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chapter 18. Last week we looked at the early 
ministry of Elijah the prophet in chapter 17. We will return, 
God willing, to our studies in James. And just one other thing 
before I actually read the Scripture. It occurred to me late this afternoon 
that not only the Wednesday night Bible study people have heard 
1 Kings 18, but I alluded to it heavily in a sermon on prayer 
from Matthew 6. So I don't want you to think 
you're crazy tonight. If some of these things do sound 
familiar, there's a reason why. But I want to read beginning 
in chapter 18 at verse 1, hear now the word of the living and 
true God. And it came to pass after many days that the word 
of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go present 
yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the earth. So Elijah 
went to present himself to Ahab, and there was a severe famine 
in Samaria, and Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of 
his house. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 
for so it was while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord that 
Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden them, 50 to a cave, 
and had fed them with bread and water. And Ahab had said to Obadiah, 
go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks. 
Perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive 
so that we will not have to kill any livestock. So they divided 
the land between them to explore it. Ahab went one way by himself 
and Obadiah went another way by himself. Now as Obadiah was 
on his way, suddenly Elijah met him, and he recognized him and 
fell on his face and said, "'Is that you, my lord, Elijah?' And 
he answered him, "'It is I. Go tell your master Elijah is 
here.' So he said, "'How have I sinned that you are delivering 
your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me?' As the Lord 
your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has 
not sent someone to hunt for you. And when they said he is 
not here, he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they 
could not find you. And now you say, Go tell your 
master, Elijah is here. And it shall come to pass, as 
soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry 
you to a place I do not know. So when I go and tell Ahab, and 
he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have 
feared the Lord from my youth. Was it not reported to my Lord 
what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord? how 
I hid 100 men of the Lord's prophets, 50 to a cave, and fed them with 
bread and water. And now you say, go tell your 
master Elijah is here. He will kill me. Then Elijah 
said, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, I will surely 
present myself to him today. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab 
and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. Then it happened, 
when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is that you, O troubler 
of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled 
Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have 
forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the 
Baals. Now, therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount 
Carmel, the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, 
who eat at Jezebel's table." So Ahab sent for all the children 
of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And 
Elijah came to all the people and said, "'How long will you 
falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, 
but if Baal, follow him.'" But the people answered him not a 
word. Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left, a prophet 
of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Therefore, let them 
give us two bulls and let them choose one bull for themselves, 
cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under 
it. And I will prepare the other 
bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then 
you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the 
name of the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, 
He is God." So all the people answered and said, it is well 
spoken. Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose one 
bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many. And 
call on the name of your God, but put no fire under it. So 
they took the bowl which was given them, and they prepared 
it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, 
saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice. No one 
answered. Then they leaped about the altar 
which they had made. And so it was at noon that Elijah 
mocked them and said, cry aloud, free is a God. Either he's meditating 
or he's busy or he's on a journey or perhaps he is sleeping and 
must be awakened. So they cried aloud and cut themselves, 
as was their custom, with knives and lances until the blood gushed 
out on them. And when midday was passed, they 
prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice, no one 
answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, 
come near to me. So all the people came near to 
him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 
And Elijah took twelve 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. Then 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 seals of sea. And 
he put the wood in order, cut the bowl in pieces, and laid 
it on the wood, and said, fill four water pots with water, and 
pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. Then 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. So 
the water ran all around the altar, and he also filled the 
trench with water. And it came to pass at the time 
of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet 
came near and said, 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. Then the fire of the Lord fell 
and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, 
and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 
Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and 
they said, the Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God. And 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 executed them there. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father 
in heaven, we thank you for the scriptures of the Old and the 
New Testaments. We thank you for your God-breathed Word. May you indeed fill us now with 
your Holy Spirit. May you teach us the lessons 
learned at Carmel. Help us, God, to see that you 
are the true and the living God, that idolatry is indeed futility. Idolatry is a wretched disposition 
in the hearts of men. And may you keep us and help 
us to guard our hearts. As John the Apostle tells us, 
little children, keep yourselves from idols. We know there is 
a proneness to wander, there is a proneness to leave the God 
that we love. So we would ask, Most High, that 
You would keep us by the power of Your Spirit, by Your Word. And even now we pray that You 
would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions. Wash 
us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be glorified in this 
glad hour. and cause us, God, to reflect 
upon your goodness on these Sabbath days, that you give us this foretaste 
of heaven, that you give us the society of saints to sing praises 
to the God of heaven and earth, that you give us your presence 
as you have promised in the new covenant setting. You dwell in 
the midst of your saints in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and in this we greatly rejoice, Lord God most high. Grant us 
help now, we pray and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. Well, as I said, this may be 
familiar ground to many of you, but if there is something to 
be re-reminded again, it is this section in 1 Kings. Very specifically, 
the ministry of Elijah is something wonderful to behold. He's a larger-than-life 
figure, as we saw last time. He comes out of nowhere to reprove 
Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. Remember that Ahab had married 
Jezebel, and he not only went after Baal himself, but he actually 
constructed a temple and an altar to Baal in Samaria, which was 
the capital city of the northern tribes. We see the animosity 
increase in chapter 18 as Jezebel begins to murder the true prophets 
of Yahweh. You see that religion or religious 
commitments have consequences. Who we worship affects how we 
will live. And that's why Elijah's question, 
for instance, in verse 21, is so important. Theology matters. If Yahweh is God, serve Him. And if that is the case, then 
your life ought to manifest that, your life ought to evidence that, 
your life ought to demonstrate fidelity to the living and the 
true God. Well, as we look at this particular 
chapter, we'll notice in the first place this meeting with 
Ahab in verses 1 to 19, and then secondly, the specific contest 
at Carmel in verses 20 to 40. In the first place, note the 
situation. We saw how chapter 17 is preparatory 
for this. In fact, the entirety of the 
section, beginning in chapter 17, verse 1, to the life, or 
rather to the death of Elijah, shows us Elijah's opposition 
to idolatry and oppression. Well, chapter 17 set the stage 
with the drought. Elijah had predicted, he prophesied, 
he stated that there shall not be dew nor rain these years except 
at my words. We see the continuity here in 
18.1. It came to pass after many days the word of the Lord came 
to Elijah in the third year saying, go present yourself to Ahab and 
I will send rain on the earth. So the word of God directs Elijah. We have grown accustomed to this 
in our studies on Wednesday night. Note as well the specific message 
that God would end the drought. Remember the specific issue in 
view is that Baal is the alleged storm god and God the living, 
God the true, says that he will end the drought. Baal's not going 
to do it because Baal can't do it. This contest at Carmel is 
to underscore the primacy of the God of Israel, the solitariness 
of the God of Israel. These people were so hardened 
and so committed to Baalism that when it did finally rain, they 
would probably ascribe glory to Baal. Well, this whole contest 
at Carmel is designed to shut their mouths, to make it such 
that they were not able to ascribe this to Baal, but they must ascribe 
it to Yahweh. And then we notice how this affected 
Samaria, the very capital of the northern kingdom. Verse 2, 
Elijah went to present himself to Ahab, and there was a severe 
famine in Samaria, which obviously would happen as a result of drought. 
And then we see the particular situation. What we have with 
reference to Jezebel. Obadiah, verse 3, feared the 
Lord greatly, for so it was while Jezebel massacred the prophets 
of the Lord that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden 
them 50 to a cave and had fed them with bread and water. There's 
this one faithful man, he's over the house of Ahab, but he is 
a man that does fear God. And thankfully, the Lord has 
this man in place to provide protection for these hundred 
prophets of Yahweh. And now notice, specifically, 
Obadiah's meeting with Elijah in verses 7 to 15. I'll just 
give the gist of it. Essentially, the issue is this. 
Obadiah says to Elijah, why are you here? If I tell Ahab that 
you are here and then the spirit spirits you away and Ahab can't 
find you, then Ahab is going to kill me. Now I think at times 
we are very hard on biblical characters and we think some 
things like, oh come on Obadiah, stand up to Ahab. Well, brethren, 
he doesn't want to die any more than you and I want to die. We 
wouldn't want to just stand up to Ahab and put our necks on 
the chopping block. Obadiah's interests here are 
legitimate and we ought not to castigate the man. His interests 
are also legitimate in the sense that Ahab has been scurrying 
the countryside looking for Elijah. So Elijah appears to Obadiah 
and says, tell Ahab I want to talk to him. Again, I don't think 
it's misguided interest on the part of Obadiah. Elijah assures 
Obadiah that he will meet with Ahab and he calms Obadiah and 
gives him the ability to stand fast. Now before we move on, 
I want us to appreciate the differences in the servants of God. Not every 
servant of God is a larger-than-life Elijah character. Not every servant 
of God is like the Tishbite who appears out of nowhere and puts 
his finger in the face of Ahab and tells him that God is going 
to bring judgment. Obadiah worked behind the scenes. Obadiah worked by stealth. Obadiah 
worked in a covert manner. When Jezebel starts her campaign 
of liquidating Yahweh's prophets, Obadiah hides them. He takes 
them to caves, 50 by 50, and he provides food for them, and 
he provides water for them. Brethren, we need to understand 
that the kingdom of God is not just made up of Elijah-type prophets. The kingdom of God also operates 
in accordance with or as a result of the secret, quiet, behind-the-scenes 
workings of men like Obadiah. If God hasn't gifted you to go 
preach the gospel into some place like China, for instance, don't 
ever fear that you cannot be used. It may be the case that 
you'll be behind the scenes. It may be the case that you'll 
give safe haven to the prophets of God. It may be the case that 
you'll exercise hospitality. This is the emphasis in 3 John. The idea being is that whether 
we are an Elijah or an Obadiah, the Lord God sanctifies and uses 
people for His glory, people with differing gifts. We ought 
to appreciate that as New Covenant Christians. We know that not 
everybody has the same function in the life and ministry of the 
church. Not everybody's an eye, not everybody's an ear, not everybody's 
a foot. This is Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 
chapter 12. The whole body functions as an 
organic unity to promote the health and good of all. And we 
ought to see this in the life and ministry of Elijah and what 
we find here with reference to Obadiah. Now in verses 16 to 
19, Ahab and Elijah meet. And this is an interesting meeting. 
Let's look at verse 16. Now I wonder at times in the 
biblical narrative if men would have seen, as we now see, 
the irony of such a statement. I mean, Ahab didn't, obviously. He's a fool. He's a Baal worshipper. 
He has taken the northern kingdom and he has plunged it into the 
futility of idolatry. But he actually has the gall 
and wherewithal to call Elijah the troubler of Israel. Now on 
a particular surface level, that makes a bit of sense because 
it was Elijah who came and told Ahab that there would be no water 
in Israel. So in Ahab's mind, he's the one 
that's troubled Israel. But notice Elijah's response 
to him. Verse 18, I have not troubled 
Israel, but you and your father's house. have, in that you have 
forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the 
Baals." You see, the problem, Ahab, is not with me. The problem 
is with you and your fathers. The problem is with those less 
than sterling characters that have been running the northern 
kingdom. These sorts of men that co-opt Baal worship from the 
Phoenicians and bring it right smack dab in the middle and heart 
of Israel. The problem or the trouble in Israel is Ahab and 
his wickedness. And I think behind the scenes 
is Joshua 7. Remember, Achan was a troubler 
of Israel. Achan was the one who hid the 
stuff that was under the ban, and as a result, Israel lost 
a battle at Ai. And so God Most High calls him 
out, and they deal with the Troubler of Israel. So in Ahab's mind, 
Elijah is the Troubler. If we can liquidate him, then 
everything gets back to normal in Israel. But as far as Elijah 
is concerned, the problem in Israel, and he is correct, is 
Ahab, because he is an idolater. Now notice in verse 19, this 
gives us a further bit of evidence as to how widespread and how 
bad worship, false worship, or idolatry is in Israel. Verse 
19, now therefore send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel 
the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who 
eat at Jezebel's table. This probably indicates that 
they were tax subsidized. They ate at Jezebel's table. In other words, they were on 
the government payroll. There was a welfare structure 
in Israel and these false prophets were the ones who benefited from 
it. This ought to show you how bad 
things were in Ahab's Israel. The false prophets of Baal and 
Asherah are being fed with Israelite money. They are being fed with 
taxation raised from Israelite people. The situation is bleak. The situation is grim. The situation 
is indeed one of state-sponsored idolatry. And it is to this that 
Elijah responds. Now notice the contest at Carmel. First, there is a challenge issued 
by Elijah in verses 20 to 25. Now, we're not going to develop 
every jot and diddle along the way, but suffice it to say that 
Elijah really is stacking the deck against Yahweh in this particular 
section. He is stacking the deck against 
Yahweh. In other words, once God sends 
fire to consume his bull, it will be without controversy the 
work of the true and living God. He gives these men the home field 
advantage. Note the location. He says in 
verse 20, it says in verse 20, Ahab sent for all the children 
of Israel, gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. Now this was very close to Phoenicia. This is Baal's homeland. It had 
an altar there to Yahweh in disrepair. One commentator says, in Egyptian 
records from the second millennium BC, Mount Carmel is called Holy 
Head, suggesting it was a sanctuary. In the annals of Assyrian King 
Shalmaneser III, Mount Carmel appears as the mountain of Baal 
of the promontory. So it was, in fact, Baal's homeland 
and probably Ahab's desire is to humiliate Elijah and then 
execute him as a means by which the trouble would be removed 
from Israel. Now note, very specifically, 
Elijah's challenge. Verse 21, Elijah came to all 
the people and said, how long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, 
but if Baal, follow him. This is absolutely crucial for 
us to consider here because this is the hub, isn't it? This is 
the challenge, this is the issue. How long are you gonna literally 
limp between these two options or these two opinions? Theology 
matters. Theology produces consequences. If you choose Baal, then follow 
him. Plunge yourself headlong into 
the futility of idolatry. But if you're going to choose 
Yahweh, you need to stand for him. You need to not support 
state-sponsored idolatry. You need to make sure you stand 
with godly men like Obadiah, Godly men like Elijah, godly 
men like these hundred prophets that Obadiah hid. This is no 
academic question. Rather, it gets to the hub of 
the situation. Now, if we ask the question, 
why would these people of Israel be attracted to Baal? I mean, 
have we ever considered that? Have we ever thought through 
that? I don't think I broached this on the Wednesday night study. 
I don't know that I alluded to this in the Matthew six study. 
So perhaps this is some new ground for some of us, but why in the 
world would Israel follow Baal? Well, it's simple, really pragmatism. Y'all know what pragmatism is, 
right? It works. Baal works, and if Baal works, 
then we will follow him. That's pragmatism. You see, the 
Bible presents to us the absolute importance of the truth. The 
Bible presents to us not that we shouldn't ask the question, 
does it work? But rather, is it true? Consider 
in this particular situation the attractiveness of Baal to 
the common folk of Israel. First of all, Baal had royal 
sanction. Baal had royal sanction at this 
particular point. Ahab had indeed built an altar 
and a temple to Baal in the northern kingdom. So Ahab was certainly 
on board with Baal. Jezebel was certainly on board 
with Baal. In fact, arguably, Jezebel's 
the power behind the throne. She's on board so much so that 
she's actually killing the true prophets of Yahweh. But you've 
got to understand, brethren, that royal sanction doesn't legitimize 
idolatry. If the government says, OK, we 
announce by decree that today everybody's going to bow to Baal, 
we must obey God rather than men. That instance in Daniel 
chapter 3 that we read last week, what do you think that image 
was that Nebuchadnezzar set up on the plains of Dura? I would 
submit it was most likely an image of himself. It was an image 
of himself. I mean, Nebuchadnezzar thought 
he was the cock of the walk. I mean, he thought he was everything. 
So he erects this statue, and he tells people that they must 
bow to it, that they must worship it. Thankfully, Shadrach, Meshach, 
Abednego, and Daniel said, there's no way we're going to bow. We 
don't care about royal sanction. We care about what is true. You 
see, we need to adopt that mentality. I realize this isn't North Korea. 
I realize this isn't Saudi Arabia. I realize this isn't communist 
China. I realize we do enjoy a great 
deal of liberty and benefit and blessing, but brethren, increasing 
secularization is affecting the church of the living God. The 
fact is that it's becoming illegal to speak out about genders. It's becoming illegal to speak 
out against sodomy. Well, it already is. We cannot 
kowtow to a government and we cannot kowtow to their gods. 
We must stand fast. So an attraction with reference 
to Baal in Ahab's Israel is that it had indeed royal sanction. 
But as well, there was an appeal to tradition. What happened with 
the children of Israel as soon as they crossed into the land 
of Canaan? They maintained fidelity and 
worshipped Yahweh. Is that the message of the book 
of Judges? No, that's not the message of the book of Judges. 
As soon as they get into the land, they start bowing to Baal. So you could perhaps hear people 
at Carmel that day saying, well, you know, there is a long tradition 
among our people of worshipping Baal. You see, that's another 
thing that's tough to break from time to time. Well, my father 
this and my mother this. Now, insofar as your father and 
your mother are right, then by all means toe the line. But if 
they're wrong, if they have compromised biblical truth, again, we must 
obey God rather than men. Another reason why persons would 
be subject or rather would indeed bow to Baal was relevance to 
felt needs. relevance to felt needs. What 
was Baal's job? To send rain. I mean, that's 
a felt need every one of us have. We don't feel it as much in Chilliwack, 
but perhaps on a day like this, we're longing for that lush rain 
to fall again. I hope it's not that quickly 
lost here. But there is that relevance to 
felt needs. Bale gets the job done. Again, 
pragmatism. We don't subscribe to a God because 
He does what we want Him to do. We subscribe to the true and 
living God because He has revealed Himself in His Word and by and 
through the Lord Jesus Christ, He has affectionately called 
us unto Himself and He has given us life and light eternal in 
the Lord of Glory. So this whole idea of relevance, 
and I think that this to some degree affects the church today. 
We are appealing to persons based on relevance to felt needs rather 
than the proclamation of the truth. And then there is just 
the base element as well, an appeal to sensuality. Why worship 
Baal? Well, because at a Baal worship 
center, copulation was the order of the day. Basically, the worshipers 
would engage in copulation, that means sexual fornication, in 
an attempt to get Baal to have relations with one of his girlfriend 
gods, so that he would reign on the earth. It was a means 
by which the worshipper sought to manipulate Baal in order to 
get him to deliver. So that basic appeal to sensuality. I mean, the religion of Yahweh 
is heady stuff, isn't it? Yahweh forbid the making of images. Yahweh forbid anything that would 
typify or rather picture Him, because it's a religion based 
on the truth. It's a religion based on the 
Word. You saw no form, but rather you heard the voice of the living 
God. Well, if you are dealing with 
carnal people, you are dealing with base people, you are dealing 
with unregenerate people, and one crowd is hearing the Word 
of God proclaimed and the other crowd is copulating in order 
to get Baal to perform, you can see where the goats might tend 
to wander to. You see, there was an appeal 
with reference to Baal. It's wrong, it's base, it's wretched, 
and it works with the unregenerate, but it does answer the question, 
why the contest at Carmel? Because there were persons in 
Israel following after Baal. Now notice, Elijah proposes a 
particular contest, a God contest, if you will. Look at verse 22. 
He says, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord. Some see Elijah 
as this self-centered, self-pitying man. A bit of a narcissist. They really do a number on him 
in 1 Kings chapter 19. He is not self-pitying. He is 
not self-centered. He is not disregarding the hundred 
prophets that Obadiah hid. But he's the only one that's 
standing toe-to-toe in the public square. The others are ahead. The others are in caves. The 
others are safe. But Elijah alone is the one that 
is standing before them on this particular day. That's the idea. It's not that he's got this Elijah 
complex and that he's the only guy. No, that's not it at all. 
I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets 
are 450 men. Therefore, let them give us two 
bulls, let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, 
lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. I will prepare 
the other bull, lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 
Then you call on the name of your gods, I will call on the 
name of the Lord, and the one who answers by fire, the God 
who answers by fire, He is God. So all the people said, it is 
well spoken. This makes sense if you're a 
Baal worshiper. You see, the God of Baal who 
sends rain also sends lightning. So this ought to be an easy job 
for Baal. If Baal is real, if Baal is God, 
if Baal is the one from whom all at least natural blessings 
flow, then this ought to be an easy job for Baal. So they say, 
sure, sign us up. This sounds like a good gig. 
It will evidence, it will demonstrate, it will prove with reference 
to this God contest who indeed was the true and living God. 
Now note the response of the false prophets in verses 26 to 
29. It's a pathetic scene here. I know I developed this on the 
Wednesday night and in the Matthew 6. It's a pathetic scene when 
you see false religion engaged in. I mean, there ought to be 
a sense where our hearts are drawn out in compassion because 
if, apart from the grace of God, there we go. That's the sort 
of thing man does when he's left to himself. And these false prophets 
of Baal are men of great zeal. These false prophets of Baal 
do mean business. I mean, they continue from morning 
until evening trying to get Baal to bless. Notice how they proceed. Verse 26, they took the bull 
which was given them, they prepared it, called on the name of Baal 
from morning even till noon saying, O Baal, hear us. I love this 
refrain, but there was no voice, no one answered. Then they leaped 
about the altar which they had made. You see, we go from this 
sort of frenzy or rather this foolishness to frenzy. That's 
the progression in idolatry. You see, we become what we worship. This is G.K. Beal's whole thesis 
in his book. It's by that title, We Become 
What We Worship. It's a biblical theology of idolatry. And he says, what we revere, 
we resemble, either for ruin or redemption. Brethren, that 
is a biblical, biblical concept. Psalm 115a, what happens to those 
who worship idols? They become like them. That is 
precisely the situation. Whatever you revere, you resemble, 
either for ruin or redemption. In other words, what you worship 
affects the way that you function. What you worship affects the 
way that you live. And these men, though they have 
zeal, it is certainly misguided. They leaped about the altar which 
they had made. And now notice, Elijah mocks 
them in verse 27. Do not miss the significance 
here. Elijah mocks them. It is absolutely 
appropriate. Matthew Henry said, the worship 
of idols is a most ridiculous thing, and it is but justice 
to represent it so and expose it to scorn. Notice, at noon, 
Elijah mocked him and said, cry aloud, for he is a god. Either 
he is meditating or he is busy. The he is busy probably reflects 
he is defecating. He's in the god bathroom. He 
is tending to his business. Elijah is indeed mocking these 
men. This is how we ought to respond 
to false religion. This is how we ought to respond 
to idolatry. Now, I'm not suggesting you go 
stand on Mount Sham and, you know, throw out banners and do 
this sort of thing, but brethren, it's not pluralism. The Bible 
doesn't say, okay, you know, respect all religions. We respect 
image bearers. We don't gun people down in the 
streets and, you know, we don't trample on their rights in a 
civilized society, but we don't respect idolatry. We have no 
truck with the sorts of things that are played out before us 
in terms of rebellion against the living and the true God. 
We cannot sanction that. We cannot come alongside of that. 
Again, we are friendly, we are kind, we engage kindly with image 
bearers and all that sort of thing. But it's not the case 
that we are to entertain the validity of false religion. Elijah 
doesn't do that. He is a God. Either he is meditating, 
or he is busy, or he's on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and 
must be awakened. I give you, I submit, the faithful 
in Israel that day, if there were any, were laughing at this 
particular point. I would have been laughing. I 
think we should laugh when we see this happen. Verse 27 is 
funny. I mean, it's not funny in the 
sense of, you know, three guys went into, you know, the DMV 
and this happened, and that's not funny that way, but it is 
to mock and to scorn false religion and idolatry, and that is precisely 
what Elijah does. Notice, they move from foolishness 
to frenzy again. They cried aloud, they cut themselves, 
verse 28, as was their custom, with knives and lances until 
the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was passed, they 
prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, 
but there was no voice, no one answered, no yads, no one paid 
attention. A.W. Pink made this observation. 
The altar stood cold and smokeless, the bullock unconsumed. The powerlessness 
of Baal and the folly of his worshipers were made fully apparent. The vanity and absurdity of idolatry 
stood completely exposed. No false religion is able to 
send down fire upon a vicarious sacrifice. No false religion 
can put away sin, bestow the Holy Spirit, or grant supernatural 
answers to prayer. Tested at these three vital points, 
they won an all-fall, as Baal's worship did that memorable day 
on Carmel. Beautiful observation. It demonstrates 
very clearly the situation here at Tharmel. Now, unfortunately, 
as we move in the narrative on to 1 Kings 19, what was at least 
apparently successful here, really wasn't. What appeared to be reformation 
and revival in Israel was indeed short-lived, but let's look at 
that. Notice God's power in verses 30 to 40. Elijah essentially 
prepares the sacrifice, and as I said, he stacks the deck. They're 
in Baal's home turf. He lets the false prophets go 
first, and now he drenches his offering with water. You say, 
well, where did they get water and drought? They were near a 
little body called the Mediterranean Sea. So don't let that throw 
you off. Why would they throw all that 
water if there was a drought? That would be foolishness. Well, 
they probably fetched it out of the Mediterranean Sea. But 
notice how he does stack the deck. And you get what I mean 
by that, right? He doesn't want anybody to leave 
Carmel saying, well, I'm not sure who won that day. I'm not 
sure who got the victory. I'm not sure who brought the 
noise or brought the heat, rather. No, he wants to make it absolutely 
sure. Elijah said to all the people, 
come near to me. So all the people came near to him. He repaired 
the altar of the Lord that was broken down. Isn't that interesting? 
There was an altar to Yahweh on Carmel, but it had broken 
down. And 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. Then with the stones 
he built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench 
around the altar large enough to hold two seals of seed. He 
put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, laid it on the 
wood and said, fill four water pots with water, pour it on the 
burnt sacrifice and on the wood. Then he said, do it a second 
time. They did it a second time. He said, do it a third time. 
And they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the 
altar, and he also filled the trench with water. You see, he 
stacks the deck. When God consumes by fire the 
particular bullock that he has presented, there will be no question 
as to who the true God is. You see, that's the point. And 
when Elijah says, how long will you falter between these two 
opinions, choose God. He's making it, or he's convincing 
them that this has to be your choice because Baal is a fake. Baal is an imposter. Baal has 
ears, but he can't hear. Baal has eyes, but he can't see. 
Baal has a mouth, but he can't talk. Baal has a nose, but he 
can't smell. Baal is nothing. So Elijah designs 
this whole thing in order to call the people of Israel to 
repentance. Now note specifically what we 
find in terms of God's answer. Verse 36, it came to pass at 
the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the 
prophet came near and said, 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. His prayer is very specific. The glory of God is first and 
foremost for Elijah. You see that in biblical prayers. 
You see that when men of God pray in both the Old and the 
New Testaments. The glory of God is paramount. 
It is uppermost. That is the chief concern and 
that is how it is with Elijah, but as well confirmation that 
he is indeed God's prophet, let it be known this day that you 
are God and Israel, and I am your servant, and as well the 
well-being of the people of Israel, and that you have turned their 
hearts back to you again." It's a simple prayer, isn't it? I 
think that if you continue in the passage, you'll see that 
God answers prayers differently. Not differently in the sense 
that, you know, there's either yes or no, but here He answers 
right away, doesn't He? In the next section, when God 
tells Elijah that the drought is going to end, Elijah has to 
tell his servants seven times to go and look for the cloud. 
You see, brethren, there's no one pat way that God answers 
prayer. I prayed and he didn't answer. Well, it was seven times 
when it came to ending the drought. You see, we need to learn patience 
at the throne of grace. God isn't going to, you know, 
just do everything we say right when we say it. We need to be 
a faithful people that are earnest in prayer, that are like that 
importunate widow that Jesus spoke of in Luke chapter 18. 
She gives no rest to the judge. The Lord Christ wants us to be 
importunate at the throne of grace, and I think this section 
with reference to Elijah indicates that such ought to be the case. 
Sometimes you pray a verse and a half and God answers. Other 
times you pray seven times and it takes a while, but God answers. 
And just by way of that observation, he prays a verse and a half and 
God answers. I mean, long prayers aren't necessarily 
the best prayers. I only prayed for eight minutes 
today. What was a good prayer? Did you call upon God? Did you 
desire His glory and His honor? There's no sort of eight minutes 
or 10 minutes or 20 minutes or an hour. In the Garden of Gethsemane, 
Jesus says, couldn't you watch with me for an hour? Now, is 
he literal? Does that mean every time we 
go to pray we must pray for an hour? I don't think he's talking 
literally. I'm not saying don't pray for 
an hour. There's certainly, you know, 
worse things you could do in a day than pray for an hour. 
That's a good thing. But here is a prayer for a verse 
and a half. And it's about the glory of God, the confirmation 
of the prophet, and the good of the people of Israel. And 
God answers. Notice. Verse 38, and the fire 
of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the 
wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that 
was in the trench. Now, when all the people saw 
it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is 
God, the Lord, He is God. Now, the fire that consumed the 
burnt sacrifice. I think there's a couple of things 
going on here. In the first place, when we see, 
say, in the Pentateuch, in the first five books of Moses, when 
we see God's fire consume a sacrifice, that typically means that God 
is pleased. That instance in Leviticus chapters 
1 to 9. Leviticus chapters 1 to 8 are 
the laws of sacrifice. It was very clearly spelled out 
how the children of Israel were to approach their holy God. So 
they offer up the sacrifice according to chapter 9, and the fire of 
the Lord comes down and consumes their offering, and the people 
of God shout, and I think it was a shout for joy. There are 
other places in the Old Testament where God consumes by fire in 
a favorable sense. This could be a demonstration 
of God's grace to these people, God's mercy, God's kindness. He wasn't obliged to answer here. 
He wasn't obliged to demonstrate or confirm that he was indeed 
the true and the living God. He is indeed the true and the 
living God, whether he gives us evidences of that or not. 
You see, Jesus says a crooked and perverse generation seeks 
after a sign. Brethren, we shouldn't need a 
sign, we have the written word that testifies to us. So God 
didn't have to, there was nothing constraining him, there was nothing 
putting an arm behind his holy back making him send fire. But he does so, and I think it 
is a sign of representation of his grace, his mercy, his kindness. It's almost a communication to 
the people to forsake Baal once and for all and bow before your 
God. Thankfully, they make that admission 
or they make that confession. They say, the Lord, He is God, 
the Lord, He is God. But I think as well, we ought 
to appreciate from this particular passage that God really shouldn't 
have needed to do this. Have you ever been parents with 
your children, and they're asking you questions, and you're answering 
their questions, and they keep asking the same question, and 
you keep answering their question, and they keep asking the question, 
and you raise your voice at them? Now, maybe none of you ever did 
this. Happened to at least some guy 
that I know. Or it wasn't even that sort of 
a scenario, where the question was asked, and you answered, 
and it sort of escalated, and you raised your voice. It might 
have been something wherein you were telling them something, 
and they just weren't getting the point. So you raised your 
voice and said, now do it! One at least is nodding. Really? You guys are great parents. You've 
never raised your voices at your kids and said, now go do it. Praise God. You know, there's 
two of us in this room. The rest of you are holy models 
of good parenting. We shouldn't have to do that, 
should we? The fifth commandment demands 
our children's obedience and honor. We shouldn't have to raise 
our voices. We shouldn't have to ever get 
beyond a conversational tone. We shouldn't ever have to do 
that because you owe us fidelity. Wow, you're going to violate 
their freedom and their love. No, God says obey your parents 
and the Lord for this is right. We shouldn't have to raise our 
voices. God shouldn't have to consume 
with fire. This further evidences how wretched 
and wicked and deplorable the conditions were in Israel under 
Ahab. This man took the reins of the 
northern kingdom, he married a godless, wretched woman that 
would be paradigmatic for all times, of all things wicked in 
a woman, and he rides that kingdom right into the ground. Such that 
the living and the true God has to send fire from heaven to consume 
Elijah's bull before these people will say, Yahweh! He is God, 
Yahweh, He is God. He shouldn't have to do that 
to get our attention. He shouldn't have to wow us. 
He shouldn't have to woo us. He shouldn't have to entice us. 
He shouldn't have to try and please us. He has spoken and 
our job is to listen. Brethren, that's what we need 
to gather from this display of God, it at Carmel. Now the last 
section bothers people. It really ought not because it 
is the execution of biblical law. Verse 40, 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 executed them there. It's the execution 
of God's holy justice. Deuteronomy 13, capital punishment 
for those who solicited Israelites to commit apostasy. If it was 
a false prophet, you kill them. If it's the wife of your own 
bosom, if it's someone in your family, they entice you to commit 
apostasy, you kill them. If it's revolution within a particular 
city or a particular community where they have revolted against 
the living and true God, then you kill that. Now, I realize 
that I'm saying that in a very blunt and sort of way, but that 
was what the law demanded. You see, God didn't say, well, 
it's okay to have all your religions here. The whole point of the 
specific command was for them to go into the land of Canaan 
and utterly exterminate the Canaanites, utterly dispossess the land of 
the Canaanites. Again, you might want to argue 
the ethics of that. You may want to say, well, you 
know, that's genocide and whatnot. It was God's judgment upon a 
wicked people. That's what it was, and that's 
what Elijah carries out, and thus concludes the contest at 
Carmel. Well, in conclusion, we see the 
futility of idolatry. That section concerning the prophets 
of Baal ought to be a go-to place for all of us when we are enticed 
by some idol. Now, our idols may not be Baal, 
they may not be Asherah, they may not be Molech, but we have 
idols, or else the Apostle John would not have said, little children, 
keep yourselves from idols. False religion is an idol. The 
sort of attraction that was presented earlier in terms of Baalism. 
It has royal sanction, long pedigree or tradition in our history as 
well. It appeals to those felt needs 
that we have and it just feels right. Little children keep yourselves 
from idols. False religion is an idol. The 
idol of self. I suspect that this is the one 
that continues to perplex or to persist in most of our lives. The idol of ourselves. We don't 
bow down to ourselves and worship ourselves, say, in front of a 
mirror, but our lives evidence such a thing. Our lives demonstrate 
such a thing. Another New Testament idol may 
not be Baal, may not be Asherah, may not be Molech, but it's certainly 
money. Jesus cautions us against the 
love of Mammon in Matthew chapter 6. Can't love God and Mammon. 
Doesn't mean you can't have mammon, doesn't mean you can't have money, 
it means you can't love it, can't worship it. Your life can't be 
sort of dictated by money. You see, there are present and 
persistent idols that present themselves to God's people today. If you are ever tempted or if 
you are ever feeling sort of that desire to have your felt 
needs met, go look at these poor wretches on Carmel dancing around, 
calling upon Baal to answer. As well, the effect of idolatry 
upon the worshipper. I cited Psalm 115a. Those who 
make them are like them, so is everyone who trusts in them. 
You see, what happens is Baal wants blood. These people will 
cut themselves. Baal likes blood, so they'll 
gash themselves with knives and lances, and they'll bleed all 
over themselves, and they'll dance around this altar. because 
that's what Baal wants and they have become like Baal. And the 
persistence of idolatry in the hearts of men, one would think 
after this display of God's power on Carmel, that would be it, 
no more Baal worship. That would be it, it would be 
eradicated. You know what happens subsequent 
to this? Elijah prays, the drought ends. Ahab goes back, tells Jezebel, 
you should have seen what happened. It's Elijah, the Tishbite. He 
came out of nowhere. And the guy's a real charismatic 
figure. I'm kind of paraphrasing here. 
How would Ahab report this to Jezebel? He set up this contest, 
we met at Carmel, the 450 prophets of Baal were there. They did 
their thing, they danced, they bled, they wet, they moaned, 
they this, they that. There was no voice, no one answered, 
no one paid attention. And then Elijah puts down the 
bowl, takes water, and pours it on the bowl, takes water, 
pours it on the bowl, takes water. He's painting this scenario to 
Jezebel. You know Jezebel's response? So what? I could care less. She goes to Elijah and says, 
you're going to be dead by this time tomorrow. It's hard to penetrate 
the hearts of men, isn't it? A display like that, and these 
people continue in their rebellion. Now, you say, well, that was 
just Jezebel. Wait till you get to Naboth's 
vineyard in chapter 21. It's very easy for Jezebel to 
work the Israelite crowd and get them to testify against Naboth 
so that Ahab can expand his property holdings. You see, it is difficult 
to eradicate the love of Baal in the hearts of men, and this 
throws us back upon sovereign grace. We can't do it. We need 
God. We need the Holy Spirit. When 
idolaters come in among us and they hear the gospel preached, 
it's not going to be our appeal. It's not going to be our ability, 
it's not going to be our winsomeness, it's going to be the power of 
God unto salvation. For blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, 
for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who 
is in heaven. As well, this passage sets before 
us the demand for total allegiance to God. It is indeed a condemnation 
of idolatry, but probably it's a condemnation of what's called 
syncretism. And syncretism simply means a little bit of Baal and 
a little bit of Yahweh. A little bit of this and a little 
bit of that, and that will be our way of approach to God. Now, 
I suspect that this might live on in the hearts of people today 
as well. Syncretism. We marry a little 
bit of this with the true religion of the living God. That's wrong. 
He demands total allegiance. Davis says, this is no mere academic 
question, the question of verse 21. Elijah's formulation assumes 
that theology leads to discipleship. Commitments have consequences. Matthew Henry said, the service 
of God and the service of sin, the dominion of Christ and the 
dominion of our lusts, these are the two thoughts which it 
is dangerous halting between. Those halt between them that 
are unresolved under their convictions, unstable and unsteady in their 
purposes, promise fair but do not perform, begin well but do 
not hold on, that are inconsistent with themselves or indifferent 
and lukewarm in that which is good. Their heart is divided, 
whereas God will have all or none. I don't want to make some 
emotional appeal or some psychological appeal to any or all of you here 
this evening, but I do want us to consider, really, verse 21. If your commitment is not fully 
to Yahweh, then repent. The bulk of you profess saving 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The bulk of you are members in 
a Reformed Baptist church. The bulk of you have stood before 
others and said, I follow God. I want Christ. The bulk of you 
have gone into the waters of baptism. You have identified 
publicly with the triune God. Is it the case that your allegiance 
to Him has been waning? Is it the case that you've entertained 
sin? Is it the case that you have 
dealt with a little bit of this and a little bit of that in your 
approach to religious worship? Well, the good news is there 
is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. The good news 
is that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive 
us. I don't think any of us could 
look at verse 21 and consider the demands of total allegiance 
to God and say, well, you know, my allegiance is indeed total. 
I follow Him all the way, all the time. Brethren, we all stumble, 
we all sin, we all need to renew our repentance and we all need 
to forsake that wickedness and engage by the grace of God and 
the power of the Holy Spirit with total allegiance to Him. 
No more halting between two opinions. God-self. God-money. God-work. God-this. No, God. Seek first the kingdom 
of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be 
added unto you. If you have stopped reading your 
Bible, start reading it again. If you have stopped praying, 
start praying again. If you have been lazy and apathetic 
on the Sabbath day and have stopped attending public worship, start 
attending again. If you have missed the Lord's 
Supper, if you have been to the point where you don't even consider 
that you've missed the Supper as something that should be grieving 
to your soul, then start coming to the Supper. We have the Supper 
next Sunday night. This is what allegiance to God 
looks like. It doesn't look like going out 
with Elijah and putting a bowl on the altar, pouring water on 
it, and having fire consume it. Allegiance to God in our context 
and in our situation means getting up in the morning seeking God. 
It means going out the door and living for God. It means doing 
whatever job we have been given to do in a manner that is consistent 
with the glory of God. It means coming home at night, 
loving our wives, loving our husbands, loving our children, 
seeking to cultivate the goodness of God in their hearts and souls, 
seeking to permeate our homes with the very aroma of Christ. This is what total allegiance 
to God looks like. And if you have faltered or halted 
or limped along these two opinions, then stop. Repent, forsake it, 
pursue the living and the true God. He is altogether lovely. He is chief among 10,000. There 
is no thing better than the service of the living God. Well, let 
us pray. Father, we thank you for your 
word and we thank you for this contest at Carmel. We thank you 
for what it displays concerning your glory and your majesty and 
your excellence and power. We would ask God that you would 
cause us to walk in total allegiance and not halting between two opinions. 
Grant us grace to pursue those things that are pleasing in Your 
sight. If we have been lazy, forgive us. If we have been lethargic 
or apathetic, forgive us. If we have just been rebellious, 
forgive us and cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and help us to prize our Savior. Help us to delight in Him and 
help us to pursue those things that are pleasing in Your sight. 
Go with us now, we pray, and we ask through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen.