1 Kings 18:39, commentary and pictures

On Carmel fire fell from heaven in answer to Elijah's simple prayer and consumed the sacrifice with wood, stones, dust and the water in the trench, and when the people saw it they fell prostrate in awe and with one voice acknowledged that Jehovah is the true and living God. The blazing display vindicated God's dishonored name, proved Him superior to every idol, exposed the deception of Baal worship, and confirmed Elijah as His chosen messenger. Israel was aroused and penitent, seeing its sin and turning against the false prophets, and that confession marked the end of apostasy and prepared the way for drought to be withdrawn in rain. The impression did not bring lasting reform, and even after so signal a triumph Elijah's faith faltered before Jezebel's threats, showing that courage will fail unless God's servants constantly make Him their refuge and strength. To acknowledge the Lord as God means to obey all His commandments, for God still brings matters to a crisis that He may reveal Himself, vindicate His people, and call sinners convicted by a clear revelation of Him to stand wholly on His side.

Carmel Fire and Setting

The cry came in answer to Elijah's prayer, when fire from heaven fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice with the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water in the trench. It was the turning of hearts back to God after Israel's apostasy and the breaking down of the Lord's altar. The blaze that consumed even the stones illumined the mountain and dazzled the multitude. It was clearly seen by watchers in the valleys below and recalled the pillar of fire at the Red Sea.

Elijah stood there before the whole nation as the sole witness to the true God. He stood against King Ahab and the 450 prophets of Baal, and the false prophets were slain. Behind him lay a heavy burden for Israel, faithful warnings against national idolatry, and three and a half years of famine spent watching and waiting for repentance.

He stood there by God's commission and under God's direction. He was a preacher of righteousness guided by the Holy Spirit. His commission to confront Baal worship on Carmel belonged to a sequence of divine sendings to the brook Cherith, then to the widow of Sarepta, then to Carmel, and afterward to guide the king's chariot to the gate of Jezreel. That standing by commission contrasts with his later flight into the wilderness.

In the presence of the king and thousands of Israel he offered a simple prayer, and in answer fire flashed from heaven and kindled the fire upon the altar of sacrifice. The triumph over king, priests, and people came through wonderful exhibitions of God's power that day. The public and decisive proof that Jehovah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is God was so plain that Ahab himself related it to Jezebel, including that Elijah had slain the prophets of Baal. Those slain are numbered as eight hundred and fifty priests of Baal, upon whom Elijah with his own hand executed the judgment of God.

Awe and United Confession

When all the people saw the answer by fire they fell on their faces on the earth, prostrate in worship before the unseen God. They lay in terror and awe, daring not to keep looking on the bright heaven-sent fire for fear they themselves would be consumed in their apostasy and sins. The fire that called forth this fear had consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water in the trench.

With one voice they loudly declared that the LORD, He is God. They extolled the God of Abraham and gave glory to the God of Israel, publicly acknowledging Him as the true and living God. Convicted of their duty to acknowledge Him as the God of their fathers to whom they owed allegiance, they confessed together that Jehovah alone is God. Their hearts were touched and softened by this display of divine power answering Elijah's prayer.

Their united outcry resounded over the mountain and echoed to the plains below with terrible distinctness.

Conviction and Divine Vindication

The sight of fire from heaven left Israel at last aroused, undeceived and penitent, with hearts touched and softened by the display of divine power. The people saw the awful deception practiced upon them by the false prophets, saw their own sin and how greatly they had dishonored God, and their anger was turned against the prophets of Baal. They stood ready to obey Elijah's command to seize those who had deluded them.

They recognized God's justice and mercy in withholding dew and rain until they were brought to confess His name, and they were now ready to admit that the God of Elijah is above every idol. The character of Baal worship stood fully exposed in contrast with the reasonable service required by the true God. The display vindicated the honor of His name which idolatrous worship had dishonored, and confirmed His counsels before men. It proved Jehovah to be the true God and Elijah to be His chosen messenger, and showed what follows when one man stands wholly for God and His work. The priests of Baal, by contrast, with hardened hearts refused to be convinced and showed themselves ripe for destruction.

The contest on Carmel was won through faith, and through the power of faith idolatry was cast down and the people turned to the Lord. Devoted faith and pleading with God in answer to prayer can bring a public display of His power, as God answers the prayer of faith and reveals Himself.

Aftermath and Elijah's Course

The people's cry that the Lord is God was their confession of sin and return to the God of their fathers, marking the end of apostasy and preparing for the curse of drought to be withdrawn so that God could again bless them with dew and rain. The contest on Carmel was won through faith and idolatry was overthrown, and the rain that followed testified to the showers of blessing waiting to be poured upon Israel. Through the power of faith the people were turned to the Lord after three and a half years of famine, and that blessed rain stood as the pledge of what God would do for a repentant nation.

Their response marked a deep stirring in Israel and the beginning of a return to the worship of God. The reformation thus begun led many to inquire after God, and the altars of Baal were gradually forsaken.

Yet the strong impression made by God's display of power and by the judgment on the idolatrous prophets did not bring lasting reform. Jezebel remained defiant, and Elijah, who had hoped much from the miracle before the king and the people, wrongly expected her influence over Ahab to end and Israel to reform quickly, and he was disappointed in the results.

Even after that public demonstration and signal triumph, which opened the way for greater victories, weakness and fear can follow great spiritual triumph. Elijah fled from Jezebel's threats, his faith failed in weariness, and that failure cut short his life-work and turned him from the greater opportunities set before him.

However bold and successful and courageous in doing a special work, unless God's people constantly look to God, continue in confidence in the work He has given them, and make Him their refuge and strength, circumstances will arise to test faith and courage and faith will be lost. The wonderful revelation of power in defeating the prophets of Baal was given to brace Elijah to do God's work and meet trial, and he should have known he had done the divine will and have stood steadfast and immovable for the truth instead of losing his hold on God and fleeing without being sent.

The signal triumph, given in answer to his simple prayer offered in the presence of the king and the thousands of Israel when fire flashed from heaven and kindled the altar, humiliated Ahab before his subjects. It was followed by Elijah executing God's judgment with his own hand in slaying the 850 priests of Baal, after standing against Ahab and the 450 prophets of Baal by God's commission. That commission belonged to a sequence of divine sendings to the brook Cherith, then to the widow of Sarepta, then to confront Baal worship on Carmel, and afterward to be girded with strength to guide the king's chariot. Even after the triumph he still acknowledged wicked Ahab as Israel's king and, strengthened by the power of God, willingly performed the menial service of running before the royal chariot to the gate of Jezreel to guide him, giving a lesson against exaltation and refusal of humble duty after great spiritual honor, and then by the same power bringing clouds and rain after three years of shut heaven.

Straight from the confession Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and cast himself down upon the earth with his face between his knees. His prayer for rain was strong and earnest, offered in a painful humiliating bowed position. His faith was sorely tried, but he continued in earnest prayer until rewarded by tokens of rain.

Doctrine and Present Application

To declare that the Lord, He is God means that all His commandments are to be strictly obeyed. No soul who continues in transgression and sin will be vindicated. Truth practiced in the life, in words and in actions, is the test by which every person is to be judged.

The verse shows God's manner of working from age to age. He permits matters to come to a crisis so that His interference becomes marked, then reveals Himself and interposes to hinder the working out of Satan's plans. By this He makes manifest that there is a God in Israel who will maintain His law and vindicate His people. He works in the same way with nations, with families, and with individuals.

The fire consuming Elijah's offering was later recalled when James and John suggested calling down fire on the Samaritans who rejected Jesus. Jesus rebuked them, showing that Elijah's judgment on false prophets was no warrant for destroying people who refused to receive Him. The confession that the Lord is the true God stands as a contrast to false worship that in different forms persists in the Christian world. The same response comes when living truth is presented and a clear revelation of God is seen: sinners tremble with conviction and resolve to be wholly on the Lord's side.

Elijah's work gives courage to those who stand for what is right amid apostasy, in a time of idolatry when people turn from God and exalt human things. The confession is a reminder to trust God rather than give way to perplexity, for Christ remains the helper of those needing grace as He was in His earthly life. The Lord He is God will set a limit on harmful human influence, saying Thus far shall you go and no further, so that even a popular man with power to do great injury, as J. H. Kellogg, is restrained. Elijah's whole life was devoted to reform as a voice crying in the wilderness to rebuke sin and press back moral evil, while offering the Balm of Gilead to sinsick souls who would be healed. His zeal for God's glory and deep love for Israel present lessons for all who stand today as representatives of God's work, calling conductors of institutional work to catch his spirit, seek an experience in advance of the past, love God's work, and pray for its advancement.