A Lenten series on Mountaintop Moments
– Elijah on Mount Carmel
(Click on the
link below to read the verses.)
1 Kings 18:16-46
[In this Lenten
series, we will be looking at Mountaintop Moments. These mountains are more
than just geographical features. They symbolize divine encounters and moments
of revelation, faith and transformation. In other words, meeting God on the
mountain top.]
With a million dollars at stake, the competition is fierce,
and the pressure is intense. But it pales in comparison to the competition and
pressure that Elijah faced in his fire making challenge. His life was literally
on the line.
Fifty-six years after the nation of Israel split
into the northern kingdom (Israel) and southern kingdom (Judah), Ahab took
power as the king of Israel. His reign was marked by significant idolatry and
the promotion of Baal worship, largely influenced by his wife, Jezebel. Because
of this, the Lord seethed with anger.
As a prophet of the Lord, Elijah confronted Ahab and
Jezebel many times. On one such occasion, he directly challenged Baal, the
Canaanite god of rain and fertility, when he told Ahab that “there will be
no dew or rain… until I give the word!”
For the following three and a half years of the
draught, Elijah hid from Ahab and Jezebel. Meanwhile in Israel, things had
gotten much worse. Ahab blamed Elijah for the famine and had been looking for
him everywhere to punish him. Not only was the famine very severe, but Jezebel
had been killing the prophets of the Lord.
21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. NIV
First, the prophets of Baal prepared their altar by
placing the sacrificial bull on the wood, but did not light it. Then they called
upon Baal for fire. From morning until noon they shouted, they danced, they cut
themselves… but with no response.
Following their failure, Elijah prepared his altar.
Besides the wood and the sacrificial bull, he also had large amounts of water
poured over everything; not just one time, but three times!
Without performing the theatrics like the prophets
of Baal, Elijah prayed a simple prayer. And when he finished, “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”.
Why did Elijah challenge the prophets of Baal? The
answer is in his prayer.
36b “O Lord, God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and
that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord,
answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God
and that you have brought them back to yourself.” NLT
This wasn’t just a challenge of the prophets of Baal,
or even of Ahab and Jezebel. It was a challenge to the people of Israel. A
challenge for them to recognize the power and sovereignty of the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob; to turn from Baal and follow the Lord only; to understand that
“The Lord – he is God!”
How has the Lord challenged you? Probably not miraculously
like he did with Elijah on Mount Carmel. But his Holy Spirit is at work in our
lives every day to draw us closer to him.
Copyright
Feel free to share this blog with others.
www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com