ELIJAH (Part 3): THE GREAT CONTEST - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

A story about Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards

The drought conditions were continuing to get worse. There was
hardly any water to be found ANYWHERE. The creeks had dried up LONG
ago, and the rivers had become patchy mud puddles. Food was scarce
for people and for animals. In fact, many of the animals had
already DIED because of the shortage of grass.

King Ahab was beginning to worry about his OWN herds of cattle and
flocks of sheep. He called Obadiah, one of his servants, to his
side.

"Obadiah," he said, "something MUST be done before all the animals
die. We must find grass and water. You go in one direction and I'll
go the other. There MUST be grass SOMEwhere."

So King Ahab and Obadiah set off in different directions, in search
of fresh grass and water.

* * *

While Obadiah was looking here and there, trying to find mud
puddles and grass, he saw a man walking toward him. "I wonder who
that could be," he thought to himself. As the man came closer,
Obadiah recognized him. "Why, that's ELIJAH!" he exclaimed out loud
and ran to meet him.

"ELIJAH! ELIJAH! Is that really YOU?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, I am Elijah, and I want you to do me a big favor."

"What is it, sir?" Obadiah asked politely.

"I want you to go tell King Ahab that I am here and want to see
him," Elijah explained.

Obadiah instantly became fearful. This was NOT something he wanted
to do. "How can you even THINK of asking me to do such a thing?"
Obadiah asked with astonishment. "Don't you know that King Ahab
HATES you? Don't you know that the King is blaming YOU because
there has not been any rain for all these years? Besides that, the
King has been LOOKING for you. Every time he thinks he knows where
you are, you leave and no one can find you. If I tell him you are
here, then you will leave again; he will want to kill you AND me.
I'm sorry, Elijah. I just cannot do it!"

Elijah looked at Obadiah and patiently explained, "It will be fine,
Obadiah. I promise you that I will be here. I PROMISE you that I
WILL see the King. Now please, just go and tell him I wish to speak
to him."

* * *

"YOU! YOU! YOU are the one that is causing trouble for Israel!"
King Ahab shouted in anger. "YOU are the reason we have had no
rain!"

"No, King," Elijah replied. "YOU are the cause for all this
trouble. You have turned away from Jehovah, the one true Yahweh. You
are worshipping the false Yahweh, Baal. You have caused the people of
Israel to sin by worshipping idols. YOU have brought all this
trouble to Israel."

Elijah continued his speech. "I want you to gather 450 prophets of
Baal, and 400 prophets of of Ashtoreth, and have them meet me at
Mount Carmel."

King Ahab did as Elijah said and gathered the prophets. A large
crowd of people gathered also to see what was going to happen.

Elijah stood before the crowd. "How long are you going to try to
worship Baal and Yahweh? You cannot serve more than one Yahweh. If
Baal is Yahweh, worship him! If Yahweh is Elohim, worship Him! You MUST
make a decision. You must choose one or the other."

Then Elijah said, "We are going to have a contest to see who is the
REAL Yahweh." He told them to bring enough wood to build two altars -
one for Yahweh, and one for Baal. He told them to bring animals
for the sacrifice - one for Yahweh and one for Baal.

The 450 prophets of Baal built their altar. They prepared the
animal for the sacrifice. Then they started praying: "O Baal, hear
us! O Baal, hear us!" From morning until noon they kept up the
shouting.

Elijah was taunting and making fun of them: "What's wrong? Can't
your Yahweh HEAR you? Has he taken a trip? Why isn't he answering
you? Perhaps he is talking to someone else. Maybe you should
scream LOUDER."

Midday had passed, and now it was getting late into the evening,
and the prophets of Baal were still shouting and screaming at the
top of their voices. Baal STILL was not listening.

Elijah told the people who were looking on to gather around him. He
took 12 stones for his altar, used the wood that was brought, and
prepared the animal for the sacrifice. Then he did a very strange
thing indeed!

He told the people to bring him four barrels of water. It sounded
pretty strange to them, but they DID bring the water. He poured the
water on the altar and on the sacrifice.

He told them to bring him FOUR MORE barrels of water. "What's wrong
with this guy? Doesn't he know there is a shortage of water?" they
were mumbling among themselves. But they obediently brought the
water. He poured the water on the altar and on the sacrifice.

That wasn't enough for Elijah. He told them to bring him FOUR MORE
barrels of water. "How much water is he going to waste?" someone
whispered. Again they did as they were told and brought the water.
He poured that water on the altar and on the sacrifice. The
sacrifice was soaked with water. Water was running off the wood,
onto the stones, and onto the ground. He dug a ditch around the
altar and filled it with water also.

Then he began to pray a simple prayer:

"Master Yahweh, let the people know that You are the true Elohim of Israel
and I am your servant. Let them know that I have done these things
because You told me to do them. Hear me, O Master, so these people
will know that You are the Master Yahweh, and they will serve You
again."

SUDDENLY, fire came down from heaven! It burned up the sacrifice!
It burned up the WOOD! It burned up the STONES! It EVEN licked up
all the water that was in the ditch around the altar!

When the people saw it, they dropped to the ground in fear and
cried out, "The Lord, He is the Yahweh; YAHWEH, HE IS ELOHIM!"

Then Elijah turned to King Ahab and said, "Get up! Eat and drink!
There will be an abundance of rain!"

So King Ahab had something to eat and drink, and Elijah took his
servant with him to the top of Mount Carmel to pray to Yahweh and wait
for the rain. "Look toward the sea and tell me if you see rain,"
Elijah said to his servant. The servant peered into the distance
but didn't see any rain.

Elijah kept praying.

"Look again," Elijah told him. He looked again, but still there
was no rain.

Elijah continued praying.

He looked six times, and each time there was no rain. Not even a
small cloud was in sight.

Elijah prayed one more time

and asked the servant to look again.

This time the servant saw a little cloud way out in the distance
over the sea. "Run quickly!" Elijah commanded. "Go tell King Ahab
to get his chariot ready and get off the mountain before the rain
starts."

It was just a little while before the sky became dark with clouds.

The wind began to blow.

There was a drop of rain...

...then another.

...then another.

Then
there
was a
GREAT
DOWNPOUR.

THE DROUGHT WAS FINALLY OVER.

Everyone in Israel knew for certain that Yahweh was the REAL Elohim
and Baal was just a make-believe Elohim.

* * *

REMEMBER: Everyone must choose between good and bad. It is
impossible to serve Yahweh and the devil.

THINK!

How long did the drought last?
Why was there no rain for such a long time?
How many prophets of Yahweh were in the contest?
How many prophets of Baal?
Who won the contest?
Who is the one true Yahweh?

A VERSE TO LEARN

". . . choose you this day whom ye will serve . . ."
(Joshua 24:15).

LET'S PRAY

****************************************************
Dear Yahweh, thank You for loving me even though
sometimes I make bad choices. Help me to
always love You more than anything else and
want to serve You with all my heart.
In Yah'shua's Name. Amen.
****************************************************

CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
1 Kings 18:17-46

You can view this Bible story in full color with pictures and
resources to go along with the story at
http://childrenschapel.org/biblestories/baal.html

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