17 40<\/strong>. Meeting of Ahab and Elijah. Baal proved to be no god. Slaughter of Baal’s prophets (Not in Chronicles)<\/p>\n 17<\/strong>. Art thou he that troubleth Israel?<\/em> ] R.V. Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?<\/strong> For Ahab would ascribe the drought and consequent famine directly to Elijah, after the language of 1Ki 17:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n Art thou he … – <\/B>Meaning, Can it possibly be that thou dost venture to present thyself before me, thou that troublest Israel by means of this terrible drought? The charge of troubling had never before been brought against anyone but Achan (marginal reference e); it was one which must have called to the prophets recollection Achans miserable fate.<\/P> <\/p>\n 1Ki 18:17-18<\/span><\/p>\n Art thou he that troubleth Israel?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The source of a sinners trouble<\/strong><\/p>\n Our theme lies in this controversy between Ahab and Elijah as to the cause of the trouble which had come upon Israel. Ahab accused the prophet of being the cause of the trouble, while of course Elijah had nothing to do with it. He was simply Gods messenger. It is a very common thing for a man who has been brought into trouble by his sin to find fault with Providence and with his neighbours and his relatives, or with anybody who points out his iniquity. He feels that some one else is to blame rather than himself. But Elijah lays his finger on the root of the difficulty. Sin is always a source of trouble to the sinner. Ahabs greatest enemy was in his own heart and in his own house. Seragastio, a servant in one of Plautus comedies, asking another, How doth the town seem to be fortified? the answer given was this: If the inhabitants be well governed and good, I think it will be well fortified; and then, reckoning up many vices, he concludes, Unless these be absent, a hundred walls are but little enough for the preservation of it. And the history of the world shows us that that is a true representation of the destructive nature of sin in a nation. It will level the walls of the strongest governments. No nation is great enough to stand if it is honeycombed with sin in the hearts of its people. Sin is the great troubler in the individual soul. It was after Adam and Eve had broken the law of God that they were troubled, the first trouble they had ever known, and they tried to hide themselves among the trees of the garden so that God would not see them. Here is a young man who has fallen into the habit of strong drink and has lost his self-mastery, and he comes home drunk to his mother. Oh, the trouble that comes from such a sin. Oh, sin is the great troubler. But do not imagine that this sin or other outbreaking disgraceful sins that are easily detected are the only ones that give trouble to people. Disobedience to God is sin, and if we fail to keep Gods commandments, it does not matter which one, it will get us into trouble, and if unrepented of and unforgiven, into terrible and eternal trouble. Beware of being self-deceived. Sometimes the foulest sins are cherished underneath what appears a very respectable exterior. I have seen somewhere the story of Sir Francis Drake, that after he had made his long sailing journey around the world and had returned to London he was one day in a boat upon the River Thames in a very rough tide when it seemed almost certain that they would be capsized. The famous traveller exclaimed, What! have I escaped the violence of the sea and must now be drowned in a ditch? And a man may drown in a ditch quite as easily as in the ocean. And many a one who has escaped vulgar, disgraceful sins that bring men into shame has been led away from God and finally kept from God by secret lusts and hidden selfishness and evil desires that prevented him from obeying God and keeping His commandments. Let us not forget that what we may esteem a little sin has the power to open the door of the heart to sins of which at first we would not dream of being guilty. The historian tells us that when Pompey could not prevail with the city to admit his army he persuaded them to admit a few weak, wounded soldiers. But these soon recovered their strength and opened the gates to the whole army. Thus it is that the devil persuades us to admit some small sin and soon gains the whole heart. (L. A. Banks, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:17-20<\/span><\/p>\n When Ahab saw Elijah.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Deliverance from the mouth of the lion<\/strong><\/p>\n Elijah meeting Ahab<\/strong><\/p>\n Have I at last met with thee, O thou great disturber of my kingdom, the author of this famine, and of all our disquiets and calamities? <\/P> <\/p>\n 17, 18. Art thou he that troublethIsrael<\/B>A violent altercation took place. Ahab thought to awehim into submission, but the prophet boldly and undisguisedly toldthe king that the national calamity was traceable chiefly to his ownand his family’s patronage and practice of idolatry. But, whilerebuking the sins, Elijah paid all due respect to the high rank ofthe offender. He urged the king to convene, by virtue of his royalmandate, a public assembly, in whose presence it might be solemnlydecided which was the troubler of Israel. The appeal could not wellbe resisted, and Ahab, from whatever motives, consented to theproposal. God directed and overruled the issue.<\/P><\/p>\n And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah<\/strong>,…. As soon as he came up to him, and knew who he was; Abarbinel thinks, because his hair was grown so long that Ahab did not know him certainly, and therefore put the following question:<\/p>\n that Ahab said unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel<\/strong>? by opposing the religion of Baal, which prevailed among them; but chiefly rain being withheld from them according to his word, and at his prayer.<\/p>\n Elijah’s Interview with Ahab.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 906.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art<\/I> thou he that troubleth Israel? 18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD<\/B>, and thou hast followed Baalim. 19 Now therefore send, and<\/I> gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.<\/P> We have here the meeting between Ahab and Elijah, as bad a king as ever the world was plagued with and as good a prophet as ever the church was blessed with. 1. Ahab, like himself, basely accused Elijah. He durst not strike him, remembering that Jeroboam’s hand withered when it was stretched out against a prophet, but gave him bad language, which was no less an affront to him that sent him. It was a very coarse compliment with which he accosted him at the first word: Art thou he that troubleth Israel?<\/I> v.<\/span> 17<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. How unlike was this to that with which his servant Obadiah saluted him (v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>): Art thou that my lord Elijah?<\/I> Obadiah feared God greatly; Ahab had sold himself to work wickedness; and both discovered their character by the manner of their address to the prophet. One may guess how people stand affected to God by observing how they stand affected to his people and ministers. Elijah now came to bring blessings to Israel, tidings of the return of the rain; yet he was thus affronted. Had it been true that he was the troubler of Israel,<\/I> Ahab, as king, would have been bound to animadvert upon him. There are those who trouble Israel by their wickedness, whom the conservators of the public peace are concerned to enquire after. But it was utterly false concerning Elijah; so far was he from being an enemy to Israel’s welfare that he as the stay of it, the chariots and horsemen of Israel.<\/I> Note, It has been the lot of the best and most useful men to be called and counted the troublers of the land,<\/I> and to be run down as public grievances. Even Christ and his apostles were thus misrepresented, Acts xvii. 6<\/span>. 2. Elijah, like himself, boldly returned the charge upon the king, and proved it upon him, that he was the troubler of Israel,<\/I> v.<\/span> 18<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Elijah is not the Achan: “I have not troubled Israel,<\/I> have neither done them any wrong nor designed them any hurt.” Those that procure God’s judgments do the mischief, not he that merely foretels them and gives warning of them, that the nation may repent and prevent them. I would have healed Israel, but they would not be healed.<\/I> Ahab is the Achan, the troubler, who follows Baalim, those accursed things. Nothing creates more trouble to a land than the impiety and profaneness of princes and their families. 3. As one having authority immediately from the King of kings, he ordered a convention of the states to be forthwith summoned to meet at Mount Carmel, where there had been an altar built to God, v.<\/I><\/span> 30<\/span>. Probably on that mountain they had an eminent high place, where formerly the pure worship of God had been kept up as well as it could be any where but at Jerusalem. Thither all Israel must come, to give Elijah the meeting; and the prophets of Baal who were dispersed all the country over, with those of the groves who were Jezebel’s domestic chaplains, must there make their personal appearance. 4. Ahab issued out writs accordingly, for the convening of this great assembly (v.<\/I><\/span> 20<\/span>), either because he feared Elijah and durst not oppose him (Saul stood in awe of Samuel more than of God), or because he hoped Elijah would bless the land, and speak the word that they might have rain, and upon those terms they would be all at his beck. Those that slighted and hated his counsels would gladly be beholden to him for his prayers. Now God made those who said they were Jews and were not, but were of the synagogue of Satan, to come, and, in effect, to worship at his feet, and to know that God had loved him,<\/I> Rev. iii. 9<\/I><\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Baal Fails, Verses 17-29<\/p>\n Ahab’s total lack of spiritual understanding is apparent from his immediate accusation of Elijah upon their meeting. At once he accosted the prophet as the trouble of Israel. “Is it you, you old trouble-maker?” He adamantly refused to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in the matter, evidently believing Elijah possessed some occult power by which he withheld the rain. But Elijah answered him gravely and with straight forwardness. Israel was, indeed, in very great trouble brought on them by one man. That was the king of Israel, and his father, Omri, before him. They had forsaken the commandments of the Lord and turned to serve and worship the Baals of Zidon.<\/p>\n Ahab was told to send for the false prophets, the four hundred fifty who served in the Baal temple, and the four hundred occultists of the Asherah as well. These ate from the food of the queen’s table, therefore the tax revenues of the kingdom were supporting this pagan system. Ahab complied with the demand of the prophet and summoned the prophets to Carmel. There also gathered a large representation of the common people of Israel to the site to observe what Elijah would propose.<\/p>\n Elijah addressed the people assembled, questioning them, “How long will you halt between two opinions?” If the Lord be God they should serve Him, and if Baal is the true god they should serve him. Elijah’s meaning is, “Why do you hesitate, pretending to serve the Lord while sacrificing to Baal? Come down on one side or the other, with both feet. Don’t shift back and forth from one foot to the other.” The people felt guilty and would not answer Elijah any word.<\/p>\n Therefore, Elijah advanced his proposal. Here he stood before them, one lone prophet, standing for the Lord God of Israel, and seemingly the only one. On the other had here are assembled four hundred fifty Baal prophets, not to mention the other four hundred who carried on licentiously in the groves. So let them bring two sacrificial bullocks, and let the Baal prophets choose the one they liked. They should dress it and cut it up for sacrifice, put the wood of the altar on it, but no fire under it. Elijah would take the other bullock and do likewise for the offering of the Lord. Then, in turn, the Baal prophets and Elijah would call upon their God (or gods) asking Him (or him) to respond by sending fire on the sacrifice.<\/p>\n The false prophets may, perhaps, have liked to forego such a contest, but the agreements of the people gathered, that it was a fair proposal, prevented them from squirming out of it. So Elijah spoke again to the Baal prophets, giving them first chance to prove the superiority of their god. Their being so many should have given them a great advantage if they, indeed, served a god of power. So they took the bullock proffered them and proceeded to prepare their sacrifice according to Elijah’s instructions.<\/p>\n All through the morning the Baal prophets pleaded with him to hear their cry, for him to prove himself by sending fire on their sacrifice, “O Baal, hear us, hear us!”<\/p>\n By noon they were becoming frantic, for there was no indication Baal (or Satan) would act to answer them. They jumped about and leaped on their altar pleading with Baal. Elijah began to mock them, suggesting that they might not be screaming loud enough for him to hear them. Or maybe Baal had gone on a journey and was not at home. He might be gone on a hunt, or be busy talking to someone else. But he was a god, was he not; they just need to call louder. He might be sleeping and they needed to awaken him.<\/p>\n This mockery of Elijah stirred the false prophets to a frenzy, and they mutilated their bodies with knives and lances in an attempt to attract the attention of Baal and get him to answer their prayers. Surely the Devil would have put fire on their altar if he could have, for he is the power behind all idol gods. But demonic power cannot overcome God, and God would not permit it to be demonstrated on this occasion. When mid-afternoon arrived, when it was time for the evening sacrifice in the temple in Jerusalem, there was still no sign that Baal regarded the imprecations of his prophets. (cf. Psa 115:1-8<\/span>).<\/p>\n (17) Art thou . . .<\/strong>Probably (as in 1Ki. 18:7<\/span>) the rendering should be, Thou here, the troubler of Israel!defying vengeance (that is) in the very land which thou hast troubled.<\/p>\n 17<\/strong>. <\/strong> Art thou he that troubleth Israel <\/strong> The question was equivalent to an affirmative. The king assumed, and charged it upon Elijah, that he had caused the famine. We might render: Art thou that Achar <\/em> ( Achan<\/em>) of Israel? <\/em> Compare Jos 7:1<\/span>, with 1Ch 2:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n (17) And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? (18) And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Observe the hardness and impenitency of the king! Observe the firmness and intrepidity of the prophet!<\/p>\n Elijah’s Challenge<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1Ki 18:17-40<\/p>\n We have said that Ahab was a speculative idolater rather than a cruel persecutor. Jezebel acted the part of cruelty; Ahab acted the part of unbeliever and spiritual rebel generally. A proof of the probable correctness of this view is found in the incident before us. When Ahab met Elijah he did not show a spirit of cruelty. He said unto the prophet, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? He did not threaten him with the sword; he did not demand his immediate surrender and arrest; he seems rather to have looked upon Elijah with wonder, perhaps not unmixed with admiration of a figure so independent and audacious. The tone of Ahab’s mind may be inferred from the kind of challenge which he accepted. It exactly suited his speculative genius. Elijah proposed a trial between himself and the idolatrous prophets, eight hundred and fifty in number, proposing that the god that answered by fire should be God. The idea instantly commended itself to Ahab as excellent. He liked the high and practical speculation. He was fond of intellectual combat, and he warmed at the notion of a holy fray. The man who could accept a notion of this kind was not cruel, or wild, or fond of human blood. Ahab was even wickedly religious; the more altars and groves the better, yea, altar upon altar, until the pile reached to heaven, and grove after grove, until the line met itself again and formed a cordon round the world. If he had started from a right centre, Ahab would have been the foremost evangelist in the ancient Church.<\/p>\n Let us now look at the controversy itself.<\/p>\n This plan was proposed by the prophet of the Lord, and not by the servants of Baal. Truth addresses a perpetual challenge to all false religions and all wicked and incompetent workers. Its challenges have heightened and broadened in tone from the first ages until now. Moses challenged the necromancers of Egypt, Elijah challenged the priests of Baal, Christ challenges the world. At first the challenge was more strictly physical, now it is intensely spiritual. What religion produces the highest and finest type of character? That is the challenging question! That sane men should prefer a display of physical power or skill to a spiritual contest is an illustration of the infancy and rudeness of their minds, not a proof of the best form of competition. Where, in Christian or in pagan lands, have we the finest men, the purest character, the most sensitive honour? Where are schools, hospitals, asylums, and charities of every kind most abundant? That Christian countries are disgraced by some of the foulest crimes possible in human life, may but show that their very foulness and atrocity never could have been so vividly seen and so cruelly felt but for the enlightenment and culture furnished by Christianity. In any other countries they would have been matters of course; in Christian lands their abomination is seen by the help of Christian light.<\/p>\n The appeal or challenge was forced upon the prophets of Baal; it was not spontaneously accepted by them. This should be made very clear, as it is a point apt to be overlooked. Perhaps the common impression is that Elijah challenged the prophets directly, standing face to face with them, without any medium of communication. Nothing of the kind. Elijah first challenged king Ahab, and he snatched eagerly at the sensational chance, little knowing what he was snatching at! Having spoken first to the king, Elijah spoke next to the people, demanding why they hesitated between two opinions, and insisting that they should make a choice between Jehovah and Baal. Then Elijah made his grand appeal to the people of Israel, and they answered and said, “It is well spoken;” then having secured the approval of the king and of the people, Elijah called upon the prophets to proceed to trial.<\/p>\n To-day Christianity appeals not to a few sectarian prophets, or a few bewildered speculators, nor to a few scientists who are wild with boy-like joy because they have found a bird’s-nest, but have never seen the bird that built it; Christianity makes its appeal to the great, broad heart of human nature, to the common sufferings of the race, to the indestructible sentiments of mankind to the people first and the prophets next, and calls upon the people in all their multitudinousness to force their mumbling prophets to bring the mumble that chokes their throat to distinct and calculable articulation, and to compare the noise of charlatanism with the music of divine teaching. In Elijah’s day the people said, “It is well spoken,” and of Christ it is said, “The common people heard him gladly.” Christianity speaks to sorrowing souls; not to the riddles which perplex a brain here and there, but to the agonies that strain and torture the universal heart.<\/p>\n Full opportunity has been given to men to show the worth of their idolatries and superstitions. In this controversy the prophets of Baal had the first chance. Elijah stood back that they might do their best. False religions cannot complain that they have not had field enough. And what has been the result? Invocation enough ( 1Ki 18:26 ), leaping enough upon the altar ( 1Ki 18:26 ), bleeding enough with knives and lancets ( 1Ki 18:28 ), time enough even from the morning to the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice ( 1Ki 18:29 ), and no answer! “There was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded” ( 1Ki 18:29 ). It is precisely so with every false creed, every false science, every false prophet today. There is nothing to show! All effort ends in silence. Prodigious exertions finish in prodigious emptiness. Of every teacher, other than Christian, we ask: Where are the sinners whom you have released from the torment of remorse? Where are the mourners whose tears you have dried? Where are the graves on which you have planted the flower of a happy resurrection? Where are the answers of your gods, that we may examine them, test them, and see how they came out of the fire of daily trial? Millions of men praise Christ. Sinners will stand up thick as armies, filling the valleys, thronging the hills, declaring that in Christ they have found the joy of pardon. Mourners will declare that he has dried their tears. Souls that had no life will say with thankful joy that Christ rekindled their lamp when the fierce wind had blown it out. This is the strength and glory of Christianity that living witnesses attest its power and proclaim its infinite sufficiency.<\/p>\n Every assault upon truth must bring mockery and death upon the assailants. Elijah mocked the prophets on Carmel and slew them at Kishon. Such is the inevitable fate of the Lord’s enemies! It is right to address mocking challenges to the teachers of false doctrine, and it is right to slay them; not to slay them with the sword, but with argument, with consistency, with the zeal of inextinguishable consecration, with faith that cannot be impaired by the most insidious or the most rampant scepticism. It is the eternal necessity of things that men who oppose themselves to truth must either repent or perish.<\/p>\n The appeal comes to us with overwhelming force today. How long halt ye between two opinions? It cannot be that there is the slightest doubt as to the truth of Christianity. It cannot be that the understanding is in darkness. It cannot be that the argument is incomplete. It cannot be for want of open and positive and triumphant proof. It can only be because we love wickedness, and roll under our tongues the iniquity which intoxicates the senses and damns the soul.<\/p>\n Selected Note<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The Exact Site of the Carmel Contest.<\/em> Van de Velde gives a vivid delineation of the precise locality. He was, it is believed, the first traveller who identified the site of the “Burning.”<\/p>\n “One can scarcely imagine a spot better adapted for the thousands of Israel to have stood drawn up on than the gentle slopes around. The rock shoots up in an almost perpendicular wall of more than two hundred feet in height on the side of the vale of Esdrelon. On this side, therefore, there was no room for the gazing multitude, but, on the other hand, this wall made it visible over the whole plain, and from all the surrounding heights, so that even those left behind, and who had not ascended Carmel, would still have been able to witness, at no great distance, the fire from heaven that descended on the altar…. Here we were certain the place must<\/em> have been, for it is the only point of all Carmel where Elijah could have been so close to the brook Kishon as to take down thither the priests of Baal and slay them, return again to the mountain and pray for rain, all in the short space of the same afternoon. Nowhere does the Kishon run so close to Mount Carmel as just beneath El-Mohhraka<\/em> (the place of the Burning)…. Two hundred and fifty feet beneath the altar plateau is a vaulted and very abundant fountain. In such springs the water remains always cool, under the shade of a vaulted roof, and with no hot atmosphere to evaporate it. While all other fountains were dried up, I can well understand that there might have been found here that superabundance of water which Elijah poured so profusely over the altar.”<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubleth Israel?<\/p>\n Ver. 17. Art thou he that troubleth Israel?<\/strong> ] Alas, what had the righteous prophet done? he taxed their sin, he foretold the judgment: he deserved it not, he inflicted it not; yet he smarteth, and they are guilty. As if some fond people should accuse the herald or the trumpet, as the cause of their war. Or, as if some ignorant peasant, when he seeth his fowls bathing in his pond, should cry out of them as the causes of foul weather. a<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n a<\/em> Bishop Hall.<\/p>\n troubleth. Compare Jos 7:25 with Jos 6:18, and 1Ch 2:7, <\/p>\n Israel. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for Israelitish people. <\/p>\n We shall read at this time the story of Elijahs challenge to the priests of Baal. Remember that there had been three years without dew or rain. The whole country was dried up till it seemed to be a desert; and all were famished for lack of water.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:17-18. And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel: but thou, and thy fathers house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and Thou hast followed Baalim. <\/p>\n It is the way of men to cast the blame of their trouble not upon their sin and upon themselves, but upon those who have warned them. Mark Elijahs holy boldness. I have not troubled Israel, but thou.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:19. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebels table.<\/p>\n He knew how many there were of them. The mans heart was so engaged in this battle for God against idols, that he had counted all his adversaries.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:20-21. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. And 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.<\/p>\n So undecided were they perhaps so cowed by the presence of that brave man who feared none, but only feared God.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:22-24. Then said Elijah unto the people, I even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baals prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves. and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. <\/p>\n And the Baalite priests could not refuse the challenge. For they worshipped the sun-god the god of fire; and if he could not answer the sun-worshippers, he must be no God at all.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:25-26. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon.<\/p>\n Which was Baals own high time, for then the sun would be at its zenith from morning, even unto noon.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:26. Saying, O Baal, hear us.<\/p>\n Repeating their cry again and again. For this is the way of all false worship to use vain repetitions, as the heathens do, which is forbidden to us.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:26. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.<\/p>\n Which was their superstition. They were going through the whole performance of the genuflexions of some kind or another. They leaped upon the altar which was made.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:27; 1Ki 18:31. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broke, down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:<\/p>\n For he meant this day to prove that God was God of the twelve tribes not of himself and his tribe, but of all the families of Israel.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:32-37. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time, And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that. Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and lsrael, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and thou hast turned their heart back again. <\/p>\n There was the prayer. How different altogether from this repetition of words this leaping this cutting with knives. He states his wish; he pleads his cause; he brings forward his arguments; and this is his prayer.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:38-40. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.<\/p>\n And thus did he prove that he was the prophet of God, and that God was the God of Israel.<\/p>\n he that troubleth Israel: 1Ki 21:20, Jos 7:25, Jer 26:8, Jer 26:9, Jer 38:4, Amo 7:10, Act 16:20, Act 17:6, Act 24:5 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 39:17 – General Num 16:7 – too much Num 16:41 – Ye have Jos 6:18 – and trouble it 1Ki 19:10 – they seek my life 2Ki 6:31 – if the head 2Ki 11:14 – Treason 2Ch 18:7 – I hate him 2Ch 23:13 – Treason Pro 9:7 – General Pro 15:10 – grievous Jer 15:10 – a man Hos 6:5 – have I Amo 5:10 – hate Mat 2:3 – he Mat 8:34 – they besought Mar 11:18 – feared Luk 23:2 – perverting Act 5:28 – intend Gal 4:16 – become Rev 11:10 – these<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:17-18. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? Have I at last met with thee, O thou disturber of my kingdom, the author of this famine, and of all our calamities? He answered, I have not troubled Israel These calamities are not to be imputed to me, but to thine and thy fathers wickedness. They trouble a nation who break the laws of God, not they who keep and defend them. Elijah answered him boldly, because he spake in Gods name, and for his honour and service. Ye All of you; have forsaken the commandments of the Lord The whole nation almost had cast off the yoke of the divine law, as in other points, so especially in deserting his service, and worshipping idols. And thou Thou, their king in particular; hast followed Baalim. <\/p>\n The vindication of Yahweh 18:17-40<\/span><\/p>\n Ahab had a problem of perception similar to Obadiah’s (1Ki 18:17; cf. 1Ki 18:7). The real source of Israel’s troubles was Ahab and Omri’s disregard of the Mosaic Covenant and their preference for idolatry (Deu 6:5).<\/p>\n "This was a crime against the state worthy of death (like that of Achan, Jos 6:18; Jos 7:25; and Jonathan in 1Sa 14:24-29)." [Note: Wiseman, p. 168.] <\/span><\/p>\n Probably hundreds, if not thousands of people, gathered since Elijah summoned all Israel to Mount Carmel. Elijah probably chose this mountain, as God led him, because it stood between Israel and Phoenicia geographically, neutral ground between Yahweh’s land and Baal’s. Furthermore the Phoenicians regarded Carmel as a sacred dwelling place of Baal. Storms with lightning and thunder were common on Mount Carmel, and Baal worshippers viewed them as manifestations of their deity. The name "Carmel" means "the garden land," and it was famous for its fertility. In the minds of many, Baal had the advantage in this contest. Elijah ordered Ahab around (1Ki 18:19), as was appropriate, since the prophet was the representative of the true King of Israel. Surprisingly Ahab obeyed. His weak will becomes even more obvious later in 1 Kings.<\/p>\n "To eat at the table of the king or queen was to be subsidized by the state (cf. 2Sa 9:9-11; 1Ki 2:7). So aggressive is Jezebel that she promotes at state expense the worship of Baal and Asherah." [Note: Rice, p. 149.] <\/span><\/p>\n Interestingly, this was a contest of prophets, not priests. The priests had less influence for Yahweh in Israel than the prophets. Apparently the prophets in Phoenicia were more powerful too. Perhaps God accepted Elijah’s offering, by a non-priest, because there were no faithful priests in the Northern Kingdom at this time (cf. Numbers 18; Deuteronomy 18). The Israelites had been straddling the spiritual fence just as Obadiah had (1Ki 18:21).<\/p>\n "The issue is not that Israel wanted to reject Yahweh and choose Baal, but rather to serve them both. Elijah called for an either\/or decision." [Note: B. S. Childs, Old Testament Theology in a Canonical Context, p. 65.] <\/span><\/p>\n "Here is the Martin Luther of old-time Israel, who singlehanded challenged the whole priesthood of the state religion, and all the people of the realm, to the decisive test on Mount Carmel." [Note: Baxter, pp. 111-12.] <\/span><\/p>\n Elijah realized that he was not the only prophet of Yahweh who remained in Israel (1Ki 18:22; cf. 1Ki 18:13), but in this situation the odds were one against 450. There are several similarities between Judges 4, 7 and 1 Kings 18. All three encounters with Israel’s enemies took place on the south side of the Jezreel Valley. The Kishon figured in both Barak and Elijah’s victories over the Canaanites. Gideon faced odds of 450 to one as Elijah did, and both men experienced miraculous deliverances. In the future Israel’s enemies will again assemble against her in this valley at Armageddon. Then Jesus Christ will be the hero and will bring an even more spectacular victory to His chosen people (cf. Rev 16:16; Rev 19:11-21).<\/p>\n Elijah felt alone. His victory would require a supernatural act of God. The oxen as symbols of service may have represented the people of Israel (cf. Num 7:3). Elijah would sacrifice them as a burnt offering of worship (1Ki 18:23). Which "people" would their respective deities accept, those the pagan priests symbolically offered to Baal or those Elijah offered to Yahweh? Aaron had previously conducted a similar test (Leviticus 9). The deity who brought fire down would be the true God. By coming in fire, God illustrated His power to judge (Lev 10:1-2).<\/p>\n Even though Baal worshippers thought the thunder represented Baal’s voice, they did not hear his voice on this occasion (1Ki 18:26). This was not a rainmaking dance but a wild dance in worship of Baal. [Note: Wiseman, p. 169.] <\/span> Elijah did something that must have shocked everyone present: he mocked Baal. In the ancient East, even if a person did not worship an idol, he at least took its status as a god for granted. [Note: Rice, p. 150.] <\/span> However, Elijah refused to acknowledge that Baal was a god at all. He suggested that Baal might be "occupied" (1Ki 18:27; lit. relieving himself). [Note: Gray, p. 398; Gary A. Rendsburg, "The Mock of Baal in 1 Kings 18:27," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 50:3 (July 1988):415. For other interpretations of this verse, see Leo Hayman, "A Note on 1 Kings 18:27," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 10 (1951):57-58.] <\/span> His devotees also thought Baal accompanied the Phoenician sailors, so Elijah suggested he might be on a journey (1Ki 18:27). All of these possibilities exposed Baal’s limited powers. Pagan worship has always proved destructive to humanity, as the priests’ cutting themselves illustrated (1Ki 18:28). For six hours the priests of Baal ranted and raved to no avail (1Ki 18:29).<\/p>\n Yahweh’s altar at that site (one of the high places?) had fallen into disrepair (1Ki 18:30). Elijah rebuilt it, as the Mosaic Covenant specified, with 12 uncut stones symbolic of Israel’s 12 tribes. There was still only one Lord, one covenant, and one nation with one destiny in the plans and purposes of God, even though the nation had split into two parts.<\/p>\n "As Moses built an altar at Sinai and set up twelve stones for the twelve tribes (Exo 24:4), and Joshua erected the twelve stones at Gilgal in the Gilgal covenant festival (Jos 4:3), so Elijah built an altar of twelve stones ’according to the number of the tribes’ of Israel (1 Kings 17 [sic<\/span> 18]:31)." [Note: Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, p. 192.] <\/span><\/p>\n The 12 pitchers of water (1Ki 18:33-34) likewise represented Israel, probably as God’s instrument of refreshment to the world. Elijah may have obtained the water from a spring or perhaps from the Great (Mediterranean) Sea that is not far from some parts of Mount Carmel. The traditional site of this confrontation, however, is at the east end of the Carmel range of mountains, far from the sea.<\/p>\n Elijah prayed a simple prayer for God’s glory at 3:00 p.m., the time of Israel’s sacrifice that illustrated its daily commitment to Yahweh (1Ki 18:36-37). [Note: Josephus, 14:4:3. Cf. Acts 3:1.] <\/span> Emphasizing the fact that Yahweh had been Israel’s God since patriarchal times, Elijah prayed that the Lord would reveal Himself as Israel’s God. He also asked that the people would perceive that He had accepted His servant Elijah’s offering that he had presented in harmony with God’s Law. The heart of the people needed turning back to God, and Elijah prayed for evidence of that as well (1Ki 18:37).<\/p>\n God revealed Himself as He had earlier in Israel’s history (Lev 10:1-2). He accepted the sacrifice of the nation symbolized by the 12 stones, the dust out of which He had created the people, and the 12 pitchers of water (1Ki 18:38). The Israelites did turn back to God. They demonstrated their repentance with obedience to the Mosaic Law, and God’s prophet, by slaying the false prophets as the Law prescribed (1Ki 18:40; cf. Exo 22:20; Deu 13:1-18; Deu 17:2-7; Deu 18:20). The Kishon Wadi lay just north of Mount Carmel in the Jezreel Valley below.<\/p>\n Elijah’s actions on Mount Carmel were a strong polemic against Canaanite religion. [Note: George Saint-Laurent, "Light from Ras Shamra on Elijah’s Ordeal upon Mount Carmel," in Scripture in Context, pp. 123-39; Leah Bronner, The Stories of Elijah and Elisha; Robert B. Chisholm Jr., "The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra 151:603 (July-September 1994):267-68.] <\/span><\/p>\n "The contest on Carmel is not, as often billed, between Elijah and the prophets of Baal: it is between his Lord Yahweh himself and Lord Baal." [Note: Auld, p. 118.] <\/span><\/p>\n ". . . the whole chapter . . . is seen to have a single motive from beginning to end: the bringing of rain, that Yahweh’s supremacy may be established in Israel, not by a barren Pyrrhic victory through a supernatural fire-bolt, but by meeting the crying need of His people for water . . ." [Note: D. R. Ap-Thomas, "Elijah on Mt. Carmel," Palestine Exploration Quarterly 92 (1960):155.] <\/span><\/p>\n And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubleth Israel? 17 40. Meeting of Ahab and Elijah. Baal proved to be no god. Slaughter of Baal’s prophets (Not in Chronicles) 17. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? ] R.V. Is it thou, thou troubler of … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 18:17”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The wonderful protection of the prophet;<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The unjust accusation brought against him;<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The bold language he uses; and,<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>The secret power he exercises. (F. W. Krummacher, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>That in darkest times God reserves some men and keeps them true to himself. Conspicuously does this appear in the great character Elijah. The word itself covers a wide field–Elijah. The history of an age is covered by such a character. As time goes by, after he vanishes from scenes on which he came suddenly, his proportions increase, as a mountain seems greater the farther you go from its base. By and by it comes to pass that the mighty hero of Gods making will be expected again on earth when the extremity of human need is reached. Elijah must come, men said, as the forerunner of the great Messiah, and as a restorer of all things. God keeps such spirits as these in His unseen Army of the Reserve; and, when darkness covers the earth, and mens hearts fail them for fear, suddenly an Elijah steps upon the scene, pronounces doom on the guilty, gathers together the righteous, and re-enacts the eternal law by His word.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>we learn that God determines to let men know that He governs this world.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>We learn from the lesson before us, still further, that wicked men charge the righteous with being disturbers of the peace. Whatever, said George Shepard, may be true in medicine, Gods system of moral cure is by contraries. He puts forth the truth to crowd out the error, and what if it does happen, in the fierce antagonism, that there are seasons of confusion and trouble? What though the tempest twirls everything into disorder, if it only blows away the miasma? There are people who are exceedingly alarmed at the presence or the prospect of agitation.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Finally, we must feel, as we read again this familiar meeting between Elijah and Ahab, that it would be well if there were more of elijahs stamp to-day. (Monday Club Sermons.<\/em>)<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"