The Prophet: The Battle
We found this excursion on our last cruise that we really wanted to do.
It was a small sailboat, limited to ten people, that would drift along the Italian coast past those little pastel villages you see in movies. We would sail from town to town with chances to hop off and walk around, stop in private coves to swim, eat lunch on the boat, then finish with sunset on the ocean and a ride back to the ship.
Perfect. At least in theory.
There was just one problem: we had two different days we could book it.
If there had only been one option, this would not even be a story. But we had to choose, which meant we also had to decide what to do with the other day. And that meant research. Lots of research.
So we did what normal people do. We procrastinated.
One day my wife was ready to dig into YouTube and TripAdvisor, and I was not. Another day I was ready and she was not. Finally, we both hit that magical moment of being ready at the same time. We spent an entire Saturday researching cities, watching videos, reading reviews, and finally decided what we wanted to do on the non-excursion day.
We picked the city. We picked the other activities. We picked the day for the sailboat.
Then we went to book it.
It was gone.
We had waited too long.
In a panic, we checked the other day. Also gone.
We started looking at similar excursions. All gone too.
We were so fixated on things we might miss that we missed the big thing we already knew we wanted.
You probably know exactly how that feels.
Maybe your kids are grown and you know the ache of realizing you spent too much time on what does not matter and missed what does.
Maybe you have hit a stage of life where your body will not do what it used to do, and you look back and think, “I wasted so much time on stuff that never really mattered.”
We all assume we have more time than we do. We assume the important things will still be waiting for us later, so we chase the urgent, the shiny, the easy. We assume we can always make the real decision, the big commitment, “someday.”
Elijah’s Moment on the Mountain
That is exactly where we find Israel in 1 Kings 18.
They are God’s people, but they are trying to have it both ways. They want Yahweh and Baal. They want God and their idols. They want worship without obedience, covenant without commitment.
So God sends Elijah to force the issue.
“When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is it you, you troubler of Israel?’
And he answered, ‘I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.
Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.’”
1 Kings 18:17–19, ESV ESV Bible
Ahab calls Elijah “the troubler of Israel,” which is not “you are kind of annoying.” It is closer to “traitor.” He paints himself as the defender of the nation and Elijah as the enemy.
Elijah flips it. The problem is not the prophet who spoke the hard truth. The problem is the king who abandoned the commandments of the Lord and dragged the nation into Baal worship.
Baal and Asherah were worshiped as a pair, a male and female fertility cult. Their prophets ate at Jezebel’s table. State money, state power, and national attention had all shifted from the worship of the Lord to the worship of these idols.
And Elijah has the nerve to say, “Bring them all. All the leaders. All the prophets. Meet me at Mount Carmel.”
Mount Carmel matters. It was basically Baal’s home field, a ridge near the Phoenician coast, right on the border with the people who had given Israel this false worship in the first place. This will not just be a showdown for Israel. The neighbors are going to see it too. Wikipedia
Limping Between Two Opinions
Ahab does what Elijah says, which is its own little mystery. Fear? Curiosity? Desperation? Maybe all of the above.
“So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people did not answer him a word.”
1 Kings 18:20–21, ESV ESV Bible
That word “limping” is important. It is the picture of someone staggering back and forth, unable to choose a side. Think of a man who will not decide between his wife and his mistress. He goes home and says, “I love you, you are my only one,” then sneaks out the next day to be with someone else.
That is Israel. They have not exactly renounced Yahweh. They just added Baal. They sing the songs, they use the language, but their real loyalty is split.
Elijah’s question is painfully simple:
If the Lord is God, follow him.
If Baal is god, follow him.
Pick a lane.
They say nothing.
Stacking the Deck Against Himself
Then Elijah raises the stakes.
“Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.’ And all the people answered, ‘It is well spoken.’”
1 Kings 18:22–24, ESV ESV Bible
He sets up a contest that heavily favors Baal.
Bulls were Baal’s animal.
Baal was supposed to be the storm god, the one who throws down lightning.
Mt Carmel is supposedly Baal's mountain.
If your god specializes in storms and fire from the sky, this should be easy. Two altars. Two bulls. No one lights a match. Whichever god sends fire, that is the real God.
The people finally speak: “It is well spoken.” They agree this is fair. They are the referees.
When Your God Does Not Answer
Elijah lets Baal’s team go first.
“And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.”
1 Kings 18:26, ESV ESV Bible
Remember that word “limped”? The writer is making a joke. Israel is limping between two opinions, and now Baal’s prophets are limping around the altar. All this energy, all this motion, all this intensity, and absolutely nothing is happening.
After a few hours, Elijah starts talking trash.
“And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.’”
1 Kings 18:27, ESV ESV Bible
Maybe he is deep in thought. Maybe he is in the bathroom. Maybe he is on vacation. Maybe he is napping.
The prophets of Baal respond by cranking up the volume. They scream louder. They cut themselves until blood is everywhere. They dance, rave, and exhaust themselves.
“But there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.”
1 Kings 18:29b, ESV ESV Bible
That sentence is brutal. No voice. No answer. No one listening.
Repairing What Was Thrown Down
Then Elijah quietly calls the people to him.
“Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come near to me.’ And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name,’ and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord.”
1 Kings 18:30–32a, ESV ESV Bible
He does not build a new altar. He repairs an old one. Something that used to be used for worship had been neglected and destroyed. He takes what is left and restores it.
He uses twelve stones, not ten. The kingdom is divided politically, but God still sees them as one people. This is Elijah quietly refusing to recognize the split. Spiritually, they are still one Israel.
Then he raises the difficulty level again. He has them soak the sacrifice and the wood with water, three rounds of it, until the trench he dug around the altar is full.
Humanly speaking, this is impossible now. Wet wood does not burn. A soaked sacrifice does not catch. Any chance of a trick is gone.
A Simple Prayer And A Consuming Fire
“And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘O Lord, 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 Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.’”
1 Kings 18:36–37, ESV ESV Bible
No screaming. No self-harm. No frenzy. Just a clear, calm prayer.
He asks God to do three things:
Show that He is God in Israel
Show that Elijah is His servant acting in obedience
Turn His people’s hearts back
“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”
1 Kings 18:38, ESV ESV Bible
Not just the bull. Not just the wood. The stones. The dirt. The water.
There is no question left. No “maybe that was a coincidence.” No “maybe lightning just happened to strike.” This is total, unmistakable, overwhelming fire.
“And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.’”
1 Kings 18:39, ESV ESV Bible
They finally say with their mouths what Elijah has been saying with his life.
The prophets of Baal are seized and executed. The system of child sacrifice, ritual rape, and pagan worship is shut down, at least for a while. The people have made a decision. On the mountaintop, with smoke still in the air, it feels like a permanent one.
It will not be as easy to live it at home as it was to shout it on the mountain. But, for now, the decision is clear.
Two Audiences, Then And Now
There were really two audiences on Mount Carmel.
The obvious one is Israel. The people who grew up with God’s name, God’s stories, God’s covenant, and yet drifted into divided loyalties.
The second is less obvious.
Mount Carmel sits right on the border near Phoenicia, the home base of Baal worship. From there, the surrounding nations would see what happened too. The fire that fell was not just for God’s people, it was also a message to the people who assumed Baal was winning.
That is still true.
You might be reading this as part of that “second audience.”
Maybe you did not grow up in church.
Maybe this whole conversation about Elijah and Ahab and Baal and altars is new to you.
Maybe you are interested, but cautious.
Here is my prayer for you, and it is the same as Elijah’s.
That God will show you who He is.
That He will confirm that what you are hearing about Jesus is true.
That you will see clearly that you are a sinner who cannot fix yourself, and that forgiveness is only available through Jesus, who died and rose so you could be forgiven and made new.
My guess is that He has already started doing that. Many times, what we think is the “first step” is really confirmation of something God has been slowly making clear for a while.
If that is you, then the next step is courage. Not more information. Not more delay. Courage to receive what He is offering and to commit yourself fully to Him.
The People Who Think This Is Not About Them
Maybe you feel more like the first audience, but you do not recognize yourself yet.
You read about Baal and child sacrifice and think, “That is not me. I am not worshiping some ancient idol. I do not even like politics enough to worship a politician. This is someone else’s problem.”
Be careful.
Israel never formally denied the Lord. They just added other options. They limped back and forth.
They worshiped when it was convenient and did what they wanted when it was not.
They would have said, “Of course we believe in the God of Israel.” They just were not serious or committed.
That is the danger for us.
Not that we will become full-blown idol worshipers overnight, but that we will limp between two opinions.
We say Jesus is Lord, but our money, our marriages, our parenting, and our everyday lives tell a different story.
Try these questions on:
Money
If someone had only your bank and credit card statements, would they be able to tell you worship Jesus?
Would your spending show that you care about His kingdom, His church, and people other than yourself, or would it show that you worship comfort and self?
Marriage
If someone watched how you speak to and treat your spouse, would they see a picture of the gospel, or would they see two people fighting for what they want?
Parenting
If someone watched the way you raise your kids, would they conclude that your deepest desire is for them to follow Jesus, or that your deepest desire is for them to succeed, perform, and impress?
Everywhere Else
If someone followed you at work, with your friends, and online, would they see the same Jesus you sing to on Sunday, or would they think Sunday is just a religious hobby?
Those are not guilt questions. They are clarity questions.
They reveal whether you are following the Lord, or limping between two opinions.
God Does Not Want Your Sundays
Here is the bottom line:
God does not want your Sundays.
He does not want your songs if He cannot have your wallet.
He does not want your raised hands if He cannot have your marriage.
He does not want your church attendance if He cannot have your parenting.
He is not interested in being the faithful wife you come home to when you are done with your mistress.
He wants all or nothing.
That is what Mount Carmel is about. Not just fire from heaven, but a line in the sand. If the Lord is God, follow Him. If something else is your god, be honest about that and follow it.
Just do not limp.
My prayer for you is that God will remind you who He is. That something will wake you up, shake you out of spiritual procrastination, and force you to see that you cannot keep putting off real obedience while assuming the opportunity to respond will always still be there.
You cannot follow Jesus and “other things.”
You cannot cling to your idols and still pretend He has first place.
So here is the question Elijah asked, and I think you need to hear it like he said it:
If the Lord is God, follow him.
If Baal, then follow him.
Who is your God?
And if He is your God, make Him your God all the time.
