Troublemaker

Elijah wanted to kill me.

How was I supposed to tell the king that I had seen him?

Did Elijah want me killed?

“But sir… you know he has been looking for you. There’s no where in Israel he did not search.” I scratched my head. Imagine saving a hundred prophets only for one to send you to your death.

“Just let the king know I’m here.”

“Uh… sir, do you want the king to kill me?”

I imagined myself delivering the message

Elijah watched me amused.

“You really want me to tell the king you’re here when he has searched every nation for you just so that the Spirit of God would take you to who knows where? Sir, have I… wronged you?”

He shook his head in a way that told me I was not convincing enough, a hint of a smile on his face.

Elijah knew he caused the national famine. What a man!

Oh not the one with a grace. No no.

This man had caused a three year long famine and literally vanished into thin air. Nobody had known where he went.

“I swear by God, today, Ahab would see me.”

I inspected his countenance. Surely, a man of God wouldn’t swear to a lie.

I told the king Elijah was “where to be found”. The king went to meet him.

I watched as Ahab’s brows furrowed into anger and then slowly into helpless. He launched his pointing finger at him, his voice cracking at how loud he had exclaimed, “You this trouble maker! Is it really you?”

Elijah scoffed, “Me? Trouble maker? It isn’t me that decided to worship Baal instead of God is it?” He said Baal like it was bile in his mouth.

With the same authority that he had used to declare the famine, Elijah stared the king down, “Let all of Israel and those Baal and Asherah prophets of yours, meet me at Mount Carmel.”

Somehow, King Ahab made it happen.

Everyone was at the mountain and everyone’s attention was on a singular hairy looking man before them.

“How long? How long would you people keep shuttling between two options?” Elijah’s eyes roamed and somehow made eye contact with every soul on the mount.

“If the Lord is God, follow him! If Baal is God, follow him!”

Not a single sound was made, the cemetery a few yards away had to be jealous.

I watched as Elijah took a breath, ready to let out yet another round of silencing words. “This is what we would do. Get two bulls: one for me – the only prophet of God and one for the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal can choose first, I don’t care. We would prepare both bulls then call on our gods to do the lighting. Whichever god lights it up is the true God.”

The people affirmed too quickly it intrigued me. Elijah let the Baal prophets go first. Maybe because the embarrassment would be greater that way.

From the cutting of the bull to putting it on the altar, I watched some firm Baal believers on their tiptoes out of nervousness.

A piercing shout echoed, the four hundred and fifty prophets had shouted at the same time, “Oh Baal, answer us.”

They said it again, one after the other this time. No response.

Legs and hands waggled in dancing so that Baal would be appeased. They went round the altar a number of times to no avail. Still no ablaze.

I watched our shadows move from the west of us to the north of us, shortened. It was noon.

When Elijah got tired of watching, he began taunting.

“Shout louder to your god, will you?”

They did. Screaming, shouting.

He continued, “Or…” His fingers flew to his chin in dramatic mockery, “He must be thinking! He must really be deep in thought.”

What I thought was loudest, grew louder, I almost prayed Baal answered them.

Somebody coughed out a sore throat.

“Or…” Elijah hinted a smile, “he must be busy taking a rest. Oh, he’s sleeping. Prophets wake up your god!”

They tried to. If he was sleeping and had not woken up to these sounds maybe he didn’t even have ears.

Baal could you just…well…

I saw a bearded prophet pick up a knife. But the bull was already cut or did they not cut it right for Baal to fire up?

He cut himself. He put the knife to his skin and cut it. Oh-

Many others joined in, I watched in disarray. Somebody murmured that it was custom and maybe he’ll answer them now.

The shouts and screams increased. I couldn’t tell whether it was from tearing themselves or from the begging that had turned desperate. It must have been both.

When only a tip of the sun could be seen. Elijah timed them out.

Baal did not answer them.

“Come gather here.”

Rustling ensued. Every body pressed against one another as they gathered closer to watch. I moved closer too.

Elijah repaired the torn down altar, lifted twelve stones and with them built an altar in the Lord’s name. He dug a trench around the altar too.

He piled up wood on the altar and laid the cut pieces of bull on them. Then he ordered that four large jars of water be poured over the offering and wood.

He asked that the water pouring be repeated.

He had another four jars poured again.

Water was all over the altar now. It sort of concerned me how much water they had used.

The moment the time for offering the now evening sacrifice came, Elijah moved closer to the altar and prayed.

“God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…” was all I heard. He definitely was praying that God heard him.

“Answer me o Lord.”

It didn’t take a second after that. A bright light flashed from above, heat accompanied it. It was fire and from heaven.

It went straight for the altar. It consumed the bull and the wood and the stones and the dust and in fact dried up all the water that overflowed the trench Elijah had dug.

Every body saw it and instinctively knees collapsed. No knees could stand the weight of what was witnessed. Heads followed, bowed, no eyes were worthy of beholding such.

Formerly doubting hearts began declaring the Lord as God. “The Lord is God.”

Others reaffirmed the undebatable truth. “Yes, yes, the Lord is God.”

At least the people knew the truth now.

Elijah wasn’t going to just let the followers of Baal go. I knew it the moment he opened his mouth to speak again. “Seize all the prophets of Baal, do not let a single one escape.”

Later, at the Kishon Valley, Elijah had all the prophets of Baal killed.

1 Kings 18:1-40

What a man!