The Living Word of God: 1 Kings 18:25–30a
"Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal: 'Choose one bull and prepare it first, for you are many. Then call on the name of your gods, but do not set fire to it!' So they took the bull given to them, prepared it, and from morning until noon they called on the name of Baal: 'Baal, answer us!' But there was no response; no one answered. They danced around the altar they had made."
At noon, Elijah began to taunt them: 'Shout louder! Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened!' So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered; no one paid attention." (18:25–29)
Now the prophets of Baal seem abandoned. They are alone because they cannot make contact with their god. They prepared a sacrifice, arranged everything according to their custom, but nothing is happening. They strive harder and harder; Elijah himself encourages them to exert themselves further so they cannot blame their failure on the inadequacy of their god. For hours they toil and use every means they know to coax a response from their god, who remains silent. Elijah mocks them, which only provokes them more. They gather closely in a community of effort, but all is in vain. There is no connection between them and their god; this god is absent, indifferent to them, ignoring all prayer. And not just for a moment, but permanently. The hour of the evening sacrifice arrives, and still nothing happens.
When someone prays to the true God, they know that they will always be answered in some way. On Mount Carmel, this principle is shown clearly. Here (the true) God has only one way to respond, and that (from Baal) does not come. After all, God himself arranged this test through his prophet.
Whoever prays to a false god is abandoned. They are in the loneliness of a sinner hoping for salvation from what contravenes God, in the isolation of a liar who hopes to find truth in an illusion. Baal rises from sin and lies and this work of sin remains ineffective. Even the powerlessness of the deities could convince the believer of the truth, should they need it. Moreover, it shows that man can do nothing by himself unless helped by God. The prophets of Baal stand with all their efforts before nothingness.
"Then Elijah said to all the people, 'Come here to me!' They came to him." (18:30a)
When Elijah predicted drought to the people (1 Kings 17:1), the truth of his prediction was revealed slowly. It was clear to him immediately, while the people gradually understood that he had spoken the truth. And this truth was only one among many; the one who guaranteed it, the true God, remained hidden in his uniqueness. But now Elijah stands before the people with all the weight of his command, with the power that had always shone through his command, but now it is set to be evidently revealed. With this power, he commands the people to come forth. And they obey. This is no longer the Elijah who comes to a solitary woman and enters into her fate (1 Kings 17:8ff), nor the Elijah who secretly lives a perfectly contemplative life by the brook and is fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:2ff), now he is a man of action who needs the public. He appears with calm confidence and behaves before this audience as someone whom God has honored. In his own eyes, he diminishes in his command; before the eyes of the people, he must represent God, so that in him they see God's power. The people feel the power present in Elijah and bow down before it as if before something unheard of. They gather around him.
Taken from the book: Elijah
Author: Adrienne von Speyr
Published by: KNA
