One on One: Mount Carmel

Saturday, March 14, 2026

The Test of Time

A Lenten Series on the number 40
Elijah’s 40‑day journey to Horeb
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
1 Kings 18:16-40; 19:1-18

[Historically, Lent is a 40‑day period of preparation leading up to Easter. It involves reflection and repentance with the ultimate goal of transformation. The number 40 is significant in the Bible as it is associated with multiple stories of preparation and testing. In this Lenten series, we will be looking at various Biblical stories that include the number 40, and how it applies to us.]

When I was in high school, there was a classmate of mine who was a bully and liked to get into fights. One day after school, he picked a fight with me. It’s extremely unlikely that I started it, because I hate confrontation and conflict. I would have been a terrible prophet of the Lord, unlike Elijah. Although, he had his moments.

From the time of Moses, Baal worship was a serious problem for the people of Israel. It became exponentially worse following the marriage of Ahab, who became the king of Israel, and Jezebel, a Phoenician princess who worshipped Baal.

In fact, Jezebel was a fanatical follower of Baal and created a culture in Israel that promoted its worship. She personally supported 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. At the same time, she persecuted and killed many of the prophets of the God of Israel.

Into this violent culture, the Lord sent Elijah as a prophet to confront those who worshiped Baal. When the “word of the Lord” came to him, Elijah spoke confidently. It didn’t matter whether he was telling Ahab about the drought, or whether he was mocking the prophets of Baal. He took control because the Lord had called him.

In fact, after defeating the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel, Elijah commanded the people to seize them and take them to the Kishon Valley where Elijah slaughtered them. When Ahab reported this to Jezebel, she sent a message to Elijah promising that she would have him killed within 24 hours.

Despite all the miracles that Elijah had seen and experienced, he feared for his life and fled. After traveling over 100 miles, Elijah hit rock bottom emotionally. He stopped and prayed for God to end his life. Following this, he traveled another forty days and nights to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai – the mountain of God.

Elijah’s name means “the Lord is my God”. As a prophet of the God of Israel, that was his message. It was a message of hope and redemption. But when he heard the words of Jezebel, he lost focus. He forgot that God was in control. It’s easy to do.

Before Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he challenged the people of Israel to follow the Lord.

²¹Elijah 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 1 Kings 18

About 550 years before this, Joshua also challenged the people of Israel as they prepared to cross the Jordan River into Canaan.

¹⁵But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” NLT Joshua 24

So, who do you choose to serve? This is a question that has stood the test of time.

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Saturday, March 29, 2025

The Fire Making Challenge

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.]

At the end of the season of the TV show Survivor, there are four contestants remaining. However, only three will advance to the final. The bottom two compete in a fire making challenge to determine who that will be.

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.

In one of the most dramatic scenes in the Bible, Elijah returned to Israel where he challenged four hundred fifty prophets of Baal to come to Mount Carmel for a fire making challenge. “All of Israel” gathered to watch.

²¹Elijah 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. ³⁷O 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.