Obadiah having delivered his message, King Ahab went to meet the prophet and at once charges him with being the troubler of Israel. The land may be filled with idols and idol temples; idol groves and idolatrous altars, served by idolatrous priests, may stand on every side; the people may have forsaken the Lord and followed Baalim; the king may be the leader in apostasy, and his wife a heathen murderess; these accumulated evils are no trouble to the king. But is there a drought in the land, and a famine in Samaria which interferes with his pleasures and endangers his stud?—then indeed it is a grievous trouble, and the man at whose words the heavens are shut is, in the sight of the king, a troubler. In touch with the power of the living God, Elijah may raise the dead and command the rain; but does he denounce sin and warn the sinner?—then forthwith he is a troubler.
The presence of the man who lays sin upon the conscience and brings the sinner into the presence of God, is ever troublesome in this world. At the coming of Christ Himself into the world, Herod " was troubled and all Jerusalem with him." And in a still later day, Paul and his companions were looked upon as troublers, for the enraged citizens of Philippi could say, " These men... do exceedingly trouble our city."
The worldly Christian will not be viewed as a troubler, even as Obadiah, in his day, so far from being a troubler, was looked upon as an extremely useful member of society and accordingly made governor of the king's household. It is the man of God as he stands apart from the course of this world—while witnessing to its evil and warning of coming judgment—who will ever be a troubler, even though he proclaims grace and points the way of blessing.
With great boldness and plainness of speech the prophet throws the charge back upon the king, " I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house." In faithfulness he explains how they have done so, and brings home Ahab's personal sin: " Ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim."
Having charged him with his sins, he shows the king there is but one possible way to end the famine and reach the day when the Lord will send rain upon the earth. The sin that has brought the judgment must be dealt with in judgment. To this end Ahab is told to gather all Israel to Carmel, together with the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. All that have been concerned in this great sin must be present. The leaders and the led are to gather to Carmel. No privileges that any may enjoy, no position, however exalted, they may fill, will be allowed as a plea for absence. Those who feast at the royal table, and those who minister to Baal, must be present with all the people.
Even the abandoned king realizes the desperate condition of the land, and hence, without further remonstrance, he carries out Elijah's demand. All Israel and all the idolatrous prophets are gathered to Carmel.
This great host having assembled, Elijah came forth and addresses himself " unto all the people." He makes three distinct' appeals. First he seeks to arouse the conscience of the people. He says, " How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him."
The audience in whose hearing Elijah makes this powerful appeal was composed of a degraded king, a corrupt company of prophets, and a fashionable crowd of undecided triflers. Passing by the king and prophets, Elijah speaks directly to the people. The king was the leader in apostasy, and already had been charged with his sins. The prophets of Baal were the avowed opponents of God, and were about to be exposed and judged. But the vast mass of the people were undecided, halting between two opinions. By profession they were the people of Jehovah, by practice they were the worshippers of Baal. Appealing to their conscience, he says, " How long halt ye between two opinions?"
Today we are faced with the representatives of these three classes. There are the leaders in apostasy; men who have made an outward profession of Christianity, but who deny the Lord that bought them, and have turned back to their wallowing in the mire. Then there are an increasing number in Christendom who make no profession of Christianity, who zealously propagate their false religious systems, and are the avowed enemies of God the Father and God the Son. But there is another class, the vast mass of nominal Christians who "halt between two opinions." Alas, they have no personal faith in Christ, nothing but "opinions." With them, God and His word, Christ and His cross, time and eternity, heaven and hell, are merely matters of opinion—opinions that result in no settled convictions, for in regard to these solemn realities they have "TWO opinions." They would not oppose Christ, but they will not confess Christ. They have no wish to fall out with God, but they would fain keep in with the world. They would like to escape the judgment of sin, but they are bent upon enjoying the pleasures of sin. They would like to die as saints, but they prefer to live as sinners. At times they will talk of morality, discuss social and religious problems, or join in theological controversies. But they carefully evade all personal dealing with God, decision for Christ, and confession of His Name. They halt, they hesitate, they procrastinate, they practically say, " Some day we will turn to Christ, but not yet; some day we will be saved, but not yet; some day we will face our sins, but not yet."
Let such pay heed to Elijah's conscience-reaching question, " How long?" How long will sinners leave unsettled the great question of their soul's eternal destiny? How long will they waste their lives, play with sin, neglect salvation, and trifle with God? Let such remember that God has an answer to this question as well as men, and that God's disposals are usually very different to man's proposals. The rich man of the Gospel story proposed to answer this question according to his thoughts, and God called him a fool for his pains. " How long shall I live?" said he. And for answer he promised himself " many years." But very different was God's answer, " This night thy soul shall be required of thee."
This solemn question " How long?" brooks no delay. True the grace of God is without limit, but the day of grace wears to its end. For long centuries the sunlight of grace has shone upon this guilty world; now the shadows lengthen and the night draws on. The sun of grace is setting amidst the gathering clouds of judgment. Let triflers beware lest when God says " How long?" men halt too long, only to hear at last those terrible words, " Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all My counsel, and would none of My reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me " (Prov. 1:24-2824Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: (Proverbs 1:24‑28)).
In Elijah's day men were silenced by this appeal. They " answered him not a word." Every mouth was stopped. They stood before the prophet a silent, conscience-stricken, self-condemned people.
Having convicted the people of their sin, the prophet makes his second appeal. He reminds the nation that he alone is the prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. How evil the time when there is but one true prophet to stand against four hundred and fifty false ones. There were indeed seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, nevertheless there was only one man left to witness for the Lord. It is good to refuse to acknowledge Baal, but there is a vast difference between not bowing down in worship to Baal and standing up to witness for the Lord. Obadiah may fear the Lord greatly, but his unhallowed association has closed his mouth. We hear no word of him on Carmel. The fear of God may lead seven thousand to mourn before God in secret, but the fear of man withholds them from witnessing for God in public. In all that great company the prophet stood alone. And let us not forget that with all his holy boldness, he was a man of like passions with ourselves. The living God before whom he stood was the source of his power.
Alone though he be, Elijah does not hesitate to challenge the crowd of false prophets. He has rebuked the king; he has convicted the nation of trifling indecision; he will now expose the folly of these false prophets and the vanity of their gods. Who is the God of Israel? is the momentous question. Elijah boldly proposes that this great question shall be submitted to the trial by fire. " The God that answereth by fire, let him be God." The appeal is to God. The decision shall not rest with the solitary prophet of the Lord or the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. It shall be no question of man's reasonings or of the opinion of one man against four hundred and fifty. God shall decide. The prophets of Baal shall prepare one altar, Elijah shall rebuild the altar of the Lord, and the God that answereth by fire shall be God.
This appeal to reason meets with the immediate and unanimous approval of Israel: " All the people answered and said, It is well spoken." The prophets of Baal are silent, but in the face of the people's approval they cannot evade the issue. They prepare their altar, dress their bullock, and call upon their god. From morning until noon they cry to Baal. It was in vain, there was no voice nor any that answered. Until mid-day Elijah is a silent witness of their futile efforts; then at length, for the first and only time, he speaks to these false prophets, and now it is only to mock them. Lashed by the scorn of Elijah they redouble their efforts. For three hours longer—from noon until the time of the evening sacrifice—they cry aloud and cut themselves with knives until the blood gushed out. Still it is all in vain, " There was neither voice nor any to answer, nor any that regarded."
The discomfiture of the false prophets being complete, Elijah makes his third appeal to the people. He has spoken to their conscience, he has appealed to their reason, now he will speak to their hearts. He gathers them around him with the gracious invitation, " Come near unto me." In response " all the people come near unto him." In silence they watch the prophet as he repairs the altar of the Lord. Having thrown down the altar of Baal, he sets up the altar of the Lord. It is not enough to expose the false; the truth must be upheld.
To maintain the truth he builds his altar with twelve stones. In spite of the divided state of the nation, faith recognizes the unity of the twelve tribes. Every tribe must be represented in the altar of the Lord. Faith sees that the day is coming when idolatry will be judged and the nation will be one, with God in the midst. Such is the word of the Lord by Ezekiel: " Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation upon the mountains of Israel; and one King shall be king to them all: and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols... but I will save them... and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people and I will be their God " (Ezek. 37:21-2321And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 37:21‑23)).
The altar erected, the victim laid thereon, all being thrice drenched with water, and the time of the evening sacrifice being come, the prophet turns to God in prayer. In his prayer, Elijah makes nothing of himself but everything of God. He seeks no place for himself; he has no desire to exalt himself before the people; he would be known only as a servant carrying out the commands of the Lord. His one desire is that God may be glorified. To this end he would have all the people know that Jehovah is God; that Jehovah is doing " all these things "; that Jehovah is speaking to their heart to turn the people back to himself.
The prayer of Elijah receives an immediate answer: " The fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice." How wonderful is this scene. A holy God who must deal with all evil by the consuming fire of judgment, and a guilty nation steeped in the evil which the holy God must judge. Surely the fire of the Lord must fall, and equally surely, the nation must be consumed. How can they escape? How are their hearts to be turned back to the Lord? Here is an issue that no fervent prayer of a righteous man can meet. If the guilty nation is to be spared, then the altar must be built, and a sacrifice provided that will represent the guilty nation under the eye of God and on which the judgment they have merited can fall. And thus it came to pass, for we read, " The fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice." The judgment falls upon the victim, the nation goes free.
"And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, " The Lord He is the God; the Lord He is the God." In the marvelous provision of the sacrifice, the righteousness of God finds a way whereby justice is satisfied, judgment is borne, and the heart of the nation is won.
Who can fail to trace in this scene a bright foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, when, by the eternal Spirit, He offered Himself without spot to God? Yet, withal, it has its striking contrasts, for while on Carmel the fire of judgment consumed the burnt sacrifice, at Calvary, may we not say, the sacrifice consumed the fire of judgment. Similarly, the Jewish sacrifices were oft repeated and could never take away sins. In their case the judgment was always greater than the sacrifice, but at Calvary One is found Who, as the Sacrifice, is greater than the judgment. There the storm of judgment that was over our heads burst on His head, and was spent; the judgment He bore He exhausted. Resurrection is the everlasting proof of this. He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.
But what will all this avail unless by faith we see it? " When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces " and worshipped. In our case, too, faith's sight of the dead and risen Christ will bow our hearts in worship. The very sacrifice by which God has cleared His people from all judgment has so manifested His love that He has won our hearts. " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Truly we may say of God's people today, He has " turned their heart back again," and, like Israel, there is nothing left for His people but to fall on their faces in adoring worship.