Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people didn’t say a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left as a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on Yahweh’s name. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.” All the people answered, “What you say is good.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, “Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice, and nobody answered. They leaped about the altar which was made. At noon, Elijah mocked them, and said, “Cry aloud; for he is a god. Either he is deep in thought, or he has gone somewhere, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.”
They cried aloud, and cut themselves in their way with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. When midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the evening offering; but there was no voice, no answer, and nobody paid attention.
Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me!”; and all the people came near to him. He repaired Yahweh’s altar that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Yahweh’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” With the stones he built an altar in Yahweh’s name. He made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two seahs of seed. He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood.” He said, “Do it a second time;” and they did it the second time. He said, “Do it a third time;” and they did it the third time. The water ran around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
At the time of the evening offering, Elijah the prophet came near, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again.”
Then Yahweh’s fire fell, and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”
Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let one of them escape!” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv21, 24, 26, 27, 32, 35, 37, 40 Be constant in religion, and make it not as…
Be constant in religion, and make it not as a thing indifferent, whether ye follow God or Baal, or whether ye serve God wholly or in part, Zeph. 1:5.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv19–40 1Ki 18:19 Now therefore send, [and] gather to me…
1Ki 18:19 Now therefore send, [and] gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.
Ver. 19. And the prophets of the groves, which eat at Jezebel’s table.] These came not, as forbidden, haply, by Jezebel, who yet was at great charge with them. The Duke of Bavaria’s house is at this day so pestered with friars and Jesuits, that notwithstanding the greatness of his revenue, he is very poor, as spending all his estate on these Popish flesh flies.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 40 Now therefore send, to wit, messengers, that this controversy…
Now therefore send, to wit, messengers, that this controversy between thee and me may be decided, the true cause of these heavy judgments discovered and removed, that so this plague may be removed.
Gather to me all Israel, by their deputies, or heads, or representatives, that they may be witnesses of all our transactions.
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Unto Mount Carmel; not that Carmel in Judah, 1Sa 15:12, but another in Issachar by the midland sea, Jos 19:26; Jer 46:18; which he chose as a very convenient place, being not far from the centre of his kingdom, to which all the tribes might conveniently resort; and at some good distance from Samaria, that Jezebel might not hinder his design; and a very high mountain, Amo 9:3, and that upon the sea, whence he might have the opportunity to discover the rain at its first approach, which he did, 1Ki 18:42, &c.
And the prophets of Baal; which were dispersed in all the parts of the kingdom.
The prophets of the groves; which attended upon those Baals or idols which were worshipped in the groves, which were near the royal city, and much valued and frequented by the king and the queen, 1Ki 15:13; 16:33; 2Ki 13:6, and therefore were maintained at the queen’s charges.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v21 Ahab and the people expected that Elijah would, in…
Ahab and the people expected that Elijah would, in this solemn assembly, bless the land, and pray for rain; but he had other work to do first. The people must be brought to repent and reform, and then they may look for the removal of the judgment, but not till then. This is the right method. God will first prepare our heart, and then cause his ear to hear, will first turn us to him, and then turn to us, Psa 10:17; Psa 80:3. Deserters must not look for God's favour till they return to their allegiance. Elijah might have looked for rain seventy times seven times, and not have seen it, if he had not thus begun his work at the right end. Three years and a half's famine would not bring them back to God. Elijah would endeavour to convince their judgments, and no doubt it was by special warrant and direction from heaven that he put the controversy between God and Baal upon a public trial. It was great condescension in God that he would suffer so plain a case to be disputed, and would permit Baal to be a competitor with him; but thus God would have every mouth to be stopped and all flesh to become silent before him. God's cause is so incontestably just that it needs not fear to have the evidences of its equity searched into and weighed.
I. Elijah reproved the people for mixing the worship of God and the worship of Baal together. Not only some Israelites worshipped God and others Baal, but the same Israelites sometimes worshipped one and sometimes the other. This he calls (Kg1 18:21) halting between two opinions, or thoughts. They worshipped God to please the prophets, but worshipped Baal to please Jezebel and curry favour at court. They thought to trim the matter, and play on both sides, as the Samaritans, Kg2 17:33. Now Elijah shows them the absurdity of this. He does not insist upon their relation to Jehovah - "Is he not yours, and the God of your fathers, while Baal is the god of the Sidonians? And will a nation change their god?" Jer 2:11. No, he waives the prescription, and enters upon the merits of the cause: - "There can be but one God, but one infinite and but one supreme: there needs but one God, one omnipotent, one all-sufficient. What occasion for addition to that which is perfect? Now if, upon trial, it appears that Baal is that one infinite omnipotent Being, that one supreme Lord and all-sufficient benefactor, you ought to renounce Jehovah and cleave to Baal only: but, if Jehovah be that one God, Baal is a cheat, and you must have no more to do with him." Note, 1. It is a very bad thing to halt between God and Baal. "In reconcilable differences (says bishop Hall) nothing more safe than indifferency both of practice and opinion; but, in cases of such necessary hostility as betwixt God and Baal, he that is not with God is against him." Compare Mar 9:38, Mar 9:39, with Mat 21:30. 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 (Hos 10:2), whereas God will have all or none. 2. We are fairly put to our choice whom we will serve, Jos 24:15. If we can find one that has more right to us, or will be a better master to us, than God, we may take him at our peril. God demands no more from us than he can make out a title to. To this fair proposal of the case, which Elijah here makes, the people knew not what to say: They answered him not a word. They could say nothing to justify themselves, and they would say nothing to condemn themselves, but, as people confounded, let him say what he would.
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II. He proposed to bring the matter to a fair trial; and it was so much the fairer because Baal had all the external advantages on his side. The king and court were all for Baal; so was the body of the people. The managers of Baal's cause were 450 men, fat and well fed (Kg1 18:22), besides 400 more, their supporters or seconds, Kg1 18:19. The manager of God's cause was but one man, lately a poor exile, hardly kept from starving; so that God's cause has nothing to support it but its own right. However, it is put to this experiment, "Let each side prepare a sacrifice, and pray to its God, and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God; if neither shall thus answer, let the people turn Atheists; if both, let them continue to halt between two." Elijah, doubtless, had a special commission from God to put it to this test, otherwise he would have tempted God and affronted religion; but the case was extraordinary, and the judgment upon it would be of use, not only then, but in all ages. It is an instance of the courage of Elijah that he durst stand alone in the cause of God against such powers and numbers; and the issue encourages all God's witnesses and advocates never to fear the face of man. Elijah does not say, "The God that answers by water" (though that was the thing the country needed), but "that answers by fire, let him be God;" because the atonement was to be made by sacrifice, before the judgment could be removed in mercy. The God therefore that has power to pardon sin, and to signify it by consuming the sin-offering, must needs be the God that can relieve us against the calamity. He that can give fire can give rain; see Mat 9:2, Mat 9:6.
III. The people join issue with him: It is well spoken, Kg1 18:24. They allow the proposal to be fair and unexceptionable "God has often answered by fire; if Baal cannot do so, let him be cast out for a usurper." They were very desirous to see the experiment tried, and seemed resolved to abide by the issue, whatever it should be. Those that were firm for God doubted not but it would end to his honour; those that were indifferent were willing to be determined; and Ahab and the prophets of Baal durst not oppose for fear of the people, and hoped that either they could obtain fire from heaven (though they never had yet), and the rather because, as some think, they worshipped the sun in Baal, or that Elijah could not, because not at the temple, where God was wont thus to manifest his glory. If, in this trial, they could but bring it to a drawn battle, their other advantages would give them the victory. Let it go on therefore to a trial.
IV. The prophets of Baal try first, but in vain, with their god. They covet the precedency, not only for the honour of it, but that, if they can but in the least seem to gain their point, Elijah may not be admitted to make the trial. Elijah allows it to them (Kg1 18:25), gives them the lead for their greater confusion; only, knowing that the working of Satan is with lying wonders, he takes care to prevent a fraud: Be sure to put no fire under. Now in their experiment observe,
I. How importunate and noisy the prophets of Baal were in their applications to him. They got their sacrifices ready; and we may well imagine what a noise 450 men made, when they cried as one man, and with all their might, O Baal! hear us, O Baal! answer us; as it is in the margin: and this for some hours together, longer than Diana's worshippers made their cry, Great is Diana of the Ephesians, Act 19:34. How senseless, how brutish, were they in their addresses to Baal! (1.) Like fools, they leaped upon the altar, as if they would themselves become sacrifices with their bullock; or thus they expressed their great earnestness of mind. They leaped up and down, or danced about the altar (so some): they hoped, by their dancing, to please their deity, as Herodias did Herod, and so to obtain their request. (2.) Like madmen they cut themselves in pieces with knives and lancets (Kg1 18:28) for vexation that they were not answered, or in a sort of prophetic fury, hoping to obtain the favour of their god by offering to him their own blood, when they could not obtain it with the blood of their bullock. God never required his worshippers thus to honour him; but the service of the devil, though in some instances it pleases and pampers the body, yet in other things it is really cruel to it, as in envy and drunkenness. It seems, this was the manner of the worshippers of Baal. God expressly forbade his worshippers to cut themselves, Deu 14:1. He insists upon it that we mortify our lusts and corruptions; but corporeal penances and severities, such as the Papists use, which have no tendency to that, are no pleasure to him. Who has required these things at your hands?
2. How sharp Elijah was upon them, Kg1 18:27. He stood by them, and patiently heard them for so many hours praying to an idol, yet with secret indignation and disdain; and at noon, when the sun was at the hottest, and they too expecting fire (then if ever), he upbraided them with their folly; and notwithstanding the gravity of his office, and the seriousness of the work he had before him, bantered them: "Cry aloud, for he is a god, a goodly god that cannot be made to hear without all this clamour. Surely you think he is talking or meditating (as the word is) or he is pursuing some deep thoughts, (in a brown study, as we say), thinking of somewhat else and not minding his own matter, when not your credit only, but all his honour lies at stake, and his interest in Israel. His new conquest will be lost if he do not look about him quickly." Note, The worship of idols is a most ridiculous thing, and it is but justice to represent it so and expose it to scorn. This will, by no means, justify those who ridicule the worshippers of God in Christ because the worship is not performed just in their way. Baal's prophets were so far from being convinced and put to shame by the just reproach Elijah cast upon them that it made them the more violent and led them to act more ridiculously. A deceived heart had turned them aside, they could not deliver their souls by saying, Is there not a lie in our right hand?
3. How deaf Baal was to them. Elijah did not interrupt them, but let them go on till they were tired, and quite despaired of success, which was not till the time of the evening sacrifice, Kg1 18:29. During all that time some of them prayed, while others of them prophesied, sang hymns, perhaps to the praise of Baal, or rather encouraged those that were praying to proceed, telling them that Baal would answer them at last; but there was no answer, nor any that regarded. Idols could do neither good nor evil. The prince of the power of the air, if God has permitted him, could have caused fire to come down from heaven on this occasion, and gladly would have done it for the support of his Baal. We find that the beast which deceived the world does it. He maketh fire come down from heaven in the sight of men and so deceiveth them, Rev 13:13, Rev 13:14. But God would not suffer the devil to do it now, because the trial of his title was put on that issue by consent of parties.
V. Elijah soon obtains from his God an answer by fire. The Baalites are forced to give up their cause, and now it is Elijah's turn to produce his. Let us see if he speed better.
1. He fitted up an altar. He would not make use of theirs, which had been polluted with their prayers to Baal, but, finding the ruins of an altar there, which had formerly been used in the service of the Lord, he chose to repair that (Kg1 18:30), to intimate to them that he was not about to introduce any new religion, but to revive the faith and worship of their fathers' God, and reduce them to their first love, their first works. He could not bring them to the altar at Jerusalem unless he could unite the two kingdoms again (which, for correction to both, God designed should not now be done), therefore, by his prophetic authority, he builds an altar on Mount Carmel, and so owns that which had formerly been built there. When we cannot carry a reformation so far as we would we must do what we can, and rather comply with some corruptions than not do our utmost towards the extirpation of Baal. He repaired this altar with twelve stones, according to the number of the twelve tribes, Kg1 18:31. Though ten of the tribes had revolted to Baal, he would look upon them as belonging to God still, by virtue of the ancient covenant with their fathers: and, though those ten were unhappily divided from the other two in civil interest, yet in the worship of the God of Israel they had communion with each other, and they twelve were one. Mention is made of God's calling their father Jacob by the name of Israel, a prince with God (Kg1 18:31), to shame his degenerate seed, who worshipped a god which they saw could not hear nor answer them, and to encourage the prophet who was now to wrestle with God as Jacob did; he also shall be a prince with God. Psa 24:6, Thy face, O Jacob! Hos 12:4. There he spoke with us.
2. Having built his altar in the name of the Lord (Kg1 18:32), by direction from him and with an eye to him, and not for his own honour, he prepared his sacrifice, Kg1 18:33. Behold the bullock and the wood; but where is the fire? Gen 22:7, Gen 22:8. God will provide himself fire. If we, in sincerity, offer our hearts to God, he will, by his grace, kindle a holy fire in them. Elijah was no priest, nor were his attendants Levites. Carmel had neither tabernacle nor temple; it was a great way distant from the ark of the testimony and the place God had chosen; this was not the altar that sanctified the gift; yet never was any sacrifice more acceptable to God than this. The particular Levitical institutions were so often dispensed with (as in the time of the Judges, Samuel's time, and now) that one would be tempted to think they were more designed for types to be fulfilled in the evangelical anti-types than for laws to be fulfilled in the strict observance of them. Their perishing thus is the using, as the apostle speaks of them (Col 2:22), was to intimate the utter abolition of them after a little while, Heb 8:13.
3. He ordered abundance of water to be poured upon his altar, which he had prepared a trench for the reception of (Kg1 18:32), and, some think, made the altar hollow. Twelve barrels of water (probably sea-water, for the sea was near, and so much fresh water in this time of drought was too precious for him to be so prodigal of it), thrice four, he poured upon his sacrifice, to prevent the suspicion of any fire under (for, if there had been any, this would have put it out), and to make the expected miracle the more illustrious.
4. He then solemnly addressed himself to God by prayer before his altar, humbly beseeching him to turn to ashes his burnt-offering (as the phrase is, Psa 20:3), and to testify his acceptance of it. His prayer was not long, for he used no vain repetitions, nor thought he should be heard for his much speaking; but it was very grave and composed, and showed his mind to be calm and sedate, and far from the heats and disorders that Baal's prophets were in, Kg1 18:36, Kg1 18:37. Though he was not at the place appointed, he chose the appointed time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, thereby to testify his communion with the altar at Jerusalem. Though he expected an answer by fire, yet he came near to the altar with boldness, and feared not that fire. He addressed himself to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, acting faith on God's ancient covenant, and reminding people too (for prayer may prevail) of their relation both to God and to the patriarchs. Two things he pleads here: - (1.) The glory of God: "Lord, hear me, and answer me, that it may be known (for it is now by the most denied or forgotten) that thou art God in Israel, to whom alone the homage and devotion of Israel are due, and that I am thy servant, and do all that I have done, am doing, and shall do, as thy agent, at thy word, and not to gratify any humour or passion of my own. Thou employest me; Lord, make it appear that thou dost so;" see Num 16:28, Num 16:29. Elijah sought not his own glory but in subserviency to God's, and for his own necessary vindication. (2.) The edification of the people: "That they may know that thou art the Lord, and may experience thy grace, turning their heart, by this miracle, as a means, back again to thee, in order to thy return in a way of mercy to them."
5. God immediately answered him by fire, Kg1 18:38. Elijah's God was neither talking nor pursuing, needed not to be either awakened or quickened; while he was yet speaking, the fire of the Lord fell, and not only, as at other times (Lev 9:24; Ch1 21:26; Ch2 7:1) consumed the sacrifice and the wood, in token of God's acceptance of the offering, but licked up all the water in the trench, exhaling that, and drawing it up as a vapour, in order to the intended rain, which was to be the fruit of this sacrifice and prayer, more than the product of natural causes. Compare Psa 135:7. He causeth vapours to ascend, and maketh lightnings for the rain; for this rain he did both. As for those who fall as victims to the fire of God's wrath, no water can shelter them from it, any more than briers or thorns, Isa 27:4, Isa 27:5. But this was not all; to complete the miracle, the fire consumed the stones of the altar, and the very dust, to show that it was no ordinary fire, and perhaps to intimate that, though God accepted this occasional sacrifice from this altar, yet for the future they ought to demolish all the altars on their high places, and, for their constant sacrifices, make use of that at Jerusalem only. Moses's altar and Solomon's were consecrated by the fire from heaven; but this was destroyed, because no more to be used. We may well imagine what a terror the fire struck on guilty Ahab and all the worshippers of Baal, and how they fled from it as far and as fast as they could, saying, Lest it consume us also, alluding to Num 16:34.
VI. What was the result of this fair trial. The prophets of Baal had failed in their proof, and could give no evidence at all to make out their pretensions on behalf of their god, but were perfectly non-suited Elijah had, by the most convincing and undeniable evidence, proved his claims on behalf of the God of Israel. And now, 1. The people, as the jury, gave in their verdict upon the trial, and they are all agreed in it; the case is so plain that they need not go from the bar to consider of their verdict or consult about it: They fell on their faces, and all, as one man, said, "Jehovah, he is the God, and not Baal; we are convinced and satisfied of it: Jehovah, he is the God" (Kg1 18:39), whence, one would think, they should have inferred, "If he be the God, he shall be our God, and we will serve him only," as Jos 24:24. Some, we hope, had their hearts thus turned back, but the generality of them were convinced only, not converted, yielded to the truth of God, that he is the God, but consented not to his covenant, that he should be theirs. Blessed are those that have not seen what they saw and yet have believed and been wrought upon by it more than those that saw it. Let it for ever be looked upon as a point adjudged against all pretenders (for it was carried, upon a full hearing, against one of the most daring and threatening competitors that ever the God of Israel was affronted by) that Jehovah, he is God, God alone. 2. The prophets of Baal, as criminals, are seized, condemned, and executed, according to law, Kg1 18:40. If Jehovah be the true God, Baal is a false God, to whom these Israelites had revolted, and seduced others to the worship of him; and therefore, by the express law of God, they were to be put to death, Deu 13:1-11. There needed no proof of the fact; all Israel were witnesses of it: and therefore Elijah (acting still by an extraordinary commission, which is not to be drawn into a precedent) orders them all to be slain immediately as the troublers of the land, and Ahab himself is so terrified, for the present, with the fire from heaven, that he dares not oppose it. These were the 450 prophets of Baal; the 400 prophets of the groves (who, some think, were Sidonians), though summoned (v. 19), yet, as it should seem, did not attend, and so escaped this execution, which fair escape perhaps Ahab and Jezebel thought themselves happy in; but it proved they were reserved to be the instruments of Ahab's destruction, some time after, by encouraging him to go up to Ramoth-Gilead, Deu 22:6.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv19–40 And Elijah came unto all the people,.... Assembled at…
And Elijah came unto all the people,.... Assembled at Mount Carmel:
and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? sometimes inclining to the one, and sometimes to the other: as a lame man in walking, his body moves sometimes to one side, and sometimes to another; or "leap ye upon two branches" (r), like a bird that leaps or hops from one branch to another, and never settles long; or rather it denotes the confusion of their thoughts, being like branches of trees twisted and implicated; thus upbraiding them with their inconstancy and fickleness; what their two opinions were, may be learnt from the next clause:
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if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him; for there is but one God, one infinite, immense, and incomprehensible being; one that is omnipotent, all sufficient, good, and perfect; there cannot be more, and therefore but one to be followed, served, and worshipped:
and the people answered him not a word: through conviction and confusion, his reasoning being unanswerable; or not knowing which to choose at present; or fearing they should be drawn into a snare, should they name any; either incur the displeasure of the king, who was for Baal, or of the prophet, who was for the Lord, at whose word rain was withheld, and might be given, which they were desirous of.
(r) "transilietis super duos ramoe, Malvenda; vos transilientes super ambos ramos", Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 Send - Messengers, that this controversy may be decided,…
Send - Messengers, that this controversy may be decided, what is the cause of these heavy judgments. All Israel - By their heads, or representatives, that they may be witnesses of all our transactions. Carmel - Not that Carmel, in Judah, but another in Issachar by the midland sea, which he chose as a convenient place being not far from the center of his kingdom, to which all the tribes might conveniently resort, and at some distance from Samaria, that Jezebel might not hinder. Prophets of Baal - Who were dispersed in all the parts of the kingdom. Of the groves - Who attended upon those Baal's or idols that were worshipped in the groves, which were near the royal city, and much frequented by the king and the queen.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40 Verse 19. Gather to me all Israel] The heads…
Verse 19. Gather to me all Israel] The heads of tribes and families; the rulers of the people.
The prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty - the prophets of the groves four hundred] The king and queen had different religious establishments; the king and his servants worshipped Baal, the supreme lord and master of the world, the sun. For this establishment four hundred and fifty priests were maintained. The queen and her women worshipped אשרה Asherah, Astarte, or Venus; and for this establishment four hundred priests were maintained. These latter were in high honour; they ate at Jezebel's table; they made a part of her household. It appears that those eight hundred and fifty priests were the domestic chaplains of the king and queen, and probably not all the priests that belonged to the rites of Baal and Asherah in the land; and yet from the following verse we learn that Ahab had sent to all the children of Israel to collect these prophets; but Jezebel had certainly four hundred of them in her own house who were not at the assembly mentioned here. Those of Baal might have a more extensive jurisdiction than those of Asherah, the latter being constantly resident in Samaria.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 39, 40 1Ki 18:19. Now therefore — That this great controversy…
1Ki 18:19. Now therefore — That this great controversy between thee and me may be decided; that it may be determined who is the true God, and therefore the proper object of the people’s worship; that the true cause of these heavy judgments may be discovered and removed, and so the plague may cease; send messengers and gather all Israel — By their heads or representatives, that they may be witnesses of all our transactions; unto mount Carmel — Not Carmel in Judea, but another place of that name in the tribe of Issachar, by the midland sea, which he chose, because, being in the centre of Ahab’s kingdom, all the tribes might conveniently resort to it; and being at a distance from Samaria, Jezebel, he had reason to think, would not be present there to hinder his design. And as it was a very high mountain, (Amo 9:3,) and upon the sea, he might from thence discover the rain at its first approach. The prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty — Who were dispersed in all parts of the kingdom. The prophets of the groves four hundred — Who attended upon those idols that were worshipped in the groves which were near the royal city, and much frequented by the king and the queen. Mr. Selden understands by them the prophets of Astarte, the great goddess of the Zidonians, and renders his opinion very probable, by comparing many passages of Scripture together. Which eat at Jezebel’s table — Whom she sustained, most probably not always, but in this time of famine only, when, upon account of the extreme poverty that prevailed, they could not be supported by the offerings of the people, and the gains they made of them. But this sufficiently shows the infatuation and zeal of Jezebel for these idolatrous priests, that in a time of such famine she should take upon her to provide for eight hundred and fifty of them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 Carmel (Jos 12:22 note) was chosen by the prophet…
Carmel (Jos 12:22 note) was chosen by the prophet as the scene of the gathering to which he invited, or rather summoned, Ahab. Its thick jungles of copse and numerous dwarf-oaks and olives, would furnish abundant wood for his intended sacrifice. Here was a perennial fountain; and here again an ancient “altar of the Lord” 1Ki 18:30, belonging probably to the old times of non-idolatrous high-place worship - perhaps an erection of one of the patriarchs. On the one hand, there would be a view of the Mediterranean, from where the first sign of rain was likely to come, and on the other of Jezreel, the residence of the court at the time, with its royal palace and its idol-temples, so that the intended trial would take place in the sight (so to speak) of the proud queen and her minions.
The prophets of Baal - The priests of Baal are so called not so much because they claimed a power of foretelling the future, as because they were “teachers” of the false religion, and more especially because they stand here in antagonism to the “prophet of the Lord,” with whom they are about to contend.
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The prophets of the groves, four hundred - Rather, “of the grove” - the prophets, or priests, attached to the “grove” - אשׁרה 'ăshêrāh - which Ahab had made, probably at Jezreel (marginal reference). The number 400 seems to have been one especially affected by Ahab. We again find 400 prophets at the close of his reign 1Ki 22:6. The number 40 entered largely into the religious system of the Jews 1Ki 6:17; Exo 26:19; Deu 25:3; Eze 41:2.
Which eat at Jezebel’s table - Rather, “which eat from Jezebel’s table.” Oriental etiquette would not have allowed them to eat “at” the table of the queen, which was spread in the seraglio. They were fed from the superfluity of her daily provision, which was no doubt on a sumptuous scale. Compare 1Ki 4:22-23.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 37, 38, 40 Fifty, attached to Baal, and fed by the king;…
Fifty, attached to Baal, and fed by the king; while the prophets of the groves, or of Astarte, lived at the queen’s expense. They imitated the lives of the true prophets, to delude the people. --- Carmel was long after famous fo the worship of Apollo, who was the same with Baal, or the sun, Josue xix. 26. (Calmet) --- No mention is made of rain: but it was understood that it would be given, when the people should assemble to hear God’s determination. (Menochius) --- Achab durst not therefore refuse to convoke them. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv19–21 gather . . . the prophets of Baal .…
gather . . . the prophets of Baal . . . the prophets of the groves--From the sequel it appears that the former only came. The latter, anticipating some evil, evaded the king's command.
which eat at Jezebel's table--that is, not at the royal table where she herself dined, but they were maintained from her kitchen establishment (see on Sa1 20:25 and Kg1 4:22). They were the priests of Astarte, the Zidonian goddess.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 19. Mount Carmel — See at Jos_19:26. “Carmel was…
19. Mount Carmel — See at Jos_19:26. “Carmel was the peculiar haunt of Elijah. On its eastern summit, commanding the last view of the Mediterranean Sea and the first view of the great plain of Esdraelon, just where the glades of forest — the ‘excellency’ whence it derives its name — sink into the usual bareness of the hills of Manasseh, a rock is still shown bearing the name of Maharrakah — ’the sacrifice.’ On this rock stood an altar of Jehovah, (1Ki_18:30,) which had, in all probability, been destroyed in the recent persecution. On this same spot, probably, long afterwards, Vespasian sacrificed when commanding the Roman armies in Palestine; and to this the Druses still come in yearly pilgrimage. In the distance, and on its commanding position overlooking the whole valley, rose the stately city of Jezreel, with Ahab’s palace and Jezebel’s temple embosomed in its sacred grove. Immediately under their feet spread far and wide that noble plain — the battlefield of sacred history — the plain of Megiddo, or Jezreel, with the torrent Kishon passing, as its name implies, in countless windings through the level valley; that ‘ancient stream,’ on whose banks had perished the host of Sisera and the host of Midian before the army of Deborah and Barak, before the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. In such a scene, with such recollections of the past, were the people of Israel gathered for a conflict as momentous as any which had taken place in the plain beneath.” — Stanley.
Prophets of the groves — Rather, Prophets of Asheroth, the female divinity of the Zidonians, and often called Ashtoreth. 1Ki_11:5-33; Jdg_2:13; 1Sa_7:3-4. In this verse Baal and Asherah are mentioned together as in Jdg_2:13. The one was the male, the other the female deity of the Phenicians. See note on 1Ki_14:15. The prophets of Asherah were specially petted and patronized by Jezebel, though they seem not to have been quite as numerous as those of Baal. They ate at Jezebel’s table, were treated as members of the royal family. The multitude of false prophets here specified (850) shows the zeal and success with which the queen had introduced her national idolatry into the kingdom of Israel. The strong hold which the newly-introduced idolatry now had upon the kingdom shows, also, the demand there was for the miraculous vindication at Carmel of the true worship of Jehovah, and the overwhelming defeat and disgrace of the worship and worshippers of Baal.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 19. all Israel] i.e. A representative body of the…
19. all Israel] i.e. A representative body of the whole people.
unto mount Carmel] There seems to have been in Elisha’s time a residence on Mt. Carmel, where he dwelt. For the Shunammite goes thither to find him. Perhaps Elijah chose the place because there was an altar there, which had been used for the worship of Jehovah, but was now thrown down. The mountain was also easy of access, and the sea, from whence the signs of the coming rain would be seen, was visible from it.
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and the prophets of Baal] These, as the narrative shews, were the priests who presided over the Baal worship, and with their office was mixed up, as we see from chap. 22, the profession of divination and soothsaying. Hence they are called prophets. The LXX. following the Jewish abhorrence for the name Baal, translate by τῆς αἰσχύνης, = of the shame, as if ‘Bosheth’ and not ‘Baal’ had been read by them.
the prophets of the groves] R.V. of the Ashêrah. See note on 1Ki_14:15. Jezebel had introduced the female as well as the male divinity, so that nothing might be wanting to the complete observance of the worship to which she had been trained at home. The staff of priests, 850 for the two divinities, shews what an outlay was made for the perfection of the idolatrous rites.
which eat at Jezebel’s table] That the queen should shew them special favour, and feed them at her own board, was one of the surest ways of making the Baal-priests and their service popular. She no doubt also supplied funds for the support of those priests who were not in the royal city.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 39, 40 (19) Carmel.—The word signifies a “garden” or “park” (see…
(19) Carmel.—The word signifies a “garden” or “park” (see Isa_29:17; Isa_32:15-16, &c.) and, when used for the proper name of the mountain, has commonly the article. Mount Carmel—rightly called “the park,” well planted and watered, of central Palestine—is a limestone ridge, with deep ravines thickly wooded, running north-west for about twelve miles from the central hills of Manasseh, so as to form the south side of the bay of Ptolemais, and almost to reach the sea, leaving, however, a space round which the southern armies constantly poured into the plain of Jezreel. It varies from 600 feet to 1,700 feet in height. Near its higher eastern extremity there is a place still called El Maharrakah, “the burning,” in view of the plain and city of Jezreel, and commanding from one point a glimpse of the sea, which is the traditional (and highly probable) scene of Elijah’s sacrifice. Carmel is previously mentioned in Jos_19:26, as falling to Asher, and the existence of the altar of the Lord shows that, as was natural, it was made one of the “high places,” and, indeed, it appears to have been known as such even to the heathen. In the prophetic writings it is referred to as proverbial for its luxuriant pasturage and beauty. (See Isa_33:9; Jer_4:26; Amo_1:2; Amo_9:3; Son_7:6.) No more striking scene could well be found for the great drama of this chapter.
The prophets of the groves (Asherah) . . .—These, being probably the devotees of the female deity Astarte, seem to have been especially favoured by the queen. It is, however, to be noted that, in spite of Elijah’s challenge, they do not appear at all in the subsequent scene. (See 1Ki_18:22; 1Ki_18:40.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv19–40 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel…
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel i.e., by representation, the heads of the people, elders, etc. (Cf. 1Ki_8:2, 65 12:16, 18 16:16, 17) unto Mount Carmel Heb., as almost always, the Carmel, i.e., the park. Cf. 1Sa_25:1-5. It is "the park of Palestine." It is indebted for this name to the luxuriant vegetation excellency of Carmel" (Isa_35:2) which clothes its southern slopes (Porter, p. 371; Stanley, S. and P. pp. 352-54, and App. p. 14; Van de Velde, 1. pp. 317, 318). It is now generally called Mar (i.e. , Lord or Saint) Elyas, after the great prophet. No one who has seen the locality can have any doubts as to which part of the mountain was the scene of the sacrifice, or can fail to be struck with the singular fitness of the place to be the theatre of this thrilling history. Carmel is rather a ridge than a mountain, some twelve miles in length. Its western (or strictly N.N.W.) extremity is a bold headland, some 600 feet in height, which dips almost directly into the waters of the Mediterranean. Its highest point, 1728 feet above the sea level, is about four miles from its eastern extremity, which, at an elevation of 1600 feet, rises like a wall from the great plain of Esdraelon. It is at this point, there can be no question, we are to place the scene of the burnt sacrifice. The identification has only been effected in comparatively recent days (1852), but it is beyond dispute. Not only does the Arab name which it bears El Murahkah, the Burning," or Sacrifice afford striking witness to the identity, but the situation and surroundings adapt themselves with such wonderful precision to the requirements of the narrative as to leave no reasonable doubt in the mind. For
(1) it is a sort of natural platform, or pulpit, raised 1000 feet above the adjoining plain, and therefore well calculated to afford a view of the proceedings, or at least of the descent of the Holy Fire, to spectators of all Israel. The flame would probably be seen by Jezebel in her palace at Jezreel. This eminence is visible from Nazareth, some twenty miles away. "There is not a more conspicuous spot on all Carmel than the abrupt, rocky height of El Murahkah, shooting up so suddenly on the east" (Van de Velde, 1. pp. 322, 323). "The summit commands the last view of the sea behind and the first view of the great plain in front" (Stanley). In fact, it was in its way just as well adapted for the solemn vindication of the law which took place there as Jebel Sufsafeh was for the giving of the law.
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(2) A sort of plateau near the summit the table land where the altars were built, etc. would accommodate a vast number of spectators (ver. 21).
(3) There is a spring of water close at hand less than 100 yards distant and a spring which is said to flow even in the driest seasons, whichwould supply the water of which we read in vers. 4, 33-35. Josephus (Ant. 8:13, 5) says it came from the fountain.
(4) The sea, though not visible from the plateau itself, is seen from a point some 300 feet higher, a detail which accords admirably with the account of vers. 42-44. It may be added that the place is still held sacred by the Druses, and reverenced by "Jews, Christians, Moslems, and Bedouin as the site of these miracles of Elijah" (Thomson). The traveller, consequently, cannot doubt for a moment, as he stands on the table-land of El Murahkah and looks across the great plain to Jezreel and the heights of Galilee and Samaria, that he is on the very spot sanctified by the descent of the heavenly fire. It should be added, as explaining the selection of Carmel by Elijah, that its situation is central end convenient; that it is near the sea, from whence the rain clouds would come; that it is easy of access from Jezreel; and that it was not only a holy place from earlier times, (cf. 2Ki_4:23) but also had its altar of Jehovah, an altar, no doubt, in constant use when the people "sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places," but which had in later days fallen into neglect, and was now broken down. It was every way, therefore, a most appropriate locality for the public vindication of the despised and outraged law of God. "No place could be conceived more fitted by nature to be that wondrous battlefield of truth" (Tristram in Wordsworth), and the prophets of Baal so called not because they were Weissager und Verkunder (Bahr) of the god, nor yet because they were teachers and emissaries of his religion, but because of the prophetic frenzy (ver. 28) into which they worked themselves (Keil) four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves Heb. of the Asherah, i.e. , of Astarte, not "grove," as "Rawlinson. (See note on 1Ki_14:15) four hundred Rawlinson remarks that "the number 400 seems to have been one especially affected by Ahab." He reminds us that we find 400 prophets at the close of his reign, (1Ki_22:6) and also remarks on "the prevalence of the number 40 in the religious systems of the Exo_36:24, 26 Deu_25:3, etc." "But when it is remembered that Baal"s prophets were 450, and the prophets of 1Ki_22:6 were about 400 men, the solitary instance of the 400 prophets of Astarte who, by the way, were Jezebel"s rather than Ahab"s ministers affords but a slender basis for his conclusion, which eat at Jezebel"s table. Heb. eaters of. There is nothing in the Hebrew to imply that they sat with her at the same board; and it is certain that this would be altogether repugnant to Eastern ideas of propriety. All that is meant is that they were fed by her bounty. (See note on 1Ki_2:7)
Vers. 19-21.
Christ or Belial!
Here is a curious phenomenon. A monarch, who had searched all kingdoms for a prophet that he might reek anger upon his life, now sought out and confronted by that prophet, and submitting to his orders to call an assembly of the nation! How God can turn about the hearts of princes! Conspicuous in this vast concourse are the idolatrous priests with gnashing teeth. Elijah stands alone undaunted, a witness for Jehovah, and, appealing to the multitude, he accuses them of unworthy hesitation between irreconcilable services.
I WHY HESITATE IN SEEKING HAPPINESS?
1. No joys can compare with the heavenly.
(1) There are, indeed, sad professors of the true religion.
(a) Some are constitutionally melancholy. This is a disease which certainly is not aggravated by the sense of the favour of God.
(b) Some have false views of religion. They caricature it into a sepulchral thing. They do it injustice.
(c) But the case most common is that sad professors do not experience what they profess. They halt between Jehovah and Baal between Christ and Belial. In fashion. In friendships. In pursuits. So conscience stings them sore.
(2) When religion is true there is the best reason for joy.
(a) It brings emancipation from the slavery of sin.
(b) Deliverance from the tyranny of Satan.
(c) Adoption into the family of God.
(d) Heirship to everlasting life.
The true heir has the title-deeds of his inheritance in his heart (Eph_1:13, Eph_1:14; 2Co_5:4, 2Co_5:5) Thus does he antedate the very bliss of heaven (Luk_17:21; Eph_1:3)
2. If sinners be not sad, the more shame.
(1) For sin degrades the man below the brute. As far below as the powers of a man are superior. The degradation of a devil would be impossible to a brute. If a man can be transformed into a compound of swine and devil and not be sad, this is the climax of depravity.
(2) Sin is perfidy to infinite love. Such ingratitude can only be reconciled with the absence of sadness upon the ground of the most shameful perversity.
(3) The sinner is befooled by Satan. In his reflective moods he must loathe himself; but Satan whirls him away from his reflections into some mad dance, and drowns the voice of his conscience in some boisterous laugh. So the fool still befooled exults in his folly. O shame!
II WHY HESITATE IN SEEKING SALVATION?
1. Life is the determining period.
(1) It is the seed-time for the reaping in eternity. The yield then will be according to the sowing now. In quality: "After its kind." Also in quantity.
(2) Therefore the young have a splendid opportunity. They have time in their favour. "How long shall ye?
2. Procrastination is precarious work.
(1) "How long (jsp) hop ye? this word denotes the passing over from one place to another two opinions." It is used scornfully of the awkward leaping of the priests of Baal, in ver. 26. As the squirrel hopping from branch to branch may miss its footing and fall, so may the halting sinner hop into ruin.
(2) Consider the uncertainty of life. Read the gravestones. How enormous is the mortality amongst the young! Unroof heil!
(3) Consider the solemnities of eternity. The freshness and vividness of memory in the disembodied state. What a preparation for the day of judgment!
III FOR INDECISION THERE IS NO DEFENCE. "The people answered him not a word." But there are motives to evil when there are no good reasons. Such are
1. Conjugal influence.
(1) Ahab"s heart was estranged from God by the influence of Jezebel His predecessors suffered from the same cause. Notably so Solomon.
(2) Beware of contracting ungodly matrimonial alliances. Remember the famine in Samaria. The same God still "ruleth in the kingdom of men.
2. The smile of favouor.
(1) Idolatry was favoured at court. The priests of Ashere feasted "at Jezebel"s table." Mean-spirited Israelites sought court favour at the expense of the favour of God.
(3) True worshippers were persecuted. Elijah had to hide himself at Cherith and Zarephath. The sons of the prophets had to hide in the eaves of Obadiah. To keep a whole skin many hesitated. Will you encounter the frown of God to escape the sneer of an old companion?
3. The force of example.
(1) Elijah stood alone as the prophet of the Lord. He had with him a handful of laymen. Obadiah was conspicuous amongst them. If the prophets fed by Obadiah had issued from their caves, they did not stand forth on Carmel in their official character.
(2) The pronounced idolaters were a larger company. There were the prophets of Baal four hundred, and the prophets of Ashere four hundred and fifty, with a proportionate following.
(3) Still "the people" were vacillators. These were the majority. The power and influence of numbers were with the moderate people who would fain keep good terms with God and the devil. The halters are still the majority. How few amongst the multitude of the wicked have resolved in heart and soul that they will go to the devil! It is time you made up your mind one way or the other. How long halt ye? J.A.M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 24, 30, 36, 39, 40 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel…
1Ki_18:19-40
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel.
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The priests of Baal
Mendelssohn has wrought the harmonies and discords of this scene into a grand oratorio, and the painter or poet can find in it abundant material for his art. The actors are a king and royal court, hundreds of priests in splendid vesture, masses of people, anxious and hungry-eyed; and over against them a single man, big, fearless, with hairy mantle and leathern girdle, and loose locks waving like a mane about his stern face. Our lesson to-day stops short with the failure of the priests. We may call it the helplessness of heathenism. Who was Baal? Whence did he come? Where did he get his power? How did he rule? There was no such being. He never lived, never blessed a servant, or crushed a foe. When the priests cried, there was no answer, because there was no one to hear. Yet the name had a fiendish personality in the history of Israel, as a most alluring and ruinous force. An actual Baal never lived, possibly the ideal Baal has never died.
I. The heathenism of to-day. We still find idolatrous nations, with the same licentiousness, cruelty, and error. One African tribe has six words for murder, not one for love. The missionary who goes among them is an Elijah pleading for Jehovah against Baal. May the prophets mantle fall upon such, and may the Lord be with them as he was with Elijah. One definition of a heathen is an irreligious, unthinking person; a pagan, one who is neither a Christian, a Mohammedan, nor a Jew. A cleaner and brighter heathenism appears in the high-bred infidelity, of which we hear more than its worth demands. This is not ignorant and boorish, but elegant and learned. It affects to look down on the simplicity of believers, as the gorgeously robed priests may have sneered at Elijahs rough mantle. It uses the terms of science and philosophy. Its worship is mostly of the silent sort before an unknown God. Investigating the development of religious belief, it finds everywhere the longing, but nowhere the Creator who inspires it; everywhere the childs heart, nowhere the infinite Father. Speaking for art, it forgets that faith has inspired its masterpieces, and would put its visions above Him who made the splendours of earth, sea, and sky, human face divine, teeming brain, and skilful hand. Be not deceived by them. The greater number of sound thinkers and investigators are to-day, as in the past, believers. It is easy to see the paganism in such cases; not so easy where it touches us more closely in the heathenism of worldliness. Baal-worship was popular because it was gay, festal, splendid, while the Mosaic ritual was calm, earnest, self-controlled, chaste. Under the first, men could do what they liked best, and yet pass for religious. It dignified self-indulgence, and deified strength and lust. Love of God is the source and crown of all delights; but, to a multitude of meaner impulses in us, the world appeals with more flattery and promise than heaven. Let us hold fast to the Bible, in which speaks the only living and true God. If we turn from Jehovah, the deity we make ourselves will prove a Baal. Earth-born religions are dishonourable to the conscience, false to the intellect, and cruel to the heart. And if we acknowledge Jehovah to be God, let us follow Him.
II. The testing of heathenism. Anything which claims our service and our love should be able to support us in emergencies. Infidelity and worldliness may do very well in good times, when bright suns and genial rains mingle to bless our lot; so did Baal. And so all blasphemy, and polite infidelity, and everything that is not of God, when it has had its fling, and tried its power, drops back, helpless to save its followers. The testing is not often so dramatic as upon Carmel, but is continually repeated. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Elijah and the prophets of Baal
But Mount Carmel, a celebrated mountain on the southern boundary of the tribe of Assher, which extends itself into the Mediterranean Sea. It runs north-west of the plain of Esdraelon.
I. We notice the proposal of Elijah to the multitude. He speaks to them, not to the royal court. Religion is not an affair concerning the great and titled of the earth only. It respects every man. It is for the multitude as well as for the rich and great.
II. Notice the proposal of Elijah accepted. All the people said, The word is good. It was an advantageous one to the prophets of Baal. They had the prepossessions of the people and of the royal court in their favour: It is easy to take up religion when it is in prosperity: but to take it up when it is m a drooping, dying state, is the work that demands principle, sterling principle. To be zealous, when the very stones of the altar are to be replaced--when the alternative is ruin or revival--extirpation or reform--then to be zealous--then to be a reformer--to seek to restore truth and religion to their pristine dignity, that is a work honourable indeed, and arduous as it is honourable.
III. The failure of the prophets and the irony of Elijah.
IV. The appeal of Elijah to heaven.
V. The prayer of Elijah answered.
VI. The conviction of the multitude.
VII. The destruction of the priests. These prophets had been the cause of the grievous famine, of the death of cattle and human beings not a few. They had also sacrificed thousands of dear children to Baal. The rites of Baal were frequently celebrated with human victims. They had also brought Jezebel to think it a meritorious act to slay the prophets of the Lord. Also, according to the laws of Moses, idolatry was considered treason against God, as the national king, and death was denounced as the punishment of that sin. These men suffered nothing but the due reward of their deeds. Those who live by imposing on the weaknesses and superstitious feelings of others shall sooner or later meet with a suitable retribution. They that dig pits for others frequently fall into them themselves. Their own lies frequently slay the authors of them. Men first utter lies, then believe them, then perish by them. And they perish without pity. They perish amidst the execrations of those whom they have deceived. (J. H. Cadoux.)
Elijah and the prophets of Baal
1. We are reminded of the great disparity between these opposing forces. Now, as then, Truth is in the minority. It was one man against four hundred and fifty. But so it is always. The world has never seen a popular majority for the truth. Only eight souls were saved in the ark; Abraham was alone in his faith; Israel was but a handful; and the peculiar peoples in every age have been a remnant. Even the Son of God did not restore the equilibrium. The Reformation effected but a partial equalisation. The present age of missions, with all its conquests, finds the Church outnumbered in every region by its foes. Not only so, but in respect to earthly rank, power, prestige, the advantage has always been on the side of error. If at intervals the tide seems to turn, as when David, Solomon, Constantine give to religious truth political pre-eminence, such episodes are transient, and soon the old disproportion returns.
Truth for ever on the scaffold,
Wrong for ever on the throne,
abides as the rule obtaining in every age for the fortunes of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
2. This disparity was intensified and emphasised by divine direction. Elijah was commanded to give to his opponents precedence at every point. The criterion which he must submit for the testing of the rival religions was the god that answereth by fire. That was a concession to the claims of Baal, who was called the sun-god, with whom fire was a native element. On the other hand, Elijahs task was rendered as difficult as possible. He must stand by and see his rivals consume the entire day. This magnifying of evil and minimising of the resources of good has marked the Divine policy from the first. God has seemed to give to sin every advantage that it could ask for, and to keep his own cause at a corresponding inferiority. What a surprising difference, according to earthly standards, between Jesus and His enemies! Not only was He alone, unfavoured and unhelped, but they were supported by all the power of the Jewish Church, the Gentile government, and even the infernal world. Sin was allowed to parade and employ its uttermost resources, while holiness seemed to be proportionately depressed in the person of Him who was born in a manger and reared at Nazareth, who became the Friend of publicans and sinners, was betrayed by His own followers, and condemned to the accursed death. Similar fortunes have attended the people of God to this day. Not only have they been left to engage in a one-sided conflict where the numerical odds were always against them, but peculiar aggravations of this disparity have been common. The Church is still burdened with such unnecessary drawbacks. How often are we tempted to take literally the words which speak of the foolishness of preaching, and to wonder why God hath chosen such needlessly foolish, weak, and base things of this world to serve Him!
3. This disparity between the two contestants was emphasised by Jehovah for the purpose of suitably displaying His own superiority to both of them. He gave to Baal every advantage and reduced His own resources to a minimum, in order to show that Truth at its lowest is stronger than Error at its highest. The result justified this plan; for the people were all the more impressed by the final victory of Elijah, because of the tremendous inequality of the conflict at the beginning. This gives us a clue to that policy of the Divine government which has been referred to. God has allowed sin to prosper in this world, and has permitted His own religion to take an inferior place, for the purpose of thus furnishing an arena for the exhibition of the Divine self-assertion. We understand, then, why Christianity has never been allowed to compete on equal terms with the dominant faiths of the world. God does not intend that His religion shall obscure Himself. He knows how readily the eye of man is caught and held by visible forms, and that spiritual truth is always endangered by material associations. Accordingly the earthly medium through which His grace shines must be as thin and plain as safety will permit. This was the reason why Jesus the Christ asked and received so little from the world. He owed nothing to its favour or its help. But as we now see, all that humiliation was the most effective background that could have been provided for the display of the spiritual kingdom of God.
4. The triumphs of grace thus obtained are also magnified by the Divine concessions to the enemy. It was yielding much to Baal when the ordeal of fire was proposed, for that meant to meet the sun-god on his own field and with his own weapons. Other tests might have been chosen which would have been more favourable to Elijah. But no; he must go into the enemys territory and challenge him in his very citadel. Do the Egyptians worship the river Nile? Lo, the rod of Moses turns those sacred waters into blood. Are they the most cleanly of peoples, making a religion of physical purity? They are stricken with vermin by the word of the Lord. Do they idolise the goat, the ram, and the bull? The cattle of their fields must perish before the Divine scourge. Thus Pharaoh is taught that even within the range of his own religion the God of the Hebrews can find means to overthrow him. Similar transformations mark all the great conquests of Christianity. He meets scientific scepticism with the scientific faith of Miller, Hitchcock, and Drummond. He compels the art of sensuous Italy to minister to biblical truth in the Madonnas and Nativities. He transforms the pagan temple into the Christian church, and puts the Gothic spire to spiritual uses. This process of overruling and utilising grace is spreading through all the ranges of human enterprise.
5. These exhibitions of Divine self-assertion furnish a severe but useful test of human character. The priests of Baal were not the only ones whose faith and patience were taxed on Mount Carmel. It must have cost Elijah not a little to find himself placed for an entire day at so great a disadvantage. Nothing less than intense consecration and courage could have endured such a trial. This experience also was typical. It represents the lot of Gods people in all ages. The very greatness of the Divine interpositions in their behalf has imposed on them burdens of self-denial and self-effacement.
6. The trials of Gods people are sure to result in their triumph as well as His glory. (C. J. Baldwin.)
The prophet of the Lord
The debate on Mount Carmel was conducted by Elijah with remarkable ability. A vital question had forced its way into prominence.
I. When he met his opponents on Mount Carmel, Elijah had very clear convictions. In some way he had gained a strong hold upon God. He was personally conscious of God. Unlike many a speculative philosopher who has framed an elaborate argument to prove that God is, Elijah seems to have advanced with a single step to a firm belief in God. His name was an announcement of his belief: My God is Jehovah! A conviction like this is an argument in itself. Men are willing to listen to a man who believes what he says. This was an important element of the success of Moses, who was compelled to go into the presence of Pharaoh and there to demand the liberation of a large number of valuable slaves. Daniel had the same advantage when he was called upon to face the idolatry of Babylon: it was widely known that Daniel feared God. The ministry of Paul was always conditioned by this strong faith. He was more than a match for his antagonists because he knew whom he had believed. Athanasius, the youthful archdeacon of Alexandria, became the successful advocate of Christian truth at the Council of Nicaea in view of his recognition of the divinity of our blessed Lord. Luther at the Diet of Worms rallied the unorganised resistance of Germany to the papal authority when he exhibited his confidence in the evangelical doctrines. These men, and others like them, were strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. They felt the rock upon which they stood. They had clarified their thought, so that they could utter it forcibly. If we can gain this consciousness we shall be prepared for the great debate.
II. When he challenged the Baal-worshippers to the proof by fire, Elijah undertook to press their opinions to a practical expression. The challenge was perfectly fair. They had accepted Baal and Ashtaroth as the representative of the life-principle in nature. They were asked to exhibit the results of their faith in these divinities. Any opinion which lays claim to the faith of man must bear the strain of his ordinary burdens. What is your religion good for? what is the quality of its manhood? What sort of a God does it present? what is its immortality?--these are questions which must be met. There is no escape from them. Now, we may inquire, What will be the natural results of the general prevalence of the opinions which antagonise the Gospel?
III. When he had repaired the altar of the Lord and placed upon it a sacrifice, Elijah made an appeal which met the terms of the Divine command. There was an old altar on Mount Carmel--perhaps a relic of patriarchal times, but certainly a witness to the-reality of a pure worship. As the day was closing Elijah called the people to this altar and began to repair it. You may safely press Christian truth to its proper issues. We should have a very happy world, indeed, if all Christians would show their faith by their works. Christ-like lives, what would they be!--how sober! how industrious! how pure! how sweet! how attractive! Multiply these Christ-like lives, and how beautiful the social life of the world would appear. It is essential, therefore, that the Christian in the great debate should state clearly the truth as it is in Jesus.
IV. When he had received the fire of the Lord, which consumed his sacrifice, Elijah drew from the people the confession, Jehovah is God, Jehovah is God. The occasion was pentecostal. Conviction was instantaneous. Out from the clear, dry atmosphere flames of fire leaped as Elijah was praying; they seized upon the sacrifice and consumed it with the wood upon which it rested; they licked up the water in the trench and left the altar bare. A transformation occurred. An explanation must be given. What could be said except to confess the supremacy of Jehovah? Prof. Christlieb of Bonn has remarked that the regeneration of the human soul is the standing miracle of Christianity. This regeneration converts corrupt natures into natures which are holy. It is associated with Christian truth, and with belief in that truth. (H. M. Booth, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v20 "O for a sculptors hand, That thou mightst take…
ELIJAH ON MOUNT CARMEL
1Ki_18:20-40
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"O for a sculptors hand, That thou mightst take thy stand, Thy wild hair floating in the eastern breeze!"
- KEBLE
IT never occurred to Ahab to refuse the challenge, or to arrest the hated messenger. The hermit and the dervish are sacrosanct; they stand before kings and are not ashamed. Having nothing to desire, they have nothing to fear. So Antony stalked into the streets of Alexandria to denounce its prefect; so Athanasius fearlessly seized the bridle of Constantine in his new city; so a ragged and dwarfish old man-Macedonius the Barley-eater-descended from his mountain cave at Antioch to stop the horses of the avenging commissioners of Thedosius and bade them go back and rebuke the fury of their Emperor, -and so far from punishing him they alighted, and fell on their knees, and begged his blessing.
The vast assembly was gathered by royal proclamation. There could have been no scene in the land of Israel more strikingly suitable for the purpose than Mount Carmel. It is a ridge of upper oolite, or Jura limestone, which at the eastern extremity rises more than sixteen hundred feet above the sea, sinking down to six hundred feet at the western extremity. The "excellency of Carmel" of which the prophet speaks consists in the fruitfulness which to this day makes it rich in flowers of all hues, and clothes it with the impenetrable foliage of oak, pine, walnut, olive, laurel, dense brushwood, and evergreen shrubberies thicker than in any other part in Central Palestine. The name means "Garden of God," and travelers, delighted with the rocky dells and blossoming glades, describe Carmel as "still the fragrant lovely mountain that it was of old." It "forms the southern extremity of the Gulf of Khaifa, and separates the great western plain of Philistia from the plain of Esdraelon, and the plain of Phoenicia." "It is difficult," says Sir G. Grove, "to find another site in which every particular is so minutely fulfilled as in this." The whole mountain is now called Mar Elias from the Prophets name.
The actual spot of the range near which took place this most memorable event in the history of Israel was almost undoubtedly a little below the eastern summit of the ridge. It is "a terrace of natural rock," which commands a fine view of the plains and lakes and the hills of Galilee, and the windings of the Kishon, with Jezreel glimmering in the far distance under the heights of Gilboa. The remains of an old and massive, square structure are here visible, called El Muhrakkah, "the burning," or "the sacrifice," perhaps the site of Elijahs altar. Under the ancient olives still remains the round well of perennial water from which, even in the drought, the Prophet could fill the barrels which he poured over his sacrifice. Elijahs grotto is pointed out in the Church of the Convent, and another near the sea. In the region known as "the garden of Elijah" are found the geodes and septaria- stones and fossils which assume the aspect, sometimes of loaves of bread, sometimes of watermelons and olives, and are still known as "Elijahs fruits." The whole mountain murmurs with his name. He became in local legend the oracular god Carmelus, whose "altar and devotion" drew visitors no less illustrious than Pythagoras and Vespasian to visit the sacred hill.
Here, then, at early dawn the Prophet of Jehovah, in his solitary grandeur, met the four hundred and fifty idolatrous priests and their rabble of attendant fanatics in the presence of the half-curious king and the half-apostate people. He presented the oft-repeated type of Gods servant alone against the world. Most rarely is it otherwise. They who speak smooth things and prophesy deceits may always live at ease in amicable compromise with the world, the flesh, and the devil. But the Prophet has ever to set his face as a flint against tyrants, and mobs and false prophets, and intriguing priests, and all who daub tottering walls with untempered mortar, and all who, in days smooth and perilous, softly murmur, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." So it was with Noah in the days of the deluge; so with Amos and Hosea and the later Zechariah; so with Micaiah, the son of Imlah; so with Isaiah, mocked as a babbler by the priests at Jerusalem, and at last sawn asunder; so with Jeremiah, struck in the face by the priest Pashur, and thrust into the miry dungeon, and at last murdered in exile; so with Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, whom they slew between the porch and the altar. Nor has it been less so since the earliest dawn of the New Dispensation. Of John the Baptist the priests and Pharisees said, "he has a devil," and Herod slew him in prison. All, perhaps, of the twelve Apostles were martyred. Paul, like the rest, was intrigued against, thwarted, hated, mobbed, imprisoned, hunted from place to place by the world, the Jews, and the false Christians. Treated as the off-scouring of all things, he was at last contemptuously beheaded, in utter obscurity. Similar fates befell many of the best and greatest of the Fathers. Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, were slain by wild beasts and by fire. Origens life was one long martyrdom, mostly at the hands of his fellow-Christians. Did not Athanasius stand against the world? What needs it to summon from the prison or the stake the mighty shades of Savonarola, of Huss, of Jerome of Prague, of the Albigenses and Waldenses, of the myriad victims of the inquisition, of those who were burnt at Smithfield and Oxford, of Luther, of Whitfield? Did Christ mean nothing when He said, among His first beatitudes, "Blessed are ye when all men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake and the gospels"? Was it mere accident and metaphor when He said, "Ye are of the world, and therefore the world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth"; and, "If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, much more them of His household"? Which of His best and purest sons, from the first Good Friday down to this day, has ever passed through life unpersecuted of slanderous tongues? Has the nominal Church ever shown any more mercy to saints than the sneering and furious world? What has sustained Christs hated ones? What but that confidence towards God which lives among those whose heart condemns them not? What but the fact that "they could turn from the storm without to the approving sunshine within"? "See" it has been said, "he who builds on the general esteem of the world builds, not on the sand, but, which is worse, upon the wind, and writes the title-deeds of his hope upon the face of a river." But when a man knows that "one with God is always in a majority," then his loneliness is changed into the confidence that all the ten thousand times ten thousand of Heaven are with him. "His banishment becomes his preferment, his rags his trophies, his nakedness his ornament; and so long as his innocence is his repast, he feasts and banquets upon bread and water."
And so,
Among the faithless, faithful only he;
Among innumerable false, unmoved,
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified.
Elijah fearlessly stood alone, while all the world confronted him with frowning menace. The coward sympathies of the neutrals who face both ways may have been with him, but the multitude of such Laodiceans wink at wrong, and from love of their own ease do not, and dare not, speak. God only was the protector of Elijah, and in himself alone was all his state, as in his garment of hair he approached the people and confronted the idolatrous priests in all the gorgeousness of Baals vestry. He, like his great predecessor Moses, was the champion of moral purity, of the national faith, of religious freedom, and simplicity, of the immediate access of man to God; they were the champions of fanatical and unhallowed religionism, of usurping priestcraft, of unnatural self-abasements, of persecuting despotism, of licentious and cruel rites. Elijah was the deliverer of his people from a hideous and polluted apostasy which, had he not prevailed that day would have obliterated their name and their memory from the annals of the nations. That he was a genuine historic character-a prophet of Divine commission and marvelous power-cannot for a moment be doubted, however impossible it may now be in every incident to disentangle the literal historic facts from the poetic and legendary emblazonment which those facts not unnaturally received in the ordinary recollection of the prophetic schools. Throughout the great scene which followed, his spirit was that of the Psalmist: "Though a host of men should encamp against me, yet will not my heart be afraid"; that of the "servant of the Lord" in Isaiah: "He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, and in his quiver hath He hid me."
His first challenge was to the people. "How long," he asked, "do ye totter between two opinions? If Jehovah be God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him."
Awestruck and ashamed the multitude kept unbroken silence. Doubtless it was, in part, the silence of guilt. They knew that they had followed Jezebel into the cruelties of Baal-worship, and the forbidden lusts which polluted the temples of the Asherah. Puritanism, simplicity, spirituality of worship involves a strain too great and too lofty for the multitude. Like all Orientals, like the Negroes of America, like most weak minds, they loved to rely on a pompous ritual and a sensuous worship. It is so easy to let these stand for the deeper requirements which lie in the truth that "God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
Receiving no answer to his stern question, Elijah laid down the conditions of the contest. "The prophets of Baal," he said, "are four hundred and fifty: I stand alone as a prophet of Jehovah. Let two bullocks be provided for us; they shall slay and dress one, and lay it on wood, but-for there shall be no priestly trickeries today-they shall put no fire under. I, though I be no priest, will slay and dress the other, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. Then let all of you, Baal-priests and people if you will, cry to your idols; I will call on the name of Jehovah. The God that answereth by fire let him be God."
No challenge could be fairer, for Baal was the Sun-god; and what god could be more likely to answer by fire from that blazing sky? The deep murmur of the people expressed their assent. The Baal priests were caught as in a snare. Their hearts must have sunk within them; his did not. Perhaps some of them believed sufficiently in their idol to hope that, were he demon or deity, he might save himself and his votaries from humiliation and defeat; but most of them must have been seized with terrible misgiving, as they saw the assembled people prepared to wait with Oriental patience, seated on their abbas on the sides of that natural amphitheatre, till the descending flame should prove that Baal had heard the weird invocation of his worshippers. But since they could not escape the proposed ordeal, they chose, and slew, and dressed their victim. From morning till noon-many of them with wildly waving arms, others with their foreheads in the dust-they upraised the wild chant of their monotonous invocation, "Baal, hear us! Baal, hear us!" In vain the cry rose and fell, now uttered in soft appealing murmurs, now rising into passionate entreaties. All was silent. There lay the dead bullock putrescing under the burning orb which was at once their deity and the visible sign of his presence. No consuming lightning fell, even when the sun flamed in the zenith of that cloudless sky. There was no voice nor any that answered.
Then they tried still more potent incantations. They began to circle round the altar they had made in one of their solemn dances to the shrill strains of pipe and flute. The rhythmic movements ended in giddy whirls and orgiastic leapings which were a common feature of sensuous heathen worship; dances in which like modern dervishes, they bounded and yelled and spun round and round till they fell foaming and senseless to the ground. The people looked on expectant, but it was all in vain.
Hitherto the Prophet had remained silent, but now when noon came, and still no fire descended, he mocked them. Now, surely, if ever, was their time! They had been crying for six long hours in their vain repetitions and incantations. Surely they had not shouted loud enough! Baal was a god; some strange accident must have prevented him from hearing the prayer of his miserable priests. Perhaps he was in deep meditation, so that he did not notice those frantic appeals; perhaps he was too busy talking to some one else, or was on a journey somewhere; or was asleep and must be awakened; or, he added with yet more mordant sarcasm, and in a gibe which would have sounded coarse to modern ears, perhaps he had gone aside for a private purpose. He must be called, he must be aroused; he must be made to hear.
Such taunts addressed to this multitude of priests in the hearing of the people, whom they desired to dupe or to convince, drove them to fiercer frenzy. Already the westering sun began to warn them that their hour was past, and failure imminent. They would not succumb without trying the darker sorceries of blood and self-mutilation, which were only resorted to at the most dread extremities. With renewed and redoubled yells they offered on their altar the blood of human sacrifice, stabbing and gashing themselves with swords and lances, till they presented a horrid spectacle. Their vestments and their naked bodies were besmeared with gore as they whirled round and round with shriller and more frenzied screams. They raved in vain. The shadows began to lengthen. The hour for the evening Minchah, the evening meal-offering, and oblation of flour and meal, salt and frankincense, drew near. It was already "between the two evenings." They had continued their weird invocations all through the burning day, but there was not any that regarded. There lay the dead bullock on the still fireless altar; and now their Tyrian Sun-god, like the fabled "Hercules," was but burning himself to death on the flaming pyre of sunset amid the unavailing agony of his worshippers.
Then Elijah bade the sullen and baffled fanatics to stand aside, and summoned the people to throng round him. There was nothing tumultuous or orgiastic in his proceedings. In striking contrast with the four hundred and fifty frantic sun-worshippers, he proceeded in the calmest and most deliberate way. First, in the name of Jehovah, he repaired the old bamah-the mountain-altar, which probably Jezebel had broken down. This he did with twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel. Then he dug a broad trench. Then, when he had prepared his bullock, in order to show the people the impossibility of any deception, such as are common among priests, he bade them drench it three times over with four barrels of water, from the still-existent spring, and, not content with that, he filled the trench also with water. Lastly at the time of the evening oblation he briefly offered up one prayer that Jehovah would make it known this day to His backsliding people that He, not Baal, was the Elohim of Israel. He used no "much speaking"; he did not adopt the dervish yells and dances and gashings which were abhorrent to God, though they appealed so powerfully to the sensuous imaginations of the multitude. He only raised his eyes to heaven, {1Ki_18:36} and cried aloud in the hush of expectant stillness:-
"Jehovah, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, 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, Jehovah, hear me. That this people may know that Thou, Jehovah, art God, And that Thou hast turned their heart back again."
The prayer, with its triple invocation of Jehovahs name, and its seven rhythmic lines, was no sooner ended than down streamed the lightning, and consumed the bullock and the wood, and shattered the stones, and burnt up the dust, and licked up the water in the trenches; and, with one terror-stricken impulse, the people all prostrated themselves on their faces with the cry, "Yahweh-hoo-ha-Elohim. Yahweh-hoo-ha-Elohim!" "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God!"-a cry which was almost identical with the name of the victorious prophet Elijahu-"Yah, He is my God."
The magnificent narrative in which the interest has been wound up to so high a pitch, and expressed in so lofty a strain of imaginative and dramatic force, ends in a deed of blood. According to Josephus, the people, by a spontaneous movement, "seized and slew the prophets of Baal, Elijah exhorting them to do so." According to the earlier narrative, Elijah said to the people: "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there with the sword." It is not necessarily meant that he slew them with his own hand, though indeed he may have done so, as Phinehas sacrificed Jephthahs daughter, and Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord. His moral responsibility was precisely the same in either case. We are not told that he had any commission from Jehovah to do this, or was bidden thereto by any voice of the Lord. Yet in those wild days-days of ungovernable passions and imperfect laws, days of ignorance which God winked at-it is not only perfectly probable that Elijah would have acted thus, but most unlikely that his conscience reproached him for doing so, or that it otherwise than approved the sanguinary vengeance. It was the frightful lex talionis, which was spoken "to them of old time," and which inflicted on the defeated what they would certainly have inflicted on Elijah had he not been the conqueror. The prophets of Baal indirectly, if not directly, had been the cause of Jezebels persecution of the prophets of the Lord. The thought of pity would not occur to Elijah any more than it did to the writer, or writers, of Deuteronomy, perhaps, long afterwards, who commanded the stoning of idolaters, whether men or women. {Deu_13:6-9; Deu_17:2-4} The massacre of the priests accorded with the whole spirit of those half-anarchic times. It accords with that Elijah-spirit of orthodox fanaticism, which, as Christ Himself had to teach to the sons of thunder, is not His spirit, but utterly alien from it. If, perhaps two centuries later, the savage deed could be recorded, and recorded with approval, by this narrator from the School of the Prophets in these superb eulogies of his hero; if so many centuries later the disciple whom Jesus loved, and the first martyr-apostle could deem it an exemplary deed; in centuries later, it could be appealed to as a precedent by Inquisitors with hearts made hard as the nether millstone by bigoted and hateful superstition; if even Puritans could be animated by the same false hallowing of ferocity; how can we judge Elijah, if, in dark unilluminated early days, he had not learnt to rise to a purer standpoint? To this day the names about Carmel shudder, as it were, with reminiscence of this religious massacre. There is El Muhrakkah "the place of burning"; there is Tel-el-Kusis, "the hill of the priests"; and that ancient river, the river Kishon, which had once been choked with the corpses of the host of Sisera, and has since then been incarnadined by the slain of many a battle, is-perhaps in memory of this bloodshed most of all-still known as the Nahr-el-Mokatta, or "the stream of slaughter." What wonder that the Eastern Christians in their pictures of Elijah still surround him with the decapitated heads of these his enemies? To this day the Moslim regard him as one who terrifies and slays.
But though the deed of vengeance stands recorded, and recorded with no censure, in the sacred history, we must-without condemning Elijah, and without measuring his days by the meting-rod of Christian mercy-still unhesitatingly held fast the sound principle of early and as yet uncontaminated Christianity, and say, as said the early Fathers, Violence is a thing hateful to the God of love.
Even Christians, and that down to our own day, have abused the example of Elijah, and asked, "Did not Elijah slaughter the priests of Baal?" as a proof that it is always the duty of States to suppress false religion by violence. Stahl asked that question when he preached before the Prussian court at the Evangelical Conference at Berlin in 1855, adding the dreadful misrepresentation that "Christianity is the religion of intolerance, and its kernel is exclusiveness." Did these hard-spirits never consider Christs own warning? Did they wholly forget the prophecy that "He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall His voice be heard: in the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory, and in His name shall the Gentiles hope?" {Mat_12:19-20; Isa_42:2-3; Eze_34:16} Calvin reproved Rene, Duchess of Ferrara, for not approving of the spirit of the imprecatory psalms. He said that this was "to set ourselves up as superior to Christ in sweetness and humility"; and that "David even in his hatreds is an example and type of Christ." When Cartwright argued for the execution of the heretics he said: "If this be thought savage and intolerant, I am content to be so with the Holy Ghost." Far wiser is the humble minister in Old Mortality, when he withstood Balfour of Burleigh, in the decision to put to the sword all the inhabitants of Tillietudlem Castle. "By what law," asks Henry Morton, "would you justify the atrocity you would commit? If thou art ignorant of it," said Balfour, "thy companion is well aware of the law which gave the men of Jericho to the sword of Joshua, the son of Nun." "Yes," answered the divine, "but we live under a better dispensation, which instructeth us to return good for evil, and to pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v19 1Ki_18:19. Prophets of Baal, &c.—Soothsayers and oracle príests. Groves—Asherah.…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_18:19. Prophets of Baal, &c.—Soothsayers and oracle príests. Groves—Asherah. Baal and Astarte were the male and female divinities. Jezebel was the patroness of the prophets of this female divinity.
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1Ki_18:21. How long halt ye, &c.—From the root סָעַף, to divide, dissever. In Psa_119:118, the same word is rendered by “vain thoughts,” i.e., double-minded, ambiguous. The Vulg. translates here, Usquequo claudicatis in duas partes? To go from one to another. Not with standing all Ahab and Jezebel had done to exterminate Jehovah-worship, there was vacillation between Jehovah and Baal—not decision against Jehovah, only indecision.
1Ki_18:24. The God that answereth by fire—A specially favourable test, for Baal was the fire-god, the sun.
1Ki_18:25. For ye are many—An ironical taunt. You are the more numerous religious party in Israel, and, as being in the ascendant, you have the right of first choice! Yet, O how near the moment of their reverse from this ascendancy!
1Ki_18:26. Leaped upon the altar—The pantomimic heathenish dance.
1Ki_18:27. Cry aloud; for he is a god—A seuthing satire, a most mocking taunt. Talking, or meditating; pursuing, gone astray.
1Ki_18:28. Cut themselves after their manner—וַיִּתֻגּדְדוּ means more than a mere puncturing or scratching. The superstition existed that the blood of priests was specially virtuous in constraining the deity to action; and now they were in extremis.
1Ki_18:32. Two measures of seed—The measurement is not very definite, and cannot be conjectured with any accuracy, but it must have been both deep and wide.
1Ki_18:38. The fire of the Lord fell—יְהֹוָה—אֵש does not mean lightning (comp. Lev_9:24).
1Ki_18:40. Slew them there—For they were deadly criminals, perilous to the theocracy, and had incurred the penalty of death (Deu_17:2-4; Deu_13:13).
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_18:19-40
THE TRIAL AND DEFEAT OF IDOLATRY
THE grand, imposing spectacle on Mount Carmei described in these verses has an interest and a lesson to humanity for all time. As in other ages and countries, a great delusion was here tested, exposed, and overthrown. Truth long despised and persecuted had the opportunity of vindicating itself, and the vindication was so public and complete as to constitute an example for universal reference. The place was worthy of the scene to be enacted there. Carmel was the peculiar haunt of Elijah. Situated on the west of Palestine, immediately to the south of the Bay of Acre, it rises at its highest point sixteen hundred feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea, from the shores of which it stretches in a south-eastern course, and in ranges of different heights, for five or six miles, commanding a view of the great plain of Esdraelon, just where the glades of the forest sink into the usual bareness of the hills of Manasseh. In the distance, and on its commanding position, overlooking the whole valley, rose the stately city of Jezreel, with Ahab’s palace and Jezebel’s temple embosomed in its sacred grove. Immediately under their feet spread, far and wide, that noble plain—the battle-field of sacred history—the plain of Megiddo or Jezreel, with the torrent Kishon passing (as its name implies) in countless windings through the level valley—that ancient stream on whose banks had perished the host of Sisera and the host of Midian, before the army of Deborah and Barak, before the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. In such a scene, with such recollections of the past, were the people of Israel gathered for a conflict as momentous as any which had taken place in the plain beneath. On the one side were ranged the king and people, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal dressed in their splendid vestments; and on the other side the one solitary figure of the prophet of the Lord in his rough sheepskin cloak, though supported all the time by an invisible throng of heavenly intelligences. Observe—
I. That idolatry was here put on its trial under the most favourable circumstances to secure its triumph.
1. Took place at the seat of its greatest power. Idolatry was the established religion of Israel, and those who did not heartily accept it were awed into submission by the terrors of persecution. The multitude now gathered on Carmel, from the king downward, were worshippers of Baal, and were ready to defend their favourite deity. It seemed a daring and hopeless thing to offer the slightest opposition.
2. Was accepted by its acknowledged leaders. The four hundred and fifty priests might have declined the contest, and the king might have forbade it; but whether compelled by the unanimous voice of the people, or assured of victory by observing the lonely and unfriended condition of Elijah, or urged by an influence they were powerless to resist, they accepted the challenge. Could it be that they had any real confidence in the power of Baal? Alas! there is no knowing to what depth of delusion idolatry may sink its victims. The maddening earnestness of the reiterated appeals to Baal (1Ki_18:26; 1Ki_18:28) was a sight to make one sad.
3. Appealed to what the worshippers believed was the most prominent attribute of their deity (1Ki_18:24). Baal was the sun-god, and his worshippers might readily suppose that, having at his command the source of light and fire, he would in such a strife vindicate himself by answering by fire. Surely, Elijah might have urged, your sun-god should find it easy, in the use of his own element, to triumph over Jehovah! He takes the Baalites on their own ground, and agrees that by a sign from heaven in the form of fire the claims of their respective religions shall be determined. The proposition is startling, because it was of the very essence of Judaism that there was no other God but Jehovah. It was a great concession on the part of Elijah to heathen notions, where contests as to the power of rival deities were of frequent occurrence. Thus Baal had everything in his favour, and if he could do anything at all, now was his opportunity.
II. That idolatry exhausted all its resources in the contest (1Ki_18:26-29). Confident of success, the priests of Baal dress the bullock, and place the cut pieces dripping on the altar. The condition was they should put no fire under; although St. Chrysostom has preserved an old tradition which asserts that inside their altar the Baalites had secreted an accomplice who was to kindle a fire, but that in the act of so doing he died of suffocation. And now for three long hours the cry is heard—the anxiety of king, and priests, and people, growing more intense and feverish with each repetition—“O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice, nor any that answered. To hurry the answer, they begin the wild, frantic pagan dance. “As the Mussulman dervishes work themselves into a frenzy by the invocation of Allah! Allah! until the words themselves are lost in inarticulate gasps; as the pilgrims round the church of St. John at Samaria formerly, and round the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre now, race, run, and tumble, in order to bring down the Divine fire into the midst of them; so the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal performed their wild dances round their altar, or upon it, springing up or sinking down with the fantastic gestures which Orientals alone can command, as if by an internal mechanism, and screaming with that sustained energy which believes it will be heard for its much speaking.” Still no answer. This afforded an opportunity Elijah could not resist, and he mocked the devotees with words of bitter irony (1Ki_18:27). His object was to stimulate the priests to greater exertions, and so to make their failure more complete, and to suggest to the people that such failure would prove absolutely that Baal was no God. Elijah’s scorn has the effect intended; it rouses the Baalites to increased effort. Louder and louder grow their cries, wilder and more rapid their dance, more frautic their gesticulations. At length, when the frenzy has reached its height, knives are drawn from their sheaths, lances are upraised, and the blood spurts forth from hundreds of self-inflicted wounds. And this was all idolatry could do: Baal was unresponsive to the most piteous cries, was powerless to help, and his worshippers are driven to suicide and despair! Could anything more completely expose the utter helplessness and vanity of idolatry?
III. That idolatry suffered a signal and crushing defeat (1Ki_18:30-38).
1. Was defeated by the Being it ignored and insulted. Elijah was careful in all his arrangements to give prominence to Jehovah, of whom he was but the humble and intermediate agent. The altar was built in the name of Jehovah (1Ki_18:32); the offering was arranged according to the injunctions of the law of Jehovah (1Ki_18:33 compared with Lev_1:3-9); and the short, simple, and beautifully suggestive prayer was designedly addressed to “the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel” (1Ki_18:36-37). Jehovah had been forgotten; His ever-living presence is again asserted: He had been ignored and insulted; His peerless majesty and righteous claims are again vindicated.
2. The defeat was signal and complete (1Ki_18:38). As the sky was still perfectly clear, this fire cannot have been a flash of lightning. It was altogether, in its nature as well as in its opportuneness, miraculous. From the clear blue ether overhead, deepening as the sun declined towards the sea, the whole multitude saw the bright white flame descend, and in a moment consume everything—the fragments of the ox on the summit of the altar, the pile of wood heaped from the forest of Carmel, the very stones of the altar, the dust, and also the water that filled the trench, till everything is consumed, and the crackle and hiss are gone. “The prayer of a moment has accomplished what the howlings of a whole day have failed to achieve.” The most obdurate heart could not fail to be convinced. The neglected and insulted God of Israel has triumphed, as He ever must.
3. The defeat was publicly acknowledged (1Ki_18:39). Unable to endure the brilliance of the Divine light, the people fell on their faces before it, and hid their eyes lest they should be blinded (Lev_9:24; 2Ch_7:3). The people understand thoroughly the nature and bearing of the whole scene, as a trial to determine whether Baal or Jehovah is the true God. And they now pronounce the matter to be clearly and certainly decided Baal is overthrown; he is proved to be no god at all. The Lord Jehovah, He and He alone, is God. Him will they henceforth acknowledge, and no other. The time is coming when truth shall universally triumph, and the supremacy and glory of God be everywhere adored (Php_2:10-11).
IV. That idolatry involves its votaries in disgrace and punishment (1Ki_18:40). The vindicator of Jehovah becomes His avenger. The slaughter of the idolatrous priests was in harmony with the express commands of the law (Deu_13:5; Deu_17:2-5; Deu_18:20). Moreover, a prophet under the theocracy had a right to step in and execute the law when the king failed in his duty. In this act we may see some retaliation for Jezebel’s slaughter of the prophets of the Lord. It is an unalterable principle of the Divine government that evildoers shall be punished for their sins, and often by the same instruments with which they have wrought the evil. Robespierre perished on the same scaffold on which he had shed some of the best and bravest blood of France.
LESSONS:—
1. Error is sure to fail when fairly put to the test.
2. The claims of God to universal homage are absolute and unchangeable.
3. The enemies of God will meet with their merited punishment.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_18:19-40. The challenge. Whenever we read of a meeting of crowned heads or prominent statesmen, we generally infer that they have been called together by some pressing object in which they are mutually interested—an object which may involve the welfare of a people, or the destiny of a nation. And when Elijah and Ahab met face to face, such an object as this engaged their thought and discussion. The people of Israel had for a long time been suffering from a severe famine, and the king attributes it to Elijah, who disclaims the responsibility, and charges it upon the conduct of the king. Not only does he makes this charge, but he is anxious to put it to a fair trial, and consequently he gives Ahab the challenge contained in the above verses. Concerning the challenge, we shall notice the object, the test, the decision, the result.
I. The object.
1. To confirm his statement that Ahab was responsible for the prevailing distress. This could only be obtained on the assumption that Jehovah would support Elijah in his denunciation of the king by some manifestation of Himself which would carry conviction to the mind of Ahab and others; and by this challenge Elijah sought such a manifestation of God.
2. To establish his claim as the prophet of God. In all probability the people would regard Elijah with the same unbelief and hostility as Ahab did. And before Elijah could gain a hearing from them, he needed to overcome their unbelief and opposition. This could be done by means of the challenge.
3. To prove that Jehovah was the only true God, and that Baalim was no god. This was the most important object of the challenge. At this time the people believed Jehovah to be one among many gods. Elijah sought to show them that besides Him there was no god; that Baalim and all other supposed gods were the creations of men’s minds, and, therefore, false.
4. To restore the people of Israel to their allegiance to Jehovah. They had forsaken Him, and transferred their allegiance to Baalim. Elijah seeks to recover them from this apostacy; and the means by which he sought it was admirably adapted to his purpose. If God should answer Elijah, then the people would be reminded in a forcible manner of their own past history, the most prominent and grandest feature of which was the appearance of Jehovah at various times to their fathers; to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to Moses in the burning bush; in Egypt; at the Red Sea; throughout the wilderness; to Joshua at the Jordan; at Jericho; and in giving them possession of the land wherein they dwelt. A similar manifestation to themselves would surely impress them with a sense of their sin, and awaken repentance in their hearts.
II. The test.
1. This test was fair to the Baalites. They acknowledged Baal as the god of fire. If he could manifest his power in any way, surely he could in the way proposed.
2. It was honourable to Elijah. His appeal was to the special prerogative of Baal. He does not ask for a manifestation of power not claimed for him by his followers.
3. It was adapted to the multitude. It was one upon which they could all judge. It would appeal to their senses, involving no mystery, and leaving no room for doubt.
III. The decision. Elijah’s proposal being accepted, he suggested to the Baalites that they should be the first to make the trial to which they agreed. No sooner had they retired, than Elijah steps forward to prepare the altar for his bullock. His preparation is more elaborate. He has a trench dug round it, and water poured upon the sacrifice and the wood; this is repeated three times. Here we see his wisdom and his faith. He is protecting himself against any charge of procuring fire by false means. He can afford to do this, because he believes that God can send sufficient fire to consume the sacrifice, notwithstanding the water. With what excited feeling would the multitude watch Elijah, as he came near and asked the God of Abraham to show Himself this day that He was God in Israel, so that His apostate people might be convinced of their sins and return unto Him. At the close of his prayer, the fire fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. It required no deliberation to form a judgment upon the point at issue. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and said: “The Lord He is the God, the Lord He is the God!”
IV. The result. The prophets of Baal were slain. There are some objections raised against the conduct of Elijah in such a slaughter. Could he slay these prophets in the face of the authority of the king? Would the people obey Elijah in this thing? How is it to be reconciled with justice? To these objections we may answer:
1. Ahab was a coward; he would be overwhelmed with fear, and would shrink from opposing his authority to one who could in such a way invoke the God of Heaven.
2. The people knew that God had spoken against idolatry, and His law was that those who practised it were to be put to death.
3. God sought to establish His claim to be King of kings and Lord of lords: that He was a jealous God, and would not share His glory with another. The people needed to be taught this, and by such terrible means they would learn the lesson. Let us learn:
1. That God’s claims are submitted to our intelligence and judgment, as well as to our hearts.
2. It is our duty to examine His claims and to yield to them.
3. It is unreasonable and dangerous to be undecided with regard to them.—The Study and Pulpit.
—A memorable day. l. Because of the unique assemblage it gathered.
2. Because of the distinguished personages it engaged.
3. Because of the extraordinary nature of its transactions.
4. Because of the momentous truths involved.
5. Because of the important results that followed.
1Ki_18:19-38. Elijah on Mount Carmel, surrounded by all Israel, while the prophets of the groves, and those that ate at Jezebel’s table, were offering their bullocks, or crying “O Baal, hear us!” and leaping upon the altars, and cutting themselves with knives, is a picture with which we are all familiar. If you try to recall the impressions which it has made upon you, I think you will feel that it has not proceeded mainly from the sudden appearance of the fire which came forth to consume Elijah’s sacrifice, but from the contrast between the fever and restlessness of the priests, and the calmness and minute regularity of all the proceedings of the prophet. To testify by the form of the altar that the people were even then a portion of the twelve tribes, that they were united in God’s sight, though visibly separated by the sins of men, was one great part of Elijah’s work. But it was not a less important part of his duty to remind the people that God had appointed the method and time of the sacrifice; that prayer to Him was not a violent effort to bring about some mighty result desired by the worshipper, but was an act of quiet obedience, of self-surrender: all its earnestness being derived from a belief in the willingness of God to make His creature that which without Him he cannot be. “O Lord God, turn the heart of this people back again! they are in an unnatural, disorderly condition; they are trying to be independent of Thee. And they have so fixed and rooted themselves in that which is false, that they cannot break loose from it. The evil power to which they have done homage holds them fast bound in his fetters. Good has become evil to them; evil has become good. Ruler of the heart and reins, who desirest good and nothing but good for them, make them reasonable beings, restore them to the state of men!” To this prayer the fire was an answer. It came down as a witness that God himself is the Author as well as the Accepter of every sacrifice; that all fire must be false which He has not kindled.—Maurice.
1Ki_18:21. The necessity of decision in religion.
1. Because of its superior claims.
2. Because of its exalting benefits.
3. Because of the moral deterioration and inevitable misery involved in prolonged hesitation.
—
1. Israel’s double-mindedness.
2. Israel’s unreasonableness.
3. Israel’s coldness and indifference under appeal.
—“And the people answered him not a word.” The sullenness of unbelief.
1. Unbelief is slow to accept evidence.
2. Is reluctant to admit conviction.
3. Stubbornly refuses to act in harmony with both evidence and conviction.
—Israel is met together. Elijah rates them not so much for their superstition, as for their unsettledness and irresolution. Nothing is more odious to God than a profane neutrality in main oppositions of religion. To go upright in a wrong way is a less eyesore to God than to halt betwixt right and wrong. The Spirit wished that the Laodiceans were either hot or cold; either temper would be better borne than neither, than both. In reconcileable differences, nothing is more safe than indifferency both of practice and opinion; but in cases of so necessary hostility as betwixt God and Baal, he that is on neither side is the deadliest enemy to both. Less hateful are they to God that serve Him not at all, than they that serve Him with a rival.—Bp. Hall.
1Ki_18:22. The solitariness of the good.
1. A picture of indomitable bravery when menaced by overwhelming Numbers 2. Calls forth profound sorrow in view of the popular and prevailing iniquity.
3. Yearns for companions to share the bliss of a holy life.
1Ki_18:24. We see the god of the blind, mad world; and the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. The generation of to-day thinks itself elevated far above the Baal worship which in its nature was deification of nature and the world; and yet how often does it happen that it serves the creature rather than the Creator! Men no longer make gods out of wood and stone, but construct them out of their own thoughts, and worship their own ideas. The world wishes to hear nothing of the God who is holy and ready to sanctify the sinful heart of man; who is just, and metes to each man the measure which he deserves; who does not suffer Himself to be scorned; of the rebukes and chastisement of such a God as He has revealed Himself in His Word, the world makes nothing; and will only hear of a God who never rebukes or punishes, who is no avenging judge, who works no miracles, can hear no prayers. Elijah, could he return to earth, would scorn such a divinity no less than he did the idol Baal.—Lange.
—The people now find a voice. They had hesitated before, not wishing to decide between the two worships, or wholly to relinquish either. They now readily accept a proposition which promises them an exciting spectacle, and will relieve them of the trouble of making a decision by mental efforts of their own.—Speaker’s Comm.
1Ki_18:26-29. The infatuation of idolatry.
1. May beguile minds of the highest order.
2. Incites its votaries to the most extravagant Acts 3. Is more resolute the less it succeeds.
4. Presents a painful picture of what self-deceived humanity may become.
1Ki_18:36-39. The sublimity and efficacy of true prayer.
1. If we consider the glorious Being to whom it is addressed (1Ki_18:36).
2. If we contrast it with the wild iterations of raving idolaters (1Ki_18:26-28). If we consider the practical good it seeks to confer on men (1Ki_18:37).
3. If we consider the remarkable answers vouchsafed (1Ki_18:38-39).
1Ki_18:37. All knowledge and recognition of God is inseparable from the conversion of the heart to Him. That is the aim of every testimony and revelation of God, and for that every true servant of God should daily pray in behalf of those entrusted to his care. Elijah, unlike the priests of Baal, who called upon their god the whole day, used few words, yet was he heard, because in those few words he expressed infinite meaning, and his prayer came from the depths of a believing, unquestioning soul.
1Ki_18:38. What is the miracle of that fire which devoured the burnt offering and compelled the whole people to cry out: “The Lord He is God,” in comparison with the miracle that God hath sent His Son into the world to kindle the greatest fire which has ever burnt in the world; compared with the miracle that the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory? In Bethlehem, and upon Golgotha, the glory of the Lord is infinitely higher in its manifestation than upon Carmel.—Lange.
1Ki_18:40. The appeal of Elijah was to the people. He called upon them to inflict then and there, upon these ringleaders of the people in idolatry, the punishment which the law denounced, and such as would have been inflicted upon himself had the victory been on their side; and the king seems to have been too awestricken to interfere. From the character of Elijah, we have no doubt that he executed this act of blood heartily and with entire satisfaction. It is not for us to vindicate him; the only question is: Was this in accordance with the law and with the spirit of the times? It certainly was; and Britons, not so much as fifty years ago, performed under their own laws, with perfect peace of mind, upon far less heinous offenders, the deadly executions which we now regard with horror. If, then, in looking back upon the last generation, we make allowance for this great change of law and sentiment within so short a time, we must needs make the same allowance in surveying the more remote and less refined age in which Elijah lived.—Kitto.
—A fearful vengeance, surely! Does the thought occur to you—“If this book be, as is alleged, not a mere history of that which is strange and exceptional, but a revelation of permanent laws and principles, may not this act be pleaded in justification of any, even the most outrageous punishment of worshippers false, or thought to be false, that has ever taken place in any age of the Christian church?” I answer, I conceive this story is a revelation of permanent priniciples, just as I believe Elijah’s declaration that there should be no rain nor dew, or his commanding the widow’s cruse not to fail, is the revelation of a permanent principle. The one shows forth God’s indignation against those who corrupt and demoralize a nation by trading in religious arts and fears, just as the others show God’s continual government over the outward universe, and His protecting care over every person who dwells in it. The method in which the revelation of these truths was made belongs to a peculiar period of the world’s history. In a general way, it may be said to belong to the whole Jewish dispensation, Including in that the period down to the destruction of Jerusalem. In another sense, it belonged to the special circumstances of the time in which Elijah was living. We do not need to have prophets executing these purposes of the Divine government, which famines, pestilences, revolutions execute without them, or those which are accomplished through the intervention of the ordinary minister of health and nourishment. But if no prophet had ever been commissioned to do one kind of work as well as the other, we should not have known to whom we might refer them. An infinite darkness would have rested both upon human and natural proceedings, which, except through our own fault and unwillingness to profit by God’s illumition, does not rest upon them now.—Maurice.
—The sentence upon the idol-priests was a terrible but necessary one, which should serve us not as an example, but as a warning; for although under the new covenant superstition and unbelief, idol-worship and apostacy, are not chastised with fire and sword, yet there is not wanting a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. Those who tread under foot the blood of the Lamb will shrink from the wrath of the Lamb (Luk_9:54-56; Heb_10:27-31; Rev_6:16).—Lange.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v25 1 Kings
1 Kings
THE TRIAL BY FIRE
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1Ki 18:25 - 1Ki 18:39.
The place, the purpose, and the actors in this scene, make it among the grandest in history. A nation, with its king, has come together, at the bidding of one man, to settle no less a question than whom they shall worship. There, on the slope of Carmel, with the brassy heaven gleaming hard and dry above them, and the yellow, burnt-up plain of Jezreel at their feet, the expectant people stand. The assembly was a singular proof of Elijah’s ascendency; for Ahab’s bluster had sunk, cowed in his presence, and he had meekly done the prophet’s bidding in summoning ‘all Israel’ and the eight hundred and fifty Baal and Asherah prophets, for an unexplained purpose. The false priests would come unwillingly; but they came.
Then Elijah takes the command, and, though utterly alone, towers above the crowd in the courage of his undaunted confidence in his message. His words have the ring of authority as he rebukes indecision, and calls for a clear adhesion to Baal or Jehovah. If the people had answered, the trial by fire would have been needless. But their silence shows that they waver, and therefore he makes his proposal to them.
Note that the priests are not consulted, nor is Ahab. The former would have had some excuse for shirking the sharp issue; but the people’s assent forced them to accept the ordeal,-reluctantly enough, no doubt.
I. The vain cries to a deaf God. It is strange that one of the parties to the test has power to determine its conditions, especially as Elijah’s prophetic authority was one of the things in dispute; but it is a sign of the magnetic power which one bold man with absolute confidence in his own convictions exercises over men. The Baal prophets are given every advantage in priority of action. Error is best unmasked by being allowed free opportunity to do its best; for the more favourable the circumstances of trial, the more signal the defeat. God’s servants must never be suspected of unfair tricks in their controversy with error. They can afford to let it try first. Notice the substitution of ‘your god,’ in the Revised Version, for ‘your gods’ in the Authorised Version. That is obviously right; for the only question was about one god,-namely, Baal.
So, in the early morning, with all the people gazing at them, the Baal priests or prophets begin their attempt. It was easy to prepare the sacrifice, and lay it on the altar,-though, no doubt, it was done sullenly, with foreboding of the coming exposure. The whole account of the wild invocations of the priests may suggest some of the characteristics of idolatry, and touch our hearts with pity, as well as with the sense of its absurdity, which animated Elijah’s mockery.
Note, then, the vivid picture, in 1Ki 18:27, of the long hours of vain crying. On the one hand, we hear the wild chorus echoing among the rocks; on the other, we feel the dead silence in the heavens.
The monotonous and almost mechanical repetition of the invocation, prolonged till the syllables have no meaning to the yelling crowd, is characteristic of the frenzied excitement so common in idolatry. To call such howlings prayer, degrades the name. They are the very opposite of that sacred communion of a believing soul with the God whom it knows, trusts, and beseeches with submission. Neither knowledge nor trust is in these shrieks, which seek to propitiate the stern god by repeating his name as a kind of charm. Heathenism has no true prayer. Wild cries and passionate desires, flung upwards to an unloved god, are not prayer; and that solace and anchor of the troubled soul is wanting in all the dreary lands given up to idolatry.
The melancholy persistence of the unanswered cries may stand as a symbol of the tragic obstinacy with which their devotees cling to their vain gods,-a rebuke to us with a more enlightened faith. The silence, which was the only answer, is put in strong contrast with the continuous roar of the four hundred and fifty,-so long and loud the hoarse cries here, so unmoved the stillness in the careless heaven. That, too, is typical of heathenism, which is sad with unavailing cries and ignorant of answers to any. As the day wore on, and the voices grew hoarse, and hope declined, more violent bodily exercise was resorted to, and the shouting crowd danced {or, perhaps, as the margin says, ‘limped,’-a picturesque and contemptuous word for the grotesque contortions around the altar}, as if that might bring the answer. That again is a feature common to all heathenism. No wonder that Elijah’s scorn broke forth vehemently at such a sight. Noon was the hour of the sun’s greatest power, and, since Baal was probably a solar deity, it was the hour when, if ever, he would spare one of his abundant fiery beams to light the pyre. So Elijah’s taunts came just when they were most biting, and none can say that they were undeserved. His fiery zeal and his naturally stern character broke out in the bitter irony with which he imagines a variety of undignified positions for Baal.
Sarcasm is not the highest weapon, and the ‘spirit of Elijah’ is not the spirit of Jesus; but the exposure of the absurdity of idolatry is legitimate, and even ridicule may have its place in pricking wind-distended bladders. A man throttling a serpent may be excused using anything that comes handy for the purpose. But, at the same time, the right attitude for us as Christians in the presence of that awful fact of idolatry, is neither contempt nor scientific curiosity, but pity deep as Christ’s, and earnest resolve to help our darkened brethren. The taunts stirred to fiercer excitement and more extravagant acts, as ridicule is wont to do, and therein proves itself an unreliable instrument of controversy. Laughing at a man generally makes him more obstinate. The priests answered Elijah by savagely gashing their half-naked bodies with knives and lances,-a ready way to make blood come, but not to bring fire. The frenzy became wilder as the day declined, and at last, covered with blood, hoarse with shouting, panting with their gymnastics, they ‘prophesied,’ having wrought themselves into that state of excitement in which incoherent rhapsodies burst from their lips. What a scene to call worship! That is what millions of men are ready to practise to-day. And all the while there is no voice, no answer, no care for them, in the pitiless sky. The very genius of idolatry is set before us in that tumultuous crowd on Carmel.
II. The sacrifice of faith and the answer by fire. We pass from a scene of wild commotion into an atmosphere of sacred calm in 1Ki 18:30. The contrast is striking. The fiery fervours of the day are past, and the sun is sinking behind the top of Carmel, and there is much to do before it sets. Elijah with his own hands, as would appear, repairs a ruined altar among the woods. Probably it had been erected for secret worship of Jehovah by some faithful amid the national apostasy, when access to Jerusalem was forbidden them, and had been destroyed by Ahab in his crusade against Jehovah worshippers. The selection of the twelve stones was symbolical of the unbroken unity of the nation, and was Elijah’s protest against the very existence of the Northern kingdom, and its assumption of the name of ‘Israel’ The writer explains what was meant, when he reminds us that Israel was the name given to Jacob, and therefore, as he would have us infer, was the common property of all his descendants. Judah was a part of Israel, and Israel should be an undivided whole, uniting in all its tribes in bringing offerings to Jehovah.
It was a daring thing to do before Ahab’s face; but the weak king was, for the time, subjugated by the imperious will and courage of Elijah. The building of the altar, with its mute witness to God’s purpose, would touch some hearts in the gazing, silent crowd. The next step was, of course, meant to make the miracle more conspicuous by drenching everything with water, probably brought, even in that drought, from the perennial fountain near at hand. Perhaps, too, the number of barrels was intended, again, as symbolical of the twelve tribes.
One can fancy the wonder and eagerness of the people, and the dark frowns of the baffled and exhausted Baal priests, as they gradually came out of their frenzy, and knew that they had lost their opportunity. The tranquil though earnest prayer of the prophet is in sharpest contrast with the meaningless bellowings to Baal. Note in it the solemn invocation. The great Name, which all listening to him had deposed from rule over them, is set in the front; and the ancestral worship, as well as the divine gifts and dealings with the patriarchs, is pleaded with God as the reason for His answer now. The name of ‘Israel’ instead of the more common ‘Jacob,’ has the same force as in 1Ki 18:31.
Note the substance of the petitions. The deepest desire of a truly devout soul is that God would make His name known. Zeal for God’s honour and love for men who have gone astray from Him, conspire to make that the head and front of His true servant’s prayers. It is God, not his own credit, about which Elijah thinks first. For himself, all that he desires is to be known as an obedient servant, and as not having done anything at the bidding of his own will or judgment, but in accordance with the all-commanding Voice.
Clearly we must suppose that in all the ordering of this sublime trial by fire, Elijah had been acting ‘at Thy word,’ even though we have no other record of the fact. He had no right to expect an answer unless he had been bidden to propose the test. God will honour the drafts which He bids us draw on Him; but to suspend our own or other people’s faith in Him, on the issue of some experiment whether He will answer prayers, is not faith, but rash presumption, unless it is in obedience to a distinct command. Elijah had such a command, and therefore he could ask God to vindicate his action, and to prove that he was God’s servant. His last petition is beautiful, both in its consciousness of power with God and recognition of his place as a prophet, and in its lowly subordination of all personal aims to the restoration of Israel to the true worship. He asks, with reiteration which is earnestness and faith, and therefore the sharpest contrast to the mechanical repetition by Baal’s priests, that God would hear him; but his sole object in that prayer is, not that his name may be exalted as a prophet, or that any good may come to him, but that the blinded eyes may be opened, and the hearts, that have been so sadly led astray, be brought back to the worship of their fathers’ God.
The whole brief prayer, in its calm confidence; its adoring recognition of the name and past dealings of Jehovah as the ground of trust; its throbbing of earnest desire for the manifestation of His character before men; its consciousness of personal relation to God, which humbles rather than puffs up; its beseeching for an answer, and its closing petition, which comes round again to its first, that men may know God, and fasten their hearts on Him,-may well stand as a pattern of prayer for us.
The short prayer of faith does in a moment what all the long day of crying could not do. The language in which the answer is described emulates the rapidity of the swift tongues of fire which licked up sacrifice, altar, and water. They were the tokens of acceptance, reminding of the consuming of the first sacrifices in the Tabernacle, and, like them, inaugurating a new beginning of the worship of God. The burning of the altar, as well as of the sacrifice, expressed the acceptance of the people whom it, by its twelve stones, symbolised. And the people, on their part, were-for the time, at all events-swept away by the miracle, and by the force of the prophet’s example and authority. Short-lived their faith may have been, as certainly it was superficial; but the fire had for the time melted their hearts, and set them flowing in the ancient channels of devotion. The faith that is founded on miracle may be deepened into something better; but unless it is, it speedily dies away. The faith that is due to the influence of some strong personality may lead on to an independent faith, based on personal experience; but, unless it does, it too will perish.
We may find a modern reproduction of the test of Carmel in the impotence of all other schemes and methods of social and spiritual reformation and the power of the Gospel. In it and its effects God answers by fire. Let the opposers, who are so glib in demonstrating the failure of Christianity, do the same with their enchantments, if they can.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v21 Elijah Slays the Prophets of Baal
Elijah Slays the Prophets of Baal
v. 21. And Elijah came unto all the people, as they were assembled in a convenient place on the southeastern slopes of Mount Carmel, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions, being of a double mind, trying to harmonize the worship of Jehovah and that of Baal? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him. This same argument is applicable to the unionistic tendencies of our day, no matter in what connection they crop out, for all such efforts to harmonize truth and falsehood are an abomination to the Lord. And the people answered him not a word, their silence conceding the actual antagonism between the two religions.
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v. 22. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord, all the rest having been either murdered or caused to cease preaching; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. The priests of Astarte had apparently not appeared, having a presentiment of harm which would surely befall them if they attended this great assembly.
v. 23. Let them therefore give us two bullocks, in order that the issue might be publicly decided; and let them, the priests of Baal, choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under, and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under;
v. 24. and call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the god that answereth by fire, let him be God. Since sacrifice was the chief expression of worship at that time, this form of deciding the issue was chosen, and since the priests of Baal were given the first opportunity to test the truth of their religion and also their choice of bullocks, it was practically impossible for them to refuse without immediately branding their religion as a huge fraud. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. The proposal and the test seemed altogether fair to them.
v. 25. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many, he did not intend to crowd forward, but wanted to give them every advantage; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
v. 26. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, which included the proper dissecting of the members according to the requirements of the ritual, and called on the name of Baal from morning, when the meeting opened, even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us, literally, "hearken unto us," answer us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered, literally, "And not was there a voice, and not was there an answerer. " And they leaped upon the altar which was made, they began a sacrificial dance with a reeling movement.
v. 27. And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god, that is, in their opinion; either he is talking, engaged in deep meditation, or he is pursuing, having stepped out for a few minutes, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked. This was holy derision and irony, for it is altogether in order, in given circumstances, to ridicule the hollowness and insufficiency of unbelief and false religions.
v. 28. And they, with whom the outcome of the affair was now a matter of the greatest seriousness, cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, with swords and sharp lances, for they now tried a weapon-dance, till the blood gushed out upon them, all with the idea of compelling their idol to answer their frantic appeals.
v. 29. And it came to pass, when midday was past and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, about three o’clock in the afternoon, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded, all their efforts received not the slightest recognition or attention from the idol in whom they trusted.
v. 30. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me, he wanted them to be witnesses of the events which were about to take place. And all the people came near unto ’him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down, this being one of the heights where sacrifices to Jehovah had formerly been made.
v. 31. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name, he wanted to declare, at this time, that it was really the twelve tribes which constituted the Lord’s people, and that they should remain united in the worship of Jehovah;
v. 32. and with the stones, on the foundation of the former altar, he built an altar in the name of the Lord, where Jehovah was to reveal Himself as the one true God. And he made a trench about the altar, a ditch to receive the water which he intended to be poured upon the sacrifice, as great as would contain two measures of seed, that is, he had the people dig out as much soil as would have been needed to hold two measures of seed, if this had been sown there.
v. 33. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels, large pails, with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.
v. 34. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
v. 35. And the water ran round about the altar, covering and soaking everything thoroughly; and he filled the trench also with water, as it ran down from the altar. Altogether, the measures adopted by Elijah would prevent any suspicion of fraud.
v. 36. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah, the prophet, came near, approaching closely to the altar, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, the God of the nation’s ancestors, 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; for he had not acted in his own cause or interest, but only in behalf and for the honor of the Lord, at whose command all this was performed.
v. 37. 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, that which was about to happen should result in their conversion to the true God.
v. 38. Then the fire of the Lord fell, as when the Tabernacle was dedicated, Lev 9:24, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, that in the spaces between the stones, and licked up the water that was in the trench. It was a miraculous fire, one, moreover, which exceeded any ordinary fire in intensity.
v. 39. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, in reverent awe and in terror; and they said, The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God! An overpowering impression had been made upon them, and the confession that Jehovah was the one and only true God came from full conviction.
v. 40. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal, lay hold on them quickly; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, which flows at the foot of Mount Carmel, and slew them there. It was the judgment of God upon the false prophets and their soul-destroying doctrines. While the kingdom of God is no longer built and maintained by external force, God still shows by an occasional extraordinary punishment upon blasphemers that He is the only true, the living God, and that there is none beside Him.
v. 41. And Elijah said unto Ahab, who was also present at this great meeting, Get thee up, eat and drink, he could once more be of good cheer; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. The prophet heard the noise of the approaching storm before there was a cloud in the sky.
v. 42. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink, to refresh himself after the anxiety of the last days. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, to a promontory which offered a view of the sea; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, in an attitude of the most earnest, importunate prayer,
v. 43. and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea, where the storm-clouds would be visible at once. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times, again and again, for the rain must surely come.
v. 44. And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like a man’s hand. And he, knowing that this cloud would bring the expected rain, said, Go up, say unto Ahab, whose tent was probably pitched among the crags, Prepare thy chariot and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.
v. 45. And it came to pass in the mean while, while Ahab got ready to return to his home, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel, evidently his summer residence.
v. 46. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, imparting to him supernatural strength; and he girded up his loins, to make traveling easier, and ran before Ahab, as a faithful servant ready to stand at his side in removing the curse of idolatry from the country, to the entrance of Jezreel, this run of some seventeen miles being in itself an unusual feat. Note: A nation’s weal and woe, blessing and curse, depends upon its relation to the true God.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 22, 25, 27, 30, 33, 36, 38 sent word to ... and gathered
sent word to ... and gathered
"Word" represents Ahab's message and is also a metonym for the messenger who delivered the message. This is a common statement used with the meaning understood. AT: "sent a message to ... and gathered" or "sent a messenger to summon ... to gather" (See: Synecdoche and Metonymy and Idiom)
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How long will you keep changing your mind?
Elijah asks this question to urge the people to make a decision. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "You have been indecisive for long enough." (See: Rhetorical Question)
did not answer him a word
"did not say anything" or "were silent"
translationWords
people group
prophet
Elijah
mind
God
word
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv19, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 31, 33, 36, 37, 38 18:19-20 Mount Carmel lies on a ridge dividing the…
18:19-20 Mount Carmel lies on a ridge dividing the coastal plain of Palestine. The site was known for Canaanite idol worship; an altar to the Lord had also been built there earlier (18:30). It was a natural location for the contest with Baal. Although the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament) may indicate that the prophets of Asherah attended the ensuing contest on Mount Carmel, the Hebrew text does not (cp. 18:22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.