The prophet Elijah faced off against 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel with the king of Israel and many Israelites watching from a distance. This day would show everyone who the true god was. Two bulls were set up as offerings and the first god to answer by fire would be proclaimed the one true god. The prophets of Baal went first. They danced around the altar and cried out to their god but no answer was received. Half a day passed and they started getting desperate. The king and the people of Israel were getting impatient.
The Bible tells us in 1 Kings 18:27-29, “At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”
These false prophets had had enough time. They had gone at it the whole day. Baal was not going to answer. Now it was Elijah’s turn. He would place twelve stones on the altar, dig a trench and drench the altar and sacrifice in water. Elijah calls on the name of the Lord and the Lord answers with fire from heaven. Nothing remains of the sacrifice or the altar. Even the stones were consumed by fire. We are told in 1 Kings 18:39, “When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!””
You would expect this to be the great turning point for Israel. They had witnessed a great sign that would be talked about for the rest of history. A showdown between two gods and only one was left standing. But not much would change. The worship of Baal in the land would continue. The Israelites would not turn back to the Lord. The next king would also serve Baal. So why didn’t this event change everything?
People like to think that if God would just provide a great sign that everyone would turn to him. Some unbelievers will say that if God will just show himself to them that they will start believing. But believing in God’s existence is much different than converting. It doesn’t require much of someone to believe that God exists. The Bible says that even the demons believe in God.
Jesus called for people to repent and to follow after Him. Repenting involves us turning from our old way of living. Elijah was calling the Israelites to do something similar. This would have involved turning away from the worship of Baal and beginning to follow the Lord’s commands. But many of them were unwilling to do this. They enjoyed their sinful way of living. So even though they witnessed this awesome miracle the nation would continue down the same path.
Jesus teaches this in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived his life wickedly and Lazarus suffered in poverty. They both die. The rich man goes to hell and Lazarus goes to Abraham’s side. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers so that they will not end up in hell as well. The story continues in Luke 16:29-31, “’Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Following God is not a matter of being convinced by enough evidence. It does not come about after we have witnessed enough signs. It is an issue of the heart. As we learn to love God with our whole heart we will have no problem turning from our sinful ways. We should ask the Holy Spirit to help us grow in our love for our Father because we are weak and selfish. As scripture says, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.”
Adam
