1 Kings 18:25–29

It was important to stress that last clause when dealing with unprincipled villains. Priestly "miracles" have a bad reputation for fraud. In the calmness of faith, Elijah could afford to let Satan's agents move first. He knew well that the god they served had no power.

At the start the cause of Baal appeared at its best. Baal had his choice of the sacrifice and the sympathy of the court. He also had a large priesthood, zealous for his interests — that is, for their own.

Two religions meet face to face: Elijah's and Baal's — for the third, Israel's, takes part in both. Publicly these two religions appear to offer the same sacrifice. How are they to be told apart? One of the bulls must be consumed by fire from heaven, and not the other. By this means people will be able to recognise the true God. By this means the people too will learn to know themselves, and so be turned to repentance.

Elijah boldly proposes to put this great question to the trial by fire. "The God who answers by fire, He is God." The appeal is to God. The decision will not rest with the lone prophet of the Lord, nor with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. It will be no question of human reasoning, or of the opinion of one man against four hundred and fifty. God shall decide.

Let us go back to Carmel and see how Elijah deals with the prophets. He gives them the first chance, and they prepare their sacrifice. What comes next? They cry, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. He knew the whole thing was false, just as today everything that is not Christ is false. What you and I want is the truth. And Christ is the Truth.

All day long they tore their throats, if not the heavens, with their cries. But the sheer scale of their effort only showed how useless it all was. There was no reply. The mountain of zeal did not bring forth even a mouse.

They used up the day in useless cries and in cutting themselves, and there was no response. Ashamed and silent, they had to wait for the voice of God. Then the prophet took those special precautions to make clear that it was indeed God, and He alone, who was dealing with His people. Water is poured again and again over the sacrifice and over the altar, until it fills the ditch around it. Now no possibility of fire is left, and all of nature's heat is quenched. Then, in a few simple words, the prophet asks the Lord to show Himself. He cannot show Himself where the smouldering embers of nature's efforts are still glowing. It is good for the sinner to realise this.

The people knew well that Baal was the reputed god of fire, and said, "It is well spoken." Elijah then turned to the prophets of Baal and said, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it" (1 Kings 18:25). It was important to stress that last clause when dealing with unprincipled villains. Priestly "miracles" have a bad name for fraud. In the calmness of faith, Elijah could afford to let Satan's agents move first. He knew very well that the god they served had no power.

What a day it was! From morning until noon the prophets cried, "O Baal, answer us!" — knowing that for them everything was at stake. Their god's silence threw them into a frenzy, and they leaped about the altar they had made. "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them" (Ps. 135:15-18).

Having taken their bull and dressed it, they called on Baal from morning to noon to step in and prove his claims. "But there was no voice, and no one answered." They thought, as in all false worship, that more energy was needed from them. So they leaped on the altar they had made.

At the start, Baal's cause seemed to have everything in its favour. He had his choice of the sacrifice, the sympathy of the court, and a large priesthood, eager for his interests — that is, their own. All day they tore their throats, if not the heavens, with their cries, "O Baal, answer us." They waved their arms like madmen. They leaped in a frenzy on the altar and cut themselves with knives until the blood gushed out on them. But the sheer excess of what they did only showed how useless their efforts were. There was no reply. A mountain of zeal produced not even the smallest result.

Baal does not answer (vv. 25-29). See the irony in how the prophet treats this lifeless object! Through it Satan was working his terrible influence on the hearts of men. The blood of the false prophets flows (v. 28), but neither their blood nor the blood of any man can atone for Israel's sin or open heaven to this poor people!

If the Lord had to charge the Jews with hypocrisy, He had to judge the nations for their empty repetitions and many words in prayer (see 1 Kings 18:26-29). Beyond that, He also warns His disciples against thoughtless prayers. He knew in advance what would develop in Christianity. Pagan religions are not the only home of empty repetition of pre-written prayers. Christian churches practise it too.

I think Elijah was right in the way he treated them. He knew the whole thing was false, just as today everything that is not Christ is false. What you and I want is the truth. And Christ is the Truth.

They prepare their altar, dress their bull, and call on their god. From morning until noon they cry to Baal. It was useless — there was no voice, and no one answered. Until midday Elijah is a silent witness of their futile efforts. Then at last, for the first and only time, he speaks to these false prophets. And it is only to mock them.

Elijah gave the prophets of Baal plenty of time to call on their mystical god... When there was no answer, they jumped around the altar they had made. They acted as though their movements could influence their idol! After a few hours of useless energy, Elijah mocked them. He told them to cry louder. Perhaps Baal was preoccupied, or busy, or on a journey, or asleep and needed waking. They had no idea of a God who knows everything and is present everywhere.

See the irony in the way the prophet treats this lifeless object! Through it Satan was exercising his terrible influence over the hearts of men. The blood of the false prophets flows. But neither their blood nor any man's can atone for Israel's sin or open heaven to this poor people!

They thought more energy was needed from them, as in all false worship... Elijah mocked them, for he knew that gods made by human hands were only emptiness. By his taunts and irony he provoked them to desperation, so that they cut themselves with knives and lances "until the blood gushed out upon them." It was all useless. They kept up their "prophesying" until the time of the evening sacrifice, but "there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention."

Now let me ask whether you know what prayer is. What use is prayer if you have no sense that God has heard you? Look at the priests of Baal. Elijah said to them, "Cry aloud" — cry louder still, until he does hear. "Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." He said it mockingly. He himself knew what it was to be heard, to be joined in his own soul to a God who always hears. So it is with us now.

And now the prophet turns a little sarcastic as he says, "Cry aloud! for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." I think Elijah was right in the way he treated them. He knew the whole thing was false, just as today everything that is not Christ is false. What you and I want is the truth. And Christ is the Truth.

romach. A spear used by warriors, with a metal point. 1 Kings 18:28. The word is often translated 'spear.' The priests of Baal, in their desperation, wounded themselves with this weapon.

With the crowds looking on, when noon came Elijah mocked the unhappy prophets. He suggested that they were not crying loudly enough. Perhaps their god was busy with something else and could not attend to them. Perhaps he was away from home. Or perhaps he was asleep! Stung by these taunts, the false prophets gashed themselves with swords and spears until their bodies streamed with blood! This unholy farce, carried on by men made in the image of God, was allowed to continue three hours longer.

When there was no answer, they jumped around the altar they had made, as though to influence their idol with their physical movements! They had no conception of an all-knowing, ever-present God.

They thought that more energy was demanded on their part, as in all false worship. So they leaped upon the altar that was made. Elijah mocked them, for he knew that gods made with men's hands were only vanity. His taunts and irony drove them to desperation, so that they cut themselves with knives and lances "until the blood gushed out upon them." It was all in vain.

Baal does not answer (vv. 25-29). See the irony the prophet uses against this lifeless object! Through it Satan was working his terrible influence on the hearts of men. The blood of the false prophets flows (v. 28). But neither their blood nor any man's blood can atone for Israel's sin or open heaven to this poor people!

"Beware of evil workers, beware of the concision" — a play upon the word "circumcision." We know how the idolatrous priests cut themselves with knives and lances (1 Kings 18:28). This may refer to that practice. It is astonishing how far the flesh may go in its religious energy, entirely opposed to the mind of God.

Long ago, the priests of the heathen nations required their people to do works of penance and self-punishment. They even cut their flesh with knives, like the priests of Baal in 1 Kings 18:28. So Rome teaches that God is not satisfied without bodily tortures and endless penances. But this denies the value of the FINISHED WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ. It denies the PRECIOUS BLOOD that alone cleanses from ALL sin.

These poor, deluded Baal worshippers did not notice Elijah's sarcasm. So they took his advice: they cried out more loudly to Baal, and they also cut themselves with knives and lances. In this way idolaters injure the body literally. They think this is the self-denial that will influence their false god. How different is the true self-denial of a believer! True self-denial makes no show, but involves a sober self-judgment in spiritual reality.

From morning until noon they cried to Baal. It was in vain. There was no voice and no one answered. Until midday Elijah watches their useless efforts in silence. Then at last he speaks to these false prophets, for the first and only time — and only to mock them. Stung by the scorn of Elijah they redouble their efforts. For three hours more, from noon until the evening sacrifice, they cry aloud and cut themselves with knives until their blood gushes out. Still it is all in vain: "there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention."

The prophets of Baal call upon their false god. No fire leaps from a cloudless sky. They become frenzied in their call upon Baal. But Baal did not respond. He was only something the devil had imagined.

Baal does not answer (vv. 25-29). See with what irony the prophet treats this lifeless object! Satan was using it to exercise his terrible influence on the hearts of men. The blood of the false prophets flows (v. 28). But neither their blood nor any man's blood can atone for Israel's sin or open heaven to this poor people!

They took Elijah's advice and cried out more loudly to Baal, also cutting themselves with knives and lances. So idolaters really do injure their own bodies, thinking this is the self-denial that will influence their false god. How different is the true self-denial of a believer! True self-denial makes no show, but involves a sober self-judgment in spiritual reality. The prophets of Baal continued this useless noise all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice (v. 29).

Driven on by these taunts, the false prophets cut themselves with swords and spears until blood ran down their bodies! This unholy farce on the part of men made in the image of God was allowed to continue three hours longer.

At "the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice" Elijah judged that his opportunity had come. It was 3 p.m. In Jerusalem the evening lamb was being laid on the altar of the LORD, together with its grain offering and drink offering. All of it spoke to God of Christ, whose death at Calvary took place at that hour (Ex. 29:41; Matt. 27:46). It was the hour of divine blessing: compare Ezra 9:5; Dan. 9:21. The hour had struck for Elijah's sacrifice to be offered, and for the blessing which followed.

How solemn, and how true for all time, are those words of Jeremiah: "Cursed is the man whose heart turns away from the LORD"! It does not matter who or what we put our confidence in — a religious system, a religious ritual, or anything else. It is a departure of the heart from God. A curse follows it. When the final struggle comes, people will call on their Baal in vain: "there will be no voice, no one to answer, no one to pay attention."