the life of elijah (Part 7)
elijah's appeals to Israel
1 kings 18:20-40 ~ Ted Phillips
July 15, 2018
We are going to look once again this morning at the book of first Kings at the study of Elijah. I’d ask you turn there to chapter 18. When we left Elijah in our last study, he was alone on Mount Caramel he was facing King Ahab and the 450 prophets of baal. He was also surrounded by the people of Israel. It was a very intense and contentious time and Elijah was indeed alone. But the battle was not his. The battle belonged to the Lord.
I would remind you again, the Lord delights in being a stronghold for His people, especially when we are outnumbered, especially when the odds seemed to be against us. From a human perspective they always are, if you think about it, they always are in this world. The world is enmity against God, and therefore it is at enmity against His people. It is at these times that He shows Himself to be all sufficient, and when He shows Himself to be the only sovereign One who is overall.
As we have seen throughout the study in the chapters before, the Lord had prepared Elijah for this time on Mount Caramel, this time when he would in a human sense be alone. And of course, first of all, at the brook that Cherith and then at Zeraphath with the poor widow. The Lord raised up Elijah as His servant to carry out His directions and to follow His word. He raised him up to be an instrument to bring about His purposes, at that time with the people of Israel. The purpose of Mount caramel was first, to make known the glory of God. That was first and foremost on Elijah's mind, to affirm that He alone is God and that there certainly was no other.
The second purpose was to bring about repentance in the hearts of the people whom He had chosen. And of course, as we see here, the way this unfolded was in the form of a challenge. It was a challenge between the Lord God of Israel and the man-made God whose name was baal. It was a test to show beyond any doubt who was God, who was sovereign.
I think one thing that is worth considering about this event, the Lord God was not under any obligation to prove Himself to the people of Israel. He is God. he is sovereign. He is the One who possesses all authority and all power. The very fact that He was willing to enter into this contest with baal was a demonstration of His mercy to the people of Israel. The people of Israel had no right whatsoever to expect God to prove Himself to them. He had already done that on numerous occasions throughout their history and of course, not to mention the very drought that they were now experiencing. I mean, who else could have brought that about, but God himself? It is only by God's mercy and by His covenant keeping faithfulness that He was willing to give evidence of Himself in the way that He did here. I would bring this to our own attention, how often does our God prove Himself to you and I? How often does He condescend to prove Himself to us? You think about this, how often has He been long-suffering and patient with us in making Himself known to us, when in fact we deserve really, His chastening. In order to draw us closer to Himself, in order for us to know and to enjoy His nearness, He often proves to us His very existence. He proves to us His wisdom. He demonstrates His power, He communicates to us and demonstrates His holy and righteous character. His lovingkindness and His patience and His goodness. All of these things. His claims upon us are in indisputable, but He does not force us, and instead He faithfully prods us along that we might give Him the rightful place in our lives. Not by compulsion, does He do this but willfully surrendering ourselves to Him and to Him alone. To making Him our portion. This is the mercy that He showed Israel and not just on Mount Caramel, but over and over again and it's the same mercy and same goodness that He shows to you and I.
I want to take just a couple minutes here to read this account. This full account that we’re given here in first Kings 18 and I want to just be again reminded of this, that this is not just an interesting story. This is an account, a historical account of God's dealing with His people. I want us certainly to see it that way. So, starting in verse 20, it says:
“So, Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel, and he brought the prophets together at Mount Caramel. Elijah came near to all the people and he said, “how long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if baal follow him,” but the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but baal’s prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up and place it on the wood but put no fire under it, and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood and I will not put a fire under it. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “that is a good idea.” So, Elijah said to the prophets of baal, “choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many. And call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” They took the ox which was given them and they prepared it. They called on the name of baal from morning until noon, “Oh baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leapt about the altar which they made, and it came about noon that Elijah mocked them and he said, “call out with a loud voice, for he is a God. Either he is occupied or gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and he needs to be awakened!” So, they cried with a loud voice, and they cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out of them. When mid-day was passed they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. And Elijah said all the people, “come near to me”. So, all the people came near to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. Elijah took 12 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.” So, 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 measures of seed, and then he arranged the wood and he cut the ox in pieces and he laid it upon the wood. And he said, “fill for pictures of water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood,” and 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. And the water flowed around the altar and he also filled trench with water. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near, he said, “Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, Oh Lord, answered me! That this people may know that You oh Lord, are God. That You have turned their heart back again.” 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. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, “The Lord, He is God, the Lord He is God”. Then 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 he slough them there.”
You notice, throughout this event we see Elijah making an appeal to the people of Israel certainly on God's behalf and he appeals to them on three different levels. In verse 21 he speaks to them and the words that he speaks appeals to their conscience. This is the first level that he appeals to them on. We looked at this last time and I want to just briefly refresh our memories again. Verse 21, “Elijah came near to the people and he said, “how long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if baal follow him.” How long will you hesitate between two opinions? Most of Israel at this time saw the worship of Yahweh and the worship of baal as fully compatible. In fact, they had been attempting to combine the worship of Yahweh in the worship of baal, to mingle them in some sense in a very perverted way. And as a result, they were hesitating or they were stumbling between two opposing allegiances. The hearts were divided. Their loyalties were being torn in two different directions between the Lord God of Israel and between a false pagan deity. They had shunned one of the foremost commandments that the Lord had given them. “You shall have no other gods before me.” And in doing so, they offended Jehovah God. And I would say again, there is nothing that offends God more than this, to place another god, to place anything before Him.
So, as we see here, Elijah confronts them with their offense. He appeals to their sense of guilt in offending the righteous standard of God in offending God’s deity, in offending His sovereignty, and the response to his admonition was silence. As it says here, “they did not answer him a word.” But Elijah does not stop there. If you look in verse 22, he then appeals to their reason. He appeals to their reason. Notice verse 22 says, “Elijah said to the people I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but baal’s prophets are 450 men, now let them give us two oxen let them choose one on for themselves and cut it up and place it on the wood and put no fire under it, and I will prepare the ox and lay it on the wood and I will not put fire under it. You call upon the name of your god. I will call upon the name of the Lord, the God answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said that is good is a good thing it's a good idea.”
See Elijah presents to them a logical and a rational answer to their dilemma to their plight. It’s a straightforward and a very simple test. The one who can send fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice would prove Himself to be the One true God. In the eyes of the people, this made sense. This will sound judgment, and in fact, the test that Elijah suggests here is one that favored baal. He was thought to be the god of fertility, the one who provided grain and food for his people. He was thought to be the one who sent fire from heaven, in the form of lightening. And even though he had not been able to send rain these last three years, this was seen to be his strength something that was within his power. Verse 24, “and all the people said that is a good idea.” That is a good idea. They were all for it. They were all for it. They were eager to witness this unique test. Their curiosity had been stirred up and they were anxious to witness the outcome. A miracle, a miracle would be performed. They would see fire literally see fire from heaven. They couldn't wait! But you recall back in verse 21 again when Elijah had admonished them for their double mindedness, they had not answered him a word at that point. They had remained silent, there was not the same eagerness. But now at the prospect of seeing a miracle, they are all for it. I would say to you, is this not the nature of man? Is this not the natural inclination?
You know, if you look back in the Gospels we see this kind of thing on numerous occasions with the Israelite people. The people were ready and willing to witness the miracles of Christ, but when it came to his call to repentance - they were silent. Absolutely silent. That's man's, that is man's nature. He is pleased with the outward show that appeals to his senses, but he’s obstinate with any word to bring about a conviction to the heart. And as you and I well know, men have not changed since that time. And I would further say this, this is the modern church. This is a description of what much of contemporary Christianity is all about today. The stated goal of the modern church is to attract and to draw into their services those who are what they call the “unchurched.” In other words, those who are of this world. But, the problem is you cannot attract, you cannot hold unregenerate men when you declare that which brings about the conviction of sin in our lives. So, they offer a menu of those things which appeal to the senses, those things which tickle the religious ear. They tickle the ear but they shy away from that which results in a truly sanctified life.
See, the modern church in America has become, men pleasers, not God pleasers. In religious circles, there has always been a tendency for men to be attracted to the superficial, to that which is outward and that which is showy, to that which stirs up the emotions. And it is because that it gives the feeling and it gives the appearance of piety. And for a time, it may even soothe the conscience and it does not even require a conformity unto godliness. And this was Israel, in the days of Elijah. But this is also what Paul warned about in second Timothy chapter 3, if you remember he warned that perilous times were coming and we know they're here today, we’re in perilous times. One of the characteristics of these times is an outward religiosity, it’s an outward religiosity. It's a form of godliness that is void of power, it’s void of the power to save and sanctify. But that being said, and we need to be aware of this – it is a very attractive and powerful ploy of the evil one. That is because it excites the senses and it promises God's approval. It even promises right standing before God, and all of this without turning from the selfish desires of the flesh. All of this without submitting oneself to the righteous standards of God. All of this without a changed life is nothing more than a powerless and a cold religion.
I want you to see here that in our passage we see the outcome of this kind of religion. Once you look at the results of the spiritual performance of the prophets of baal, it you note here they carried on, and they called upon their god for six hours. Cutting themselves leaping upon the altar, shedding their blood in demonstration of spiritual zeal and somehow trying to appeal to their god, baal. They put on a great show for most of the day. It was no doubt very impressive to the eye, it was very entertaining, something that probably stirred up the emotions of the crowd that stood by creating a growing anticipation. But notice verse 29,
“When mid-day was passed they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention.”
What hopelessness, what utter hopelessness. These are words of utter despair, and that is the outcome of religion that is based on nothing more than outward appearance and emotional experiences. I think what we are to learn from this, is that all that glitters is not gold. You know the saying, you've heard it. All that glitters is not gold. All that has the appearance of religious enthusiasm and eagerness is not proof that is from the Lord. So much of what passes for worship and Christian experience today is nothing more than show. It’s nothing more than a religious and enthusiastic appeal to the flesh, and does not reach what is really the issue. It does not reach and deal with man's heart.
I want you to listen to what the psalmist tells us in Psalms 115 starting in verse one, He says, “Not to us. Oh Lord, not to us but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness because of Your truth. Why should the nation say, “where now is your God?” Our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases.” See, our God reigns, He alone reigns. He possesses all power and all authority to do whatever He deems best in whatever He deems to be right. But I want you to notice, the psalmist continues here and he shows us this great contrast that is made between God and the false prophets, the false gods of this world. Notice verse four, he says,
“Their idols are silver and gold. The work of man's hands.” See, that’s all that a false god is. That's all that baal was, he was a creation of man. He was a god who was made after their own desires. That's all that he was, that's all that baal was, nothing more. He goes on in verse five, he says, “They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes but you cannot see, they have ears, but they cannot hear, they have noses, but they cannot smell, they have hands but they cannot feel, they have feet with the cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throat and those who make them will become like them. Everyone who trusts in them.” See man has this tendency from the beginning of time to create for himself his own god. And then he puts his trust in that god. The thing that he has created, and he expects it to be greater and somehow more powerful than he is. But in truth, he becomes just like what he has created, he become spiritually powerless. This is the result whenever you supplant the truth of God's word was spiritual superficiality. This is what you get when you trade doctrine for ear tickling. You end up with a mere religion and a powerless one at that. You end up with people who are given a false sense of security. And when the bottom of life drops out there is no voice. There's no one who answers and no one pays attention. This was Israel at Mount Caramel. They had supplanted the word of God with the superficial religion and with nothing more than just spiritual glitter look at, to get excited about.
Now, With this in mind and want you to look with me at verse 25. Once the parameters of this test between God and baal were agreed upon, Elijah says to the prophets of baal, He says, “Choose one ox for yourself and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” See here, Elijah suggests that the prophets of baal go first. He gives them the preference to call upon their god, to call upon, for baal to prove himself. I think one of the reasons for this most likely, had to do with making sure that no claims could be made of unfairness. That Elijah could not be accused of some sort of trickery, so he gives them the right-of-way gives him the choice of which oxen to choose. Seems to me that there is perhaps a deeper reason for this, and this is where we now see Elijah begin to appeal to the people on the third level, he starts to appeal to their hearts. The people of Israel had invested a great deal of their lives in the worship of baal. Much of their welfare, much of their security and hope was wrapped up in this false religion. And because this was true they needed to see the impotency of baal and the worthlessness of man-made religion before the power of God was to be displayed.
I mean, think of what must have been going through their minds, the minds of the people as they watch the spectacle put on by the false prophets. At the beginning. I'm sure there was a sense of excitement and anticipation, 450 men who represented baal dancing around and creating a religious kind of fervor, but as the day drew on, there was no word from baal. There was no indication of his, of his presence, or of his concern. Their excitement and anticipation must've turned to despair and even to hopelessness. The god in whom they had expectations, he did not answer them. The god they had hung their hopes on had failed and in fact had proven himself to be a lie, just simply that, a lie. I want you to consider this very carefully. – this was a necessary thing for the people to see that day on Mount Caramel. They needed to see the complete futility of seeking after, and trusting in any other god or in any other created thing. They needed to see the vanity of supplanting the law God with their own desires. In other words, they needed to be brought to the end of themselves and this is where God wanted them, and it's important that we see that this was the design and the purpose of Mount caramel. In his mercy, the Lord God brought His people low, very low, in order that He might show them the surpassing glory of His all sufficient grace. This was all by God's design.
This is a principal of course, that we see outlined in Scripture over and over again. I want to just give you one example of this, in Luke chapter 18 and starting in verse 13 we see a parable that the Lord gives. In verse 10, he says, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus, to himself, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay ties of all that I get.” Then we see a course, much different description of tax collector. Verse 13 says, “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but he was beating his breast, saying God be merciful to me, the sinner.” Then the Lord brings this to conclusion in verse 14, he says, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted”.
What picture we are given here of the humility of heart in this tax collector. He was standing in the temple. He was standing in the place of worship, and he stands off in the distance out of the spotlight, kind of off into the shadows so nobody could see him. And he deems himself unworthy to even lift up his eyes to heaven to the One whom he had offended. And in an act of shame, he was beating his breast, saying God be merciful to me, the sinner. See, this man, this was a man who had been made aware of his sinfulness. He had been made aware of his position before a holy God, and it brought him low. In fact, it brought him to where he needed to be. It brought him to the end of himself, and in that place of humility, it was there that he came to know his need for God's mercy. And in truth, that is the only place where we find God's mercy. This was the purpose of God and having the prophets of baal go first in their attempt to call down fire from heaven. The Lord wanted the people of Israel to be in that place of humility. He wanted to make them low. That is because it is the only, it is only those who know themselves to be undone, who know themselves to be lost sinners who can welcome the one who has the power to save.
You know, this same principle applies, not only to those who are lost in darkness and apart from Christ, but it is this same condition of the heart that the Lord requires of His people. Requires of you and I. And according to His faithfulness, He will chasten us in order to bring us to that same place of humility. And to those who abide there who humble themselves before Him, it is to those that He gives greater grace. To those He draws Himself near, it is those whom He lifts up, it's those whom He exalts. This is an assurance, that we are given. It is a promise that God Himself makes. I remind you in Psalm 51:17, it says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” In Isaiah, the Lord affirms this and He tells us, “He will dwell with the contrite and the lowly of spirit,” and for what purpose will He do this? He goes on, He says, “In order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” So often we need to be made, we need to be made low in order that we may be lifted up. Lifted up to see and to know the glory of God's grace, to see His mercy.
I stated earlier that it was, according to the mercy of God that He even made Himself known at Mount Caramel, and part of that mercy is seen in the fact that when water was needed, He instead gave fire. I don’t know if you've ever wondered why the Lord chose to send fire and not water at this point in time. Three years they have had without water, right? The answer is, is the very thing that we have been looking at here, before the Lord lifted them up, before they were to know His blessings in the form of rain, they needed to be made low. And in His mercy, and in His mercy, the Lord brought them low while pointing them to His redemptive plan. Now let me just outline is for you, as we have seen the drought course, was a divine judgment on an idolatrous nation. in that, God's wrath and His justice had to be satisfied. At the same time, there could be no reconciliation between the holy God and sinful man apart from atonement. There could be no atonement without the shedding of blood, there could be no forgiveness of sins except for the shedding of blood. The divine justice had to be satisfied. The penalty of the broken law had to be inflicted, and it would either be afflicted on the one who is guilty or on an innocent substitute. So, Elijah shed the blood of a bullock, and he placed it on the altar and God then cause the fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice He signified His acceptance of that sacrifice. See, the grand and foundational truth was unmistakably set before the eyes of all who had gathered at Mount Caramel – the God of all mercy and grace had provided a substitute, He provided redemption for sinful man. He made them low, that He might point and then to the greatest heights that we could ever imagine.
We’re going to take a further look at Mount Caramel next time, but for now, I want to look at what it is we are to learn from Mount Caramel as we’ve seen it here described for us. As we saw before, the Lord has given this account of Israel for our instruction. And one of the lessons that we cannot help but see is that there is a temptation for God's people to wander from Him. We’ve seen that throughout Scripture, and we know it to be true in fact, in our own lives, don’t we? In the days of Elijah, Israel had given into the temptations of false religion. The religion that had a lot of outward appeal, a lot of outward excitement and it seems to me that there is a similar danger that you and I face today. We’re not likely to turn from the Lord to baal or to Buddha or even to Allah. The temptation that we face is so much more subtle than that. We live in a world, and in particular we live in a country that is overflowing with attractions, overflowing with attractions, things that appeal. There's money itself, and the freedom that we have to pursue it in so many different ways and in vast amounts, more than we need. There all the things that it can buy, all the things that it can provide. Beside that there is every kind of pleasure imaginable for us to pursue.
Not all of these pleasures are bad in and of themselves, but they are temporal, they won't last. They are things of this world and they have no eternal value, they have no eternal significance. The danger that we face with all of this, if we’re not careful, is that these things and the pursuit of them can become a significant part of our lives. They can become of great importance to us and in a sense, we can begin to worship them. We come to hold them in great value, that's what worship is. These are things that occupy a great deal of our thinking. They occupy and take up a great deal of our resources and time, they’re activities that we enjoy and busy ourselves with. And in fact, they become at times an object of our very trust and dependence, if we’re not careful. And like Israel, and the worship of baal, we can begin to try and make the worship of these worldly things and the worship the Lord compatible with one another. In fact, there are times when we put them on the same plane, the same equal plane and the warning that we must see from first Kings chapter 18 is that – if this is true of any one of us, if we have fallen into this kind of pattern in our lives, the time will come, and it can be guaranteed that it will come and will be a very difficult time. It will be in a sense, our own Mount Caramel, the time of reckoning when the temporal things that we have come to depend on, they will not speak. They will not answer and they will not pay attention to the difficulty that were currently facing. Just like baal they will leave us helpless and deserted.
The things of this world that we allowed to become the objects of our dependence and of our worship, in many ways they are no different than false gods. This is not the way that it is to be for God's people, is it? So different, is the God that we serve. In first Samuel chapter 12 in verse 24, listen to how we are exhorted, it says, “Only, only, fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all of your heart, with all your heart,” and he gives us a reason even for this. The last part of the verse he says, “For consider what great things He has done for you.” And I would add to that – and is doing for us and will do for us what He has promised. The things of this world, no matter how appealing they are, no matter how enjoyable they are, they will always, always let us down at some point. They provide absolutely no hope for eternity, they are nothing more than temporary glitter, just like the false religions are. “Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all of your heart.”
I want to, just in closing here, want to read to you what the psalmist declares as the desire of his heart. In Psalm 73, starting in verse 25 Listen to what he says, he says, “Whom have I in heaven but You.” Of course, he is acknowledging right off the bat here that He is God alone, he says, “Whom have I in heaven but You, and besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from You will perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.” Now listen to what he says, in verse 28, he says, “But as for me,” this one thing I do, so to speak, “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God, my refuge, that I may tell of Your works,” Notice how he said that, “I have made the Lord God, my refuge.” There is a sense of responsibility here for us. I would just leave us with this thought this morning, this question – Is this true of me? Can I read these verses here with a sincere heart? Is this true of you? and furthermore, does my life, and does your life bear that out? I pray that as we, as we think about this, hopefully meditate upon this further this week that we will use this to examine our hearts. Let's go before the Lord in prayer
I would remind you again, the Lord delights in being a stronghold for His people, especially when we are outnumbered, especially when the odds seemed to be against us. From a human perspective they always are, if you think about it, they always are in this world. The world is enmity against God, and therefore it is at enmity against His people. It is at these times that He shows Himself to be all sufficient, and when He shows Himself to be the only sovereign One who is overall.
As we have seen throughout the study in the chapters before, the Lord had prepared Elijah for this time on Mount Caramel, this time when he would in a human sense be alone. And of course, first of all, at the brook that Cherith and then at Zeraphath with the poor widow. The Lord raised up Elijah as His servant to carry out His directions and to follow His word. He raised him up to be an instrument to bring about His purposes, at that time with the people of Israel. The purpose of Mount caramel was first, to make known the glory of God. That was first and foremost on Elijah's mind, to affirm that He alone is God and that there certainly was no other.
The second purpose was to bring about repentance in the hearts of the people whom He had chosen. And of course, as we see here, the way this unfolded was in the form of a challenge. It was a challenge between the Lord God of Israel and the man-made God whose name was baal. It was a test to show beyond any doubt who was God, who was sovereign.
I think one thing that is worth considering about this event, the Lord God was not under any obligation to prove Himself to the people of Israel. He is God. he is sovereign. He is the One who possesses all authority and all power. The very fact that He was willing to enter into this contest with baal was a demonstration of His mercy to the people of Israel. The people of Israel had no right whatsoever to expect God to prove Himself to them. He had already done that on numerous occasions throughout their history and of course, not to mention the very drought that they were now experiencing. I mean, who else could have brought that about, but God himself? It is only by God's mercy and by His covenant keeping faithfulness that He was willing to give evidence of Himself in the way that He did here. I would bring this to our own attention, how often does our God prove Himself to you and I? How often does He condescend to prove Himself to us? You think about this, how often has He been long-suffering and patient with us in making Himself known to us, when in fact we deserve really, His chastening. In order to draw us closer to Himself, in order for us to know and to enjoy His nearness, He often proves to us His very existence. He proves to us His wisdom. He demonstrates His power, He communicates to us and demonstrates His holy and righteous character. His lovingkindness and His patience and His goodness. All of these things. His claims upon us are in indisputable, but He does not force us, and instead He faithfully prods us along that we might give Him the rightful place in our lives. Not by compulsion, does He do this but willfully surrendering ourselves to Him and to Him alone. To making Him our portion. This is the mercy that He showed Israel and not just on Mount Caramel, but over and over again and it's the same mercy and same goodness that He shows to you and I.
I want to take just a couple minutes here to read this account. This full account that we’re given here in first Kings 18 and I want to just be again reminded of this, that this is not just an interesting story. This is an account, a historical account of God's dealing with His people. I want us certainly to see it that way. So, starting in verse 20, it says:
“So, Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel, and he brought the prophets together at Mount Caramel. Elijah came near to all the people and he said, “how long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if baal follow him,” but the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but baal’s prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up and place it on the wood but put no fire under it, and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood and I will not put a fire under it. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “that is a good idea.” So, Elijah said to the prophets of baal, “choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many. And call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” They took the ox which was given them and they prepared it. They called on the name of baal from morning until noon, “Oh baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leapt about the altar which they made, and it came about noon that Elijah mocked them and he said, “call out with a loud voice, for he is a God. Either he is occupied or gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and he needs to be awakened!” So, they cried with a loud voice, and they cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out of them. When mid-day was passed they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. And Elijah said all the people, “come near to me”. So, all the people came near to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. Elijah took 12 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.” So, 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 measures of seed, and then he arranged the wood and he cut the ox in pieces and he laid it upon the wood. And he said, “fill for pictures of water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood,” and 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. And the water flowed around the altar and he also filled trench with water. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near, he said, “Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, Oh Lord, answered me! That this people may know that You oh Lord, are God. That You have turned their heart back again.” 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. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, “The Lord, He is God, the Lord He is God”. Then 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 he slough them there.”
You notice, throughout this event we see Elijah making an appeal to the people of Israel certainly on God's behalf and he appeals to them on three different levels. In verse 21 he speaks to them and the words that he speaks appeals to their conscience. This is the first level that he appeals to them on. We looked at this last time and I want to just briefly refresh our memories again. Verse 21, “Elijah came near to the people and he said, “how long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if baal follow him.” How long will you hesitate between two opinions? Most of Israel at this time saw the worship of Yahweh and the worship of baal as fully compatible. In fact, they had been attempting to combine the worship of Yahweh in the worship of baal, to mingle them in some sense in a very perverted way. And as a result, they were hesitating or they were stumbling between two opposing allegiances. The hearts were divided. Their loyalties were being torn in two different directions between the Lord God of Israel and between a false pagan deity. They had shunned one of the foremost commandments that the Lord had given them. “You shall have no other gods before me.” And in doing so, they offended Jehovah God. And I would say again, there is nothing that offends God more than this, to place another god, to place anything before Him.
So, as we see here, Elijah confronts them with their offense. He appeals to their sense of guilt in offending the righteous standard of God in offending God’s deity, in offending His sovereignty, and the response to his admonition was silence. As it says here, “they did not answer him a word.” But Elijah does not stop there. If you look in verse 22, he then appeals to their reason. He appeals to their reason. Notice verse 22 says, “Elijah said to the people I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but baal’s prophets are 450 men, now let them give us two oxen let them choose one on for themselves and cut it up and place it on the wood and put no fire under it, and I will prepare the ox and lay it on the wood and I will not put fire under it. You call upon the name of your god. I will call upon the name of the Lord, the God answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said that is good is a good thing it's a good idea.”
See Elijah presents to them a logical and a rational answer to their dilemma to their plight. It’s a straightforward and a very simple test. The one who can send fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice would prove Himself to be the One true God. In the eyes of the people, this made sense. This will sound judgment, and in fact, the test that Elijah suggests here is one that favored baal. He was thought to be the god of fertility, the one who provided grain and food for his people. He was thought to be the one who sent fire from heaven, in the form of lightening. And even though he had not been able to send rain these last three years, this was seen to be his strength something that was within his power. Verse 24, “and all the people said that is a good idea.” That is a good idea. They were all for it. They were all for it. They were eager to witness this unique test. Their curiosity had been stirred up and they were anxious to witness the outcome. A miracle, a miracle would be performed. They would see fire literally see fire from heaven. They couldn't wait! But you recall back in verse 21 again when Elijah had admonished them for their double mindedness, they had not answered him a word at that point. They had remained silent, there was not the same eagerness. But now at the prospect of seeing a miracle, they are all for it. I would say to you, is this not the nature of man? Is this not the natural inclination?
You know, if you look back in the Gospels we see this kind of thing on numerous occasions with the Israelite people. The people were ready and willing to witness the miracles of Christ, but when it came to his call to repentance - they were silent. Absolutely silent. That's man's, that is man's nature. He is pleased with the outward show that appeals to his senses, but he’s obstinate with any word to bring about a conviction to the heart. And as you and I well know, men have not changed since that time. And I would further say this, this is the modern church. This is a description of what much of contemporary Christianity is all about today. The stated goal of the modern church is to attract and to draw into their services those who are what they call the “unchurched.” In other words, those who are of this world. But, the problem is you cannot attract, you cannot hold unregenerate men when you declare that which brings about the conviction of sin in our lives. So, they offer a menu of those things which appeal to the senses, those things which tickle the religious ear. They tickle the ear but they shy away from that which results in a truly sanctified life.
See, the modern church in America has become, men pleasers, not God pleasers. In religious circles, there has always been a tendency for men to be attracted to the superficial, to that which is outward and that which is showy, to that which stirs up the emotions. And it is because that it gives the feeling and it gives the appearance of piety. And for a time, it may even soothe the conscience and it does not even require a conformity unto godliness. And this was Israel, in the days of Elijah. But this is also what Paul warned about in second Timothy chapter 3, if you remember he warned that perilous times were coming and we know they're here today, we’re in perilous times. One of the characteristics of these times is an outward religiosity, it’s an outward religiosity. It's a form of godliness that is void of power, it’s void of the power to save and sanctify. But that being said, and we need to be aware of this – it is a very attractive and powerful ploy of the evil one. That is because it excites the senses and it promises God's approval. It even promises right standing before God, and all of this without turning from the selfish desires of the flesh. All of this without submitting oneself to the righteous standards of God. All of this without a changed life is nothing more than a powerless and a cold religion.
I want you to see here that in our passage we see the outcome of this kind of religion. Once you look at the results of the spiritual performance of the prophets of baal, it you note here they carried on, and they called upon their god for six hours. Cutting themselves leaping upon the altar, shedding their blood in demonstration of spiritual zeal and somehow trying to appeal to their god, baal. They put on a great show for most of the day. It was no doubt very impressive to the eye, it was very entertaining, something that probably stirred up the emotions of the crowd that stood by creating a growing anticipation. But notice verse 29,
“When mid-day was passed they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention.”
What hopelessness, what utter hopelessness. These are words of utter despair, and that is the outcome of religion that is based on nothing more than outward appearance and emotional experiences. I think what we are to learn from this, is that all that glitters is not gold. You know the saying, you've heard it. All that glitters is not gold. All that has the appearance of religious enthusiasm and eagerness is not proof that is from the Lord. So much of what passes for worship and Christian experience today is nothing more than show. It’s nothing more than a religious and enthusiastic appeal to the flesh, and does not reach what is really the issue. It does not reach and deal with man's heart.
I want you to listen to what the psalmist tells us in Psalms 115 starting in verse one, He says, “Not to us. Oh Lord, not to us but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness because of Your truth. Why should the nation say, “where now is your God?” Our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases.” See, our God reigns, He alone reigns. He possesses all power and all authority to do whatever He deems best in whatever He deems to be right. But I want you to notice, the psalmist continues here and he shows us this great contrast that is made between God and the false prophets, the false gods of this world. Notice verse four, he says,
“Their idols are silver and gold. The work of man's hands.” See, that’s all that a false god is. That's all that baal was, he was a creation of man. He was a god who was made after their own desires. That's all that he was, that's all that baal was, nothing more. He goes on in verse five, he says, “They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes but you cannot see, they have ears, but they cannot hear, they have noses, but they cannot smell, they have hands but they cannot feel, they have feet with the cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throat and those who make them will become like them. Everyone who trusts in them.” See man has this tendency from the beginning of time to create for himself his own god. And then he puts his trust in that god. The thing that he has created, and he expects it to be greater and somehow more powerful than he is. But in truth, he becomes just like what he has created, he become spiritually powerless. This is the result whenever you supplant the truth of God's word was spiritual superficiality. This is what you get when you trade doctrine for ear tickling. You end up with a mere religion and a powerless one at that. You end up with people who are given a false sense of security. And when the bottom of life drops out there is no voice. There's no one who answers and no one pays attention. This was Israel at Mount Caramel. They had supplanted the word of God with the superficial religion and with nothing more than just spiritual glitter look at, to get excited about.
Now, With this in mind and want you to look with me at verse 25. Once the parameters of this test between God and baal were agreed upon, Elijah says to the prophets of baal, He says, “Choose one ox for yourself and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” See here, Elijah suggests that the prophets of baal go first. He gives them the preference to call upon their god, to call upon, for baal to prove himself. I think one of the reasons for this most likely, had to do with making sure that no claims could be made of unfairness. That Elijah could not be accused of some sort of trickery, so he gives them the right-of-way gives him the choice of which oxen to choose. Seems to me that there is perhaps a deeper reason for this, and this is where we now see Elijah begin to appeal to the people on the third level, he starts to appeal to their hearts. The people of Israel had invested a great deal of their lives in the worship of baal. Much of their welfare, much of their security and hope was wrapped up in this false religion. And because this was true they needed to see the impotency of baal and the worthlessness of man-made religion before the power of God was to be displayed.
I mean, think of what must have been going through their minds, the minds of the people as they watch the spectacle put on by the false prophets. At the beginning. I'm sure there was a sense of excitement and anticipation, 450 men who represented baal dancing around and creating a religious kind of fervor, but as the day drew on, there was no word from baal. There was no indication of his, of his presence, or of his concern. Their excitement and anticipation must've turned to despair and even to hopelessness. The god in whom they had expectations, he did not answer them. The god they had hung their hopes on had failed and in fact had proven himself to be a lie, just simply that, a lie. I want you to consider this very carefully. – this was a necessary thing for the people to see that day on Mount Caramel. They needed to see the complete futility of seeking after, and trusting in any other god or in any other created thing. They needed to see the vanity of supplanting the law God with their own desires. In other words, they needed to be brought to the end of themselves and this is where God wanted them, and it's important that we see that this was the design and the purpose of Mount caramel. In his mercy, the Lord God brought His people low, very low, in order that He might show them the surpassing glory of His all sufficient grace. This was all by God's design.
This is a principal of course, that we see outlined in Scripture over and over again. I want to just give you one example of this, in Luke chapter 18 and starting in verse 13 we see a parable that the Lord gives. In verse 10, he says, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus, to himself, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay ties of all that I get.” Then we see a course, much different description of tax collector. Verse 13 says, “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but he was beating his breast, saying God be merciful to me, the sinner.” Then the Lord brings this to conclusion in verse 14, he says, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted”.
What picture we are given here of the humility of heart in this tax collector. He was standing in the temple. He was standing in the place of worship, and he stands off in the distance out of the spotlight, kind of off into the shadows so nobody could see him. And he deems himself unworthy to even lift up his eyes to heaven to the One whom he had offended. And in an act of shame, he was beating his breast, saying God be merciful to me, the sinner. See, this man, this was a man who had been made aware of his sinfulness. He had been made aware of his position before a holy God, and it brought him low. In fact, it brought him to where he needed to be. It brought him to the end of himself, and in that place of humility, it was there that he came to know his need for God's mercy. And in truth, that is the only place where we find God's mercy. This was the purpose of God and having the prophets of baal go first in their attempt to call down fire from heaven. The Lord wanted the people of Israel to be in that place of humility. He wanted to make them low. That is because it is the only, it is only those who know themselves to be undone, who know themselves to be lost sinners who can welcome the one who has the power to save.
You know, this same principle applies, not only to those who are lost in darkness and apart from Christ, but it is this same condition of the heart that the Lord requires of His people. Requires of you and I. And according to His faithfulness, He will chasten us in order to bring us to that same place of humility. And to those who abide there who humble themselves before Him, it is to those that He gives greater grace. To those He draws Himself near, it is those whom He lifts up, it's those whom He exalts. This is an assurance, that we are given. It is a promise that God Himself makes. I remind you in Psalm 51:17, it says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” In Isaiah, the Lord affirms this and He tells us, “He will dwell with the contrite and the lowly of spirit,” and for what purpose will He do this? He goes on, He says, “In order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” So often we need to be made, we need to be made low in order that we may be lifted up. Lifted up to see and to know the glory of God's grace, to see His mercy.
I stated earlier that it was, according to the mercy of God that He even made Himself known at Mount Caramel, and part of that mercy is seen in the fact that when water was needed, He instead gave fire. I don’t know if you've ever wondered why the Lord chose to send fire and not water at this point in time. Three years they have had without water, right? The answer is, is the very thing that we have been looking at here, before the Lord lifted them up, before they were to know His blessings in the form of rain, they needed to be made low. And in His mercy, and in His mercy, the Lord brought them low while pointing them to His redemptive plan. Now let me just outline is for you, as we have seen the drought course, was a divine judgment on an idolatrous nation. in that, God's wrath and His justice had to be satisfied. At the same time, there could be no reconciliation between the holy God and sinful man apart from atonement. There could be no atonement without the shedding of blood, there could be no forgiveness of sins except for the shedding of blood. The divine justice had to be satisfied. The penalty of the broken law had to be inflicted, and it would either be afflicted on the one who is guilty or on an innocent substitute. So, Elijah shed the blood of a bullock, and he placed it on the altar and God then cause the fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice He signified His acceptance of that sacrifice. See, the grand and foundational truth was unmistakably set before the eyes of all who had gathered at Mount Caramel – the God of all mercy and grace had provided a substitute, He provided redemption for sinful man. He made them low, that He might point and then to the greatest heights that we could ever imagine.
We’re going to take a further look at Mount Caramel next time, but for now, I want to look at what it is we are to learn from Mount Caramel as we’ve seen it here described for us. As we saw before, the Lord has given this account of Israel for our instruction. And one of the lessons that we cannot help but see is that there is a temptation for God's people to wander from Him. We’ve seen that throughout Scripture, and we know it to be true in fact, in our own lives, don’t we? In the days of Elijah, Israel had given into the temptations of false religion. The religion that had a lot of outward appeal, a lot of outward excitement and it seems to me that there is a similar danger that you and I face today. We’re not likely to turn from the Lord to baal or to Buddha or even to Allah. The temptation that we face is so much more subtle than that. We live in a world, and in particular we live in a country that is overflowing with attractions, overflowing with attractions, things that appeal. There's money itself, and the freedom that we have to pursue it in so many different ways and in vast amounts, more than we need. There all the things that it can buy, all the things that it can provide. Beside that there is every kind of pleasure imaginable for us to pursue.
Not all of these pleasures are bad in and of themselves, but they are temporal, they won't last. They are things of this world and they have no eternal value, they have no eternal significance. The danger that we face with all of this, if we’re not careful, is that these things and the pursuit of them can become a significant part of our lives. They can become of great importance to us and in a sense, we can begin to worship them. We come to hold them in great value, that's what worship is. These are things that occupy a great deal of our thinking. They occupy and take up a great deal of our resources and time, they’re activities that we enjoy and busy ourselves with. And in fact, they become at times an object of our very trust and dependence, if we’re not careful. And like Israel, and the worship of baal, we can begin to try and make the worship of these worldly things and the worship the Lord compatible with one another. In fact, there are times when we put them on the same plane, the same equal plane and the warning that we must see from first Kings chapter 18 is that – if this is true of any one of us, if we have fallen into this kind of pattern in our lives, the time will come, and it can be guaranteed that it will come and will be a very difficult time. It will be in a sense, our own Mount Caramel, the time of reckoning when the temporal things that we have come to depend on, they will not speak. They will not answer and they will not pay attention to the difficulty that were currently facing. Just like baal they will leave us helpless and deserted.
The things of this world that we allowed to become the objects of our dependence and of our worship, in many ways they are no different than false gods. This is not the way that it is to be for God's people, is it? So different, is the God that we serve. In first Samuel chapter 12 in verse 24, listen to how we are exhorted, it says, “Only, only, fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all of your heart, with all your heart,” and he gives us a reason even for this. The last part of the verse he says, “For consider what great things He has done for you.” And I would add to that – and is doing for us and will do for us what He has promised. The things of this world, no matter how appealing they are, no matter how enjoyable they are, they will always, always let us down at some point. They provide absolutely no hope for eternity, they are nothing more than temporary glitter, just like the false religions are. “Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all of your heart.”
I want to, just in closing here, want to read to you what the psalmist declares as the desire of his heart. In Psalm 73, starting in verse 25 Listen to what he says, he says, “Whom have I in heaven but You.” Of course, he is acknowledging right off the bat here that He is God alone, he says, “Whom have I in heaven but You, and besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from You will perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.” Now listen to what he says, in verse 28, he says, “But as for me,” this one thing I do, so to speak, “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God, my refuge, that I may tell of Your works,” Notice how he said that, “I have made the Lord God, my refuge.” There is a sense of responsibility here for us. I would just leave us with this thought this morning, this question – Is this true of me? Can I read these verses here with a sincere heart? Is this true of you? and furthermore, does my life, and does your life bear that out? I pray that as we, as we think about this, hopefully meditate upon this further this week that we will use this to examine our hearts. Let's go before the Lord in prayer
