The contest on Mount camel

THE CONTEST ON MOUNT CAMEL

After three years, God told Elijah to go back and show himself to Ahab. When Ahab met Elijah, he addressed him as the trouble maker for Israel. Elijah denied the accusation and said Ahab was the trouble maker for Israel because he had encouraged the worship of Baal in Israel.

Elijah instructed the king to assemble all Israel on Mount Camel together with the 450 worshipers of Baal and 400 worshipers of Asherah. The aim is to prove which god is more powerful, Yahweh or Baal.

On the D-day, the whole of Israel gathered on mount Camel, including the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. Elijah told the people to stop having two opinions. He said Baal is god they should follow and Yahweh is God they must follow him.

Elijah asked for one bull each to be given to him and to the Baal prophet. Elijah asked that the prophets of Baal kill one of the bulls and cut it into pieces and put it on wood. He, Elijah too would do the same. The Baal prophets should call on the god to burn the sacrifice and he, Elijah would also call on his God to consume the sacrifice by fire. The god that is able to answer by fire is the one that must be worshiped.

Elijah told the Baal worshipers to start because they were more. The Baal prophets called on their god from morning till noon but there was no answer. At a point, Elijah started making fun of them. He advised them to shout louder because probably their god was asleep, busy or traveled. However, there was no answer. 

Elijah called the people together, repaired the altar of the Lord which was in ruins and dug a trench around the altar. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. He asked that water be poured on the sacrifice. That was done and the water drenched the sacrifice and filled the trench.

The prophet Elijah prayed to the Lord and the sacrifice was consumed by fire. When the people saw this, they bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, “The Lord, he is Lord! The Lord, He is Lord”

Elijah commanded that all the Baal prophets and asked that they bring them to the Kishon valley, where he slaughtered them.

Elijah prophesied that there was going to be rain. He told Ahab to go and eat. While he was gone, Elijah went back to Mount Carmel and prayed for the rains. Anticipating that the rain was surely coming, Elijah sent word to Ahab to go down to Jezreel so that rain does not stop him. The clouds became black and the rains fell in torrents. At about the same time, Ahab was riding a horse to Jezreel, the spirit of God came upon Elijah and he ran ahead of Ahab and got to Jezreel before him.

MORAL LESSONS

1. Men of God should speak against evil in their society

2. The prophets of God must stand firm when they are persecuted.

3. Good triumphs over evil, all the time.

4. The right to life must be respected by all.

5. As a Christian, one must linger between God and Satan. Those who do so can incur punishment from God. 

LESSONS ABOUT THE SUPREMACY OF GOD.

1. God showed his supremacy by withholding the rain as punishment.

2. God makes provision at all times. For the period that that drought lasted, God made provision for Elijah.

3. God protected the prophets that were loyal to him in Israel, during the famine and drought

SAMPLE QUESTION(S)

1. a. Describe God’s intervention on behalf of Elijah.

    b. State two lessons about the nature of God.

2. a. Why did Elijah pronounce drought on Israel?

    b. What three lessons about the supremacy of God can we learn from this event?

3. a. Trace the events that led to Elijah’s pronouncement of drought in Israel?

    b. What two lessons can be learned from the action of Elijah?

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