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and fervently, asking God to show His superiority over Baal, that Israel
may be led to turn to Him.
“Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,” the prophet pleads,
“let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy
servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O
Lord, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God,
and that Thou hast turned their heart back again.”
A silence, oppressive in its solemnity, rests upon all. The priests of
Baal tremble with terror. Conscious of their guilt, they look for swift
retribution.
No sooner is the prayer of Elijah ended than flames of fire, like
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brilliant flashes of lightning, descend from heaven upon the upreared
altar, consuming the sacrifice, licking up the water in the trench, and
consuming even the stones of the altar. The brilliancy of the blaze
illumines the mountain and dazzles the eyes of the multitude. In
the valleys below, where many are watching in anxious suspense the
movements of those above, the descent of fire is clearly seen, and all
are amazed at the sight. It resembles the pillar of fire which at the Red
Sea separated the children of Israel from the Egyptian host.
The people on the mount prostrate themselves in awe before the
unseen God. They dare not continue to look upon the Heaven-sent
fire. They fear that they themselves will be consumed; and, convicted
of their duty to acknowledge the God of Elijah as the God of their
fathers, to whom they owe allegiance, they cry out together as with
one voice, “The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God.” With
startling distinctness the cry resounds over the mountain and echoes in
the plain below. At last Israel is aroused, undeceived, penitent. At last
the people see how greatly they have dishonored God. The character
of Baal worship, in contrast with the reasonable service required by the
true God, stands fully revealed. The people recognize God’s justice
and mercy in withholding the dew and the rain until they have been
brought to confess His name. They are ready now to admit that the
God of Elijah is above every idol.
The priests of Baal witness with consternation the wonderful rev-
elation of Jehovah’s power. Yet even in their discomfiture and in the
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presence of divine glory, they refuse to repent of their evil-doing. They
would still remain the prophets of Baal. Thus they showed themselves
ripe for destruction. That repentant Israel may be protected from the