At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,[f] prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 1 Kings 18:36-38 NLT
In light of the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg so many conservatives are becoming anxious and nervous! Believers are wringing their hands and shaking their heads saying; What are we going to do? This couldn’t have happened at a worse time! Really? Maybe it’s the best time. Well, at least for God to show He is God. How can I say that? Because the Bible is full of accounts where things had to go from bad to worse for God’s people to once again see Him as God. Today’s passage is such an account and I encourage you to Read all of 1 Kings 18 for the full impact of the power and sovereignty of God.
Israel was in in the end of a three year drought where there wasn’t even any dew! All because Israel had turned from worshiping God to worshiping Baal at the leadership of King Ahab and Jezebel. What was even more distasteful to God, were the Israelites who chose to worship both. This truth rings again in Revelation 3:16 when Jesus says ” I wish you were either hot or cold and because you’re neither I’ll spit you out”. Now all of us know how distasteful lukewarm water is to drink, so we get the picture. But now God was saying it was time to rain again, and so there would be no doubt about who was going to cause it to rain, He had Elijah set up a showdown between the 450 Prophets of Baal and “Almighty God in whose presence he stands” (1 Kings 18:15).
Two Bulls were provided for a burnt sacrifice. Elijah told the prophets of Baal to choose one and he would take the other. So they chose and put their bull on the alter, but the fire was to be provided by their god for the burnt offering. They probably started about 9 in the morning, since that was the time of morning sacrifice. They called, they sang and danced until about noon, but nothing. then Elijah began to taunt them, saying you better yell louder I don’t think your god hears hears you. This continued all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice (usually 3 PM, although some think it was a sundown,) it really doesn’t matter, the point is they carried on to their god basically all day, and nothing!
Then it was Elijah’s turn. He ordered the bull to be placed on the altar, then a trench dug and water poured all over it until the trench was full. Now think about that considering it was in a drought that precious water was poured on the sacrifice. The Elijah prayed, and God showed Himself to everyone in a big way because He not only consumed the sacrifice, but the entire altar, even the dust and all of the water. Not too much later it began to rain!
Beloved of God let’s take a lesson from Elijah. We know what God wants, He wants a Supreme Court that will follow His precepts and know Him as God. For in so doing there will be unity, liberty and freedom that He has ordained for all people. Pray like Elijah, stand in God’s presence, treat Him as Almighty God with whom nothing is impossible or too hard for Him for accomplish. That He would show Himself as God of all God’s to all people, that His will will be done and accomplished. And we will begin to see His grace, mercy, wisdom and favor rain down on this nation once again.
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