Elijah was
called to preach repentance to one of the most evil kings of Israel. Not
only did King Ahab walk in the footsteps of his predecessor Jeroboam who turned
Israel to idolatry but he did one better than that, he married Jezebel, the
daughter of king of Sidonia, who worshipped Baal. Ahab turned worship of Baal
into the state religion and 'did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to
anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him' (1 Kings 16:33)
Baal, a Phoenician
deity of the Canaanites, worshipped as the god of storm who they believed had
power over water, is mentioned in the Old Testament 58 times. Because the
Canaanite vegetation was rich and the soil fertile, many Israelites were
deceived into thinking the Canaanite god Baal regulated the water supply needed
for the soil.
It is no
wonder then that Elijah, as a fitting punishment to Israel who worshipped Baal
believing he sent water to enrich their pastures and ensure their crops, sealed
up the heavens for three and a half years. You would think that during three
and a half years of drought, worshipping a god who was supposed to be a god of
water and rain, Israel would come to their senses and realise they were on the
wrong track but this did not happen. Sometimes I think we operate in mortality
on the intelligence level called stupidity.
From the
time of his proclaimed drought on the kingdom of Israel, Elijah was a wanted
man and spent much of his time in hiding. So severe had the drought become that
Ahab searched for him far and wide, among all nations, blaming him for the
misfortune that had befallen his kingdom (1 Kings 18:10). All the nations and
kingdoms Ahab searched had to swear an oath that they were not hiding him and
whoever reported seeing him would be executed if Elijah was not there by the
time Ahab's search party arrived (1 Kings 18:12).
Sealing the
heavens began Elijah's life on the run dotted with miracles. He was guided in
all his wanderings by the God of Israel who preserved his life. When the time
came for God to show forth his power by lifting the drought, Elijah was
instructed to return to Israel where he engaged in the most outlandish contest
with the false prophets of Baal who failed to show forth his power in igniting
the sacrifice they were offering.
And how did
the priests of Baal do? Their greatest offering was cutting themselves ‘till
blood gushed out upon them’ crying to their god for rain (1 Kings 18:28). One
ancient author recorded a similar scene he observed in Gaza in Roman times:
“They danced
along the streets to the sound of wild music, holding huge swords and bills,
with whips for scouring themselves….they flew wildly one past the other: their
heads sunk low towards the earth, as they turned in circles: their loose hair
dragging through the dust. Presently they began to bite their arms, and next to
hack themselves with the two edged swords they carried…..one of them, the
leader in this frenzy, commenced to prophesy, with sighs and groans, lamenting
aloud his past sins, which he would now avenge by the chastisement of his
flesh. He then took the knotted whip and lashed his back, cutting himself also
with his sword till the blood ran down.”
(Cunningham Geikie, Hours with the Bible, 3:399-400)
There is
only one deranged entity who would inspire such an ungodly practice and
persuade people of a sound mind to believe this could pass as a form of worship…..and
we all know who that is.
Elijah,
however, drew the hosts of Israel to him so they could properly see, repaired
the altar of the Lord that had been torn down with 12 stones signifying the 12
tribes of Israel and saturated the wood and the sacrificial animal with four
barrels of water, three times. He then appealed to Jehovah to show that He is
the true God of Israel (1 Kings 18:37). Of course, the fire came down and
consumed the whole altar with the surplus water that was in the surrounding
trench (1 Kings 18:30-39). He then instructed the astonished Israelites to
capture all 450 prophets of Baal, took them to the brook Kishon and slew them
there (1 Kings 18:22,40). Now that’s a man of conviction!
Because of
his un-daunting faith in the God of Israel, Elijah was blessed with power over
water like Moses and Joshua and divided river Jordan prior to his ascension
into heaven, never to taste death (2 Kings 2:6-11).
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art by AI)
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