Scripture: 1 Kings 18:20-40 (NKJV)
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets
together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How
long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but
if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah
said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets
are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and
let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the
wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it
on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your
gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire,
He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and
prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put
no fire under it.” 26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they
prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon,
saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they
leaped about the altar which they had made. 27 And so it was, at noon, that
Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is
meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and
must be awakened.” 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their
custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when
midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening
sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people
came near to 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, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be
your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD;
and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the
wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt
sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they
did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a
third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the
trench 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
Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your
servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O
LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that
You have turned their hearts back to You again.” 38 Then the fire of the LORD
fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the
dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the
people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God!
The LORD, He is God!” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal!
Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them
down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.
Devotion
In our reading for today we see that the Lord will not be mocked. Hence the
purpose for Elijah’s visit to King Ahab. Ahab did evil in the sight of the
Lord, more than all who were before him as King of Israel. He took as his wife
Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; he served Baal and
worshiped him; he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had
built in Samaria. Ahab also made a wooden image, provoking the Lord God of
Israel to anger more than all the kings of Israel who were before him. Our God
is a jealous God and will not allow His Honor to be given to another.
Verses 20-40 are among some the most powerful examples of God’s might as He
demonstrated that He is the one and only true God, that He can even defy the
laws of nature as water is consumed with fire. And again the people believed in
the one true God.
In the midst of so many different false gods and their beliefs that are pulling
for our attention, we need to daily return to the inspired, inerrant Word to be
strengthened in our faith and witness. There we are reminded just what the
Almighty Triune God is capable of doing to those who mock Him and His identity.
We Pray: Hallelujah! Let praises ring! Unto the Lamb of God we sing, in whom we
are elected. He bought His church with His own blood, He cleansed her in that
blessed flood, and as His Bride selected. Holy, holy is our union and
communion. His befriending gives us joy and peace unending. Amen. (TLH 23:2)
Posted by The Reverend Jeffrey A. Ahonen on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran
Diocese of North America, publisher of the Lutheran Herald.
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