All These Things at God’s Word

And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” (1 Kings 18:36-37)

It was one of the most dramatic scenes of the Old Testament. Elijah, the faithful prophet of God who had stopped the rain from the northern kingdom of Israel for some three years, stood before gathered representatives of the kingdom to make a great demonstration. He had challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel: “My God against your god.” He proposed that they each build an altar on a prominent hill, sacrifice an animal on the altar, and pray to each deity to consume the sacrifice by fire from heaven. The onlooking multitude would thereby know whose God was real and powerful.

In this proposed test, Elijah was careful to give the prophets of Baal every potential advantage. He allowed them to pick their preferred bull for sacrifice. He allowed them to go first. And he fought the battle on their own ground, because it was thought that Baal was the sky-god, lord of the weather and the sender of lightning (thought to be fire from the sky). If Baal were real, he certainly could send fire from heaven.

It took a lot of faith for Elijah to put God and himself on the line before the gathered nation of Israel. Elijah learned this faith over the many months of daily dependence on God, both at the Brook Cherith and at the widow’s house at Zarephath.

He let the prophets of Baal go first and they failed miserably. They prayed, they danced, they screamed, they even practiced self-mutilation to please their grotesque god. Elijah sat by until they exhausted every effort, then he drew the nation to his altar. When he set up his altar he asked them to soak the sacrifice and the stones so no one would think that the fire was a magician’s trick. Elijah’s explanation in these verses tells us why he was willing to stack the deck against God.

First, we are told that he did this “at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice.” Some 50 years before this, Jeroboam the King of Israel officially disassociated the citizens of the northern kingdom from the worship of the God of Israel at the temple in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Elijah still remembered the evening sacrifice that was offered according to God’s commandment every day at the temple in Jerusalem.

Then he said to the people: “Let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant.” Both were important. It was important for the people of Israel to know who their God was, and who God’s servant was. They needed to know that Elijah was the servant of the true God and the prophets of Baal were not.

Then Elijah said some of the most important words in the entire passage: “And that I have done all these things at Your word.” This was essential and helps us to understand the whole event. We think of the prophet of God making such a big step of faith – of putting God’s honor and his own on the line. If the fire did not fall, then Yahweh would be just as discredited as Baal. Yet these words of Elijah tell us that he did all of this according to the word of God. It wasn’t prompted because of his own cleverness, presumption, or vainglory. God led Elijah to this showdown with the prophets of Baal.

You can figure out how it ended: the fire fell, God was glorified, and His servant was vindicated. Elijah knew he could stack the deck against God because he knew he was doing what God commanded him to do.

In our life, we aren’t always as confident about the will or voice of God as Elijah was. But when we do know that God has spoken His word to us, we can have the same confidence of Elijah. We can go to God’s throne in heaven through prayer and say, “I have done all these things at Your word.” That is the place of confidence and power before God.

Based on The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.