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So let's open our Bibles to 1 Kings 18:16-17:
"So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”"
Uh, no, but Elijah refutes this and keeps on going:
"“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”" (verses 18-19)
Funny thing, that the king of Israel is taking orders from a prophet whom he hates. I have the suspicion that Ahab has grudgingly realized who really is in charge here. And we all know what happened on Carmel, so I won't go into much detail on that. Elijah sets up a huge "who is God" contest, the winner being the god who answers by fire. The contenders are Baal, and the True God. The prophets of Baal take nearly all day, cut themselves up even, but no luck. Finally, in the evening, Elijah takes a turn for the True God. He rebuilds God's altar, and then asked for water to be dumped all over the altar. This was done in the form of four huge water jars, and repeated three times. Elijah wanted no one to think that he had started the fire himself.
After the altar is prepared, and Elijah starts to pray:
"At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham,Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will knowthat you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
"Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
"When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”" (verses 36-39)
WOW. That must have been one amazing prayer for Elijah. He prays, and then God answers him IMMEDIATELY and in a big way. Not only is the sacrifice burned up by the fire, but also the wood, the stones, the soil, and even the water in the trench! And then the people declared, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Amazing.
Most people think that the story ends there. But does it? No! There is much more to be told of Elijah's life, and many more lessons to be learned. Immediately after the Israelites declare that the LORD is God, Elijah orders the slaughter of all of the prophets of Baal. After that, he dismisses everyone from Carmel, and the people all head home. Elijah tells Ahab to
"“Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”" (verse 41)
Was there rain? No. But Elijah had an incredible faith in God. Now that the people had acknowledged who was truly God, he was sure that God would send the rain. So he sends Ahab off, and then Elijah gets down on his knees. He puts his face between his knees! Six times he prays for rain. After each prayer has ended, Elijah tells his servant to go look toward the sea, to see if there was any cloud. Six times, nothing. The sky was as clear and rainless as it ever was. Elijah prays a seventh time, then tells his servant to once again look toward the sea. This time there's a change in the report! The servant says,
"“A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”" (verse 44)
Wow! A change! Even though it is small, Elijah has no doubt that it is the answer to his prayers. He tells his servant to go tell Ahab (who evidently was still on the mountain) to,
"“Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”" (verse 44)
The storm struck suddenly. Black clouds, a ferocious wind, and a heavy rain all caught Ahab off guard as he prepared to descend from Mount Carmel. The last verse (46) of this chapter describes quite succulently the amazing feat of what happened next:
The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Wow. Elijah ran all the way down Mount Carmel in front of Ahab? Yes. As the verse says, the power of the LORD came upon Elijah, but still. Just think how spent YOU would've been after a Mount Carmel experience! And then praying for rain, and now there is this monster thunderstorm that is underway. And then in the power of the Lord you run in front of your enemy all the way down a mountain and to Israel's capital? Yep, that's what Elijah did! As the verse says, God gave Elijah superhuman strength to do this, and to guide Ahab down Carmel. If Elijah hadn't done this, Ahab may have crashed on the way down.
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...And that's where I'm going to stop for this week! I know, I know, we didn't get to caves this week. But I promise that next week we'll talk about them! This article has kind of been a connector between last week and next week. Now that you have the proper background, next week's story will be much more meaningful.
However, I still think we can learn several good lessons from Elijah. He was brave, and very obedient to God. God told him go present himself before Ahab--Elijah did. God told him to call all the people to Mount Carmel and start a revival--Elijah did. God told him to run ahead of Ahab--Elijah did. God may give us hard tasks, but we don't have to do it alone. I like to think about Philippians 4:13--
" I can do all this through him who gives me strength. "
God will always give us the needed strength to do what He wants us to do! Let us remember that as we proceed into the coming week, and with God's help rely on Him more and more as trials and tribulations come our way.
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