Two Weeks on the Old Testament
Reading #9: 1 Kings 18- Elijah and the prophets of Baal
1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD
came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will
send rain on the land."
2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was
severe in Samaria,
3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace.
(Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD.
4 While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets, Obadiah had
taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in
each, and had supplied them with food and water.)
5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the
springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the
horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our
animals."
6 So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one
direction and Obadiah in another.
7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah
recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, "Is it
really you, my lord Elijah?"
8 "Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, `Elijah
is here.'"
9 "What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that
you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?
10 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or
kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And
whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made
them swear they could not find you.
11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, `Elijah is
here.'
12 I don't know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I
leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will
kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my
youth.
13 Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was
killing the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred of the LORD's
prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food
and water.
14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, `Elijah is
here.' He will kill me!"
15 Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I
will surely present myself to Ahab today."
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to
meet Elijah.
17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you
troubler of Israel?"
18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied.
"But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned
the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals.
19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount
Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and
the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the
prophets on Mount Carmel.
21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will
you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him;
but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's
prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and
let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set
fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood
but not set fire to it.
24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the
name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire--he is God."
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the
bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call
on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."
26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they
called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal,
answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one
answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!"
he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought,
or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened."
28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and
spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying
until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no
response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me."
They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which
was in ruins.
31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes
descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come,
saying, "Your name shall be Israel."
32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and
he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on
the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with
water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the
third time.
35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward
and prayed: "O LORD, 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.
37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that
you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back
again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice,
the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water
in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried,
"The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!"
40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal.
Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had
them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is
the sound of a heavy rain."
42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the
top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between
his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant.
And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he
said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small
as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said,
"Go and tell Ahab, `Hitch up your chariot and go down before
the rain stops you.'"
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a
heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak
into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.