Elijah stories
1 Kings Chapters 17-18
Today we read a series of familiar stories of the prophet Elijah. While we usually come across them singly, they are connected by a great drought. While the drought is literally a period without rain in which the people face deprivation and hardship, even starvation, it also serves as a metaphor for the dryness of their worship life.
Throughout the drought God provides supernaturally for his prophet. First, Elijah is fed by ravens who bring him food. Then, he is sent to a widow with a young son. When she does as he commands and provides for him from her meager resources, God ensures that her small supply of flour and oil do not run out.
When her son dies, Elijah restores him to life, which also assures the woman that he is indeed a prophet from God.
From there the narrative continues to Elijah presenting himself to King Ahab.
Ahab refers to Elijah as the “troubler of Israel.” Elijah retorts that it is Ahab and his family who have brought trouble to Israel by worshiping foreign gods.
Elijah then challenges the prophets of those gods to a contest to see whose God is true.
Two bulls are sacrificed and cut to pieces. Rather than burning them at the altar as would be usual practice, Elijah says the pieces will be placed on the altar and it will be up to each god to bring down fire to burn the sacrifice.
In spite of their pleas to their gods (and accompanied by Elijah’s mocking), the prophets of Baal and Asherah are unable to summon fire. Elijah, though, takes it a step further and drenches his sacrifice with water; God sends down fire that consumes both the sacrifice and the water. Elijah then slaughters the false prophets.
When that brings the people to realize that the Lord is the true god, God brings rain to end the drought.