Elijah’s Work For God

THE STORY chapter #15

(My home church is participating in the study of THE STORY – The Bible As One Continuing Story Of God And His People. Foreword by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. Each week, my Thursday post focuses on our current study chapter.)

Elijah had a very personal relationship with God. God told him to go live in the Kerith Ravine, and Elijah did. There, God supplied him with bread and meat brought by ravens, and he drank water from the brook.

After three years, God told Elijah to go and present himself before the evil king Ahab. Ahab and his equally evil wife Jezebel worshipped Baal. Elijah was there to prove to all the people of Israel that only God is God.

Elijah instructed Ahab’s eight hundred and fifty pagan prophets to get two bulls. They were to choose and prepare one bull and place it on their stacked wood. Elijah would do the same, but neither was to light a fire. Each were to call on their god, and all agreed whichever god lit a fire was God.

Ahab’s eight hundred and fifty prophets went first. They shouted to Baal from morning till noon. They danced around their alter. They slashed themselves, as was their custom. They were frantic until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response.

Elijah then said to the people, “Come here to me.” And they came. Being God’s only prophet left, Elijah prepared the other bull all by himself. All watched as he repaired the torn down alter of the LORD. He used twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. He dug a deep trench around the stones. He arranged wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid them out on the wood.

If God would have then set Elijah’s alter on fire, no doubt all would have been impressed. But Elijah wanted Israel to KNOW our God is God! So Elijah poured four jars of water onto his alter. Then he did it again! Then he did it a third time! Now the large trench was full of water, and Elijah prayed to God to let Israel know God is God!

The LORD sent the fire. It “ …burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The LORD —he is God! The LORD—he is God!’ “

What a wonderful display of God’s almighty power! Elijah did as God instructed him, stood strong against those who opposed God, and had faith in the power of God. Elijah’s story is a true remainder to us —if God calls us to accomplish something in His name, He will always make it happen.