SPECTACULAR GOD
In my last article I
talked about how my friend Hector did way more than I expected with my tree
trimming. One of the names for God in the Old Testament is El Shaddai and it
shows how our God is a God of more than just enough. He overflows in power,
forgiveness and love. The story of Elijah and the 450 false prophets in 1 Kings
18 shows us a thrilling example of that.
In this record, we
see God’s humor, a funny display of sarcasm and a spectacular show of God as El
Shaddai in action.
His people had
become apathetic and basically lazy. The Bible says they followed Baalim.
Baalim is the plural of Baal, the god of fertility. So the people sought and
followed whatever promised some kind of fertility, whether it was a bigger
family, more crops, more money, anything that would seem to provide more satisfaction
to their lives.
Baal and
his female counterpart Asherah required certain sacrifices but overall were
much looser than the Hebrew God. Worshipping many different gods (Baalim)
promised wealth and power without having to adhere to all the Old Testament
rules of the God of Moses.
If we put
it in contemporary terms, a person who was following Baalim (many gods), could
do some Bible stuff on Sunday, go to the palm reader on Monday, sex it up with
whomever whenever, cheat people in business to make more money, and just about
anything else they felt like. No wonder the Israelites got sucked in!
Well,
Elijah challenged the people and God kicked it into high gear and the overflow
came.
“Elijah
came unto all the people, and said, ‘How long halt ye between two opinions? If
the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people
answered him not a word” (1 Kings 18:21).
The
people didn’t want to have to make a definite decision. They’d rather keep
their options open, but wishy-washy living gives wishy-washy results.
Commitment to the God of the Bible is a strong decision, but the results are
sure and strong too.
Then
Elijah got an amazing plan from God and “said to the people, ‘I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and
fifty prophets. Get
two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them
cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will
prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 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” (1 Kings 18:22-24).
The
people thought that was a great idea. The prophets of Baal set up their
sacrifice and “called on
the name of Baal from morning till noon. ‘Baal, answer us!’ they shouted. But
there was no response; no
one answered. And they danced around the altar” (v.26).
This is the funny part, where
Elijah starts egging on the false prophets:
“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.
“Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come here to me.’ They came
to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down” (v.
27-30).
The
prophets of Baal were working so hard to get their gods to do something, they
had totally messed up and destroyed the altar and Elijah had to take time to
repair it. But he wasn’t a bit worried.
It
was show off time for El Shaddai.
Elijah
“arranged the
wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said, ‘Fill
four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood. Do it
again,’ he said, and they did it again. ‘Do it a third time,’ he ordered, and
they did it the third time. The
water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench” (1 Kings 18:33-35).
This
was a wet mess! If you’ve ever tried to start a fire with even damp wood, you
know how hard it is.
“At the time of
sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: ‘Lord, the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, let it be known
today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all
these things at your command. Answer
me, Lord, answer me, so these people will
know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are
turning their hearts back again.’”
“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”
(vv.36-38).
There
it is! God’s fire not only burned the meat, but burned up the stones, and the
soil and disintegrated all the water in the trench! That’s our God, El Shaddai,
the God of more than enough!
“And when all the people saw it, they
fell on their faces: and they said, Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God”
(v.39).
Let’s
drop all the other stuff we’ve been so enamored by, and just follow Jehovah,
the Lord. If you need a show of El Shaddai, just ask for it. Matthew 21:22
says, “All things,
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Love,
Carolyn
Check out
my books on Amazon. If you’d like a FREE pdf or word doc. of one of my booklets,
let me know at cjmolica@hotmail.com.
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