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Royalty and Ruin
and fervently, asking God to show His superiority over Baal so that
Israel might be led to turn to Him:
“Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this
day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have
done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that
this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have
turned their hearts back to You again.”
A silence, heavy and solemn, rested on all. The priests of Baal
trembled with terror, conscious of their guilt.
Fire From Heaven Answers Elijah’s Simple Prayer
No sooner had the prayer of Elijah ended than flames of fire, like
flashes of lightning, descended from heaven on the altar, devouring
the sacrifice, licking up the water in the trench, and consuming even
the stones of the altar. The brilliance of the blaze illuminated the
mountain and dazzled the eyes of the multitude. In the valleys below,
where many were watching, they could clearly see the fire descend,
and all were amazed at the sight.
The people on the mountain threw themselves to the ground.
They dared not continue to look on the Heaven-sent fire. Convicted
of their duty to acknowledge the God of Elijah as the God of their
fathers, they cried out with one voice, “he Lord, He is God! The
Lord, He is God!” The cry resounded over the mountain and echoed
in the plain below. At last Israel was awakened, undeceived, and
repentant. At last the people saw how greatly they had dishonored
God. The character of Baal worship stood fully revealed, in contrast
with the reasonable service that the true God required. The people
recognized God’s justice and mercy in withholding the dew and rain
until they had given Him their complete loyalty.
The Priests of Baal Unrepentant
But the priests of Baal refused to repent, even in their defeat and
in the presence of divine glory. They would still remain the prophets
of Baal. In this they showed themselves ripe for destruction.
To protect repentant Israel from those who taught them to wor-
ship Baal, the Lord directed Elijah to destroy these false teachers.