1 Kings 18 - Elijah and the Prophets of Baal | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Kings Chapter 18, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.In 1 Kings Chapter 18 is the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Actually it is really the confrontation between Yahweh and Baal and it is no contest. Elijah is one of the key characters in the entire Bible. Even though he doesn’t write scripture like Moses, he is up there with Moses because he is responsible for a key turning point in spiritual thinking.At this point the worship of Baal - that is canaanite idolatry - is a fully sanctioned state religion, with 850 prophets. The previous terrible sin of Jeroboam was to mix worshipping the Lord with local practices, but technically it was still ‘kind of’ worshipping the Lord. Now with Jezebel’s encouragement, they have endorsed the complete turning away from the Lord.Thus the famine is in full swing to show Baal and Asherah powerless. The nation gathers at the base of Carmel, not the top as is popularly assumed. Afterwards, Elijah climbs Carmel, at elevation 546m to pray. The question before the people is not “Is Baal a God.” But “If Baal is God,” worship him. Yahweh is proved to be God. So here is a moment where Elijah demonstrates true monotheism to Israel.There IS no other God except Yahweh, whereas up to this point they have believed in multiple Gods and accepted Yahweh as one of them. Elijah isn’t just extolling that God is better than the other gods, but that He IS God. The other gods are not gods. This is a key moment in the Bible where the Lord is introducing a new idea collectively, which may have been known to individuals before. With Elijah is introduced, a whole new way of seeing God.The book of James says “Elijah was a man like us.” (James 5:17) We are able to walk with Christ and obtain answers to prayer in just the same way. Moses and Elijah are the clear two examples of God’s power at work in the Old Testament.