Before the great contest on Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah rebuked Israel with a question: “how long will you limp along on two opinions?” (1 Kgs. 18.21). Israel was trying to worship both God and the Canaanite god Baal. Ahab married the Sidonian princess Jezebel and had sanctioned her god Baal to be worshipped. The purpose of his question was to force a decision among the people who refused to decide. “Limping” was evidently a cultic dance in celebration of Baal. When the contest of Mount Carmel began, the prophets of Baal began to “limp/dance” around the altar (18.26). Elijah asks the people are you going to dance YHWH’s dance or Baal’s? The response of the people was silence (18.21). The last thing these people want to do is decide. The contest will have to answer Elijah’s question.
As the prophets of Baal have prepared the sacrifice, altar, and have begun their ritual dance, there is no voice, no answer (18.26). With sarcasm, Elijah responds “Shout louder! After all, he's a god, isn't he? Maybe he's daydreaming, or he's on the potty, or he's away on a trip. Maybe he's asleep, and you have to wake him up (CJB).” Since Baal was the god of rain and storms (fertility), the ANE peoples believed that Baal had been killed by the death god Mot whenever there was a drought. The people would cut themselves hoping that their spilt blood would encourage Mot to release Baal. The prophets began slashing themselves hoping that Baal would answer them, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response (18.29).
When it was Elijah’s turn, he prepared the altar, prayed to God, and doused the altar with water. Fire from heaven came down and devoured the offering and even the water. The people came to the conclusion that YHWH is God, YHWH is God (18.39). No longer are there “two opinions.” Not only did God win that day, but the people won as God sent rain to bless the land.
Perhaps there are a couple of lessons that we can learn. God is mutually exclusive. You cannot be whole heartedly devoted to two things (Rev. 3.16). Next, God helped the people believe. From Abraham, to Jacob, to king Ahaz, God often went out of his way to help people believe in him. Finally, life comes from having God as our one opinion. The followers of Baal got death (18.40). In this narrative, one’s opinion really did matter!
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1 comment:
Good thoughts. Are you leaving room for dancing in our culture? Sorry, I could not resist. I love reading this article but it always frustrates me when 1 Kings 19 comes into the context. How did Elijah go from prophet of the one true God who could do anything to a prophet being chased by a woman and saying, "It is enough"? Elijah may be the only person in Scripture who could be bipolar.
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