i. Of course, most Israelites probably didnt totally reject Yahweh, the God of Israel. 12The Spirit of the Lord may carry you to some other place after I leave. Roumie said he was drawn to both "The Chosen" and "Jesus Revolution" because of their scripts and characters, which "spoke to his heart.". To Christians this is a. Maybe he is sleeping so you will have to wake him! 28The prophets prayed louder, cutting themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed, which was the way they worshiped. 3:24). 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? The prophets may have hoped that their actions would bring rain and end the drought. He fitted up an altar. The sad state of Israel at this time, upon two accounts:--. God demands no more from us than he can make out a title to. And he said, Go again seven times. 3. We may request cookies to be set on your device. Though he expected an answer by fire, yet he came near to the altar with boldness, and feared not that fire. All these parables point in the same direction: money wants our worship. 34Then he said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the meat and on the wood. Then Elijah said, Do it again, and they did it again. And nothing can't answer you when you call out to it! 30Then Elijah said to all the people, Now come to me. So they gathered around him, and Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. (1.) It is a very bad thing to halt between God and Baal. Pursuant to this order we have here, I. They just added Baal worship to their insurance policy. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. King Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the king's palace. 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. These were the 450 prophets of Baal; the 400 prophets of the groves (who, some think, were Sidonians), though summoned (1 Kings 18:19; 1 Kings 18:19), 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, 1 Kings 22:6; 1 Kings 22:6. His interview with all Israel upon Mount Carmel, in order to a public trial of titles between the Lord and Baal; a most distinguished solemnity it was, in which, 1. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. 3. I. Elijah reproved the people for mixing the worship of God and the worship of Baal together. And will a nation change their god?" Bread and water were now scarce commodities, yet Obadiah will find a competence of both for God's prophets, to keep them alive for service hereafter, though now they were laid aside. Obadiah therefore could with a good conscience enjoy the place, and therefore would not decline it, nor give it up, though he foresaw he could not do the good he desired to do in it. 11Now you want me to go to my master and tell him, Elijah is here? Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. 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. ly. But in this chapter his appearance was as public as before his retirement was close; the days appointed for his concealment (which was part of the judgment upon Israel) being finished, he is not commanded to show himself to Ahab, and to expect rain upon the earth, 1 Kings 18:1. From Genesis to Revelation, we see that one of our Creator Kings primary qualities is his lavish generosity. Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:4; 1 Kings 18:4), slew them,1 Kings 18:13; 1 Kings 18:13. Their perishing thus is the using, as the apostle speaks of them (Colossians 3:22), was to intimate the utter abolition of them after a little while, Hebrews 8:13. [3.] He durst not strike him, remembering that Jeroboam's hand withered when it was stretched out against a prophet, but gave him bad language, which was no less an affront to him that sent him. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. II. This was not as a morning cloud, which passes away (though Israel's goodness was so), but one that produced a plentiful rain (Psalms 68:9), and an earnest of more. IV. Perhaps Jezebel persecuted God's prophets under pretence that they were the cause of the judgment, because Elijah had foretold it. God expressly forbade his worshippers to cut themselves, Deuteronomy 14:1. We may be sure it was not made necessary to qualify him for preferment that he should be of the king's religion, that he should conform to the statues of Omri, or the law of the house of Ahab. 46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. 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. But his corruptions got the better of his convictions, and he was glad to get clear of him, as Felix of Paul, when he dismissed him, and adjourned his conference with him to a more convenient season. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. to please their deity, as Herodias did Herod, and so to obtain their request. For less than $5/mo. Transfers the title of honour he gave him to Ahab: "Call him thy lord, not me;" that is a fitter title for a prince than for a prophet, who seeks not honour from men. Ahab issued out writs accordingly, for the convening of this great assembly (1 Kings 18:20; 1 Kings 18:20), either because he feared Elijah and durst not oppose him (Saul stood in awe of Samuel more than of God), or because he hoped Elijah would bless the land, and speak the word that they might have rain, and upon those terms they would be all at his beck. This was the way they worshiped, Douay-Rheims Bible So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood. Our idols never stop consuming and destroying that which we hold most dear. Otherwise, the rain will stop him.. 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. Baal's 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. All rights reserved. "I love Jesus and it is the honor of my life to get to portray him," he said. He sent fire from heaven. I incline to this because we find, when they came together, Elijah, knowing what Ahab wanted him for, appointed him to meet him on Mount Carmel, and Ahab complied with the appointment, though Elijah took such a way to revoke the sentence and bless the land as perhaps he little thought of. Why did the prophets of Baal cut themselves (1 Kings 18:28) Context: 1 Kings 18:27-28 New International Version (NIV) 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. April 28 2020 There are those who trouble Israel by their wickedness, whom the conservators of the public peace are concerned to enquire after. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Yahweh would have none of it. So Elijah issued a challenge. He is there in the presence of Ahab, the 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of the groves and a company of people from all Israel. A little cloud at length appeared, no bigger than a man's hand, which presently overspread the heavens and watered the earth, 1 Kings 18:44; 1 Kings 18:45. Nothing creates more trouble to a land than the impiety and profaneness of princes and their families. He sent his prophet Elijah to tell Israel to stop limping between two different opinions (1 Kings 18:21 ESV). And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out on them. 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. Is it True for Christians That 'Once Saved, Always Saved'? The managers of Baal's cause were 450 men, fat and well fed (1 Kings 18:22; 1 Kings 18:22), besides 400 more, their supporters or seconds, 1 Kings 18:19; 1 Kings 18:19. (1.) Elijah's Trial of the False Prophets; the Destruction of Baal's Prophets. Because our material possessions so often seduce us into worshiping them like gods, they pose possibly the preeminent threat to worshiping Jesus. Let us see if he speed better. Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it ." So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear and answer us." His interview with Obadiah, one of Ahab's servants, by whom he sends notice to Ahab of his coming, 1 Kings 18:2-16. To win his people back, God demonstrated his power and mocked Baal along the way. 18During the third year without rain, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: Go and meet King Ahab, and I will soon send rain. 2So Elijah went to meet Ahab. (28-29) The prophets of Baal work harder at their prayer. Even on Baals home turf, people starved while waiting for Baal to bring his promised abundance. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. I brought them food and water. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. The Lord preserved Elijah's life for a reason. Compare Psalms 135:7. St. Joseph New Catholic Version New Testament: Pocket Edition - Slightly Imperfect, St. Joseph New Catholic Version New Testament: Pocket Edition. There he would be alone. Excerpted from "Practicing the King's Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give," by Michael Rhodes, Robby Holt and Brian Fikkert. Note, 1. The Holy Bible, New Century Version. 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. 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. Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army. English Revised Version 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. But it is strange to find such an eminently good man governor of Ahab's house, an office of great honour, power, and trust. New Century Version (NCV). (2.) From Pretty Statues to Silver and Gold: Jesus or Mammon? The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD 's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD , all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD . If we, in sincerity, offer our hearts to God, he will, by his grace, kindle a holy fire in them. Baals 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. The prophets of Baal, as criminals, are seized, condemned, and executed, according to law, 1 Kings 18:40; 1 Kings 18:40. We left the prophet Elijah wrapt up in obscurity. a. Obadiah saluted him with great respect, fell on his face, and humbly asked, Art thou that my lord Elijah?1 Kings 18:7; 1 Kings 18:7. His interview with Ahab himself, 1 Kings 18:17-20. Asked April 28 2020 Worship, after all, is an economic issue. Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab: This was an obviously supernaturally empowered 14-mile cross-country run. Joseph and Daniel were preferred because there were none so fit as they for the places they were preferred to. Two things he pleads here:-- (1.) You have gone after the Baals. 40Then Elijah said, Capture the prophets of Baal! 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. Practicing the King's Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give. He that had protected so many prophets, he hoped, should not have his own life hazarded by so great a prophet. This great good man used his power for the protection of God's prophets. The battle for their hearts took place in part on the battlefield of their bank accounts. In the end, Those who make [idols] will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them (Ps. He withdrew to a strange place, to the top of Carmel, which was very high and very private. Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Providence ordered it so, that Ahab might, with his own eyes, see how bad the consequences of this judgment were, that so he might be the better inclined to hearken to Elijah, who would direct him into the only way to put an end to it. Thither all Israel must come, to give Elijah the meeting; and the prophets of Baal who were dispersed all the country over, with those of the groves who were Jezebel's domestic chaplains, must there make their personal appearance. Pray louder! he said. As such he tries to counterfeit the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 (1 Kings 18:30; 1 Kings 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. Each would take a bull and place it on their own altar. Their heart is divided (Hosea 10:2), whereas God will have all or none. a. In Pauls opinion, love of money wounds the worshiper, woos them away from the faith, and wells up in all sorts of other evils. (The Lord changed Jacobs name to Israel.) 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