Baal is God, then let us worship him. And if he is not, then let’s kick him out. If the Lord God is the living God, we want to know.” My friend, today God wants you to know Him. Although you may have doubts, if you’re sincere and really want to know Him, He will reveal Himself to youbecause God wants you to know. Faith is not groping in the dark: our faith rests upon facts. Your salvation depends on your believing those facts and trusting Christ. Notice what is going to take place. I think this is one of the most dramatic scenes in Scripture.
1 Kings 18:25
The prophets of Baal put on quite a performance. Elijah just sits there and watches them at first with a good deal of cynicism. They begin to call upon Baal. Nothing happens. They jump on the altarand that doesn’t help. They become fanatics. They display a lot of emotion. Their actions become almost hysterical. Finally, they begin to cut themselves, and the blood gushes out. They are sure this will stir Baal to action. Old Elijah says to them, “Say, it may be that he has gone on vacation and you will have to wait until he comes back. Or maybe he is taking his afternoon siesta and you are going to have to yell louder to wake him up.” Elijah has a big time during their performance. And all the while the people of Israel are watching. It is Martin Luther, by the way, who is credited with the statement, “One with God is a majority,” and he knew the accuracy of that statement by experience. Elijah also learned this truth through experience in his day when there had been a wholesale departure of the northern kingdom from God. Under Ahab and Jezebel there was almost total apostasyElijah pretty much stood alone. It is true that there were seven thousand people who had not bowed to Baal, but they had retreated to the mountains. Not one of them stood with Elijah. He was not aware that they even existed until God told him.
Elijah took a stand against calf worship. You might say he took a stand against new morality and rock music in the church. He took exception to many of the things that were going on and refused to compromise with the prophets of Baal. When they wrote a new “Confession of Faith” and rejected the authority of the Word of God, he was opposed to them. It was Dr. Wilfred Funk who said that the most bitter word in the English language is “alone.” Elijah stood alone. He did not voice public opinion, friend. He was no echohe was no parrot. He was not promoting anyone else. He was no politician. He was more concerned about pleasing God than courting the popularity of the crowd. He sought divine approval rather than public applause. He was not a clown in a public parade. He was a fool for God’s sake. He was a solo voice in the wilderness of the world. He carried on an all-out war against Satan and his hosts. He stood alone, arrayed against the prophets of Baal. Elijah chose Mount Carmel to take a dramatic stand for God. Several years ago I stood in what is probably the exact area where Elijah and the prophets of Baal held their contest. Mount Carmel overlooks the Bay of Haifa and the blue Mediterranean Sea. It is a long ridge; and way out yonder to the east is Megiddo in the valley of Esdraelon. In this dramatic spot the lone, majestic figure of Elijah stood apart. He was detached. I think he looked bored after a few minutes of the performance by Baal’s prophets. Then that ironic smile crossed his face and you could hear the acid sarcasm in his voice. He used the rapier of ridicule. He taunted and jeered at these prophets. And finally, with wilting scorn, he waved them aside.
1 Kings 18:29
Elijah is now going to have to depend on God. The altar of the Lord has been broken, and Elijah spends some time cementing it together. That was a dramatic move, friend. What is it that has caused division in our country today? I recognize that there are many explanations being offered, but a departure from God is basic to the divisions in this nation. There was a time that there was a measure of unity, and it was a unity based on the fact that there is a living Godthat is written in our constitutionand we are responsible to Him. There was a time when this nation believed that the Bible was an authority. Who divided this country? Those, my friend, who began to cut up the Word of God.
That is what caused the division. It is hypocrisy today when so many are saying, “Let’s get together.” Get together on what, my friend? You cannot get together on nothing. It is like the story that is told about a man who was walking through the jungle in Africa, and he met an elephant. The elephant said to him, “Where are you going?” The man replied, “I am not going anywhere.” The elephant said, “I’m not going anywhere either. Let’s go together.” That is the only way you are going to get together with today’s crowd: you will have to agree on nothing.
If you do that, you can all get together. My friend, you can’t get together unless you’ve got something to gather around that will hold you together. The altar was the place of unity. Elijah put it back together.
1 Kings 18:31
Notice that Israel was one nation. It was not Israel and Judah, or Samaria and Jerusalem, but all twelve tribes as the one nation, Israel. So Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces. Finally he ordered that four barrels be filled with water and poured on the sacrifice and on the wood. Now it was a long way down to the water supply. As I stood on Mount Carmel, I wondered how long it took those who were bringing the water to get four barrels up the side of that mountain. It was a long route, but Elijah was in no hurry.
1 Kings 18:34
They fetched the water once, and Elijah said, “Go down and fill it again.” And that was not enough. He said, “Do it the third time,” and they did it the third time. I think if you could have seen Elijah that day there would have been a wry smile on his face. Do you know what that wry smile was about? Why did he pour water on that altar? My friend, only God can do the impossible.
A little water won’t keep the fire from falling, so he did not mind pouring the water over everything. He could have poured water for the next twenty-four hours, and the fire still would have fallen. Elijah is learning to depend on Godwe have seen that. Remember, as he stood at that little brook and watched it dry up, he knew he was nothing in the world but a channel through which water could flow. He had also looked down in an empty flour barrel and sung the doxology. God fed Elijah, the widow, and her son out of that empty flour barrel for the period of the drought.
And then he found out he was a dead body. He had learned that if anything is going to be done, God has to do it. He just stood up there that day, a wry smile on his faceI think Elijah had a sense of humor. And I know God has a sense of humor. Under his breath Elijah probably said, “Lord, if You don’t do it, it won’t be done.”
1 Kings 18:36
Friend, I wish we recognized the fact that if God doesn’t do it, it’s not going to be done. Do you understand Elijah’s prayer? This is one of the great prayers of Scriptureit’s not long, but it is great. He said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel …” You will notice that Elijah used the term Israel, not Jacob. Why Israel? Well, Israel is the name that was given not to twelve tribes, but to one nation.
Also in his prayer Elijah said, “Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.” You and I need to be sure that what we are doing is according to the will of God. Don’t do something that you want to do and then ask God to bless it. God doesn’t move that way. You have to go His route if you want to receive the blessing. We have no right to demand anything of God. It is true that He demands a great deal of us, but we are not to demand anything of Him.
He is not a Western Union boy. He will not come at your command. We are to pray according to His will.
1 Kings 18:37
Elijah is praying for the glory of God in this verse. That is what moves the arm of God. And do you know what happened?
1 Kings 18:38
That was a pretty brutal thing to do, wasn’t it? But it sure got rid of the apostasy and the heresy.
1 Kings 18:41
ELIJAH’S PRAYER FOR RAINWhen the people turned to God, the rain came and the blessings came.
1 Kings 18:42
Elijah was a great man! And so that the people might realize that the drought was not just an accident of nature but was a disciplinary measure, it ended the same way that it had begunby the command of God’s man, Elijah. Elijah said that rain was coming, but at first nothing could be seen but blue water and blue sky. When his servant looked for the seventh time, however, a cloud as small as a man’s hand could be seen. The cloud rapidly increased in size until the heavens were black and rain flooded the parched earth.
1 Kings 18:46
Elijah had told Ahab to hurry home because the creek would soon rise and he would not be able to cross it. But then Elijah began to run. Why? Because he is a man of like passion as we are. He is very much a human being, and we are going to see just how human he is.