ELIJAH VS. THE PROPHETS OF BAAL
MEMORY VERSE
ISAIAH 45:5a, ESV
I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,
DAY 1
1 Kings 18:1-6, NIrV
1 It was now three years since it had rained. A message came to Elijah from the Lord. He said, “Go. Speak to Ahab. Then I will send rain on the land.” 2 So Elijah went to speak to Ahab.
There wasn’t enough food in Samaria. The people there were very hungry. 3 Ahab had sent for Obadiah. He was in charge of Ahab’s palace. Obadiah had great respect for the Lord. 4 Ahab’s wife Jezebel had been killing off the Lord’s prophets. So Obadiah had hidden 100 prophets in two caves. He had put 50 in each cave. He had supplied them with food and water. 5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land. Go to all the valleys and springs of water. Maybe we can find some grass there. It will keep the horses and mules alive. Then we won’t have to kill any of our animals.” 6 So they decided where each of them would look. Ahab went in one direction. Obadiah went in another.
BIBLE STUDY
Three years had passed since Elijah last spoke with awful King Ahab. Back then, Elijah said, “It won’t rain until I say so.” And he had been right: it hadn’t rained a drop since! After that meeting, Ahab wanted Elijah dead, so God sent his prophet off to hide. But Elijah wasn’t the only prophet of the Lord. There were over a hundred more in danger from Ahab’s equally awful wife, Jezebel. Many of them were saved by the brave actions of Obadiah, who hid them in caves and snuck supplies to them. Now, after three rain-less years, God said it was finally time for Elijah and Ahab to meet again.
+ Why was there a famine (not enough food) in King Ahab’s land? (vs. 1-2)
+ What did Obadiah and King Ahab go in search of? (vs. 5-6)
DAY 2
1 Kings 18:7-16, NIrV
7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him. He bowed down to the ground. He said, “My master Elijah! Is it really you?”
8 “Yes,” he replied. “Go and tell your master Ahab, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”
9 “What have I done wrong?” asked Obadiah. “Why are you handing me over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 My master has sent people to look for you everywhere. There isn’t a nation or kingdom where he hasn’t sent someone to look for you. Suppose a nation or kingdom would claim you weren’t there. Then Ahab would make them give their word that they couldn’t find you. And that’s just as sure as the Lord your God is alive. 11 But now you are telling me to go to my master. You want me to say, ‘Elijah is here.’ 12 But the Spirit of the Lord might carry you away when I leave you. Then I won’t know where you are. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he’ll kill me. But I’ve worshiped the Lord ever since I was young. 13 My master, haven’t you heard what I did? Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets. But I hid 100 of them in two caves. I put 50 in each cave. I supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you are telling me to go to my master Ahab. You want me to say to him, ‘Elijah is here.’ Ahab will kill me!”
15 Elijah said, “I serve the Lord who rules over all. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that I will speak to Ahab today.”
16 Obadiah went back to Ahab. He told Ahab that Elijah wanted to see him. So Ahab went to where Elijah was.
BIBLE STUDY
Obadiah had been sent out to search for green grass for the king’s animals to eat. But instead of finding grass, he found someone who’d been missing for three years: Elijah! He asked Obadiah to let King Ahab know he’d returned to Israel. Obadiah responded by saying, “Are you trying to kill me, Elijah? Ahab’s been looking everywhere for you. If I tell him you’re coming and you don’t show up, guess what? He’ll kill me instead!” To calm Obadiah’s fearful heart, Elijah promised to go and meet with the king that very day. So Obadiah agreed to deliver the prophet’s message to awful Ahab.
+ What was Obadiah afraid would happen to him if Elijah didn’t go to Ahab? (vs. 12)
+ What did Obadiah tell Elijah about? (vs. 13)
DAY 3
1 Kings 18:17-24, NIrV
17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you? You are always stirring up trouble in Israel.”
18 “I haven’t made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have turned away from the Lord’s commands. You have followed gods that are named Baal. 19 Now send for people from all over Israel. Tell them to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the 450 prophets of the god named Baal. Also bring the 400 prophets of the female god named Asherah. All of them eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 So Ahab sent that message all through Israel. He gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went there and stood in front of the people. He said, “How long will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is the one and only God, worship him. But if Baal is the one and only God, worship him.”
The people didn’t say anything.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I’m the only one of the Lord’s prophets left. But Baal has 450 prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves. Let them cut it into pieces. Then let them put it on the wood. But don’t let them set fire to it. I’ll prepare the other bull. I’ll put it on the wood. But I won’t set fire to it. 24 Then you pray to your god. And I’ll pray to the Lord. The god who answers by sending fire down is the one and only God.”
Then all the people said, “What you are saying is good.”
BIBLE STUDY
The time had come for a showdown between the “gods” of awful Ahab and the Lord God of Israel. Elijah invited everyone to watch the battle on the hilltops of Mount Carmel. Team Baal was led by Ahab and hundreds of prophets of Baal. On God’s side, there was only one: Elijah. The prophet told the crowd, “Make up your minds! Who is the real God: the Lord God of Israel or Baal?" He suggested a contest. Both teams would place wood and the meat of a bull on altars (piles of stones) and pray. To win, all the real God had to do was send fire down from heaven to burn up the sacrifice.
+ What did Elijah say when Ahab called him a “troubler of Israel”? (vs. 18)
+ How many prophets of Baal were there? How many prophets of the Lord? (vs. 22)
DAY 4
1 Kings 18:25-29, NIRV
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls. There are many of you. So prepare your bull first. Pray to your god. But don’t light the fire.” 26 So they prepared the bull they had been given.
They prayed to Baal from morning until noon. “Baal! Answer us!” they shouted. But there wasn’t any reply. No one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to tease them. “Shout louder!” he said. “I’m sure Baal is a god! Perhaps he has too much to think about. Or maybe he has gone to the toilet. Or perhaps he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s sleeping. You might have to wake him up.” 28 So they shouted louder. They cut themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed. That’s what they usually did when things really looked hopeless. 29 It was now past noon. The prophets of Baal continued to prophesy with all their might. They did it until the time came to offer the evening sacrifice. But there wasn’t any reply. No one answered. No one paid any attention.
BIBLE STUDY
Elijah let Baal’s prophets take the first turn in the “Who is the Real God” contest. After placing the meat on their altar, 450 of Baal’s prophets prayed to him and... nothing happened! But they didn’t give up. They prayed from morning until lunchtime. But still, no fire from heaven came. Knowing Baal would never answer, Elijah decided to poke fun at awful Ahab’s pretend god. “Pray louder,” he joked, “Maybe Baal is sleeping. Perhaps he had to go use the potty!” Baal’s prophets shouted, danced, and even cut their bodies, but pretend Baal never answered and no fire from heaven came.
+ Why didn’t Baal answer the prayers of his 450 prophets?
+ How did Elijah make fun of the pretend god Baal? (vs. 27)
DAY 5
1 Kings 18:30-39, NIRV
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” So they went to him. He rebuilt the altar of the Lord. It had been torn down. 31 Elijah got 12 stones. There was one for each tribe in the family line of Jacob. The Lord’s message had come to Jacob. It had said, “Your name will be Israel.” 32 Elijah used the stones to build an altar to honor the Lord. He dug a ditch around it. The ditch was large enough to hold 24 pounds of seeds. 33 He arranged the wood for the fire. He cut the bull into pieces. He placed the pieces on the wood. Then he said to some of the people, “Fill four large jars with water. Pour it on the offering and the wood.” So they did.
34 “Do it again,” he said. So they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered. And they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar. It even filled the ditch.
36 When it was time to offer the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward. He prayed, “Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Today let everyone know that you are God in Israel. Let them know I’m your servant. Let them know I’ve done all these things because you commanded me to. 37 Answer me. Lord, answer me. Then these people will know that you are the one and only God. They’ll know that you are turning their hearts back to you again.”
38 The fire of the Lord came down. It burned up the sacrifice. It burned up the wood and the stones and the soil. It even dried up the water in the ditch.
39 All the people saw it. Then they fell down flat with their faces toward the ground. They cried out, “The Lord is the one and only God! The Lord is the one and only God!”
BIBLE STUDY
After Baal’s epic fail, it was the Lord God to take his turn. Elijah rebuilt the Lord’s altar and placed the wood and meat on it. Then he did a thing you should never do if you want to start a fire: he had four jars of water poured over it! Then he had it done again... and again! Everything was so wet, you couldn’t light it with a flamethrower! Still, Elijah prayed, “God, answer me! Show these Baal worshipers who the real God is.” God answered immediately with blazing fire from heaven. It burned the wet wood. It burned the meat. It burned up the water. It even burned up the altar’s stones!
+ Why do you think Elijah had the people pour twelve jars of water on the Lord’s altar?
+ What did the people say when they saw God answer Elijah’s prayer with fire? (vs. 39)
DAY 6
1 Kings 18:41-45, NIRV
41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go. Eat and drink. I can hear the sound of a heavy rain.” 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent down toward the ground. Then he put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. So he went up and looked.
“I don’t see anything there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 The seventh time the servant said, “I see a cloud. It’s as small as a man’s hand. It’s coming up over the sea.”
Elijah said, “Go to Ahab. Tell him, ‘Tie your chariot to your horse. Go down to Jezreel before the rain stops you.’ ”
45 Black clouds filled the sky. The wind came up, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
BIBLE STUDY
Why would God stop the rain in the land of Israel for three whole years? To teach awful Ahab and all those who worshiped Baal that their “god” was no god at all! Baal worshipers believed that their god had the power to send rain on the land. By stopping the rain, the one true God of Israel made Baal look like a powerless loser!
But if God simply started up the rain again, Ahab and his fellow Baal worshipers would have thought, “Our god has finally heard our prayers. Baal has given us rain again!” When the rain returned, God’s people needed to know that the Lord, and not Baal, was the one who had sent it. That’s why God had his prophet Elijah face off on Mount Carmel in a contest against the 450 prophets of Baal.
When the people saw that the Lord God had answered Elijah’s prayer with fire from heaven (and that Baal didn’t), they cried out, “The Lord is the one and only God!” Did you notice that? The people didn’t just say, “The Lord is a more powerful God than Baal!” They said that the Lord was the only God. God’s spectacular success and Baal’s epic failure on Mount Carmel taught the people a lesson: there’s actually only one God. Other “gods” like Baal and Asherah don’t actually exist!
After making it clear that Baal was a worthless wimp, God finally sent rain again. When the drops began to fall, the people knew the rain had been sent by the Lord God of Israel, not Baal. And God didn’t just send a little drizzle; it was a heavy downpour!
Atop Mount Carmel, God’s people learned an important lesson: the Lord is the one and only God! And it’s an important lesson for us to learn, too. Our world is filled with people who worship other “gods” instead of the One True God we read about in the Bible. What would Elijah and the people of Israel say to them? He’d say, “The Lord is the one and only God! Worship him!”
Our world is also filled with people who say that there is no god at all. And the lesson the people of Israel learned on Mount Carmel is also an important lesson for them, too. If the Lord is the “one and only God,” then guess what that means? There actually is a God! There might not be many gods, but there is still one!
The God who showed his power over Baal by stopping the rain and sending fire from heaven is also the same God who showed his love for sinners like you and me. How did he do that? By sending his only Son Jesus to save us from our sins. On Mount Carmel, God showed his power by blasting fire down from heaven. And on the third day after Jesus’ death, God once again showed his power – by raising Jesus from the dead!
+ How many times did Elijah’s servant look to the sea before seeing rain? (vs. 43-44)
+ What lesson did the people learn from the contest on Mount Carmel? (vs. 39)
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