Day 23 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Chapter five of Elijah by Charles Swindoll covers one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It’s where Elijah returns to confront Ahab and destroy the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Swindoll entitles his chapter, “The God Who Answers by Fire.”

I love the story because I find it almost funny. First, you have Elijah, who is probably the most wanted man in the country since telling Ahab off then disappearing for three years. Now he returns. All by himself. Not even afraid of Ahab and Jezebel and their 850 prophets. And he stands toe to toe with Ahab again and commands him to assemble all of Israel, the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the Asherah. He commands Ahab. The most wanted man in Israel is commanding the king—and the king obeys!

Then they all gather together and Elijah tells them that he has a plan to determine who is the real God: throw an ox on an altar, call on the name of your god and he’ll call on his and whichever god answers by fire is the true God.

He allows the other prophets to pick their oxen. They throw it on their wood and start calling out for their false god to set it on fire. From morning until noon, nothing happened. Then the Bible says, “And it came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god’ either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” (1 Kings 18:27). Heehee… dudes, I think your god is sleeping – you need to yell a little louder! Who says there’s no humor in the Bible?

Then the 850 prophets of Baal and the Asherah cry out louder, cut themselves and raved until the time of the evening sacrifice… but to no avail.

Swindoll gives the historical description of what often took place in Baal worship: nothing short of self mutilation. Yet despite the prophets’ best efforts, nothing happened.

Then our good buddy Elijah steps forward, builds and altar with 12 stones (representing the 12 tribes of Israel), then he makes a trench around the altar, puts the wood on the altar then the ox. Then he tells the people to go and fill four barrels with water and pour it on the ox… which they did three times (so 12 barrels of water – if you’re not doing the math on your own).

So you have the ox, the wood and the trench full of water (which probably was carried from the Mediterranean Sea since the land had been in a drought for 3 years)… basically, a drenched pyre surrounded by a trench filled with more water. Then he prays to God and the Lord answers. He not only consumed the ox with fire, but the wood, the stones, the dust and even the water in the trench… just in case there might be a doubter in the crowd.

That is one scene I would have loved to see. Can you imagine the looks on the people’s faces as the fire flew out of heaven and just obliterated everything?

But, despite the cool sight, Swindoll reminds us that God not only answered Elijah’s prayer immediately and completely, God turned the hearts of the people back to Himself.

After the firestorm, Elijah told the people to gather the 850 priests of Baal and the Asherah and slay them. Then to top everything off… Elijah tells Ahab that it’s going to rain. It’s been three years since he told the king that it wasn’t going to rain until he (Elijah) would say that it would.

This brings us to chapter six: A Man of God… A Promise of God. Swindoll’s first paragraph is a good reminder for us: “God keeps His promises. It’s a major part of His immutable nature. He doesn’t hold out hope with nice-sounding words, then renege on what He said He would do. God is neither fickle nor moody. And He never lies” (page 91).

Throughout this chapter, Swindoll focuses on how to determine if a promise in the Bible is something we can claim personally. He discusses the difference between a personal and a universal promise. If it’s a promise that was given to a specific person(s) for that time, for a specific purpose, it is for them alone. But if the promise has a much broader base appeal and application, chances are that we can claim that promise for ourselves. A good example of a universal promise that we can claim for ourselves is Provers 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

He continues by saying that even with promises that we can claim, there might be conditions that must be fulfilled before we can do so. For example, 1 John 1:9 has a promise we can all claim if we meet the condition set: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The chapter ends with Elijah on his knees, humbled before God. After his remarkable show at Mount Carmel, he didn’t let the success go to his head. Instead, he bowed his head to the Creator of the universe. And that’s why I love this story. We not only see Elijah’s heroism, we see his humility. Something we could all do well to emulate.

Happy reading.