1 Kings 18.25-29:
| 18.25 ויאמר אליהו לנביאי הבעל | Eliyahuα says to Ba’al’s prophets, |
|---|---|
| בחרו לכם הפר האחד | “Choose one calf for yourselves. |
| ועשו ראשנה | Do yours first, |
| כי אתם הרבים | because you are many. |
| וקראו בשם אלהיכם | Call in your god’s name. |
| ואש לא תשימו׃ | Place no fire.” |
| 18.26 ויקחו את הפר אשר נתן להם | They receive the calf that was given them. |
| ויעשו | They do it. |
| ויקראו בשם הבעל | They call in Ba’al’s name |
| מהבקר ועד הצהרים | from the morning to the midday, |
| לאמר הבעל עננו | saying, “Ba’al, answer us.” |
| ואין קול | No sound. |
| ואין ענה | No answer. |
| ויפסחו על המזבח אשר עשה׃ | They pass overβ the altar which they made. |
| 18.27 ויהי בצהרים | It became, when it was midday, |
| ויהתל בהם אליהו | Eliyahu throws insults at them. |
| ויאמר קראו בקול גדול | He says, “Call with a louderγ voice! |
| כי אלהים הוא | Some god he is.δ |
| כי שיח | Maybeε he meditates. |
| וכי שיג לו | Maybeε he craps.ζ |
| וכי דרך לו | Maybeε he goes out. |
| אולי ישן הוא ויקץ׃ | What if he sleeps, and he wakens?” |
| 18.28 ויקראו בקול גדול | They call with a louderγ voice. |
| ויתגדדו כמשפטם | They ritually cut themselves |
| בחרבות וברמחים | with knives and spears |
| עד שפך דם עליהם׃ | until blood pours out over them. |
| 18.29 ויהי כעבר הצהרים | It became past midday. |
| ויתנבאו עד לעלות המנחה | They prophesy until grain-offering time.η |
| ואין קול | No sound. |
| ואין ענה | No answer. |
| ואין קשב׃ | No one listens. |
I’ve heard it preached that these prophets were frauds—they didn’t hear anything from Ba’al, ’cause Ba’al isn’t a real god anyway. I doubt this.
Modern skeptics don’t believe anyone hears from any god, including Christians hearing from the One True God. A lot of this skepticism has leaked back into Christianity. I hear it all the time from cessationists and dispensationalists—that none of the prophecy we encounter in Pentecostalism is real; that it’s all self-delusional, or deception on the part of the so-called “prophet.” While it’s true that there are con artists pretending to be prophets—and I’ve met a few—it’s also true that you can’t have a counterfeit if there isn’t an original. I’ve met many prophets who have told me things that no one but God could tell me, and I’ve given prophecy myself.
In my experience with false prophets: Not all of them are con artists. Some do show signs of hearing something; it’s just not God. It could be a self-delusion, or a form of schizophrenia, or something devilish in origin. The same is true of the prophets we find in other religions. They sought the honor and authority of the title of prophet—without the humility and accountability of following God—and the devil, or one of the other devils, whether a fallen angel or unclean spirit or demon, found it to be an excellent way to manipulate and control them. The false prophets think they met and spoke with God’s angels, because they were told everything they wanted to hear, including, “Follow me and I’ll make you the greatest prophet ever.” But God never promises such things. If anything, God promises His followers persecution and hardship—but He won’t abandon us, so there’s that.
Obviously false prophets speak with the devil’s angels, and allow themselves to be led astray. Same with Ba’al’s prophets. I wouldn’t at all be surprised at all if many of these 450 prophets actually heard Ba’al, whatever Ba’al is. They accepted that Ba‘al is a real god, embraced the power that Ba’al offered them, and became his willing followers. They were prophets—following the wrong god, and leading people astray, but prophets nonetheless.
You can tell it from the way they behave in this story. Elijah puts forth his challenge—set up a calf for an offering, and whichever being is God ought to be able to light it himself—and the people think it’s a good idea. So do Ba’al’s prophets. They agree to it. Now, a con artist—a false prophet who knew he was a fraud, or believed Ba’al wasn’t real and was only in it for the cash or the prestige or the sex—would try to weasel out of it. He’d find an excuse to not participate. He’d say, “Ba’al doesn’t demean himself with silly contests.” He’d threaten, “Thou shalt not put Ba’al to the test, and those of you who doubt him—you’re all cursed.” He’d try to find a way to light the fire surreptitiously, like at a particular point that the 449 other prophets were surrounding the altar in just the right way. He’d stall. He’d make excuses. He’d deliberately nick an artery during the ritual cutting so that he wouldn’t have to live to see the final denouement. He’d do anything other than agree to this contest.
Instead, Ba’al’s prophets agree to it. Which means they were fully expecting Ba’al to answer—and were horrified when he didn’t.
This isn’t a “God is real/Ba’al is imaginary” story. This is a “God puts Ba’al under His feet” story. Whatever Ba’al was or is, he isn’t a god. He can easily be stopped or frustrated by the One True God. In this case, Ba’al—who ordinarily might have been able to light a fire to his altar; false gods have been able to pull a stunt or two in their time—was hindered. God made him unable to communicate with his prophets. God made him unable to light his offering. God made him unable. Whatever powers Ba’al might have, God turned ’em off.
When Elijah started mocking them, they didn’t respond with an explanation for Ba’al’s lack of response. They tried harder. They shouted louder. They started cutting. They kept this up for hours. Nobody does this sort of thing unless they’re expecting it to actually work. Ba’al’s prophets didn’t know why Ba’al had suddenly stopped talking to them; they just knew that they were in deep doo-doo if he didn’t show up. And they really hadn’t expected him to not show up.
I gotta say: It wasn’t very gracious of Elijah to toss insults at them. True, they were following a false god; true, they were leading people astray; and it‘s entirely possible that they didn’t know any better. I really can’t justify Elijah’s bad behavior, and I’m not gonna claim that following the right God makes it okay for him to be a jerk. Mocking Ba’al’s prophets was petty and small of him, and completely unnecessary and inappropriate. Naughty prophet. Jesus wouldn’t have done that.
What we should take from this part of the story is some degree of sympathy for those people who have been deceived in the same way Ba’al’s prophets were. You can see how completely sad and desperate they were as they discovered that their so-called god had tricked and abandoned them. The devil and the false gods can horribly mess people up. To a large degree, they did it to themselves—they embraced this lie, and they fully deserved the judgment that came upon them later in this chapter. But that‘s not to say we shouldn’t reserve some pity for them. There, but for the grace of God, go we.
α. Elijah.
β. Or “limp around.” The “limp” was a worship dance they had back then.
γ. Or “great.”
δ. Lit. “for he is a god.”
ε. LIt. “for.” The conjunction כי indicates an idea that logically follows another idea, so all these “maybe” ideas that Elijah puts forward have to do with what sort of god Ba’al is.
ζ. Lit. “withdraws to himself,” but with the sense of he’s going someplace private so he can take a crap.
η. Lit. “until lifting up a grain offering.” This was usually done in the evening. (Ex 29.41)
