Of all the rotten rulers in Israel, Ahab and Jezebel may have been the worst. They did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, serving false gods like Asherah and Baal. Ahab did more to provoke God’s wrath than all the other kings before him.

So God raised up the prophet Elijah to prove a point. For three years it did not rain in Israel. That may sound like perfect weather for a picnic, but without rain the people could not grow their crops, and without any crops in the field, the people had no food on the table (or for a picnic). They were hungry.

And Ahab was angry. At Elijah. Because Elijah was God’s messenger and had predicted the drought. When Ahab saw Elijah after three years, Ahab called him a “troubler of Israel.” It’s sadly true: people who don’t like God usually don’t like what God has to say through his messengers.

But Elijah was not the real troublemaker. That was Ahab and his household. They troubled Israel by disobeying the commands of the Lord. So Elijah told Ahab to send the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah to meet him at Mount Carmel. Elijah had a plan.

Actually, God had a plan, and it was a good one. The day came for the great showdown on Mount Carmel—hundreds of prophets from the false gods versus one prophet from the true God. Hardly a fair fight (Elijah had the advantage!). “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” Elijah asked.
“If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

If the people didn’t know who the real God was, they were about to see for themselves. Elijah set up a test. The prophets of Baal prepared a sacrifice for their god and called down fire from heaven. They screamed at the sky for hours. And nothing happened. Elijah teased them, saying, “Maybe your god is out on a trip. Maybe he fell asleep. Maybe he’s using the bathroom!” But the prophets of Baal kept screaming. And nothing happened. All day. There was no god to hear their voice.

Then Elijah prepared an offering for the Lord. He even covered the altar with water to make things harder. But nothing is hard for the real God. He sent down fire from heaven as soon as Elijah called his name. The people said over and over, “The Lord, he is God!” And he was. And he still is.

Elijah was a great prophet of the Lord. So great that he didn’t even die. Years later, God brought Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind with chariots of fire. Pretty cool. Even cooler—the next time Elijah would show up on a mountain, it would be with Moses as they pointed to an even better prophet, Jesus, God’s own Son.