If God Be God, Follow Him!

1 Kings 18:21, “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.”

The cause of Israel’s idolatry had to be addressed. Jezebel had infected the pure worship of Jehovah with the idol worship of her ancestral god, Baal. She used her position as queen to force all of Israel to worship Baal. The time had come for Israel to choose who they would follow and the evil influence of apostate religion had to be eliminated. Elijah ordered that all the priests of Baal be killed to rid the kingdom of their evil influence. Good call, right?

1 Kings 19:1, “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.” Jezebel promised to do to Elijah what he had done to her priests and he ran for his life. He found himself all alone hiding away in a deep dark cave but it was there that he encountered the Almighty Lord God Jehovah. 1 Kings 19:12, “And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?”

There are two issues that Elijah was challenged to address. One, How could he justify his hasty retreat in the face of such a victory at Mt. Carmel? And second, Could he be used by God to finish his mission? Elijah began to justify his behavior and defend his cowardly retreat. He had been very zealous for God when the children of Israel had forsaken His covenant. They turned to the worship of Baal, having thrown down the altars of the Lord and slain the prophets of God. Elijah proclaimed that he was the only one left therefore they sought to take his life. God assured Elijah that there were “7000” who had not bowed to Baal or worshiped his image. God's command was to return to action and finish what God had started. (continued)