1 Kings 18

CHAPTER 18

Elijah and Obadiah (18:1–15)

1–6 In the third year of the drought, the Lord told Elijah to leave Zarephath and go to Ahab; He also told Elijah that He was about to send rain.⁹¹ According to verse 2, the famine was severe in Samaria (Israel), but Ahab’s main concern was for the horses and mules that were needed by his army. So he sent his chief steward Obadiah⁹² to help find grass for the animals (verses 5–6).

Obadiah was a believer in the Lord. In spite of Jezebel’s persecution of the Lord’s true prophets, Obadiah had hidden one hundred of them in two caves where they would be safe (verse 4).

Today we would call Obadiah a “secret believer.” Many Christians criticize secret believers for lacking courage and not “standing up” for Jesus (see Matthew 10:32–33). However, under special circumstances, God may direct a Christian to remain silent; in Obadiah’s case, his silence probably enabled him to save the lives of a hundred of God’s prophets. We must be careful not to pass judgment on socalled “secret believers"; they themselves will answer to God for the choices they make (see Romans 14:4).

7–15 Elijah met Obadiah on the road and instructed him to tell Ahab that he (Elijah) had now returned to Israel (verse 8). Obadiah was alarmed: what if the Lord’s Spirit carried Elijah away somewhere while Obadiah was on his way to Ahab;⁹³ then when Elijah couldn’t be found, Ahab would surely punish Obadiah for deceiving him (verse 12). Only after Elijah assured Obadiah that he would appear before Ahab that same day did Obadiah agree to go to Ahab (verse 15).

Elijah on Mount Carmel (18:16–46)

16–19 When Ahab and Elijah met, Ahab called him a troubler of Israel (verse 17). Ahab, no doubt, blamed Elijah for causing the drought; in Ahab’s view, Elijah’s hostile attitude had angered Baal and caused him to withhold the rain for the past three years. But Ahab’s view was wrong, of course; he was the real “troubler" of Israel. It was his promotion of Baal worship that had led the true God of Israel to withhold the rain. The “trouble” in Israel wasn’t the drought; it was Israel’s abandonment of God’s covenant commands (verse 18).

Then Elijah challenged Ahab to a contest to prove once for all which god was the real God of Israel. He told Ahab to summon people from all over Israel to witness the contest (verse 19). And he told Ahab to bring the prophets of Baal and Asherah (1 Kings 14:15; 16:33), who ate at Jezebel’s table.⁹⁴

20–24 When everyone had gathered on Mount Carmel, Elijah told the people that they must no longer waver between two religions, two gods; they had been trying to serve both Baal and the Lord simultaneously, hoping to gain blessings from both. Elijah told them it was impossible to serve both gods; they must choose one or the other (Matthew 6:24; 12:30). There could be many false gods, but there could be only one true God.

Then Elijah gave instructions for the contest: there would be two sacrifices, one offered to Baal and one offered to the Lord. Whichever sacrifice was consumed by fire from heaven would be the one belonging to the true God⁹⁵ (see Leviticus 9:24).

25–29 The prophets of Baal prepared their sacrifice first. All day long they prayed, shouted, and danced around their altar, but there was no response from Baal.

30–35 Then it was Elijah’s turn. He first repaired a ruined altar of the Lord that was there. He used twelve stones to build it up again, one stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel founded by JACOB’S twelve sons. It was to Jacob that the Lord had said, “Your name shall be Israel"⁹⁶ (verse 31). Elijah was clearly indicating that the Lord was the God of all twelve tribes, not just the ten northern tribes.

Elijah dug a trench around the altar; he then placed the sacrifice on the wood and ordered water to be poured over it—such a large amount that the water ran down and filled the trench he had dug (verses 33–34).

36–39 Then Elijah knelt down and said a simple but earnest prayer: he asked the Lord to make it known that He alone was the God of Israel and that Elijah was indeed His servant. Elijah’s prayer was in marked contrast to the frantic shouting of the prophets of Baal.

Then the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer—and how He answered it! Not only did the Lord’s fire burn up the wood and the sacrifice, but it also burned up the stones, the soil, and even the water in the trench! What a difference there was between the silence of Baal and the fiery answer of the Lord. It was Baal who was supposedly the lord of weather, but only God could produce lightning from a cloudless sky. The people were left in no doubt about which god was the true God: they cried, “The LORD—he is God!” (verse 39).

40–44 After the people had acknowledged that the Lord was the true God, Elijah sent them to kill all the prophets of Baal (verse 40). This they did in accordance with the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 13:1–5): it was not enough for the Israelites to simply acknowledge the Lord; they needed to purge the evil from their midst.⁹⁷

Then Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and began to pray. God had assured him that rain would come (verse 1), but Elijah knew he must pray for it as well. It would be at Elijah’s word that God would send the rain (see 1 Kings 17:1 and comment), and so Elijah’s word of prayer went up to God. Now that the people had confessed their faith in God, Elijah could boldly plead with God to end the drought and remove the curse of famine from the land.⁹⁸

The Lord did not answer Elijah’s prayer for rain at once; seven times Elijah prayed, and only then did the answer appear—a tiny cloud rising on the horizon.⁹⁹ Elijah sent his servant to warn Ahab to quickly return to his palace at Jezreel¹⁰⁰ lest his chariot get stuck in the mud or in the quickly filling streams.

45–46 As the rain came down, Ahab rode off in his chariot to Jezreel. Then the power of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot the entire thirty kilometers to Jezreel. It was common for kings to have runners go ahead of their chariots (2 Samuel 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5); perhaps Elijah desired to show respect to Ahab, in hopes that he would set aside his hostility to Elijah and turn back to the Lord. But more likely, Elijah was simply demonstrating to Ahab that he had been empowered by God¹⁰¹ and that Ahab had best stop opposing Him.