The Story of Elijah

This past week in our storytelling group, we were each to prepare a story from the Old Testament. We could pick any story we wanted to... just to get the ball rolling for us to practice storytelling in general. I chose the story of Elijah. Partly because I went to the top of Mount Carmel when we were in Israel last May, so I've seen the place where this happend. But also partly because when I was studying James a few weeks ago, he referred to Elijah as an example of someone who prayed with results.

James 5: 16b-18 says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops began to grow again."

So, I was intrigued. I cross-referenced my way back to the story in the Old Testament and was enamoured with it as though it were a page turner. Here's my "storyteller's version" for you.

When King Ahab was king of Israel’s northern kingdom—which was full of God’s people, he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord than any of the other kings before him.” What did he do, you might ask? Well, God had given His people a command, “You shall have no other gods before Me” and “you shall not make any idol or likeness to worship or serve because I am a jealous God and I show will show mercy to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

But King Ahab didn’t keep these commands. Instead, he married Jezebel (who wasn’t one of God’s people) and began to worship Baal (Jezebel’s god). He built a temple and altar for Baal and he set up places of worship and sacrifice to this false god. He led all of God’s people into a state of rebellion from God, and led them to worship Baal as he instructed. He really distracted God’s people from worshipping Him.

So what does God do? Well, without much fanfare or announcement, the prophet Elijah bursts upon the scene and, per God’s instruction, predicts a severe drought will come during the reign of King Ahab. Elijah goes to the King and says, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel lives—the God whom I worship and serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years unless I give the word!”

The no rain thing had a two-fold purpose: 1) a consequence/punishment for disobedience to God (by worshipping other gods), and 2) it was an exercise in redirecting the Israelites’ heart and focus on God.

Elijah prayed for no rain… for so long… and when the people’s attention was assuredly gained, he goes out to meet King Ahab. When the King sees Elijah, he says, “So it’s you, is it?—Israel’s troublemaker?” But Elijah replies “I have made no trouble for Israel. You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshipped the images of Baal instead.”

Elijah says to the King, come, I challenge you to a test to determine once and for all which god is the real god. When all the people were assembled on Mt. Carmel, Elijah addresses the crowd saying, “How long are you going to waver between 2 opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal is god, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent. The sting of the truth shut them up for a moment.

Then Elijah sets the scene for the dual. There will be 2 sacrifices. One prepared for Baal, and one for God. Each group will call to their god asking him to consume his sacrifice. And the God who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God! So the 450 prophets of Baal called to their god all day, all the way until evening, but nothing happened. The sacrifice of the prophets of Baal did not produce a result.

Now it was Elijah’s turn (1 prophet to their 450). As he prepared the sacrifice, he even drenched it with water to make it even more difficult for a fire to start and he dug a trench around it and filled it with water too. Then Elijah prayed “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, prove today that you are God and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this AT YOUR COMMAND. Oh Lord, answer me! Answer me SO THAT these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

In a fire-y display of power and majesty, God consumes the offering of Elijah’s sacrifice, proving to the on-looking nation that He alone is Lord God. Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull (the sacrifice), the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the ditch.

When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried out, ‘The Lord is God! The Lord is God!” THAT is the result that God desired from Elijah’s prayers. God had wanted His people to return their affection to Him. Having done so, Elijah immediately went and fell on his face praying that God would now release the rains on Israel. And He did. Now that God had regained the focus of His people, He allowed the rains to return. And the people knew it was by His hand. The grass turned green and all the crops began to grow again. And the people worshipped God once again.