Where Is The God Of Elijah?
Elijah stood on Mount Carmel before the whole nation of Israel. The people had limped between two opinions for three years while the land lay dry under the drought he had declared. Ahab and his household ate at the table of Jezebel, and four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal ate at the same table. The altar of the Lord lay broken in the land, and the prophets of the Lord hid in caves.
Elijah called the people to himself and asked how long they would halt between two opinions. If the Lord be God, follow Him, and if Baal, follow him. The people answered with silence.
Then came the test. Two bullocks. Two altars. Two companies of prophets. The god who answers by fire, let him be God. The people agreed to the terms.
The prophets of Baal called from morning until noon. They cried aloud and cut themselves with knives and lancets until blood gushed out upon them. They prophesied until the time of the evening sacrifice. No voice came. No fire fell. Elijah mocked them with words about a god who might be talking, or pursuing, or on a journey, or sleeping and needing to be waked.
When the evening sacrifice drew near, Elijah called the people close and repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. He took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob. He made a trench around the altar. He laid the wood in order, cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. Then he commanded four barrels of water poured on the sacrifice, and four more, and four more, until the water ran around the altar and filled the trench.
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and prayed.
“Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” (1 Kings 18:36-37 KJV)
Then the fire of the Lord fell. It consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.
From that mountain, Elijah went down and ran before the chariot of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. The hand of the Lord was upon him, and he outran the horses.
Jezebel heard the report of the fire and sent a messenger to Elijah with a vow upon her own life. Within a day, the prophet who had called fire from heaven fled into the wilderness, sat under a juniper tree, and asked the Lord to take his life. An angel fed him twice, and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
At Horeb the Lord passed by. A great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke the rocks, and the Lord was in the wind in the way that only God can be. After the wind came an earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, and after the fire a still small voice. Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle and stood at the cave’s entrance, and the Lord spoke to him and told him to anoint Hazael king over Syria, Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his place.
The God of Mount Carmel is the God of Horeb. The God of the fire is the God of the still small voice. The God of the victory is the God of the wilderness feeding. Elijah learned that the same Lord who answers by fire sustains a weary prophet under a juniper tree.
Elisha received the mantle of Elijah and stood at the Jordan with the sons of the prophets watching. He took the mantle and smote the waters and cried, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? The waters parted, and Elisha went over.
That question has traveled through every generation since. Where is the God of Elijah? He is where He has always been. He answers by fire when fire is needed. He sends rain when the drought has run its course. He feeds the prophet under the juniper tree and meets him at Horeb in a still small voice.
The God of Elijah answers today. The same Lord who heard from heaven on Mount Carmel hears from heaven over every altar where His people call upon Him. The fire falls where His word is spoken in faith, and the rain comes where His promise stands.
The Lord answered Elijah by fire, and He answers today.
LET US PRAY
Lord God of Elijah, answer today.
In Jesus’ name, Amen!
