FXF Stories: Elijah and The Prophets of Baal

The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal is one of the most striking and memorable stories in the bible. An incredible show of God’s power, the story lies in 1 Kings 18, where our main character, the prophet Elijah, starts the scene:

At the time in Samaria (central Israel), the evil duo of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were going around killing the Lord’s prophets. Because of this, Elijah was forced to flee, as well as the rest of the Lord’s prophets. After three years had passed, the Lord told Elijah to present himself to Ahab, so Elijah got up to go and see him. At this time, meanwhile in Samaria, there was a famine going on, so Ahab had his ‘palace administrator’ (think manager) Obidiah go out and see if there was any grass they could feed the animals with, so they wouldn’t have to kill and eat them. Doing so would be a huge hit to their farming capabilities. (Obidiah was secretly a devout Christian, and being so, had hidden one hundred prophets in two Israeli caves (fifty in each), supplying them with food and water.) While walking along, trying to find grass for the animals, Obidiah, much to his surprise, came across Elijah, and the two greeted one another.

After talking a bit, Elijah told Obidiah to go and tell Ahab that he had returned, but this frightened Ahab. “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the Lordyour 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. But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ 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. 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. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!” (1 Kings 18:9 - 14). Understandably concerned, since if Elijah didn’t show up, Obadiah was surely dead, Elijah calmed him, saying, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today” (1 Kings 18:15).

With that, Obidiah left to see Ahab, and Ahab returned to see Elijah. When Ahab met Elijah, the two exchanged banter, after which, Elijah challenged Ahab to meet him with all the Israeli people, as well as the prophets of Baal and Asherah (another false deity). Gathering all the people, Elijah started to challenge them: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (1 Kings 18: 21). The people had nothing to say, so Elijah decided to put Baal to the test against the Lord in an irrefutable, relatable public display: burnt offering.

Elijah had the people bring two bulls, one for the prophets of baal, one for himself. Each group prepared their bull, and had a showdown: whoever's God was real, would light their bull on fire. The prophets of Baal called out to him all morning, and after not hearing anything at noon, they tried cutting themselves to baal to act. After all this, nothing happened, and the people lost interest. It was Elijah's turn now. He brought everyone over to him, and laying twelve rocks (to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel) on his area, he furthermore made the job harder, creating a pool of water and getting the prophets of baal to wet the bull with twelve large jugs.

When time came, and the preparation was complete, Elijah prayed: “ Lord, the 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. Answer me, Lord , answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord , are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again" (1 Kings 18:36‭-‬37). The Lord unleashed fire onto the offering place, taking up the bull and the water in the pool. At this, the people of Israel fell on their faces and acknowledged God as the one true Lord. Together with Elijah, they captured all the prophets of Baal and killed them in the Kishon Valley.

In the aftermath, Ahab was spared, and he returned to his home in Jezreel. Elijah had gotten great stamina by the lord, and ran faster than Ahab’s chariot could carry him down to Jezreel in wait to see what would come next. Once Jezebel had heard of what he had done to the prophets, she sent him a messenger stating her intentions to murder him as soon as possible. This forced Elijah into hiding in a cave at Horeb, which was God’s mountain, where due to the immense pressure, he questioned his sanity. Here, he seeked God, and after a display of his power through a series of natural disasters, God spoke to him in a whisper, letting him know it was safe to leave. From there, Elijah went into the city of Damascus to anoint a new king, during which God made a way for any who opposed Elijah to be killed through an alliance between the new king and two others. In the end, Elijah goes to see Elisha, and after a farewell to his parents, Elisha goes with Elijah to become his servant. The End. One hell of a story, Elijah’s vs. Baal shows us not only God’s deliverance, but God’s existence as the one and only. Furthermore, it shows how we gotta be willing to put our lives on the line for God, do his name well, and how it's important to remember the character of God. Elijah, in this story, really details how God speaks in small, delicate voices, a lesson, that if you can remember to listen out for, can really help get you on the way to discerning God speaking in your life.

Whenever we are in trouble, it is best to turn to the Lord; he needs to be our first response. If Elijah had spent the night binge drinking, or sexing out his issues, or coping in any other way than running to God, he may not have survived, and with him, all the work that was to be done through him after this could have ceased to be completed. God is truly our only way to make it in this world. Without him, we’ll be like the prophets of Baal, fools chasing after the completely wrong things.