“How Long Will You Falter Between Two Opinions?” 1Kings 18:21

Elijah on Mt Carmel This is the question posed to the nation of Israel by one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. Since the split between Israel and Judah, Israel had gotten progressively worse and worse. At the time of our study today, Ahab was king of Israel He was the 7th king to reign in Israel and the most wicked so far. Because of the wickedness of Ahab, his wife Jezebel and Israel, God brought a 3 ½ year drought on the land.

Elijah on Mt Carmel Ahab as is typical of many people was blaming someone else for the problems Israel was facing because of the drought. Instead of accepting the blame himself, he blamed Elijah for the problems they were having. We have the story of Elijah meeting with Ahab near the end of this drought in 1Kings 18 1Ki 18:17 ¶ Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that you, O troubler of Israel?"

Elijah on Mt Carmel 1Ki 18:18 And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals. 19 "Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." 20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.

Elijah on Mt Carmel 21 ¶ And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Elijah on Mt Carmel 23 "Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 "Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."

Elijah on Mt Carmel 25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." 26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.

Elijah on Mt Carmel 27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

Elijah on Mt Carmel 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

Elijah on Mt Carmel 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name." 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.

Elijah on Mt Carmel 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood." 34 Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time; and he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.

Elijah on Mt Carmel 36 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. 37 "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."

Elijah on Mt Carmel 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" 40 And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!" So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.

Elijah on Mt Carmel What an amazing miracle performed by God! God once again demonstrates His power over the so called gods created in the minds of men. Baal was supposed to be the sun god. Their god of the sun was not even able to bring a single spark fire to the sacrifice they offered. God on the other hand brought a supernatural fire in order to consume the sacrifice offered by Elijah.

Elijah on Mt Carmel Natural fire burns upward. Anyone who has ever built a fire knows you light it from the bottom. Notice the order in which Elijah’s sacrifice was consumed 1Ki 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

Elijah on Mt Carmel It was consumed from top to bottom, not bottom to top. Just like with the plagues in Egypt God once again has demonstrated his superiority over the false gods created by men. You would think with all of the evidence God had presented to the Israelites since they had come up out of Egypt that there would be no question which God they would serve.

Elijah on Mt Carmel God wanted them to make up their mind! One way or another, who are you going to serve? They were not going to be able to serve both It had to be one or the other. Joshua had presented them with a similar challenge years earlier.

Elijah on Mt Carmel Jos 24:15 ¶ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua wanted them to make up their minds about who they would serve. It was not going to be acceptable to God to try to serve Him and these false gods at the same time.

We Can’t Serve 2 Masters Jesus taught the very same principle. We need to make up our minds who we will serve. Is it going to be God or some other god we have created. Lu 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. “Mammon” is just another word for wealth. The principle taught here is that we cannot have 2 masters. Either God is our master or He isn’t.

We Can’t Serve 2 Masters We can’t be God’s servant and let our pursuit of wealth rule our life. We can’t be God’s servant and let alcohol or drugs rule our life. We can’t be God’s servant and let our desire to be liked by others rule our life. We can’t be God’s servant and let our love of other people rule our life. We can’t be God’s servant and allow anything besides the Word of God rule our life.

We Can’t Serve 2 Masters A lot of people claim to be servants of God. How do I really know if I am His servant? Paul gives us the answer to that question. Ro 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? What a simple answer that is! I am the slave of the one I obey!

We Can’t Serve 2 Masters If I am going disobey God in order to make others like me then I am a slave to what others think of me. If I am going to disobey God and submit to my desire for alcohol or drugs then I am a slave to them. If I am going to disobey God in order to chase after wealth then I am a slave to my own greed. If I am going to disobey God to please someone I love then I am a slave to that relationship. Nothing can be more important to us than serving God!

Conclusion All of us need to ask ourselves “who do I serve?” Am I a servant of sin or a servant of the Most High God? It can’t be both! It is time to choose. Hopefully all of us will make the same choice that Joshua made. Joshua 24:15 … but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD