As part of my devotions this morning from the Bible Unity Reading Plan, I read the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal from 1 Kings 18. The king of Israel is apostate, worshiping false gods, the Baals and the Asherim. The people – though they were chosen as special to the Lord a thousand years previously, and though their very name, Israel, was given by God (see verse 31) – are “limping between two opinions” (verse 21); not really knowing who is mighty, they are trying to cover all bases by worshiping both Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, and the local Canaanite deities.

So Elijah tells them this makes no sense. Either Yahweh is God or He is not. If He is God, follow Him; if Baal is god, follow him (verse 21). Yahweh’s claims are exclusive: “Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39). He won’t share the pantheon with other supposed gods.

Elijah therefore sets up a contest on Mt Carmel between Yahweh and Baal through their representatives: Himself on the one hand and the 450 priests of Baal on the other. Both build altars, kill bulls, and prepare the bulls to be burned as a sacrifice, but neither is to set the wood of the altar on fire. “And the God who answers by fire, He is God” (verse 24). Interestingly enough, the priests of Baal are amenable to this. Do they really believe Baal will answer? Or do they anticipate that neither offering will be burned, and they will win simply by force of numbers?

The priests of Baal go first, and cry out to their god for hours and hours. They even cut themselves so that blood flowed out over them to show their devotion. Elijah mocks them, and they rave all the more.

Felix Mendelssohn’s musical version of this story in the oratorio Elijah is very insightful. The priests of Baal sing initially in majestic and complex 8-part harmony. But as time goes on and their frustration grows, they lose control, demanding that Baal answer them: “Hear and answer!” They repeat the command several times and then wait. A long silence ensues, before a final, feeble, “Hear and answer.” But no one does.

Elijah then has water poured over his altar so that there can be no mistake about the origin of the fire. He calls the people to him and, instead of complex 8-part harmony or cutting himself so that blood spurts out, he simply prays to God (Mendelssohn, once again, captures the tone perfectly). Here is his prayer:

O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” (verses 36-37, emphasis added)

The fire immediately falls, consuming not only the bull and the wood, but also the water, the stones, and the surrounding dirt. The people are rightly chastened; they fall prostrate, calling out, “Yahweh – He is God! Yahweh – He is God!” Mendelssohn – again, rightly – sees this as an allusion to Deuteronomy 6:4, and has the people sing that entire verse.

There are numerous lessons we can draw from this marvelous story. Let me just mention three in brief:

1) Elijah sees that it is necessary to establish not only that Yahweh is God, but also that he, Elijah, is God’s servant, he is God’s mouthpiece, he is truly communicating God’s Word to these people. He had called on the rains to cease, and a great drought ensued (17:1). Many evidently blamed Elijah for their suffering; Ahab calls him the troubler of Israel, the one who brings disaster on Israel (verse 17).

This relates directly to our present sermon series, “God Gave Pastors and Teachers.” As we have seen, people have a tendency to “surround themselves with teachers to satisfy their own desires, to scratch their itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3). Those who fulfill God’s calling to preach the Word in season and out of season will be accused, like Elijah, of causing trouble, of not being responsive to the times. How important it is for those called by God to “be clear-headed in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of a preacher of the Gospel; fully accomplish your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). But it is equally important for the church, the people of God, to recognize the preacher and teacher who is faithfully preaching the Word, to stick by him in good times and bad, to learn from him, and to recognize him as a gift of God for their building up.

2) Second, notice verse 37. Elijah locates the problem in the hearts of the people. And he knows that no power encounter, in and of itself, is going to cause the people to follow God wholeheartedly. Remember, the people of Israel in the time of Moses saw God work miracles in ways unrivaled across history, but just a few weeks later they grumbled against Him in the desert. The only solution is for God Himself to change their hearts.

Elijah apparently is skeptical that such a heart change has taken place, given his actions in chapter 19. And, indeed, while the number of God’s faithful followers is larger than Elijah thinks (19:18), it is undoubtedly smaller than the number who appeared to repent on Mt Carmel.

But God does change hearts, replacing those of stone with those of flesh. In today’s New Covenant, He promises to write His Law in our hearts, He promises to give us the Holy Spirit, He promises that He Himself will complete the good work that He begins. Praise God that he takes sinners like us, who in and of ourselves will waiver between two opinions, who will never be steadfast in faith, and changes us, setting our feet on the Rock, and enabling us by His grace to live for His glory.

3) Finally: Who are the Baals and the Asherim in your life? Who are the rivals of God? What powers and sources of success and strength are you holding on to, limping between two opinions, sometimes acting like Jesus is Lord and sometimes acting like this other rival – money, sex, accomplishment, recognition, autonomy – is your true source of satisfaction? Do you know, are you convinced, that if you depend on any of these, a day will come when you, like the priests of Baal, will cry out, “Hear and answer, O my God!” – and you will hear nothing? A day when all your sources of joy and hope come up empty?

There is only one God. Worship Him alone.

[You can listen to Mendelssohn’s version of the conflict between Elijah and the priests of Baal as tracks 12 to 19 on this link. Free registration may be required.]