Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Kings 18:25, 32-35

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Kings 18:25, 32-35

"And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water."

I learned a few things while studying this. The first is that the prophets of Baal worshipped a "Sun-god". Elijah offering this "contest" to see which god could consume the offering with fire was right of their alley. This is what they claimed their god could do. Yet, they rigged their altars with fires beneath them to make sacrifices. This is why Elijah tells them to put no fire under.

Then Elijah builds an altar to the Lord and had the people drench the trench in water. That way no fire could come from beneath. Then no one could claim there was any trickery, but only made possible by the Lord. Elijah shows absolute faith in the power of the true God which is then manifested.

Day 2468