Elijah’s Faith

Synopsis     1Kings 18:31-40     6/11/2019 

Elijah was ministering at Mount Carmel. Up on the mountain there was a competition to see whether the true God of Israel, or the false god Baal, would consume a sacrificial offering with fire. 

At the very top of the mountain, an assembly had formed at Eijah’s command. A large gathering of the people of Israel had come to watch. So, the four hundred-fifty priests of Baal attempted to induce Baal to accept the sacrificial offering. They prayed all morning and all afternoon. But they failed. Nothing happened.

So, at the time of the daily sacrifice, Elijah prepared a separate altar. This alter was symbolically made of twelve stones, representing the unity of the twelve tribes of Israel. And there, he arranged wood and the sacrifice. And then, he doused the sacrifice and the wood in water. And then he doused it two more times. 

After this he prayed to the Lord. And God brought fire from the sky which consumed the sacrifice in the presence of the assembly. At that moment, the people bowed down before the Lord. And they declared the Lord to be the one true God. After this, Elijah led the people to seize and execute the priests of the false-god Baal.

Elijah’s Faith 

Elijah had a clear sense of what God wanted. And so, he was bold.  

My Faith 

Listening to God is the ground of God’s next miracle.  

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matt 17:20