Do you identify with Elijah? Do you squirm thinking about his zeal? Do you feel guilty about not sharing the Gospel with your neighbor? Then, maybe a new look at Elijah may resonate with you.
We know Elijah for his zeal for Yahweh in a time when the culture and national leaders were rebelling against God. Sound familiar?
Elijah is famous for challenging the Israelite king, Ahab, and his rebellious wife, Jezebel, and all of the prophets of Baal and Asherah that were commissioned by that royal pair. He felt like he was the only one standing for God in a world that wanted him to shut up and go away.
Some of us may feel like Elijah, while many others of us may feel guilty that we are not like Elijah. He is a pillar of the faith, right?
Yes, of course, he is! As I read through these passages, though, I am seeing something I didn’t catch before. For one thing, I get the feeling that Elijah probably wasn’t a fun guy to be around.
He certainly didn’t go along with the crowd. He wasn’t known for his diplomatic tact. (To put it mildly) He said what was on his mind, and he didn’t pull any punches.
These characteristics of Elijah begin to give us an idea of what he is like. They also point toward a more human side of Elijah that I hadn’t noticed before, which is why I want to dive deeper into the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
Elijah is famous for challenging 450 prophets of Baal to an Ancient Near Eastern duel of the gods. It was Elijah against all the prophets of Baal; Yahweh against Baal in a cosmic duel with mortal consequences for the losers.
This is the way Elijah rolled. No holds barred!
Elijah challenged the prophets to sacrifice a bull on an altar without setting fire to it, letting Baal or Yahweh, as the case might be, consume the sacrifice directly. Which one would show up?! The stakes were high. If Yahweh didn’t show, Elijah was toast!!
Elijah offered to let the prophets of Baal go first. (A bit of showmanship?) They cut up the bull; they placed it on the altar; and they did their ritual thing to entice Baal to come out of whatever stone he might live under … but nothing happened.
Elijah taunted them. (He was not a master of subtlety!) He egged them on to shout louder and offered the following “helpful” comments (paraphrased by me):
- Maybe your god is daydreaming”;
- Maybe he fell asleep and you need to shout louder; and
- Maybe he is relieving himself, and he will be back in a minute!
Elijah’s taunting wound those prophets up into a religious frenzy. They cut themselves with knives, and swords, and spears until they bled everywhere … but still nothing happened.
When their time was up, all eyes turned to Elijah.
I imagine the anticipation in the crowd rivaled a Las Vegas audience watching Siegfried and Roy walk a full grown tiger onto the stage. Elijah let the expectation mount as he built his own altar. The atmosphere was electric. The crowd was undoubtedly hoping for more action than the prophets of Baal gave them.
I can imagine the smug look on Elijah’s face and the brash confidence in his demeaner as he instructed volunteers from the crowd to pour water on the offering. Elijah was nothing if not dramatic!
Lest we forget, they were in the middle of a long draught. Elijah didn’t just have them sprinkle water. Three times Elijah instructed his helpers to fill up the jars, and pour them out on the bull, the wood, and the altar until it was soaked and water pooled in the trench around it.
Anticipation hung like a funnel cloud overhead as darkness loomed over the mountaintop stage. The expectant crowd, the exhausted prophets recovering from their failed ordeal, and Ahab sat poised on the edge of their proverbial seats.
In the flash of a moment, fire came down from heaven. Like a galactic flamethrower, the fire was so fierce it completely consumed the bull, the wood, and the altar itself!
Nothing remained but hot, smoldering ash.
Yahweh showed up as Elijah said he would! Elijah was vindicated!
But that wasn’t enough for him. With freshened zeal fueled by the powerful demonstration of God’s power, Elijah provoked the excited crowd to grab the cowering prophets of Baal and march them down the mountain where they were slaughtered in the valley below.
Elijah was at the height of his prophetic career. Elijah may have thought, “Not even Moses presided over such a powerful demonstration of God’s awesome power!” Elijah was on top of the world!
It’s hard to imagine greater faith and boldness or a more decisive display of God’s power. Perhaps, the only thing more amazing than all of that was Jezebel’s response:
She was not… impressed… at all.
When Ahab raced to deliver the news to Jezebel, his haughty audacious wife didn’t even hesitate. She ordered death to Elijah with ice in her veins.
Elijah must have been thinking, “What’s a man of God got to do?!” (Never mind that the crowd seemed properly convinced.) If his greatest act of faith couldn’t turn the hardened hearts of Ahab and Jezebel, nothing would! He had done his absolute best, and it wasn’t enough.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like nothing you do, or can do, makes any difference? Have you ever come to the place that you have done your best, and your best wasn’t good enough? Have you ever felt like you are the only one who stands for God?
Have you ever gotten mad at God for not defending you for standing up for Him? Then, read on.
Continue reading “The Elijah Complex and the Whisper of God”
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