1 Ki. 18: Grace is the Smell of Rain

1 Kings 18:38 "Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench."

The LORD tells Elijah to go to Ahab. Ahab's wife had a habit of killing prophets. Elijah was a prophet. Elijah goes to Samaria, home of Ahab and famine. And Jezebel. Obadiah, a devout believer in God, was also Ahab's palace...do-everything...guy. Weird that Ahab allowed that. It was probably ok to be a believer, but not a devout one. Anyway, Ahab and Obadiah are trying to find pastureland, so they split up. Elijah runs into Obadiah, and, maybe shirks his responsibility? He asks Obadiah to go to Ahab and tell him that Elijah, the prophet, is there. Why else would Elijah do that? Was Elijah afraid of Ahab? Obadiah makes a pretty convincing argument that it shouldn't be him that goes instead of Elijah. Anyway, Elijah's like, "I'll go." But Obadiah tells Ahab anyway.

Ahab doesn't kill Obadiah over this tidbit of info. But Ahab does call Elijah a "troubler" of Israel. And while Elijah tells Ahab it was actually him who was the troubler, it may be true that Ahab had created a normalcy of sin, and Elijah was there to trouble that normalcy. Anyway, it's time for a showdown. Ahab's prophets of Baal, versus Elijah, the prophet of God.

What follows is a rather amazing and tragic picture of idol culture. The prophets of Baal scream and slash themselves at their altar to Baal in attempt to have their sacrifice consumed by fire, which was Elijah's challenge. Elijah mocks them, laughs at them. Fully confident in the LORD. And this makes me wonder. Were the sacrifices to Baal actually consumed? What else would make them think this could work? What else would make them act so passionately if it hadn't worked in some capacity in the past? And if it did work, how? Who?

Clearly their ceremony doesn't work. Elijah ends up drowning his altar in water, and calls out to God. The LORD rains fire and it consumes everything, the bull, the sticks, the 12 stones and the moat.

The Israelites, who have flexible loyalty, saw this and proclaimed that "The LORD is God!" At least until they get thrown off track next time. What?

Then it rains. Black clouds. Awful.