The Lord Is God (1 Kings 18:20-46)

Key Verse 18:21 “Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’”

When I was little, I learned about this story through a children’s Bible cartoon. It seemed more dramatic than how it was described in the passage, bit it taught me early on that there is no other god beside God. Elijah had asked to assemble all the prophets on Mount Carmel. He challenged the people by asking them in verse 21, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” The people couldn’t decide which god to follow. They must have gone back and forth between the two. Elijah wanted to put an end to this and make them decide to follow the right one. He asked the Baal prophets to set up an altar, where they would sacrifice a bull, and he would set up another altar to offer a bull to his god. They were both not allowed to light their offering, but instead they had to pray and wait for God or Baal to set it on fire. The prophets agreed and build their altar and prayed, sang, cut themselves, and danced. However, in verse 29b we are told, “But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.” All the prophets’ efforts were in vain. Baal did not set their sacrifice on fire, so Elijah directed the people’s attention toward him and the altar he build for the Lord. He put the wood and bull on it, and asked some people to pour water over the offering three times, which even filled the trench he had put around the altar. We all know that it is impossible to light wet wood. The people who were with Elijah must have thought he was crazy. Elijah continued and asked God to reveal himself to the people and show them that He is God. Of course, God set the sacrifice, wood, stones, and soil on fire, and He also dried up the trench. Verse 39 shows how the people responded to this, “When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord – he is God! The Lord – he is God!’” What else could they have said? God had just clearly revealed Himself and His power to them. Now there was no doubt that the Lord is God. This is not the end of the story. Besides showing the people who He is, God ended the famine in the land by bringing rain, which they hadn’t had for three years. God ended the drought after the people turned back to him. The relationship between God and His people was restored.
These days it is not always easy to know which way to go and see that God is really there. It can be a struggle to believe at times because there are so many other things and people telling us that they are right and know better. However, God may not reveal Himself in form of a fire but through His word and through people around us and events that happen in our lives. Often, when I am not sure if God s there or if the path I am going is the right one, God shows me and assures me that He is there and is leading me His way. Then I have no doubt that He is God and can do all things, even set wood drenched in water on fire.

Hear From Heaven and Forgive

Today’s passage in the Daily Bread was about Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the new temple for God. In verses 23 through 26 Solomon reminds God of the promise He had made to David. It says in verse 25b, “You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.” Solomon was grateful for God’s love and commitment to His people. He knew that Israel was blessed as long as it walked with God. He also knew, though, that the temple was a very small and simple place to contain a god as faithful, great, and powerful as this. The temple was built as a place for God’s name for God and a place for the people to come to God for anything.
In verses 28 through 40, Solomon asks God to hear his people’s prayer in many different situations. He asks God to have His eyes on the temple day and night (29). Nothing is supposed to slip God’s ear, no little prayer, request, or cry. Solomon knows that humans are sinful. He tells God to hear and forgive four times. Solomon was petitioning for his people that God would have mercy on them in time of sin and defeat when they would turn to God and pray. The temple was not just a place of worship, but it was also meant to remind the people that God was there and listened to their every need. Beside hearing and forgiving, Solomon asks God to act. He says in verses 39c and 40, “Deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.” The people needed to fear the Lord. They had to realize that they could not just do what they wanted.
Does this still apply to us? I would have to say yes. God sent Jesus to save and free us from sin, and he even opened the Most Holy Place for everyone to enter to show that we were reconciled with God. Nothing stands between God and us. He dwelled among us in Jesus and now in the Holy Spirit, which means He is everywhere. He is not bound to a temple or church. When we want to pray, we can do that in our room, at the store, in the car, or at work. Verse 29 still applies to us. God has His eyes on each one of us, as we are His temple. He is watching us day and night and is ready to hear from us at any time. God also hears us and has already forgiven us through Jesus death and resurrection. In much sense, we have it much easier than the Israelites did at Solomon’s time. We should make use of this privilege as often as possible. We do not need to be in church to pray, as I said we can pray anywhere we want because God is where we are.
I am grateful that I can come to God at any time and in any place because I would not want to have to wait to go to church to pray there. When I have done something wrong and I realize that, I want to ask for forgiveness right away and not carry that burden and guilt around with me. God knows how weak I am and has made it possible for me to be free from that guilt on the spot only because He gave His only son for me.