I love 1 Kings 18! You might ask why? I am afraid that it is not out of a wonderful heart motive, but it could be...I will let you decide? 1 Kings 18 is where I get license to be sarcastic! This is where the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...Yahweh, faces off with with the most powerful gods of the Canaanites, Baal and Asherah. The prophet Elijah is sent to confront Ahab and the prophets of Baal, 450 in number, when Baal fails to answer Elijah begins taunt them as we see in 1 Ki 18:27-29, About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!” 28 So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. 29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.
Let's set the context of Elijah's sarcasm. Three years of drought has devastated Israel. Yahweh has orchestrated a show down, in reality it is a battle for the hearts of God's people. God sends Elijah to Ahab (18:1). On the way he meets Obadiah, a court official who has remained faithful to the Lord, and arranges a meeting with the king (vv. 2–15). Elijah challenges Ahab to call the prophets of Baal and Asherah to a contest at Mount Carmel. The prophets, trailed by crowds of people, come from all over the land (vv. 16–19). There Elijah challengesthe wavering people of Israel to follow the deity who is truly God. Baal does not respond to the cries of his prophets. But the Lord does answer Elijah, with fire from heaven that consumes his sacrifice. Now the people decide! “The Lord, He is God!” (vv. 20–39) At Elijah’s command they slaughter the prophets of Baal (v. 40). A tiny cloud, the size of a mans hand, appears on the horizon, and soon a heavy rain falls at last on the parched land. God’s people have acknowledged Him again. And He is quick to bless them.
Who was Baal? Who was Asherah?
Baal—the most significant male deity of the Canaanites—and his consort Asherah were the most alluring deities confronting Israel in the promised land following the conquest. The numerous references to Baal in the Old Testament indicate his attractiveness and influence on the Israelites. The Book of Judges chronicles the numerous times the people fell to the temptation to worship Baal. During the time of Ahab and Jezebel Baal was declared the official national deity. A temple and hundreds of officiants were established for Baal’s worship in Samaria (1 Kings 16:29–34). A final chapter concerning Baal worship was written during the reigns of Jehu and Josiah, when the southern kingdom and its capital were purged of the worship of Baal (2 Kings 10; 23:1–30).
Baal’s name derives from the Semitic word ba’lu, meaning “lord.” He was assumed to fulfill several significant roles by the peoples who worshiped him. As god of the storm the roar of his voice in the heavens was the thunder of the sky. He was the god who both created and granted fertility. He was the deity slain by enemies who thus fell into the hands of Death. During the time that Baal was under the control of Death, the vegetation wilted or ceased and procreation stopped. He was the god of justice, feared by evildoers.
The Book of Kings recounts that Jezebel used the plan of the Baal temple in Sidon for the construction of a similar temple in Samaria. Ahab agreed with her to make Baal worship the royal religion of the northern kingdom (1 Kings 16:29–31). Baal, like Asherah, was also worshiped at high places.
The cult of Baal involved the offering of many animal sacrifices. Priests would officiate on behalf of the persons presenting sacrificial animals to the god. Some of the northern kingdom rulers even “made their sons pass through fire”—offering their own sons as sacrifices to Baal. “Holy prostitutes”—both male and female—were available to worshipers, encouraging the fertility of both land and people. Elwell, W. A., & Elwell, W. A. (1997, c1996). Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology (electronic ed.). Baker reference library; Logos Library System. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
Elijah tells Ahab to assemble all the people for the showdown and Ahab complies. Elijah confronts the people in 1 Kings 18:21, saying to them, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent. The people were trying to worship both Yahweh and Baal.
One commentator put it this way:
This suggests they had been trying to worship both Baal and Yahweh to secure the maximum advantages of both! Baal was primarily a weather-god and hence responsible for the harvest; Yahweh, on the other hand, may have been popularly thought of as a god from the desert regions of Sinai (cf. Hab. 3:3–7). Or perhaps, like the Arameans in ch. 20, they thought of Yahweh as ‘a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys’ (20:28). Either way, it would have seemed likely to the people that Yahweh was out of his depth where agriculture was concerned, so it made good sense also to worship Baal, the acknowledged expert in such matters. Elijah swept away such syncretistic thinking. The people must make a decision: Yahweh or Baal. Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition. Rev. ed. of: The new Bible commentary. 3rd ed. / edited by D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer. 1970. (4th ed.) (1 Ki 18:20). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA: Inter-Varsity Press.
Before you are quick to judge, think about your own heart (as I ask the Holy Spirit to search mine), where is your trust? Where is your hope? What is your initial reaction to a crisis or a tragedy? Is it to run to Yahweh in prayer? Or is that what you do after you have tried all of your own devices. In a modern scientific world we may be a little more sophisticated, but we have just as many idols as they did.
Do you remember David's final instructions to Solomon? We know that Solomon was brilliant, we know that he was given great wisdom from God and yet at the end of his life he failed horribly. How did this happen?
1 Kings 2:1-4 David’s Final Instructions to Solomon
2 As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon: 2 “I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. 3 Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. 4 If you do this, then the Lord will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
Do you remember Solomon's Prayer of Dedication of the temple before Yahweh?
1 Kings 8:22-28 Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven, 23 and he prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today. 25 “And now, O Lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ 26 Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father. 27 “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! 28 Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today.
From the time that David was recognized as King to King Ahab was about 125 years. It only took 125 years for this chosen people of God, who had experienced so many astonishing miracles to adopt a new god, a new god that was no god at all. Oh how the mighty have fallen! God will not be mocked, a man will reap what he sows. A nation will reap what it sows!
“How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.
Is there anything in your life or my life that receives more attention than God? If you think about anything more than you think about God it is most likely an idol in your heart!
Strange coincidence or bizarre phenomena that Psalm 135 teaches the effect of idolatry in a human heart...neither...God Almighty!
Psalm 135
The Lord Is Great
Hallelujah! Praise the name of the Lord. Give praise, you servants of the Lord 2 who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. 3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to His name, for it is delightful. 4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel as His treasured possession. 5 For I know that the Lord is great; our Lord is greater than all gods. 6 The Lord does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths. 7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses. 8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both people and animals. 9 He sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his officials. 10 He struck down many nations and slaughtered mighty kings: 11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan. 12 He gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to His people Israel. 13 Lord, Your name ⌊endures⌋ forever, Your reputation, Lord, through all generations. 14 For the Lord will judge His people and have compassion on His servants. 15 The idols of the nations are of silver and gold, made by human hands. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 17 They have ears, but cannot hear; indeed, there is no breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them. 19 House of Israel, praise the Lord! House of Aaron, praise the Lord! 20 House of Levi, praise the Lord! You who revere the Lord, praise the Lord! 21 May the Lord be praised from Zion; He dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
Father in heaven,
Since we become like what we worship, enable us by YOUR indwelling Spirit to Worship YOU in Spirit and in Truth...please Lord accomplish this for YOUR glory and our joy in YOU.
love,
m