And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
For hours the prophets of Baal had called on their god, and no answer came. This verse shows what they did next: they shouted louder and cut open their own bodies, as if their own blood could force him to act.
The weapons in their hands
The word behind "lances" is a soldier's weapon. One reference work explains what these men turned on themselves:
Morrish Bible Dictionaryromach. 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.
Driven to it by Elijah's mockery
The cutting did not start the contest. It came after hours of silence, and after Elijah had mocked them:
W. W. FeredayWith 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.
Before the knives came the leaping. One writer names what these men had never understood about God:
Leslie M. GrantWhen 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.
A principle running through every false religion
Silence did not stop them. It only made them work harder, and that pattern runs through all false worship.
The Christian's FriendThey 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.
Blood that could never atone
Their blood flowed, and it settled nothing. One writer says why that blood could do nothing for Israel:
H. L. RossierBaal 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!
How far religious flesh will go
Scripture later warns believers against people it calls "the concision." One writer links that warning back to what the priests of Baal did:
William Kelly"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.
Self-harm as religion, then and now
The verse says they cut themselves "after their custom." This was a settled practice, not a one-off, and one writer traces the same idea into later systems of penance:
For the YoungLong 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.
The same writer contrasts this with true self-denial:
Leslie M. GrantThese 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.
Summary
- Silence — Baal never answered. His prophets had no idea of a God who is all-knowing and always present.
- Frenzy — silence pushed them to shouting, then to blood. In all false worship the demand falls back on the worshipper's own effort.
- Blood — their blood flowed, yet no man's blood can cover Israel's sin or open heaven.
- Flesh — Scripture's warning against "the concision" may point back to this cutting. It shows how far religious flesh will go against the mind of God.
- Contrast — penance and self-harm deny the finished work of Christ. Real self-denial makes no show at all.