1 Kings 18:24, “Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire —he is God.”
Elijah is known in the Bible as one of the boldest and most radical Old Testament prophets that ever lived. During the time of Elijah the people of Israel were divided in their worship of God. The majority of the people turned their hearts towards Baal (a false god of the Canaanites) and God was displeased with them. Elijah was called by God to turn back the hearts of the people from worthless idolatry to serving the one and only God.
In 1 Kings 18:16-46 the Bible records one of Elijah’s most intense confrontations with the prophets of Baal. God led Elijah to challenge them to a show of power. Elijah’s challenge was simple- whoever’s God could bring down fire from the sky wins. The prophets of Baal spent all day trying to get their god to answer them, but nothing happened. In their desperation they began cutting themselves and pouring out their own blood to prove their dedication, however, fire never came down.
Elijah, on the other hand, mocked and ridiculed them in their foolish idolatry by saying things like, “Maybe your god is too busy to come now or he might be sleeping!” Elijah’s mockery made them slash themselves more and shout even louder. But despite all their efforts the prophets of Baal failed the challenge.
Then Elijah prayed to God and the fire of the Lord fell! The Bible records in 1 Kings 18:37-39 the following account of this great miracle, “37 ‘Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.’ 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. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord —he is God! The Lord —he is God!’” Afterwards, Elijah had the priests of Baal executed because of their crimes against God’s law (1 Kings 18:40).
Elijah’s faith in God removed all his fear and gave him the boldness to confront the lies of his day.
I pray that you and I will have the same kind of faith Elijah had and boldly face the spiritual opposition of our generation. Today, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but with Satanic forces in spiritual places like Paul said in Ephesians 6:12. It is our job to be an answer to Jesus’ prayer to bring heaven to earth. D.L. Moody said, “How far away is Heaven? It is not so far as some imagine. It wasn’t very far from Daniel. It was not so far off that Elijah’s prayer and those of others could not be heard there. Men full of the Spirit can look right into heaven.”
When we encounter false religions, abortion, immorality, injustice and spiritual idolatry may we boldly confront it with the truth of Jesus Christ in love!
Reflection
Are you willing to boldly confront and make a stand against the evil of your culture?
Action
- Ask God for boldness to speak the truth in love.
- Prayerfully look for opportunities to confront the evil of your culture with the truth of God’s Word- urban violence, false religion, abortion, sex trafficking, injustice and the like (Acts 4:29).
- By faith, live a life of Holy Ghost boldness!
One Year Reading Plan
Ezekiel 29:1-30:26, Hebrews 11:32-12:13, Psalm 112:1-10, & Proverbs 27:17. Click here to read online.
