Today's lesson comes from 1 Kings 18: 30-40. After three years of drought, the Lord instructs Elijah to return to Israel and face Ahab. To set the scene, four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal had assembled on Mount Carmel with Elijah, wicked king Ahab, and the people of Israel. The issue was, "Who is the true God?" Both groups were to build their own altar, prepare a sacrifice, and to call upon their god. The one that answered by fire was proved to be the true God. Baal's prophets prayed to be their god from morning till the middle of the afternoon, but all was in vain. The passage opens with Elijah's preparing the altar of the Lord. Elijah's prayer was not lengthy (only sixty-three words), but it certainly was effectual. The spiritual revival in Israel also bought a revival of life-giving rain. God desires to pour out His "rain" upon His people, if they will meet the conditions and earnestly pray. God will send the fire, even today, if we will seek Him with our whole hearts.
The first section is "An Altar Prepared" vv. 30-35. Elijah spoke to the people, but not the idolatrous priests, when he said "Come near into me." He left those priests to continue wasting their time with useless prayers to idols. The people had ben watching the priests of Baal all day, but now it was Elijah's time. First, he prepared the altar. It was an act of restoring the religion and worship of Yahweh, the true God of Israel. The altar was a place of special significance. It was the place where sins were forgiven. The altar stands for pardon and is a symbol of regeneration. Elijah knew the altar had to be repaired and be built in the name of the Lord. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel. This was not Elijah's altar, it was the Lord's altar. After the repair, Elijah "made a trench" around the altar and three times had it filled with water. There would be no hidden fire or other trick to deceive the people. This would be God's miracle in sending the fire. A total of twelve barrels of water were poured on the sacrifice. The wood was throughly saturated. Idolatrous priests were known to set fire in the wood of their sacrifices from hollow places concealed beneath the altars. There would be no deceptions with the altar built by Elijah.
Several spiritual principles in this first section. The altar had to be in good repair. People seeking the sanctifying fullness of the Holy Ghost must make sure their born again experience is up to date and not broken or in need of repair. Candidates for entire sanctification must be saved with no sin in their lives. Elijah piled the wood the way the law demanded. It is the same with us. We are to do what God demands in His Word, not just in general terms, but exactly as He has instructed us in the Scriptures. Finally, our work for the Lord should be conducted in a way that men will clearly see that all the power is from God.
The second section is "The Lord, He is God" vv. 36-40. Elijah wanted the people know who was the true God. He said a very brief prayer. A long prayer with words was not necessary because he had met all the necessary conditions. All was in order, and now all that was needed was to make his desire known. "Then the fire of the Lord fell." (verse 38) The people saw the fire descend, and saw clearly that there was no trickery. They knew God had answered. Everything was completely consumed by the fire. Even the water was consumed. The miracle compelled the people to cry out, "The Lord, He is God."
The miracle had a great spiritual meaning. In the human soul there are many characteristics that are dark. There are stones of pride, self-will, envy, hatred, peevishness, unteachableness, the get-even spirit, lust, jealousy, anger, etc. There are many cultural forces that try to deal with these dark stones in the human heart, but they all fail. Law, refinement, education, training, and resolutions have all been tried but they fail to remove the stones. The only power to remove those carnal stones is the power of the Holy Ghost in entire sanctification. The Holy Spirit fills the heart and burns up those dark traits just like the fire consumed the altar in this passage.
The effect was immediate. "When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces." They cried out, "The Lord, He is God." Elijah urged them to act on their convictions., and put an end to idol worship. Elijah took all the false prophets and slew them. Not only must people turn from idolatry, but the source of the idolatry must be destroyed. In our day, this could be the television, movies, the Internet for non legitimate purposes, or anything else that causes you to serve anything but the Lord. If the false prophets had been allowed to live, they could have enticed the people back to serve idols. They had to be destroyed. The same is true today. While we do not destroy people today, we can eliminate evil influences from our lives.
The destruction of the prophets of Baal was merciful, and not an act of cruelty. It was merciful in that it protected the nation of Israel and the multitude of people from the evil influence of the prophets. Idolatry was not just religious error, it was a direct defiance against God. God still answers by fire today when He sanctifies a soul. Do you know this fire?
The Golden Text is "And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down...they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord." (2 Chronicles 7:3) I love the old hymn, "I never will forget how the fire fell." today, I encourage you if you know you have not been entirely sanctified, find a church that believes in the old paths of holiness and pray clear through and get on the highway of holiness.
My summary points:
1. We are to be obedient to all the light we have. Never disobey God.
2. Carnality is only destroyed through entire sanctification.
3. God still answers by fire today.
Don't forget to read the Sunday School Beacon for encouragement and inspiration.
Next week, "Elijah Translated" 2 Kings 2: 5-15.
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