Fire on Mount Carmel

The Story

After three years without rain, the prophet Elijah challenged King Ahab to a contest on Mount Carmel. Bring all the people, he said, and the 450 prophets of Baal.

When everyone had gathered, Elijah asked the crowd, “How long halt ye between two opinions?” If the Lord is God, follow Him. If Baal is god, follow him. The people said nothing.

So Elijah laid out the test. Each side would prepare a bull on an altar but light no fire. “The God that answereth by fire, let him be God.”

The prophets of Baal went first. From morning until noon they cried, “O Baal, hear us.” Nothing happened. They danced around their altar. At noon, Elijah began to mock them. Shout louder, he said. Maybe your god is busy, or traveling, or asleep. They shouted louder and cut themselves until the blood ran. Still, “there was neither voice, nor any to answer.”

In the evening, Elijah rebuilt the broken altar of the Lord with twelve stones. He dug a trench around it. Then he had the people pour four barrels of water over the sacrifice, three times, until the trench was full.

Elijah prayed a simple prayer: “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God.”

Then the fire of the Lord fell. It burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and the water in the trench. The people fell on their faces and cried, “The LORD, he is the God.”

Reflection