Fall Like Fire Part 2

1. Elijah’s Challenge

Elijah’s challenge to the false prophets of Baal was that the God who answers by fire would be the true God. He did not say “the God who answers by rain or by water” even though it was water that they needed. Baal was the god of fire so Elijah was challenging the false prophets in their territory. The false prophets did not know that Yahweh was the God of fire. He spoke to Moses from a burning bush. He led the Israelites by a pillar of fire by night.

Elijah instructed the false prophets of Baal that they could go first. This wasn’t just a matter of courtesy but rather he knew that inorder for the people to get right with Yahweh Baal had to be destroyed. Os Guinness said, “A better way for constructive engagement is to follow the prophetic dynamic of the gospel itself – law before gospel, judgment before grace, repentance before regeneration, and the disproof of Baal before the demonstration of Yahweh. We must require prophetic confrontation before personal and social transformation.” No God but God. Page 15.