“Thus says the LORD ‘CALL TO ME, and I WILL ANSWER YOU, and SHOW YOU great and mighty things, which YOU DO NOT KNOW.’” (Jeremiah 33:2-3) God’s promise to us is that if we call, then listen, He WILL answer us…
“Evil King Ahab and his wife Jezebel MURDERED the prophets of the LORD and replaced them with 450 prophets of Baal, and the 400 prophets of Asherah…” (1 Kings 18:3-4, 19) After Israel had gone more than three years without rain as a judgment for their idolatry, the prophet Elijah confronts the evil king Ahab and challenges him to a spiritual showdown. The king was to have all Israel gather at Mt. Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of the false god Baal and the 400 prophets of the false goddess Asherah.
“Elijah (God’s prophet) came to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD IS GOD, FOLLOW HIM; but IF BAAL, FOLLOW HIM.” But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are 450 men…let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull, 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.” (1 Kings 18:21-23) The people agreed that this was a good plan, and the prophets of Baal went first. The pagan prophets cried out and danced around their altar from morning till noon with no answer from Baal. Elijah began TO MOCK THEM, saying, “Shout louder! . . . Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. MAYBE HE IS SLEEPING and must be awakened.” So the prophets of Baal shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. Despite hours of effort, NOTHING HAPPENED.
Elijah then called the people to him as he repaired the altar of the Lord. He used twelve stones and dug a trench around the altar. He then placed wood on the altar and laid the cut pieces of the bull on it. Elijah then had the people douse the altar with TWELVE LARGE JARS OF WATER. The water soaked the sacrifice and the wood and filled the trench. Once the sacrifice was ready, Elijah prayed, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are GOD IN ISRAEL and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again” (1 Kings 18:36–37). Then God did what Baal could never do: the fire of the LORD fell from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, “and also licked up the water in the trench” (verse 38). The people of Israel BOWED DOWN and DECLARED THE LORD AS GOD. OUR GOD CAN DO ANYTHING BUT FAIL SO, CALL OUT TO HIM…
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham