1 Kings 18 Study Notes

18:20-21 From the course of events, we can see that some of the worshipers of Baal really believed in the power of their deity and that many who should have followed the Lord did not have much faith. Therefore, for many of the observers, this was a genuine open-ended power encounter to discover which deity was stronger.

18:22-25 Elijah proposed the terms of the test: whichever god miraculously ignited and burned his sacrifice would prove to be the true deity who was worthy of the people’s allegiance. Since Baal was the storm god, his followers believed he could answer with fire (lightning). But this encounter would show which deity really controlled the weather and provided what the people needed. At the same time, it would show who was a destroyer of Israel, rebellious Ahab or the Lord’s prophet Elijah.

18:26 The priests of Baal entered into the contest with great zeal. Their dancing may have imitated the steps of a lame person, since it uses the same Hebrew word as the one describing Mephibosheth (2Sm 4:4). Perhaps they danced this way as a result of their self-inflicted injuries (1Kg 18:28).

18:27 The Hebrew original possibly indicates that Elijah ridiculed Baal for relieving himself. Reducing deities to any level of human behavior is an insult; therefore, any suggestion that Baal was drawn away to perform a creaturely necessity was a poignant blow by Elijah.

18:28-29 The fanatical zeal of the priests of Baal led them to cut themselves. Some suggest that this self-inflicted pain may have been aimed at gaining the pity of the other gods so they would release Baal from his mythological death and thus bring rain. If this is true, these Baal worshipers were vicariously suffering pain for their god.

18:30-32 These verses draw on powerful symbols and names from the past—twelve stones for the twelve tribes, and Israel, the name that the Lord, the God of their covenant, had given them.

18:33-35 Elijah took steps to avoid any appearance of trickery or fraud. If his God could get a drenching wet sacrifice to burn, he was God indeed.

18:36-39 Elijah’s prayer was a powerful statement of the theology of God’s great works. Just as the temple singers declared God’s great works so the world could know God (Ps 66:3-4), Elijah prayed for a miraculous sign so this people would know that you, the Lord, are God. The simplicity of Elijah’s procedure is impressive. The prophet prayed, and the sacrifice was miraculously burned.

18:40 Elijah executed God’s judgment on the false prophets that Moses commanded in Dt 13:5,13-18; 17:2-5. This was the law for the covenant community, God’s holy nation.

18:41-46 Two final miraculous events on this day were: (1) the coming of the rain as a result of Elijah’s prayer, and (2) Elijah’s supernatural strength in leaving the scene and passing Ahab’s chariot before the storm. Typically, the act of preceding the king’s chariot could have been a friendly overture. It was an act of honor to the king and an honor to the runner to be permitted to run before the king. But if this was Elijah’s intent, it was lost on Ahab and Jezebel.