Elijah looked out across a wide plateau on Mount Carmel, where all the people had gathered. His heart tore at the sight of them. Some stood there with looks of bewilderment, because they didn't understand the importance of why he'd called them together. Others looked bored, because they didn't care about why he'd called them together, and they just wanted to get back to their lives. Still others looked angry because they had worshipped the Baals and didn't want to risk being proved wrong, by the Lord's prophet. Then Elijah's eyes found a small group of people with genuine interest in their eyes and his heart soften toward them. it was for these people that he had come to this mountain today! It was for these people, who were genuinely curious about which god-Baal or the Lord-that they should follow.
Then Elijah turned to face the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who had gathered behind King all looked angry. A few had looks of extreme confidence on their faces, but none of them looked even remotely scared. It was time to begin.
The Lord's prophet turned so that the whole company was in his field of vision, and he spoke loudly, to be heard over the steady wind that came around the mountain.
"How long will you waver between two opinions?" he asked, "If the Lord is God, follow Him: but if Baal is god, follow him."
The only sound that could be heard was the wind rushing around the mountain and the rocks that rolled down and crashed far below the crowd. The people said nothing.
Elijah couldn't quite tell which of his emotions was most prominent. He felt a profound anger at the people's silence, but he also felt a little scared about how the Lord would respond because His chosen people had refused to acknowledge Him as their Lord. Last but not least, he felt a profound sadness that the Lord's chosen people had forgotten who He was and what He had done for them.
He looked over the grounds, trying to gage why the people wouldn't speak up. Were they afraid of the wrath of the priests of Baal and Asherah? Were the afraid of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who had already killed so many of the Lord's prophets? Elijah could certainly understand that fear-he often felt that way himself, but didn't they know that God would protect them? Or maybe that was the problem-they didn't remember the God of their fathers, and they had forgotten His mighty power.
Well, now it was time to remind them!
Elijah spoke loudly, so that everyone could hear, saying, "How about if we have a contest to see who's god is real? How about if two bulls are brought here, and a sacrifice is prepared-I'm even willing to let the prophets of Baal pick which bull they'd like to have, and I'll take the other-but neither of us will light the fire. Then let them call on the name of Baal and I'll call on the name of the Lord, and the god who answers by fire, He is God. Do you all agree?"
The crowd responded with a roaring yes!
"Good!" Elijah resisted the urge to rub his hands together in glee-this was going to be fun! He continued his instructions, saying to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, and only one of me, how would you like to go first?"
"We would like that very much!" the Baal prophets responded enthusiastically, and they immediately got to work on their preparations.
They called on Baal from morning till mid-afternoon, but nothing happened. Elijah noticed that more than a few people in the crowd had fallen asleep while waiting. He really couldn't blame them. He might have considered doing the same thing, but he was too amused by the prophets of Baal as they danced around their altar and shrieked for their god to answer them. Maybe he should liven up the atmosphere a little-just so the poor crowd wouldn't be so bored.
"Hey, prophets of Baal!" he shouted, "Where is your god? I thought for sure that he would have answered his faithful servants by now. That's really too bad, but perhaps he's sleeping. Maybe if you yelled louder, you could wake him up!"
The Baal prophets shrieked all the louder.
"It's a good thing that I don't need to worry about that!" Elijah continued, "The Lord never slumbers or sleeps-He doesn't need too!"
"Do you suppose Baal has gone on a trip?" he went on, "Perhaps he's too far away to hear you calling for him. That's too bad too-I'm glad that the Lord can always be everywhere at once, so I don't have to worry about such inconveniences!"
"Oh, wait, wait, I've got it!" he continued, "Maybe Baal is distracted because he's thinking of ways to solve some great problem-that's too bad-I'm glad the Lord can handle all of humanity's problems without breaking a sweat! I'm sorry that Baal can't do that!"
The Lord's prophet couldn't help but smile now, the crowd seemed to have aroused and taken an interest in Elijah's teasing. Elijah even heard a small child giggle at the goofy men who danced and shrieked around the dead bull. Then he saw the flash of a knife's blade and grimaced as one of the prophets of Baal slashed his arms. The blood was soon gushing as more and more of the prophets of Baal started cutting themselves. Of course, Elijah knew that this was one of their custom, but it never failed to disgust him.
Finally, just before the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah had seen enough. He held up his hands, and told the prophets of Baal to stop. "It's my turn now," he stated flatly.
"But we haven't finished yet," one of the Baal prophets complained.
"Elijah resisted the urge to laugh, as he said, with contempt, "You've had all day!" He brushed past the man and headed toward the old altar of the Lord, to rebuild it before he began.
"But..." the Baal prophet sputtered, "But..."
Elijah stopped in mid-stride, and turned to gave the man a fiery look, saying, "Alright, look, how about when I get done-if you still want too-you guys can have another crack at getting Baal's attention. Sound good?"
"Well, alright, that sounds pretty good." the Baal prophet said, after a moment to think about it. Elijah stifled a laugh as he continued on his way.
"This won't take very long anyway," he murmured to himself.
The Lord's prophet set about rebuilding the altar of the Lord, using twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel, and when he'd finished, he dug a trench around it. He arranged the wood and cut the bull into pieces and laid it out. Then he had some of the teenagers in crowd pour four large jars of water over the meat and the wood. They dumped each jar three times, and when they'd finished, there was enough water to saturate everything and fill the trench.
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
Immediately, the fire of the Lord came down from Heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil, and it even licked up the water in the trench.
All the people, who had spent most of the day being bored out of their minds, jumped in shock that something was actually happening. They stood frozen for just a moment, before everyone fell to the ground and cried, "The Lord-He is God! The Lord-He is God!"
Elijah beamed at the sight, and he felt relieved that God's chosen people had finally remembered that He was their Savior. He didn't even think about his past anger or fear or sadness. He just reveled in the sight of thousands of people worshipping their Savior.
Then, suddenly, his face turned hard and cold as stone, and fire leapt into his eyes. From the corner of his eye, Elijah spied the eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and Asherah quietly filing down a mountain trail.
"Seize them!" his voice thundered, as he pointed down the trail, "Seize them and don't let them get away!"
The crowd lost no time in obeying the Lord's prophet, and then Elijah took all the false prophets into the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them.
Elijah's teasing is based on Psalm 121:4, 139:7-10, and 139:17-18.