Fall Like Fire Part 3

2. Elijah’s Invitation

After the prophets of Baal had cried out to their God for the better part of the day then it was Elijah’s turn. He begins his ministry with the invitation to come. Christianity is very much the religion of “come and see” before “go and tell”. Jesus gave the invitation, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 The invitation from our Lord is always for us to draw near to Him. He has promised that if we will draw near to Him then He will draw near to us. Tozer has said that God will take nine steps toward us but we must take the tenth step. God will draw near to those you desire Him with their whole heart. The Lord’s final invitation in the Bible is to come to Him. The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17. The Lord’s final promise to us is that He is coming again. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Revelation 22:20a. The final prayer in the Bible is that the Lord will come. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20b

When the people had come around Elijah he commanded them to rebuild the altar. He instructed them to take twelve stones which represented the twelve tribes of Israel and to construct the altar with those uncut stones. After the altar was repaired he carefully arranged the wood on the altar before he cut up the bull and laid it on the wood. Everything was to be done properly and in order. There was nor rush to get to the challenge. He had waited three and one half years for this day and he could wait a little longer. He knew he was coming into the presence of the Holy God and he had to prepare the people for such an encounter.

A. W. Tozer said, “Theological facts are like the altar of Elijah on Carmel before the fire came, correct, properly laid out, but altogether cold.”

After everything was ready he then did a very unusual thing. He asked that the altar and the sacrifice be drenched with water. He had the people take four barrels and go and fill them with water and pour it upon the sacrifice. He not only did it once but he did it again and then again until the altar was drenched with twelve barrels of water. He was not letting the false prophets accuse him of using trickery to bring fire upon the sacrifice. One of the tricks that the prophets of Baal used was to hide fire in the sacrifice so that when they prayed for fire it would appear that the fire was sent as an answer to their prayer. Elijah wanted the people to know that the fire did not come from some clever trick of man but it was the fire of the Holy God.

Scoffers have often mocked the account of Elijah because of the pouring of the water on the sacrifice. They point out that it was drought time and it hadn’t rained for over three years. Elijah knew that this was to be a true miracle of God and to see the power of God act they had to make a sacrifice. I do not know where the people got the water but to pour water on the altar was a true sacrifice. Water was the most precious thing they had and I am sure that the people thought that it was a foolish waste. However, they followed Elijah’s command and poured the water on the sacrifice.

Elijah’s prayer stands in contrast to the prayers of the false prophets. They had prayed for over six hours but Elijah’s prayer took only thirty seconds. In most of our English Bibles the prayer is about sixty words.

Elijah appeals to the covenant relation of God to Israel. He said, "O LORD , God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, 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, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." I Kings 18:36 – 37 He used the covenant name of the patriarchs, Abraham rather than Abram and Israel rather than Jacob. We often talk about the God of Elijah but he referred to the God of the Patriarchs. He then prayed that God’s glory would be revealed. Elijah was not concerned with his reputation but with the reputation of his God. When we come to God in prayer we need to be reminded that we are coming to a holy God who will not share His glory with anyone. Our prayers should be about God’s glory rather than our reputation. Elijah knew that when the people saw the glory of God then their hearts would be turned back to Him.

Then the answer came; fire fell from heaven and consumed everything, not only the sacrifice on the altar but the very altar itself as well as the water in the trench around the altar. The fire that came was not a lightning bolt from a cloud overhead. There was not a cloud in the sky. The fire was the fire of the Holy Spirit. This was not some controlled fire but the wild fire of the Holy Spirit. How often we want the controlled fire of God in our lives but if we want the fire of the Holy Spirit then we must be prepared for the wild fire in our lives.

In order for new growth to take place in the forests of Northern Ontario the dead wood has to be burned away. As the fire burns away the old wood the pine cones burst open and new trees begin to grow. Many times conservation officers try to use a controlled burn but most of the time the burns that take place are wild fires. Even many of the controlled burns turn into wild fires. Fire is very difficult to control and so it is with the Holy Spirit. If He is to have His way then He cannot be controlled.

Why was everything destroyed? God did not want the people coming to Carmel to worship the stones of the altar. God is a spirit and if we are to worship Him then we are to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Carmel may have been a special place but it was special because God met the people there.