Lenten Midweek II
Adventures with Elijah: Elijah
and the Prophets of Baal
March 4, 2026
Text: 1
Kings 18:20-40; Luke 3:1-22
Your idols cannot answer your
prayers. They can’t even hear you. Nor can they do anything for you. Except lie to you. Disappoint you. Make a fool of you. Kill you.
Damn you. Because an idol,
itself, is nothing. It has no power. St. Paul discusses this in 1 Corinthians 8: “we
know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one’”
(v. 4; ESV). But there is a power
behind the idol, and that is what harms you. The power is demonic. St. Paul, again in 1 Corinthians, this time
in Chapter 10, tells us that “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and
not to God” (v. 20). “I do not
want you to be participants with demons,” he says. Good advice.
So, we should examine our lives, and
identify our idols. We all have
them. And then we should deny them. Forsake them.
Topple them. Root them out. Repent.
See how ridiculous they are as you
observe the prophets of Baal in our text.
It’s a pretty simple test, isn’t it?
Set up your sacrifices, O idolatrous priests, and the Prophet of the
LORD will set up his. Then you call upon
the name of your god, and Elijah will call upon the Name of the LORD. And the God who answers with fire is the one
true God. What happens? The prophets of Baal call and cry to their
god. But nobody answers. No fire.
No voice from heaven. No
response. So, they limp around, as
you’ve undoubtedly seen pagans do. (I
know this is politically incorrect, but think of the Native American rain
dance, as just one example.) They cut
themselves, so that the blood gushes out.
Blood is very common in idolatrous ceremonies. And this points to the power behind the idols. The demons are thirsty for blood. Why?
It is a perverted image of the blood of our one true Sacrifice, the Lord
Jesus Christ. They are mocking Him. They are mocking our salvation. Anyway, on and on they go, all day long,
these prophets of Baal, and the text says, “No one answered; no one paid
attention” (1 Kings 18:29).
Meanwhile, what is Elijah
doing? Mocking the idol. “Cry louder.
Maybe he can’t hear you.” I’m
reminded of the profound words once uttered by the Incredible Hulk when he
smashed the false god, Loki: “Puny god.”
Indeed, puny god who can’t hear your prayers. “Hey, maybe he’s musing, lost in thought. That’s why he can’t hear you. Or, maybe he's going to the bathroom. Give him a minute. Or, perhaps he's out of town. Or sleeping.
After all, gods like him get tired after a while.” Elijah is giving us a clue as to one way we
can put our idols in their place. Mock
them for what they aren’t. They
aren’t gods. In fact, they are nothing. So they can’t help you. In fact, they can’t do anything.
Psalm 115 is helpful here: “Their
idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but
do not see. They have ears, but do not
hear; noses, but do not smell. They have
hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in
their throat” (vv. 4-7). Now, the
devastating warning: “Those who make them become like them”… impotent
nothings… “so do all who trust in them” (v. 8).
We become what we worship. Dear Christian, remember that God made man in
His own Image. And though we lost that
Image in sin, in Holy Baptism, God restores it in you. We become what we worship. But when you worship idols, what
happens? You exchange the blessed Image
for an image of nothing and no one. And the demons rejoice, because that is what
they want for you. For you to become nothing
and no one, and be consigned to an eternity with them in hell.
Beloved, don’t become like
them. Identify your idols, and root them
out. “But,” you say, “I don’t worship
images of silver and gold. My idols are
less obvious. So how do I recognize them
for what they are?” You know that an
idol is anything you fear, love, or trust more than the Lord your
God. So, ask yourself this question: What
is it, in my life, that I’d have a hard time giving up for the sake of
Jesus? In fact, what things do I already
refuse to give up for the sake of Jesus?
Where am I breaking His Commandments, and presuming on His mercy,
because actually repenting of those things, and giving them up, is more painful
than the thought of losing my Lord Jesus?
Whatever those things are, they are what you fear, love, and trust more
than the Lord your God. They are your
idols.
We all, undoubtedly, share many of
the same idols. But it is also true that
our idols are particular to our circumstances, vocations, and station in
life. So, when John the Baptist is
addressing this with those coming to him for Baptism, he gets specific with
people. “What then shall we do?”
(Luke 3:10), they ask. Well… do you have
stuff your neighbor needs? Don’t hold on
to the stuff like it’s your god. Share
it with those who don’t have it. You tax
collectors, stop stealing from people by taking more than you're authorized to
take. You soldiers, stop bullying and
extorting the people into giving you money.
Be content with your wages. Think
about yourself in your own vocations and situation. What would John the Baptist say to you? Take those idols down. Confess them.
Drown them, along with your Old Adam, in the blest baptismal
waters. And then what?
Put all your faith in God. Your full fear, love, and trust. Surrender it all to Him. Your very self to Him. Psalm 115, again: “O Israel, trust in the
LORD! He is their help and their shield”
(v. 9). “O Christian, trust in the
LORD! He is YOUR help and YOUR
shield.” And in that trust, call upon
Him.
By the time of the evening
sacrifice, Elijah has had enough. He
repairs the altar he built for the LORD (apparently destroyed by the Baal
worshipers). And then… and we love
this!... he has some bystanders fill four water jars with water and pour them
out on the sacrifice and the wood. How
many times? Three. And it is a Baptism if there ever was
one. The water soaks everything… runs
around the altar and fills up the trench.
And then a beautiful prayer, in the hearing of all, confessing the one
true God, the God of Israel, calling upon Him to answer, and by His answer, to
turn the hearts of the people.
And what happens? “Then the fire of the LORD fell and
consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and
licked up the water that was in the trench” (1 Kings 18:38). And, of course, it is, in the first place, a
type of our all-sufficient Sacrifice of Atonement, the Lord Jesus Himself, when
the fire of God’s wrath over our sins fell upon Him on the cross, and consumed
Him in the death and damnation we deserve.
He took it, for us, in our place.
And then, it is also a type of our Baptism into the death of
Christ. The water. Three times.
Soaking everything. The water and
the Sacrifice go together. And we’re in
it. Baptized into it.
And then, the judgment and death of
the idolaters. It is really a judgment
on Baal, but those who worship him become like him. And so, the slaughter of the prophets. See in this, not only a warning of the great
Judgment coming upon unbelievers on the Last Day, but also what happens to the
Old Idolater in you, and all your idols, when you are baptized into
Christ. The Idolater in you dies
with Christ, the Sacrifice, in the baptismal flood, along with all sins and
idolatrous desires, even as you are raised up a New Creation in Jesus Christ,
who is risen from the dead. That is,
even this terrible act of violence in our text is Good News for you. Gospel.
Because you are freed from the grip of the demons. You are no longer their captive. You belong to Jesus Christ. And Yah is your God. As in, “Elijah” (My God is Yah!). And He does answer your prayers. He pays attention. He receives the Sacrifice (the Lord
Jesus). And you are saved.
And what else do you know? Those who worship Him become like Him. That is to say, Image restored. The Image of Christ. Baptized into Christ, now heaven is open to
you. The Spirit descends on you and
remains. And the Voice of the Father
declares to you: You, also, are My beloved son in My Son, Jesus. And so, with you, I am well-pleased.
Don’t worship idols, beloved. They’re just dumb objects in the service of
dumb demons. Fear, love, and trust in God
above all things. For He loves you. He will never leave you or forsake you. And in Him you have life forevermore. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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