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1KINGS
CHAPTER 18

1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

After 3 years, God told Elijah it was time to go and face Ahab. Elijah had been at the brook Chrith for about 6 months, and in Zarepheth for 3 years. That meant that the land of Israel had been without rain for 3 and 1/2 years! (See Luke 4:25, James 5:17)

3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. 6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

Ahab, in the meantime, had called Obadiah who was a devout child of God. Ahab knew that, and he knew he could trust Obadiah.
Obadiah had been hiding the prophets of the Lord (verse 4) and taking care of them.
Ahab wanted Obadiah (and himself) to search for pasture. The horses and mules were about to dies for lack of grass.
I've seen droughts last for up to 6 or 7 months. Everything begins to wilt and the nerves of people really get on edge. I can only imagine what would happen in a drought that lasted 31/2 years.

7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? 10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. 11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. 15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.

As Obadiah was doing what Ahab had requested, he ran into Elijah. Elijah told Obadiah to go tell Ahab he was waiting on him.
Obadiah immediately thought he'd done something wrong, and that Elijah was sent by the Lord to punish him. He tried to justify himself by saying that he had hid the 50 prophets from Jezebel who wanted them dead. But Elijah assured him that he would not disappear again, and that he would stay right there until Obadiah brought Ahab to him.

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? 18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. 19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.

When Ahab came to meet Elijah, he asked, "Are you the one who's been troubling Israel?"
(Naturally when something goes wrong in government, it's the Christian's fault! After all, all they know is "gloom and doom." Right?)
Notice that elijah was quick to respond. He told Ahab in no uncertain terms that it was AHAB who was troubling Israel! The trouble existed because Ahab refused to obey God and followed false religion.
Elijah also told Ahab he wanted to physically challenge the 850 prophets of the false god Baal. And he told Ahab to gather them all to Mt. Carmel.

20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 22 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. 23 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: 24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

After they were all gathered, Elijah issues the challenge. First, Elijah spoke to the the people. He asked them how long they would "halt between two opinions?"
Literally, this means, "How long will you hop between two forks?" They needed to DECIDE! And Elijah was gonna HELP them by showing Who is the ONLY true God!
Then Elijah spoke to the prophets. All the prophets of Baal TOGETHER would call on their god, and only Elijah - ALONE - would call on the Lord God Almighty.

25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26 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. 27 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 peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. 28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

The prophets of Baal accepted the challenge. They sacrificed the animal. Then they began to call on their god. Elijah "egged them on" by suggesting that the reason Baal didn't answer was because he was asleep, or busy with someone else, or on vacation.
But NOTHING happened. They continued to call on Baal from early morning until the evening sacrifice time (3:00PM). NOTHING happened! Well, of COURSE nothing happened! There is only ONE true GOD!

30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, 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. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

Elijah made an altar of 12 stones, significantly representative of the 12 tribes of Israel. After placing the sacrifice on the stones, Elijah called for TWELVE barrels of water to be poured on the sacrifice, the wood and the altar. Water was precious, but Elijah wanted to prove a point. God is capable of answering under ANY conditions. He's NEVER asleep, He's NEVER too busy, and He NEVER takes a vacation!
After they poured the water, Elijah called on God ONE TIME!

38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

Then God sent the FIRE! It consumed the sacrifice, the stones, the wood, and the water - even the dust around the altar was consumed!

"Our God is a consuming fire.." (Hebrews 12:29)

The RESULT of this sight was that the people REALIZED Who was really GOD!
Now, at this point, I must interject a thought. It was AFTER Elijah was willing to be used of the Lord, it was AFTER Elijah stood in opposition to evil, it was AFTER Elijah suffered loneliness and separation from his people, it was AFTER Elijah showed faith even in doubt, it was AFTER Elijah confronted those who were practicing evil, that the fire FELL!
One cannot simply pray for God's miracle to change a nation! One must FIRST become involved in the work. Involvement may include shunning by those thought to be friends. Involvement may even mean being separated from loved ones. And involvement certainly must include standing firm against evil and showing faith.
But, remember this, prayer without involvement is like a car without a motor - it DON'T WORK!

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."(Hebrews 11:6)

40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

Now here's something that a lot of people don't like to talk about. Under divine decree, Elijah personally put to death 850 false prophets!
And Elijah did it while the king who had allowed the prophets in his country WATCHED! The king did nothing to stop Elijah because he knew Elijah was right and these men had been living and promoting a lie all this time!
This was JUST JUDGEMENT for them. God's Word, by which these people were SUPPOSED to live, had decreed that false prophets should be put to death (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
One day, all those who have lied about there being other gods will face the Almighty, and ONLY God! And they will receive ETERNAL death!
Now, I wouldn't propose that the prophets of God go around killing false prophets today. But I WOULD propose that they go around speaking TRUTH thus bringing SHAME to those who purport evil! That will effectively destroy them!

40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. 41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Elijah told Ahab to go back up the mountain and eat and drink. It was time to celebrate because God was going to send RAIN! Ahab did, and Elijah joined him there. But Elijah sat down and prayed. He sent his servant seven times to look for a sign of rain.
And finally, the servant said there was a cloud approaching. Immediately Elijah told Ahab to take his chariot and drive quickly home or else get stuck in the mud from the rain. This was going to be a "gully washer!"
Ahab did as Elijah said. How quickly we see those who constantly oppose truth will meekly follow when truth is shown! Elijah had been true in all he said, and Ahab BELIEVED him!
One has come among us on this earth Who was absolutely truthful in ALL He said and did. He promised to die in atonement for men's sins. He promised to rise again, and He did! Should we not BELIEVE Him?!?

46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

The power of God was upon Elijah. It was EVIDENT!
Christian, can people SEE the power of God upon YOU?
Ahab drove fiercely, but Elijah outran him to the city of Jezreel. That was Ahab's winter home, and it was 17 miles from Mt. Carmel!
Here's a man who's been living on bread and water for 31/2 years, and he OUTRAN a chariot for 17 miles! Is that not EVIDENCE of God's POWER?
Ain't God GOOD?

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