Make up your Mind

Read 1 Kings 18.

Three years passed.  The famine in Israel was so great the king had to search the land for grass to feed the animals.  Meanwhile, Jezebel sat at her royal table and fed 450 false prophets of the god Baal.  It was time for the one true God to intervene again.  He sent Elijah to meet with Ahab for a showdown. 

This was not an ego-driven power game between Ahab and Elijah.  Rather, it was a public opportunity for God to display His power and bring Israel to repent of its false worship.  The challenge is in verse 21: "How long will you go limping between two different opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him."

The Hebrew word translated "limping" in the ESV means "to hop".  It may be used of one who steps as if lame or dances.  The nation claimed by heritage to be the people of God, chosen by Him from the time of Abraham.  Yet, their lives and resources went to worship a made-up god of their choosing and reject any claim the God of heaven made upon them.  Doing both is not possible.  It was time for them to make up their minds.

The confrontation is graphically detailed for us.  The prophets of Baal prepared their sacrifice, danced (ESV="limped", same word as above) around, cried out, and cut themselves in self-punishment for their sin.  But after all that, "there was no voice.  No one answered; no one paid attention" (v.29b).

So many people claim they believe in God, even say they believe the Bible, yet there is no evidence in the way they think, speak or live.  When trouble comes or tragedy strikes, they cry out but all the stuff they lived for does not help them.

Elijah's prayer was a simple one calling for repentance.  "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back."