30<\/strong>. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down<\/em> ] On the top of Carmel had been one of the high places where worship was paid to Jehovah, after the manner of the worship in the wilderness, till the place which God had chosen became known and the Temple built there. The custom of worship at such spots was continued for a long time after Solomon’s date, and Elijah here treats the altar as a specially sacred erection, to be restored in Jehovah’s honour.<\/p>\n The LXX. omits this clause here, but introduces one very similar in 1Ki 18:32<\/span>.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:30<\/span><\/p>\n He repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n I. The significance of broken altars. That is a simple line from an old chronicle, but it is the present root of many a pathetic human tragedy. It sets out in terms of quite harmless simplicity an apparently incidental fact; really it unveils the spring of the nation s calamity, and reveals the source of her uttermost disaster. Famine is everywhere. What is the root of this menacing peril, what the cause of this desolating misfortune? The whole answer lies in the broken altar. That little heap of indistinguishable rubbish, those few overturned stones, that desolated shrine–these are the central fact, the key to the situation, the pivot upon which the whole thing turns. The nation has been recreant to the sovereign sanctities, it has outraged lifes august supremacies, and at last the inexorable retribution has come, slow but sure-footed Nemesis has overtaken the people; and their pride has been overthrown, their security stripped away, and calamity overwhelmed them. Life is crammed with rich and fruitful symbols. And those few stones, lying in unregarded confusion, are the symbol of a forgotten God. They seem so unimportant, but they are the pathetic mementoes of dead worships, forgotten loyalties, quenched visions, faded raptures, and lifeless loves. That is lifes most arrestive pathos, to have known God and to have been intimate with the Eternal, and to have seen the vision splendid fade into the light of common day, and the divinity of heaven degraded into a powerless commonplace. And that soon runs out into every part of our complex lives and touches each least thing with its paralysing and degrading hand. These two things are inexorably fastened together–the famine in the land is the certain consequence of spiritual disloyalty and recreancy. When the soul becomes materialised, its visions arc quenched, its raptures die, disintegration inevitably sets in, the descent is begun, which, unless it is arrested, can have but one, and that no uncertain end. Life loses its high incentives, the breath of its most spacious inspirations perishes, the spell of its holiest attractions is broken, bit by bit the glory vanishes from the sky, and quenched stars presage the uttermost dark. And this is no capricious law, which once–but once only–worked itself out to its awful issue, and smote them that disregarded the sanctities with the desolation of devastating famine. This is one of those eternal laws of Gods wise government of the world, whereby every outraged piety vindicates its awful holiness and supremacy, and a certain Nemesis is securely fastened to every act of wrong-doing. Spiritual disloyalties degrade physical conditions, and sins o the heart work out their awful issue in plain facts which none can dispute. The punishment may vary, famine or some other scourge of God, but it is never uncertain. And we to-day may be sure that every broken altar in our individual life is mysteriously, but certainly, working to its inevitable close.<\/p>\n The destruction and restoration of the altar<\/strong><\/p>\n The altar, the sacred possession of all the twelve stones which Elijah rebuilt to represent the whole of Israel. Broken down and deserted. Apply to practical desertion of worship.<\/p>\n The altar a necessity<\/strong><\/p>\n An <\/em>eminent worldling wrote to a learned professor a letter in which he said: It has been proved in the Colonies that rapid social deterioration follows upon local inability to go to church. If the settlers grant be so remote that churchgoing becomes an impossibility he gradually ceases to miss it, abandons the weekly burnishing and outside decorum, and the rest rapidly follows. Oliver Wendell Holmes, far from an Evangelical–but a man of keen insight into the human heart says, I have in the corner of my heart a plant called reverence, which I find needs watering at least once a week. (H. O. Mackey.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 30. He repaired the altar of the Lord<\/B><\/I>] There had been an altar of Jehovah in that place, called, even among the heathens, the altar of Carmel<\/I>, probably built in the time of the judges, or, as the rabbins imagine, by Saul<\/I>. Tacitus<\/I> and Suetonius<\/I> mention an altar on Mount Carmel, which Vespasian went to consult; there was no temple nor statue, but simply an altar that was respectable for its antiquity. “Est Judaeam inter Syriamque Carmelus; ita<\/I> vocant montem Deumque: nec simulachrum Deo, aut templum situm tradidere majores: aram<\/I> tantum, et reverentiam.” – TACIT. Hist<\/I>. lib. ii., c. 78. A priest named Basilides<\/I> officiated at that altar, and assured Vespasian that all his projects would be crowned with success.<\/P> <\/P> Suetonius<\/I> speaks to this purpose: “Apud Judaeam Carmeli<\/I> Dei oraculum consulentem ita confirmavere sortes, ut quicquid cogitaret volveretque animo quamlibet magnum, id esse proventurum pollicerentur.” SUET. in Vespas<\/I>. cap. 5. The mount, the absence of a temple, no image, but a simple altar, very ancient, and which was held in reverence on account of the true answers which had been given there, prove that this was originally the altar of Jehovah: though in the time of Vespasian it seems to have been occupied by a heathen priest, and devoted to lying vanities.<\/P> <\/p>\n Come near unto me; <\/B>come away from these impudent deceivers to me, and expect from me what satisfaction you desire. <\/P> He repaired the altar, <\/B>which by the peoples help was quickly done; the materials being all ready, and very slightly put together, only for the present occasion. <\/P> The altar of the Lord; <\/B>which had been built there by some of their ancestors for the offering of sacrifice to the God of Israel, which was frequently done in high places, of which this was none of the least eminent ones; but being for some time neglected, it needed reparations. <\/P> That was broken down; <\/B>either, first, By the priests of Baal at this time, who leaped upon it to that end; of which See Poole “1Ki 18:26<\/span>“. Or rather, secondly, By some of the Baalites, out of their enmity to the true God, whose temple, because they could not reach, they showed their malignity in destroying his altars, 1Ki 19:14<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n And Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me<\/strong>,…. And observe what I do, and what will be done at my request:<\/p>\n and all the people came near unto him<\/strong>; left the prophets of Baal to themselves, and took no more notice of them, but attended to what the prophet should say and do:<\/p>\n and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down<\/strong>; which had been set up when high places and altars were allowed of, while the tabernacle was unsettled, and the temple not built; this is supposed to have been erected in the times of the judges; though, according to a tradition of the Jews d, it was built by Saul, see 1Sa 15:12<\/span> but had been thrown down by the idolatrous Israelites, who demolished such as were erected to the name of the Lord everywhere, and built new ones for their idols, 1Ki 19:10<\/span>. Benjamin of Tudela e says, that on the top of Mount Carmel is now to be seen the place of the altar Elijah repaired, which is four cubits round.<\/p>\n d Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. e ltinerar. p. 37.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The Lord Answers, Verses 30-40<\/p>\n At the time of the evening sacrifices in the temple Elijah asked for his turn to call on the Lord to answer by fire on his sacrifice and prove Himself before the assembled people and the false prophets. There was a broken-down altar of the Lord in the place they were met, and Elijah repaired it, using twelve stones to represent the twelve tribes of the sons of Jacob. Although the kingdoms were divided, the Lord still accounted all the tribes one people. They should have been a unit in His service and worship. So Elijah re-erected the altar in the name of the Lord.<\/p>\n Next El-ah dug a trench around his altar, large enough to hold two measures (about one peck) of seed. Some commentators say this means that the trench was large enough to have taken this much seed to sow it. With the carcass of his bullock, the wood and all in place, Elijah then asked them to bring four barrels of water and pour on his sacrifice. He had this done a second and a third time. Not only was the sacrifice drenched, but water stood in the trench Elijah had dug. There must have been many dubious and skeptical people watching this procedure, but Elijah’s purpose was to insure that no one could cry, “Foul!” or claim trickery on his part.<\/p>\n One wonders what must have been the attitude of the Baal prophets whose god had failed them. Perhaps they comforted themselves with the thought that rf they could not get an answer by fire neither could Elijah. At the very time of the evening sacrifice in Jerusalem Elijah began to call on the Lord. He addressed Him as the God of Israel’s forefathers. He appealed to the Lord with much the same words the Baal prophets had used, “O Lord, hear me!” But his reason for so praying was not selfish as was that of the false prophets. They wished for self-exoneration before the people, but Elijah prayed that the Lord would hear that 1) the people would know that He was the true God in Israel; 2) that Elijah was truly the Lord’s prophet and had spoken at His command in Israel; 3) that the people might recognize Him as the God who can turn their hearts back to Him in true revival.<\/p>\n Having so prayed the fire fell from Heaven upon the sacrifice of Elijah. It consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones of the altar, the dust around it, and even burned the water in the trench. There could be no thought of a hoax. The fire came directly down on the sacrifice, did not come up under it in the ordinary way of kindling a fire, and burned things not ordinarily combustible. If one question the availability of water in this time of great drought it Ss to be remembered that Mount Carmel overlooked the Mediterranean Sea a short distance below, where there would be plenty of sea water for the purpose. Sea water is no more combustible than fresh water, but the fire of God consumed it nevertheless.<\/p>\n The people fell on their faces before the Lord, and acclaimed Him, “The Lord, He is the God; the Lord is God!” They acknowledged the victory of the Lord over Jezebels prophets. Revival had broken out among the people, and Elijah took advantage of this surge of spiritual fervor among the people to make a clean sweep of the purveyors of heresy against the Lord. He called on the people to take the false prophets and bring them down to Kishon and slay them. This they did, and the dry riverbed soaked up the blood of Satan’s agents. This valley had seen great things, 1) the victory of Deborah and Barak over the Canaanites (Jdg 5:21<\/span>); 2) and that of Gideon over the Midianites (Judges 7). It will also be the scene of the great Battle of Armageddon in the end of the present age (Rev 16:16<\/span>).<\/p>\n (30) The altar of the Lord<\/strong>evidently referred to as well known, and here accepted by Elijah as having a true sacredness. The exclusive consecration of the appointed sanctuary at Jerusalem, if ever as yet thoroughly recognised, was now obviously broken down by the religious severance of Israel.<\/p>\n 30<\/strong>. <\/strong> Come near <\/strong> The people had, perhaps, withdrawn somewhat, being shocked at the wild dances and ravings of the false prophets, whose number, too, would not allow the people to approach so closely to the scene as when Elijah became the sole minister at the altar. <\/p>\n He repaired the altar of the Lord <\/strong> One of those altars which had been erected and used before the days of Solomon, when “the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord.” See 1Ki 3:2<\/span>. This altar must have been on the same summit where the priests of Baal had just been worshipping, but a little distance removed from the spot of their orgies. It had probably been broken down <\/strong> at the time of Jezebel’s persecution, (compare 1Ki 18:4<\/span> with 1Ki 19:10<\/span>,) and Elijah repaired it in the manner described in the two following verses, for he would not use the altar which the false prophets had made, and had polluted with their hideous idolatries.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:30<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>He repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> The altar, which the sacred author here calls the altar of the <\/em>LORD, was certainly one of those which were built in the time of the judges and first kings of Israel, when, for want of a fixed place of worship, such structures were permitted. Both Tacitus and Suetonius speak of the God of Carmel, <\/em>whom Vespasian went to consult when he was in Judea; but they tell us, that there was neither temple nor statue upon the mountain, except one single altar, plain, but venerable for its antiquity. The altar of Carmel seems to have had its original from the altar of the true God, which the ancient Hebrews first erected, and Elijah afterwards repaired; and which even the heathens held in such veneration, that when they came to be masters of the country, they would not so much as place an image by it. <\/p>\n (30) 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 broken down. (31) 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: (32) 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. (33) 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. (34) And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. (35) And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There is somewhat very solemn in this conduct of the prophet, when we consider what the expected event was to be. – The building, or repairing, the altar, intimated that the people had suffered it to go into ruins; and that it was not a new religion, but the religion of their fathers he aimed to bring them back to. The taking twelve stones was to show thereby, that though two of the tribes were away, yet the whole of Israel belonged to the God of Israel; these were very striking things in the plan Elijah observed. And the covering the whole of the sacrifice with water, which was to be consumed by fire, intimated with what ease the God of Israel could, and would accomplish, the purposes of his holy will: surely it must have had, a wonderful effect upon the minds of the people. It is probable that as mount Carmel was so near to the sea, and the long draught had made a scarcity of water, that the prophet had this water which was thrown over the sacrifice taken from the sea.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:30-46<\/p>\n 30. 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 broken down.<\/p>\n 31. 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 32. 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.<\/p>\n 33. 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.<\/p>\n 34. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.<\/p>\n 35. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.<\/p>\n 36. 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 of Israel, 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.<\/p>\n 37. 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 38. 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.<\/p>\n 39. 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.<\/p>\n 40. 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 41. And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.<\/p>\n 42. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,<\/p>\n 43. And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.<\/p>\n 44. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.<\/p>\n 45. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.<\/p>\n 46. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.<\/p>\n Elijah’s Sacrifice<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n When the worshippers of Baal had tired themselves, and had awakened no response in reply to their vehement prayer, it became Elijah’s turn to prove the Lord God of Israel. At his bidding all the people came near, and he proceeded to redeem his own side of the challenge.<\/p>\n “And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down” ( 1Ki 18:30 ). Let us recall the circumstances. Elijah is alone, religiously, upon Carmel; all the prophets of Baal were there, and all the prophets of the grove. Not only were they present, they were also highly excited. The day has gone against them. Whatever happened now could tell nothing in their favour. Ahab was there, in all probability. Great numbers of people were there. Unless Obadiah was there, not a man in all the host sympathised with Elijah. And yet the lonely prophet proceeded to build the altar of the Lord that was broken down. The altar of the Lord had been thrown down by the fury of the people, and Elijah put it together again stone by stone. The Lord could have answered without an altar, but why should human means be spared? The Lord could grow harvests for us, but why should we be spared the labour of tilling the ground? The very act of ploughing does us good; so does the act of coming to church; so does every effort that lies in the line of duty. Elijah would be stronger to pray from the fact that he had been engaged in building the altar. Prayer comes well after work. Why build an altar on a lonely mountain when it could be used only once, and then be done with for ever? Why not have built it in a city where it could have been used from year to year? It would be worth while to build the largest and costliest cathedral ever reared by human hands, if but one sinner were converted in it one soul turned to Christ and then the edifice built of precious stones were thrown down, or unroofed that it might be haunted by the wind. God knows nothing of our poor miserly economies. He sets a soul in price against the universe!<\/p>\n “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” ( 1Ki 18:31 ). But the kingdom was divided, and one part was called Judah, and yet Elijah speaks of Israel as one. We know the meaning well. There are grand occasions in life in which all differences, divisions, schisms, alienations, are sunk, and the true union is realised and proclaimed. England and America are no longer nationally one; monarchy and republicanism are a long way from one another; but there may arise controversies in the history of the world when the vital element that makes all Anglo-Saxon peoples one will assert itself, and bring many voices and many testimonies into the unity and emphasis of one mighty thunder. Elijah looked at Israel in its oldest and best aspects. Chargeable with serious defalcation it certainly was, yet he knew that in erecting that trial-altar he touched every nerve in the heart of undivided Israel, and made every son of Jacob a helper in his prayer.<\/p>\n Having made his preparations complete, and the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice having come, the westering sun glowing upon Carmel, and the hush of a solemn expectancy falling upon the chagrined and wonderstruck mob of false prophets and their dupes, Elijah came near the altar and said “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, 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 that thou hast turned their heart back again” ( 1Ki 18:36-37 ). Notice what elements combine in this wonderful prayer: ( a<\/em> ) What a drawing together into one body again of all that was pathetic in God’s relationship to the past, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, names that were ornaments and histories; a battle in every accent, a victory in every syllable! ( b<\/em> ) What a projection of the past upon the destiny of the future: we make too little of the past; we grasp a hair when we might seize a cable, when we pray, a thousand years should crowd their sacred triumphs into our supplications; all the holy dead should swell the voice of our tender cry and make it thunder in heaven as a mighty appeal: when you pray your mother prays, and her mother, and a long line of womanly intercessors, ( c<\/em> ) What a wonderful power of concentration, of asking for one thing, of making the point clear. Do we always know what we are praying for? Do we ask for many things, without asking for one in particular? Are there not occasions on which life narrows itself into one want and into one demand? ( d<\/em> ) What an example of simple and direct argument in prayer! We are to put the case as we see it. We see its under side or earthly aspect. God asks us to tell him what we see; to urge the case from our own point of view; and having done so, we are to leave it in his hands. Elijah did so, and this was the result: “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” ( 1Ki 18:38 ). Regarding this as an answer to prayer let us see what there is to account for it ( a<\/em> ) A great occasion; the false prophets had been challenged; they were present to witness the result; a king and a nation had been appealed to. ( b<\/em> ) A holy character; Elijah was not an experimentalist, not a speculator; he was a holy man tried and proved, and held in high esteem in heaven; it is constant holiness that flames out into exceptional and peculiar power, ( c<\/em> ) A worthy object; it is for a distinct and indisputable revelation of God, and this revelation was required not so much for an intellectual as for a moral purpose, namely that the heart of the people might be turned back to God. Thus however sensational (to use a word that is often misapplied) may have been the mere method of the answer, there are round about the whole incident reasons of the simplest and weightiest nature.<\/p>\n So much for the prayer for fire; it will be interesting to contrast with this the prayer of the same prophet for water. Elijah went up once more to the top of Carmel, and prayed unto the Lord for rain. The prayer for fire was answered at once; the prayer for water was not. By putting the two instances together we shall see how they explain one another, and what a striking argument for their common probability is established. Notice as the fundamental fact that the prayer for fire was answered instantaneously, and that the prayer for water was not answered until it had been offered seven times.<\/p>\n There was an urgency in the one case which there was not in the other. The king was waiting; so were the prophets; so were the people; it is an unprecedented crisis in the history of the nation. In the case of the rain, the prophet was alone; no immediate expectancy on the part of the public was to be answered.<\/p>\n We are not to live in the unusual and the exciting, but in the ordinary and regular. It was good for Elijah himself to be taught that he was only a suppliant, not the Lord. God has always been sparing of his exceptional manifestations. Christ was sparing in his miracles: he never did them merely for the sake of doing them. Elijah was but human, and if he had always received the same instantaneous reply that was given in the case of the fire his very power in prayer might have become a temptation. It is in the nature of man to push his success towards disastrous ends.<\/p>\n No human imagination would have risked such a conjunction of immediateness and delay as is given in this chapter. Such a contrary act on the part of God is a simple impossibility to the imagination. It amounts to what is called, sometimes foolishly, a discrepancy or contradiction. Yet it is the very law of the mystery of our life! We live it, but dare not imagine it! Great honours are followed by great reverses to keep us sober. God will not bring his way within the sweep of our reckoning; he will not admit us into his secret places; we see part of his way; a whisper of his method we may hear, but not the thunder of his power.<\/p>\n Out of this reasoning comes the high probability of the historical and literal truthfulness of the whole narrative. Literary completeness there is none. No attempt is made to satisfy the suggestions of fancy. All tricks of management, all skill in artistic disposal of incident is ignored, and truth is left to attest and vindicate its reality.<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:30 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] broken down.<\/p>\n Ver. 30. And he repaired the altar of the Lord.<\/strong> ] Defaced, likely, by idolaters, and haply by these Baalists now in their frantic fits, and to make work for Elijah, who had so taunted them, and would yet take them a link lower.<\/p>\n repaired. Carmel had been a local altar for lay (individual) offerings, but had been broken down. Compare 1Ki 19:10. These lay altars had no horns. <\/p>\n broken down: i.e. purposely. <\/p>\n the God That Answereth by Fire <\/p>\n 1Ki 18:30-40<\/p>\n Too many halt, or limp, between two opinions. The altar of consecration to Christ has been thrown down, 1Ki 18:30. The worship of Baal, which stands for creature-energy, has secretly stolen away our allegiance from Him, who is very jealous of any strange affinities; and as the necessary result, our heart is drought-smitten and our sphere of service is like a parched land. The idolatrous priests had everything in their favor, for at noon the sun-god was on his throne; but there was no voice. It is an awful thing when a man listens for his god to speak, and there is no reply!<\/p>\n Elijah built again the ruined altar which for long years had stood on Carmels height, 1Ki 19:10-11. Let us build again the altars of personal consecration, of family piety, and of national religion. Elijah prayed; as the Apostle expressed it, Jam 5:17, he put all the passion of his mighty nature into prayer. As a result, because they had been shown to be deceivers, he destroyed the prophets of Baal with a ruthless hand. These are the conditions of revival and refreshing. Let any church give itself to consecration, fervent prayer, and the excision of wrong, and there need be no anxiety as to the result-there will be an abundance of rain.<\/p>\n he repaired: 1Ki 19:10, 1Ki 19:14, 2Ch 33:16, Rom 11:3 <\/p>\n the altar of the Lord: This altar of Jehovah was probably built in the time of the judges; and it was even known among the heathen by the name of the altar of Carmel. Both Tacitus and Suetonius mention an altar on mount Carmel, which Vespasian went to consult: there was no temple nor statue, but simply an altar, venerable for its antiquity. <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Lev 17:8 – that offereth Jdg 13:19 – took 1Sa 6:14 – offered 1Sa 7:9 – a sucking 1Sa 7:17 – he built<\/p>\n 1Ki 18:30. Elijah said, Come near unto me Come away from these impudent deceivers to me, and expect from me the satisfaction of your desire. He repaired the altar of the Lord An altar which probably had remained from the time of the judges; at least, it had been built by some of their ancestors, for the offering of sacrifices to the God of Israel, which was frequently done in high places, of which, it is probable, Carmel was once one of the most eminent in the whole kingdom. This altar Elijah now repaired, because it had been broken down, doubtless, by some of the Baalites out of their enmity to the true God, whose temple they could not reach, and therefore showed their malignity in destroying his altars. Both Tacitus and Suetonius speak of the God of Carmel, whom Vespasian went to consult when he was in Judea; but they tell us, that there was neither temple nor statue upon the mountain, except one altar only, plain, but venerable for its antiquity. The altar of Carmel seems to have had its original from this altar of the true God, which the ancient Hebrews first erected, and Elijah afterward repaired; and which even the heathen held in such veneration, that when they came to be masters of the country, they would not so much as place an image by it. Dodd.<\/p>\n 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] broken down. 30. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down ] On the top of Carmel had been one of the … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 18:30”<\/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-9383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383","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=9383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
II. <\/strong>Repairing the altar of the Lord. He is the real helper and healer of the people, who can put his finger upon the root of their sorrow, who discovers the cause of their calamity and defeat. It is little good to peddle about the circumference, to remedy this evil, to heal this wound, to satisfy this hunger–all these are but varied forms of a sovereign defect, to find and to heal which is the supreme necessity. Things must be seen in their proper perspective, and dealt with in their imperative sequence, before good can be established and welfare made secure. Some might have said to the prophet, Why trouble about the altar now? Submit the final issue, decide the great question, then build the altar to the certain God! But with a sure instinct he touched the secret of the nations sorrows–that tiny heap of broken stones is the root of all its disasters. The reconstruction of life must begin at the point of its incipient overthrow. However tired the feet may be, and however painful the journey, men must retrace their steps along the sad way of their disobedience, until they stand at the point of their departure from the precepts of the Lord. They must confront the past with wide-open eyes, see every bit of its disloyalty and tragic failure; the erring of heart as well as of feet; its revolt against high heaven and dissonance with the spirit of goodness. Every bit of stable reconstruction either in personal or national life must go back and begin at the point of departure, it must build on the old foundation when every uncertain stone has been removed; so, and so only, can it hope to be secure. And this old story has a pathetic relevancy to the life of many of us today. There was a time when our days were bound each to each by natural piety. But bit by bit it has all been changed. The circumstances of life have taken on an added pomp, but a glory has faded out of our days, and we sit listening to strains of distant and ever fainter music, and watch the passing of receding angels. Bit by bit the vision faded, the revelation was withdrawn, the glory vanished, the simplicity departed, the pledge was broken, the purity was despoiled, the integrity disintegrated, and with them the radiant angels of joy and peace have withdrawn. That is the degradation that comes of neglect. No rough hands of ours tore stone from stone and piled the shrine with ruins, day by day we swept away its crumbled fragments, until at last it was gone we knew not how. But oh, the difference to me! To-day the ruin is not absolute, the Presence has not wholly gone. But there is only one way. The souls intimacy with Heaven must be re-established. (G. Beesley Austin.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>When worldliness or any other sin absorbs the soul and prayer is abandoned. Scepticism as to reality and answer to prayer allows the fires to go out and the altar to go to decay. When even preaching usurps the place of worship, so monopolising time and attention that worship is reduced to a minimum.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Restoration–effected by calling to repentance, and vindication of the honour of God, Fire must come from heaven to rekindle, and special descent of the Holy Spirit of prayer and supplication will be the answer to diligent seeking.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Restoration of the family altar a special demand of our time. General decay thereof. Sad results. Blessed effects of restoring. (Homiletic Review.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/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: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/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: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"