So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
Elijah has just told Ahab that the real trouble in Israel is the throne, not the prophet. Now one man's demand turns into a national assembly, and the king himself does the gathering.
A king commanded by a friendless man
The plan came from Elijah, not from the palace. That is what makes the king's obedience so surprising.
W. W. FeredayAmazing, when we consider the relative position of the two men. Ahab was a powerful ruler. He had all the military resources of the kingdom at his disposal, and a determined and ruthless wife behind him. Yet now a weak and friendless man was in effect ordering him to call a meeting of the nation! We have already remarked on the moral dignity that communion with God gives. We see it again here in Elijah the Tishbite. The condition of things throughout the country was desperate. It could not go on forever. So the king agreed to Elijah's proposal for a meeting. He could not imagine how it would end, but he hoped there would soon be rain!
A purpose Ahab never intended
Ahab did as he was told. But the plan he carried out was not his own.
The Christian's FriendAhab gave in and summoned Baal's prophets at Elijah's command. This shows how completely God's constraint had overpowered him. Against his will, God made him the instrument for carrying out His purpose. So the Lord made the wrath of man praise Him. The prophets of Baal were therefore gathered on Mount Carmel.
Another writer adds what Ahab could never have guessed about the numbers on his side:
H. L. RossierGod wants it so; whether Ahab wants it or not, this must be done. But no doubt the thought would never cross the mind of this godless king. His religion, with its eight hundred and fifty prophets, would be absolutely nothing before one single prophet of the Lord!
No one excused
The summons went to "all the people of Israel" and to the prophets alike.
Hamilton SmithEveryone who has shared in this great sin must be present. The leaders and the led are to gather at Carmel. No privilege anyone enjoys, and no position, however high, will count as a reason to stay away. Those who feast at the royal table, and those who serve Baal, must be present with all the people.
Who actually came
Elijah had asked for two groups of false prophets. The record names only one group, and the reason is not certain.
W. W. FeredayIt is not quite certain that the prophets of Ashtaroth were present. Jezebel may have been able to protect her own favourites, though feeling among the people was too strong for her to stop the gathering altogether. Elijah wanted both groups of false leaders to attend, but the record names only Baal's four hundred and fifty.
One issue, openly tested
This meeting was not for debate. It put one plain question in front of the whole nation.
William KellyIt was a challenge — a fair and open challenge from the prophet. The question was between God and Baal. Elijah on one side and these prophets on the other would settle it. So Ahab sends to all, and all gather together.
Another writer looks at the same scene and turns it on the reader:
W. T. P. WolstonElijah's aim here is very clear. He stands for God, and wants the people's hearts for God. He wants the Lord to be known, and His name to be believed. Is the Lord God, or is Baal God? That was the serious question, and the great point to settle. Look at that man standing there all alone, while eight hundred and fifty haters of the truth surround Ahab. It is a grand thing to stand for God, whoever and wherever you may be.
A later crowd, a worse decision
One writer sets this gathering beside a later one, where a nation again had to choose.
W. W. FeredayWe can only think of one gathering in the Holy Land more momentous in its results than that on Mount Carmel. All four Gospel writers record a crowd gathered outside Pilate's palace in Jerusalem. The highest religious leaders of the nation led them. A great decision had to be made. The people had to choose between Barabbas the robber and the blessed Son of God, Israel's Messiah. "Not this man, but Barabbas," was their united cry.
Summary
- Summoned. The gathering began as one man's demand. A hostile king carried it out. That is the moral weight of walking close to God.
- Overruled. Ahab acted against his own interest. God made him the unwilling instrument of His purpose.
- Assembled. No rank excused anyone. Leaders, false prophets and ordinary people all had to stand in the same place.
- Outnumbered. Eight hundred and fifty against one meant nothing. Numbers would not settle this question.
- Deciding. Carmel put one issue before a nation: the Lord or Baal. The same choice came again outside Pilate's palace, and there the crowd chose Barabbas.