The Promise

God Vindicated on Mount Carmel

Picture: God Vindicated on Mount Carmel 2TC 70.1

This chapter is based on 1 Kings 18:19-40.

Standing before Ahab, Elijah commanded, “Send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 2TC 70.2

Ahab obeyed at once, as if the prophet were monarch and the king his subject. He sent swift messengers with the summons. In every town and village the people prepared to assemble at the appointed time. As they journeyed toward the place, a strange dread filled the hearts of many. Why this summons to gather at Carmel? What new disaster was about to fall? 2TC 70.3

Mount Carmel had been a place of beauty, its streams fed from never-failing springs and its fertile slopes covered with flowers and flourishing groves. But now its beauty withered under a curse. The altars to Baal and Ashtoreth stood in leafless groves. On the summit of one of the highest ridges was the broken-down altar of Jehovah. 2TC 71.1

Carmel’s heights were visible from many parts of the kingdom. At the foot of the mountain were vantage points from which people could see much of what took place above. Elijah chose this elevation as the most conspicuous place for God to display His power and vindicate His name. 2TC 71.2

Early on the morning of the appointed day, the people of Israel gathered near the top of the mountain. Jezebel’s prophets marched in impressive array. In regal pomp the king appeared at the head of the priests, and the idol-worshipers shouted his welcome. But the priests remembered that at the word of the prophet the land of Israel had been destitute of dew and rain for three and a half years. Some fearful crisis was at hand, they felt sure. The gods in whom they had trusted had been unable to prove Elijah a false prophet. The objects of their worship had been strangely indifferent to their frantic cries, their prayers, their revolting ceremonies, and their costly sacrifices. 2TC 71.3

Facing King Ahab and the false prophets, and surrounded by the assembled people of Israel, Elijah stood, the only one who had come to vindicate the honor of Jehovah. He was apparently defenseless in the presence of the king, the prophets of Baal, the men of war, and the surrounding thousands. But around him were angels that excel in strength. 2TC 71.4

Unashamed, unterrified, the prophet was fully aware of his commission to carry out the divine command. In anxious expectancy the people waited for him to speak. Looking first on the broken-down altar of Jehovah and then on the crowd, Elijah called out in trumpet tones, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” 2TC 71.5

No One Has the Courage to Stand With Elijah

The people answered not a word. Not one in that vast assembly dared to reveal loyalty to Jehovah. Deception and blindness had overspread Israel, not all at once but gradually. Each departure from rightdoing, each refusal to repent, had deepened their guilt and driven them further from Heaven. And now, in this crisis, they persisted in refusing to take their stand for God. 2TC 72.1

The Lord hates indifference in a time of crisis. With inexpressible interest the whole universe is watching the closing scenes of the great controversy between good and evil. What can be more important to the people of God than to be loyal to the God of heaven? All through the ages, God has had moral heroes, and He has them now—those who, like Joseph, Elijah, and Daniel, are not ashamed to identify themselves as His distinct people. His special blessing accompanies men and women of action, those who will not swerve from duty, but who will inquire, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” (Exodus 32:26, NRSV)—people who will demand that those who choose to identify with the followers of God step forward and reveal their allegiance to the King of kings. Such people yield their will to the law of God. For love of Him they do not count their lives dear to themselves. Loyalty to God is their motto. 2TC 72.2

While Israel hesitated on Carmel, the voice of Elijah again broke the silence: “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” 2TC 72.3

Elijah’s proposal was so reasonable that the people answered, “It is well spoken.” The prophets of Baal dared not refuse. Elijah directed them, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many.” 2TC 72.4

With terror in their guilty hearts, the false priests laid the wood and the victim on their altar. Then they began their unholy rites. Their shrill cries echoed through the forests and the surrounding heights: “O Baal, hear us!” Leaping, writhing, and screaming, with tearing of hair and cutting of flesh, the priests pleaded with their god to help them. Morning passed, noon came, and yet there was no reply to their frantic prayers. The sacrifice remained unconsumed. 2TC 72.5

As they continued their frenzied worship, the crafty priests continually tried to find some way to kindle a fire on the altar. But Elijah watched every movement; and the priests, hoping in vain for some opportunity to deceive, continued their senseless ceremonies. 2TC 73.1

“And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’ So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. ... But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.” 2TC 73.2

Gladly would Satan have helped those who were devoted to his service. Gladly would he have sent lightning to ignite their sacrifice. But Jehovah had set Satan’s limits, and he could not carry one spark to Baal’s altar. 2TC 73.3

At last, their voices hoarse with shouting, the priests became desperate. With great frenzy they mixed terrible cursings of their sun-god in with their pleading. Elijah continued to watch intently. He knew that if by any means the priests succeeded in lighting their altar fire, he would instantly be torn to pieces. 2TC 73.4

The Prophets of Baal Give Up

Evening drew on. The prophets of Baal were weary, faint, and confused. One suggested one thing, and another suggested something else, until finally in despair they withdrew from the contest. 2TC 73.5

All day long the people had witnessed the baffled priests’ wild leaping around the altar, as if they would grasp the burning rays of the sun to serve their purpose. The people had looked with horror on their self-inflicted mutilations and had reflected on the follies of idol worship. Many were tired of the exhibitions of demonism and now waited with deep interest to see what Elijah would do. 2TC 73.6

At the hour of the evening sacrifice, Elijah invited the people, “Come near to me.” He turned to the broken-down altar where once Israel had worshiped the God of heaven, and he repaired it. To him this heap of ruins was more precious than all the magnificent altars of the heathen world. Choosing “twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, ... he built an altar in the name of the Lord.” 2TC 74.1

The disappointed, exhausted priests of Baal waited to see what Elijah would do. They hated the prophet for proposing a test that had exposed their gods, yet they feared his power. Almost breathless with expectancy, the people watched. The prophet’s calm manner stood in sharp contrast to the senseless frenzy of Baal’s followers. 2TC 74.2

When he completed the altar, the prophet made a trench around it. He put the wood in order and prepared the bull, then laid the victim on the altar. “Fill four waterpots with water,” he directed, “‘and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.’ Then he said, ‘Do it a second time,’ and they did it a second time; and he said, ‘Do it a third time,’ and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.” 2TC 74.3

Reminding the people of their long apostasy, Elijah called on them to humble their hearts and turn to the God of their fathers, that the curse on the land might be removed. Then, bowing reverently before the unseen God, he raised his hands toward heaven and offered a simple prayer. Baal’s priests had screamed and leaped from early morning until late in the afternoon. But as Elijah prayed, no senseless shrieks echoed over Carmel’s height. He prayed simply and fervently, asking God to show His superiority over Baal so that Israel might be led to turn to Him: 2TC 74.4

“Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” 2TC 74.5

A silence, heavy and solemn, rested on all. The priests of Baal trembled with terror, conscious of their guilt. 2TC 74.6

Fire From Heaven Answers Elijah’s Simple Prayer

No sooner had the prayer of Elijah ended than flames of fire, like flashes of lightning, descended from heaven on the altar, devouring the sacrifice, licking up the water in the trench, and consuming even the stones of the altar. The brilliance of the blaze illuminated the mountain and dazzled the eyes of the multitude. In the valleys below, where many were watching, they could clearly see the fire descend, and all were amazed at the sight. 2TC 75.1

The people on the mountain threw themselves to the ground. They dared not continue to look on the Heaven-sent fire. Convicted of their duty to acknowledge the God of Elijah as the God of their fathers, they cried out with one voice, “he Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” The cry resounded over the mountain and echoed in the plain below. At last Israel was awakened, undeceived, and repentant. At last the people saw how greatly they had dishonored God. The character of Baal worship stood fully revealed, in contrast with the reasonable service that the true God required. The people recognized God’s justice and mercy in withholding the dew and rain until they had given Him their complete loyalty. 2TC 75.2

The Priests of Baal Unrepentant

But the priests of Baal refused to repent, even in their defeat and in the presence of divine glory. They would still remain the prophets of Baal. In this they showed themselves ripe for destruction. 2TC 75.3

To protect repentant Israel from those who taught them to worship Baal, the Lord directed Elijah to destroy these false teachers. The people’s anger had already been aroused, and when Elijah gave the command, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” they were ready to obey. They took them to the brook Kishon, and there, before the close of the day that marked the beginning of decisive reform, the ministers of Baal were killed. 2TC 75.4