1 Kings 18:36

36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command.

1 Kings 18:36 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:36

And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the
evening sacrifice
Which the people of God at Jerusalem were now attending to:

that Elijah the prophet came near;
to the altar he had built, and on which he had laid the sacrifice:

and said;
in prayer to God:

Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
the covenant God of the ancestors of his people, though they had now so fully departed from him:

let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel;
and that there is no other:

and that I am thy servant;
a true worshipper of him, and his faithful prophet and minister:

and that I have done all these things at thy word;
restrained rain from the earth for some years past, and now had convened Israel, and the false prophets, together, that by a visible sign from heaven it might be known who was the true God; all which he did not of himself, but by the impulse, direction, and, commandment of the Lord.

1 Kings 18:36 In-Context

34 After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said,

35 and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.

36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command.

37 O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

38 Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench!

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew and Israel. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.