1 Kings 18:20-39
Chapter 18
Then Elijah addressed the people and asked: “How long will you follow two ways at the same time? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, then follow him.” The people remained silent.
So Elijah continued: “I am the only prophet of the Lord left here to face Baal’s four hundred and fifty prophets.
Get us two bulls. Let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces, and lay it on the wood, and I will do the same with the other bull. But we will not set it on fire.
Then you shall call on the name of your gods while I shall call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire is the true one.” Then the people answered: “That is right.”
Then Elijah told the prophets of Baal: “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many. Then call on the name of your god lest you are left without fire!”
So they took the bull and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal: “Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered them while they went on, dancing on one foot around the altar they had built.
By noontime, Elijah began to mock them: “Shout out louder. Baal is a busy god, or he may have gone out, or perhaps he has gone on a trip, or he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
So they shouted louder, gashing their skin with knives, as they are used to doing, until they bled.
It was already past noon, and they were still raving on until the time of the evening offering. But still, there was no voice. No one answered or gave a sign of life.
Then Elijah said to the people: “Draw closer to me!” The people drew closer to him. He then repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been thrown down.
He took twelve stones corresponding to the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob whom the Lord had addressed, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
With these stones, he built an altar to the Name of the Lord and dug a trench around it containing about thirty liters.
He then arranged the firewood, cut the bull into pieces, and laid them on the wood. Then, he said: “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and the firewood.”
He said: “Do it again.” And they did it again. “One more time.” And they did it a third time.
The water ran around the altar and filled the trench.
When the time of the evening offering came, Elijah, the prophet, came near and said:“O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel; and that I am your servant, doing all these things at your command.
Answer me, O Lord, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God; and that you are turning back their hearts to you.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, together with the wood, the stones, and the dust; the water also dried up in the trench.
All the people witnessed this. Then they fell on their faces and said: “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”
Commentaries
God’s Judgment on Mount Carmel.
Baal was considered the god of rain and, therefore, the protector of fertility and successful harvests. Elijah challenges Baalism directly, attributing to the Lord the same titles and actions that the idol-worshipers ascribe to Baal. This was part of a major effort to defend the Yahwist faith from collapse. The showdown between Elijah and Baal reaches its dramatic climax on Mount Carmel’s summit, where the futility of Baal and the power of the Lord are made clear. Elijah boldly faces the truth and urges the people to choose sides. You can’t serve both Baal and the Lord simultaneously, nor can you have a divided heart. He orders the prophets of Baal to be seized and executed at the brook Kishon. From the eastern peak of Mount Carmel, where the story suggests the event occurred, the Mediterranean Sea is visible on the distant horizon, the only source of clouds and rain in the Syrian-Palestinian area. After seven tries, Elijah’s servant finally spots a small cloud, signaling that the drought has ended.