Chapter 7 – ON CARMEL (part 1)
Chapter 7 – ON CARMEL
“So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the Prophets together unto mount Carmel” (1 Kings 18:20). Let us endeavor to picture the scene. It is early morning. From all sides the eager crowds are making their way towards this spot, which from remotest times has been associated with worship. No work is being done anywhere: a single thought possesses the minds of young and old alike as they respond to their king’s summons to gather together for this mighty concourse. Behold the many thousands of Israel occupying every foot of vantage ground from which they could obtain a view of the proceedings. Were they to witness a miracle? Was an end now to be put unto their sufferings? Was the long hoped-for rain about to fall? A hush descends upon the multitude as they hear the tread of marshaled men: conspicuous with the sun-symbols flashing on their turbaned heads, sure of court favor and insolently defiant came the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. Then, through the crowds, is carried the litter of the king, on the shoulders of his guard of honor, surrounded by his officers of state. Something like that must have been the scene presented on this auspicious occasion.
“And Elijah came unto all the people” (v. 21). Behold the sea of upturned faces as every eye is focused on this strange and stern figure, at whose word the heavens had been as brass for the last three years. With what intense interest and awe must they have gazed upon this lone man of sinewy build, with flashing eyes and compressed lips. What a solemn hush must have fallen upon that vast assembly as they beheld one man pitted against the whole company. With what malignant glances would his every movement be watched by the jealous priests and prophets. As one commentator puts it, “No tiger ever watched its victim more fiercely! If they may have their way, he will never touch yonder plain again.” As Ahab himself watched this servant of the Most High, fear and hatred must have alternated in his heart, for the king regarded Elijah as the cause of all his troubles, yet he felt that somehow the coming of rain depended upon him.
The stage was now set. The huge audience was assembled, the leading characters were about to play their parts, and one of the most dramatic acts in the whole history of Israel was about to be enacted. There was to be a public contest between the forces of good and evil. On the one side was Baal with his hundreds of prophets, on the other Jehovah and His lone servant. How great was the courage of Elijah, how strong his faith as he dared to stand alone in the cause of God against such powers and numbers. But we need not fear for the intrepid Tishbite: he needs no sympathy of ours. He was consciously standing in the presence of One to whom the nations are but as a drop in a bucket. All Heaven was behind him. Legions of angels filled that mountain, though they were invisible to the eye of sense. Though he was but a frail creature like ourselves, yet Elijah was full of faith and spiritual power, and by that faith he subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, escaped the edge of the sword, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
“Elijah stands forth before them all with a confident and majestic manner as the ambassador of Heaven. His manly spirit emboldened by the consciousness of the Divine protection, inspired with courage, and awed all opposition. But what an awful and loathsome sight presented itself to the man of God, to see such a gathering of Satan’s agents, who had withdrawn the people of Jehovah from His holy and honorable service, and had seduced them into the abominable and debasing superstitions of the Devil! Elijah was not of a kindred spirit with those who can see with composure their God insulted, their fellow-countrymen degrading themselves at the instigation of wily men, and destroying their immortal souls through the gross impositions practiced upon them. He could not look with a placid eye upon the four hundred and fifty vile impostors, who made it their business, for filthy lucre or for courtly favor, to delude the ignorant multitude to their eternal destruction. He looked upon idolatry as a crying shame: as nothing better than evil personified, the Devil deified, and Hell formed into a religious establishment; and he would regard the abettors of the diabolical system with abhorrence” (John Simpson).
It seems reasonable to conclude that Ahab and his assembled subjects would expect Elijah on this occasion to pray for rain, and that they would now witness the sudden end of the long drought and its attendant famine. Had not the three years of which he had prophesied (1 Kings 17:1) run their weary course? Was mourning and suffering now to give place to joy and plenty again? Ah, but there was something else besides praying before the windows of Heaven might be opened, something of much greater importance which must first be attended to. Neither Ahab nor his subjects were yet in any fit state of soul to be made the recipients of His blessings and mercies. God had been dealing with them in judgment for their awful sins, and thus far His rod had not been acknowledged nor had the occasion of His displeasure been removed. As Matthew Henry pointed out, “God will first prepare our hearts, and then cause our ear to hear: will first turn us to Him, and then turn to us (see Psalm 10:17). Deserters must not look for God’s favors until they return to their allegiance.”
“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said” (1 Kings 18:21). The servant of God at once took the initiative, being in complete command of the situation. It is unspeakably solemn to note that he said not a single word to the false prophets, making no attempt to convert them. They were devoted to destruction (1 Kings 18:40). No, instead he addressed himself to the people, of whom there was some hope, saying, “How long halt you between two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21). The word for “halt” is totter: they were not walking uprightly. Sometimes they tottered over to the side of the God of Israel, and then they lurched like an intoxicated person over onto the side of the false gods. They were not fully decided which to follow. They dreaded Jehovah, and therefore would not totally abandon Him; they desired to curry favor with the king and queen, and so felt they must embrace the religion of the State. Their conscience forbade them to do the former, their fear of man persuaded them to do the latter; but in neither were they heartily engaged. Thus Elijah upbraided them with their inconstancy and fickleness.
Elijah made a demand for definite decision. It is to be borne in mind that Jehovah was the name by which the God of the Israelites had always been distinguished since their coming out of Egypt. Indeed, the Jehovah-God of their fathers was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob (Exo. 3:15, 16). “Jehovah” signifies the self-existent, omnipotent, immutable, and Eternal Being, the only God, beside whom there is none else. “If Jehovah be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” There was no “if” in the mind of the Prophet: he knew full well that Jehovah was the one true and living God, but the people must be shown the untenability and absurdity of their vacillation. Religions which are diametrically opposed cannot both be right: one must be wrong, and as soon as the true is discovered, the false must be cast to the winds. The present-day application of Elijah’s demand would be this: if the Christ of Scripture be the true Savior, then surrender to Him; if the Christ of modern Christendom, then follow him. One who demands the denying of self, and another who allows the gratifying of self, cannot both be right. One who insists on separation from the world, and another who permits you to enjoy its friendship, cannot both be right. One who requires the uncompromising mortification of sin, and another who suffers you to trifle with it, cannot both be the Christ of God.
There were times when those Israelites attempted to serve both God and Baal. They had some knowledge of Jehovah, but Jezebel with her host of false prophets had unsettled their minds. The example of the king misled them and his influence corrupted them. The worship of Baal was popular and his Prophets feted; the worship of Jehovah was discountenanced and His servants put to death. This made the people in general to conceal any regard they had for the Lord. It induced them to join in the idolatrous worship in order to escape ill will and persecution. Consequently they halted between the two parties. They were like lame persons: unsteady, limping up and down. They oscillated in their sentiments and conduct. They thought so to accommodate themselves to both parties as to please and secure the favor of both. There was no evenness in their walk, no steadiness in their principles, no consistency in their conduct. Thus they both dishonored God and debased themselves by this mongrel kind of religion, wherein they “feared the LORD, and served their own gods” (2 Kings 17:33). But God will not accept a divided heart: He will have all or none.
The Lord is a jealous God, demanding our whole affection and will not accept a divided empire with Baal. You must be for Him or against Him. He will permit of no compromise. You must declare yourself. When Moses saw the people of Israel dancing around the golden calf, after destroying the idol and rebuking Aaron, he stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me” (Exo. 32:26). O my reader, if you have not already done so, resolve with godly Joshua, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (24:15). Ponder those solemn words of Christ’s, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who gathers not with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30). Nothing is so repulsive to Him as the lukewarm professor: “I would you were cold or hot” (Rev. 3:15)-one thing or the other. He has plainly warned us that “no man can serve two masters.” Then “How long halt you between two opinions?” Come to some decision one way or the other, for there can be no compromise between Christ and Belial.
There are some who have been brought up under the protection and sanctifying influence of a godly home. Later, they go out into the world, and are apt to be dazzled by its glittering tinsel and carried away by its apparent happiness. Their foolish hearts hanker after its attractions and pleasures. They are invited to participate, and are sneered at if they hesitate. And only too often, because they have not grace in their hearts, nor strength of mind to withstand the temptations, they are drawn aside, heeding the counsel of the ungodly and standing in the way of sinners. True, they cannot altogether forget their early training, and at times an uneasy conscience will move them to read a chapter out of the Bible and to say their prayers; and so they halt between two alternatives and vainly attempt to serve two masters. They will not cleave to God alone, relinquish all for Him, and follow Him with undivided hearts. They are halters, borderers, who love and follow the world, and yet retain something of the form of godliness.
There are others who cling to an orthodox creed, yet enter into the gaieties of the world and freely indulge the lusts of the flesh. “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him” (Titus 1:15). They attend religious services regularly, posing as worshipers of God through the one Mediator and claiming to be indwelt by that Spirit through whose gracious operations the people of God are enabled to turn from sin and to walk in the paths of righteousness and true holiness. But if you entered their homes, you would soon have reason to doubt their pretensions. You would find no worship of God in their family circle, perhaps none, or at best a mere formal worship in their closets: you would hear nothing about God or His claims in their daily conversation, and see nothing in their conduct to distinguish them from respectable worldlings; yes, you would behold some things which the more decent non-professors would be ashamed of. There is such a lack of integrity and consistency in their characters as renders them offensive to God and contemptible in the eyes of men of understanding.
There are yet others who must also be classed among those who halt and hesitate, being inconstant in their position and practice. This is a less numerous class, who have been brought up in the world, amid its follies and vanities. But by affliction, the preaching of God’s Word or some other means, they have been made sensible that they must turn to the Lord and serve Him if they are to escape the wrath to come and lay hold on eternal life. They have become dissatisfied with their worldly life, yet, being surrounded with worldly friends and relatives, they are afraid of altering their line of conduct, lest they should give offense to their godless companions and bring down upon them their scoffs and opposition. Hence their make sinful compromises, trying to conceal their better convictions but neglecting many of God’s claims upon them. Thus they halt between two opinions: what God will think of them, and what the world will think of them. They have not that firm reliance on the Lord which will lead them to break from His enemies and be out and out for Him.
There is one other class which we must mention, who, though they differ very radically from those which we have described above, yet must be regarded as proper subjects to ask, “How long halt you between two opinions?” While they are certainly to be pitied, yet they must be reproved. We refer to those who know that the Lord is to be loved and served with all the heart and in all that He commands, but for some reason or other they fail to avow themselves openly on His side. They are outwardly separated from the world, taking no part in its empty pleasures, and none can point to anything in their conduct which is contrary to the Scriptures. They honor the Sabbath Day, attend regularly the means of grace, and like to be in the company of God’s people. Yet they do not publicly take their place among the followers of Christ and sit down at His table. Either they feel too unworthy to do so, or fear they might bring some reproach on His cause. But such weakness and inconsistency is wrong. If the Lord be God, follow Him as He bids, and trust Him for all needed grace.
“If Jehovah be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The “double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). We must be as decided in our practice as in our opinion or belief, otherwise-no matter how orthodox our creed-our profession is worthless. It is very evident there could not be two supreme Gods, and therefore Elijah called upon the people to make up their minds which was really God; and as they could not possibly serve two masters, let them give their whole hearts and undivided energies to that Being whom they concluded to be the true and living God. And this is what the Holy Spirit is saying to you, my unsaved reader: weigh the one against the Other-the idol you have been giving your affections unto and He whom you have slighted; and if you are assured that the Lord Jesus Christ be “the true God” (1 John 5:20), then choose Him as your portion, surrender to Him as your Lord, cleave to Him as your All in all. The Redeemer will not be served by halves or with reserves.
“And the people answered him not a word” (1 Kings 18:21): either because they were unwilling to acknowledge their guilt, and thereby offend Ahab; or because they were unable to refute Elijah, and so were ashamed of themselves. They did not know what to say. Whether convicted or confused, we know not; but certainly they were confounded-incapable of finding an error in the Prophet’s reasoning. They seem to have been stunned that such alternatives should be presented to their choice, but they were neither honest enough to own their folly nor bold enough to say they had acted in compliance with the king’s command, following a multitude to do evil. They therefore sought refuge in silence, which is to be much preferred to the frivolous excuses offered by most of such people today when they are rebuked for their evil ways. There can be little doubt but what they were awed by the searching questions of the Prophet.
“And the people answered him not a word.” O for that plain and faithful preaching which would so reveal to men the unreasonableness of their position, which would so expose their hypocrisy, so sweep away the cobwebs of their sophistry, which would so arraign them at the bar of their own consciences that their every objection would be silenced, and they would stand self-condemned. Alas, on every side we behold those who are seeking to serve both God and mammon, attempting to win the smile of the world and to earn the “well done” of Christ. Like Jonathan of old, they wish to retain their standing in Saul’s palace and yet keep in with David. And how many professing Christians there are in these days who can hear Christ and His people reviled, and never open their mouths in reprimand-afraid to stand up boldly for God, ashamed of Christ and His cause, though their consciences approve of the very things for which they hear the Lord’s people criticized. O guilty silence, which is likely to meet with a silent Heaven when they are pleased to cry for mercy.
“Then said Elijah unto the people I, even I only remain a Prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And call you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Jehovah: and the God that answers by fire, let Him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken” (vv. 22-24). This was an eminently fair challenge, because Baal was supposed to be the fire God, or lord of the sun. Elijah gave the false prophets the preference, so that the outcome of the contest might be the more conspicuous to the glory of God. The proposal was so reasonable that the people at once assented to it, which forced their seducers out into the open: they must either comply with the challenge or acknowledge that Baal was an impostor.
“Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a Prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men” (1 Kings 18:22). The righteous are bold as a lion: undeterred by difficulties, undismayed by the numbers which are arrayed against them. If God be for them (Romans 8:31) it matters not who be against them, for the battle is His and not theirs. True, there were “a hundred men of the Lord’s Prophets” hidden away in a cave (1 Kings 18:13), but what were they worth to His cause? Apparently they were afraid to show their faces in public, for there is no hint that they were present here on Carmel. Out of the four hundred and fifty-one prophets assembled on the mount that day, Elijah only was on the side of Jehovah. Ah, my readers, Truth cannot be judged by the numbers who avow and support it: the Devil has ever had the vast majority on his side. And is it any otherwise today? What percentage of present-day preachers are uncompromisingly proclaiming the Truth, and practicing what they preach?
“Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And call you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answers by fire, let him be God” (vv. 23, 24). The time had now arrived when things must be brought to a head: Jehovah and Baal brought face to face, as it were, before the whole nation. It was of the utmost importance that the people of Israel should be roused from their atheistic indifference and that it should be incontrovertibly settled who was the true God, entitled to their obedience and worship. Elijah therefore proposed to put the matter beyond dispute. It had already been demonstrated by the three years’ drought, at the word of the Prophet, that Jehovah could withhold rain at His pleasure, and that the prophets of Baal could not reverse it or produce either rain or dew. Now a further test shall be made, a trial by fire, which came more immediately within their own province, since Baal was worshiped as the lord of the sun, and his devotees consecrated to him by “passing through the fire” (2 Kings 16:3). It was therefore a challenge which his prophets could not refuse without acknowledging they were but impostors.
Not only was this trial by fire one which forced the prophets of Baal out into the open and therefore made manifest the emptiness of their pretensions, but it was one eminently calculated to appeal to the minds of the people of Israel. On how many a glorious occasion in the past had Jehovah “answered by fire!” That was the sign given to Moses at Horeb, when “the Angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed” (Exo. 3:2). This was the symbol of His presence with His people in their wilderness wanderings: “The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light” (Exo. 13:21). Thus it was when the Covenant was made and the Law was given, for “Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace” (Exo. 19:18). This, too, was the token He gave of His acceptance of the sacrifices which His people offered upon His altar: “there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces” (Leviticus 9:24). So it was in the days of David: see 1 Chronicles 21:26. Hence the descent of supernatural fire from Heaven on this occasion would make it manifest to the people that the Lord God of Elijah was truly the God of their fathers.
“The God that answers by fire.” How strange! Why not “the God that answers by water?” That was what the land was in such urgent need of. True, but before the rain could be given, something else had to intervene. The drought was a Divine judgment upon the idolatrous country and God’s wrath must be appeased before His judgment could be averted. And this leads us to the deeper meaning of this remarkable drama. There can be no reconciliation between a holy God and sinners save on the ground of atonement, and there can be no atonement or remission of sins except by the shedding of blood. Divine justice must be satisfied: the penalty of the broken law must be inflicted-either on the guilty culprit or upon an innocent substitute. And this grand and basic truth was unmistakably set before the eyes of that assembled host on Mount Carmel. A bullock was slain, cut in pieces, and laid upon wood, and He who caused fire to descend and consume that sacrifice avouched Himself to be the true and only God of Israel. The fire of God’s wrath must fall either on the guilty people or on a sacrificial substitute.
As we have pointed out above the descent of fire from Heaven on the vicarious victim (1 Chronicles 21:26) was not only the manifestation of God’s holy wrath, consuming that upon which sin was laid, but it was also the public attestation of His acceptance of the sacrifice, as it ascended to Him in the smoke as a sweet-smelling savor. It was therefore an evident proof that sin had been dealt with, atoned for, put away, Divine holiness now being vindicated and satisfied. Therefore it was that on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended, appearing as “cloven tongues like as of fire” (Acts 2:3). In his explanation of the phenomena of that day, Peter said, “This same Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear”; and more, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:32, 33, 36). The gift of the Spirit as “tongues like as of fire” evidenced God’s acceptance of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, testified to His resurrection from the dead, affirmed His exaltation to the Father’s throne.
“The God that answers by fire.” Fire, then, is the evidence of the Divine presence (Exo. 3:2): it is the symbol of His sin-hating wrath (Mark 9:43-49): it is the sign of His acceptance of an appointed and substitutionary sacrifice (Leviticus 9:24): it is the emblem of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3) who enlightens, inflames and cleanses the believer. And it is by fire that He shall yet deal with the unbeliever, for when the despised and rejected Redeemer returns, it will be “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9). And again it is written, “The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41, 42). Unspeakably solemn is this: alas that the unfaithful pulpit now conceals the fact that “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). O what a fearful awaking there will yet be, for in the last day it shall appear that “whoever was not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life was cast into the Lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).
“Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And call you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answers by fire, let Him be God.” It will thus be seen that the test submitted by Elijah was a threefold one: it was to center around a slain sacrifice; it was to evidence the efficacy of prayer; it was to make manifest the true God by the descent of fire from Heaven, which in its ultimate significance pointed to the gift of the Spirit as the fruit of an ascended Christ. And it is at these same three points, my reader, that every religion-our religion-must be tested today. Does the ministry you sit under focus your mind upon, draw your heart unto, and demand your faith in the atoning death of the Lord, Jesus Christ? If it fails to do so, you may know it is not the Gospel of God. Is the One your worship a prayer-answering God? If not, either you worship a false God, or you are not in communion with the true God. Have you received the Holy Spirit as a sanctifier? If not, your state is no better than that of the heathen.
It must, of course, be borne in mind that this was an extraordinary occasion, and that Elijah’s procedure supplies no example for Christ’s ministers to follow today. Had not the Prophet done according to Divine commission, he had acted in mad presumption, tempting God, by demanding such a miracle at His hands, placing the Truth at such hazard. But it is quite clear from his own statement that he acted on instructions from Heaven; “I have done all these things at Your Word” (1 Kings 18:36). That, and nothing else but that, is to regulate the servants of God in all their undertakings: they must not go one iota beyond what their Divine commission calls for. There must be no experimenting, no acting in self-will, no following of human traditions-but rather a doing of all things according to God’s Word. Nor was Elijah afraid to trust the Lord as to the outcome. He had received his orders, and in simple faith had carried them out, fully assured that Jehovah would not fail him, and put him to confusion before that great assembly. He knew that God would not place him at the front of the battle, and then desert him. True, a wondrous miracle would have to be wrought, but that occasioned no difficulty to one who dwelt in the secret place of the Most High.
“And the God that answers by fire, let Him be God”: let Him be accounted and owned as the true God. Let Him be followed, served, and worshiped as such. Since He has given such proof of His existence, such demonstrations of His mighty power, such manifestations of His character, such a revelation of His will, all unbelief, indecision, and refusal to give Him His rightful place in our hearts and lives is utterly inexcusable. Then let Him be your God, by surrendering yourself to Him. He does not force Himself upon you, but condescends to present Himself to you. He deigns to offer Himself to your acceptance, bids you choose Him by an act of your own will. His claims upon you are beyond dispute. It is for your own good that you should make Him your God-your supreme Good, your Portion, your King. It is your irreparable loss and eternal destruction if you fail to do so. Heed, then, that affectionate invitation of His servant: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
“And all the people answered and said, it is well spoken” (1 Kings 18:24). They were agreed that such a proposal should be made, for it struck them as an excellent method of determining the controversy and arriving at the truth as to who was the true God and who was not. This would be a demonstration to their senses, the witnessing of a miracle. The word which Elijah had addressed to their conscience had left them silent, but an appeal to their reason was at once approved. Such a supernatural sign would make it evident that the sacrifice had been accepted of God, and they were eagerly anxious to witness the unique experiment. Their curiosity was all alive, and they were keen to ascertain whether Elijah or the prophets of Baal should obtain the victory. Alas, such is poor human nature: ready to witness the miracles of Christ, but deaf to His call to repentance, pleased with any outward show that appeals to the senses, but displeased with any word that convicts and condemns. Is it thus with us?
It is to be noted that Elijah not only gave his opponents choice of the two bullocks, but also conceded to them the stage for the first trial that they might, if they could, establish the claims of Baal and their own power, and thus settle the dispute without any further action: yet knowing full well they would be foiled and confused. In due course the Prophet would do, in every respect, what they had done, so that there should be no difference between them. Only one restriction was placed upon them (as also on himself) namely, “put no fire under” (v. 23) the wood-so as to prevent any fraud. But there was a deeper principle involved, one which was to be unmistakably demonstrated that day on Carmel-man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. The utter impotency of the creature must be felt and seen before the power of God could be displayed. Man has first to be brought to the end of himself before the sufficiency of Divine grace is appreciated. It is only those who know themselves to be undone and lost sinners who can welcome One who is mighty to save.
“And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made” (vv. 25, 26). For the first time in their history these false priests were unable to insert the secret spark of fire among the sticks which lay upon their altar. They were compelled, therefore, to rely on a direct appeal to their patron deity. And this they did with might and main. Round and round the altar they went in their wild and mystic dance, breaking rank now and again to leap up and down on the altar, all the while repeating their monotonous chant, “O Baal hear us, O Baal hear us”-send down fire on the sacrifice. They wearied themselves with going through the various exercises of their idolatrous worship, keeping it up for three whole hours. Is the reader inclined to bestow upon them a pitying smile? If so, we would ask, Are you quite sure that you worship God “in spirit and truth?”
But not withstanding all their zeal and all their importunity with Baal, “there was no voice nor any that answered.” What a proof that idols are but “the work of men’s hands. They have a mouth, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have hands, but their hands handle not; feet have they, but they walk not . . . they that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusts in them” (Psalm 115:4-8). “No doubt Satan could have sent fire” (Job 1:9-12), and would, if he might have done it; but he could do nothing except what is permitted him” (Thomas Scott). Yes, we read of the second beast of Revelation 13 that “he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from Heaven on the earth in the sight of men” (v. 13). But on this occasion, the Lord would not suffer the Devil to use his power, because there was an open trial between Himself and Baal.
“But there was no voice nor any that answered.” The altar stood cold and smokeless, the bullock unconsumed. The powerlessness of Baal and the folly of his worshipers was made fully apparent. The vanity and absurdity of idolatry stood completely exposed. No false religion, my reader, is able to send down the Holy Spirit, or grant supernatural answers to prayer. Tested at these three vital points, they one and all fail, as Baal’s worship did that memorable day on Mount Carmel.
“And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a God; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or perhaps he sleeps, and must be awaked” (1 Kings 18:27). Hour after hour the prophets of Baal had called upon their God, to make public demonstration of his existence by causing fire to come down from Heaven and consume the sacrifice which they had placed upon his altar-but all to no purpose: “there was no voice, nor any that answered.” And now the silence was broken by the voice of the Lord’s servant, speaking in derision. The absurdity and fruitlessness of their efforts richly merited this biting sarcasm. Sarcasm is a dangerous weapon to employ, but its use is fully warranted in exposing the ridiculous pretensions of error and is often quite effective in convincing men of the folly and unreasonableness of their ways. It was due unto the people of Israel that Elijah should hold up to contempt those who were seeking to deceive them.
“And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them.” It was at midday, when the sun was highest and the false priests had the best opportunity of success, that Elijah went near them and in ironical terms bade them increase their efforts. He was so sure that nothing could avert their utter discomfiture that he could afford to ridicule them by suggesting a cause for the indifference of their God: “perhaps he sleeps, and must be awaked.” The case is so urgent, your credit and his honor are so much at stake, that you must arouse him: therefore shout louder, for your present cries are too feeble, they are not heard, your voice does not reach his remote dwelling place: you must redouble your efforts in order to gain his attention. Thus did the faithful and intrepid Tishbite pour ridicule on their impotency and hold up to contempt their defeat. He knew it would be so, and that no zeal on their part could change things.
