Gospel-Centered Bible Study: September 2005 Archives

I Kings 18 tells one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It's the story of Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Or more correctly, it's God vs. Baal on Mt. Carmel. It's a great story of God drawing attention to Himself once again. Basically, He takes Baal out behind the woodshed (if you don't know what that means, ask your parents).

This past summer, I heard a message on this passage. It was pretty much a de-secularized pep talk about how we need to be bold like Elijah. Don't get me wrong. We certainly need to be bold as Christians in the face of idolatry and worldly philosophy. But that's not the center of the meaning circle in the passage.

The hero of the story isn't Elijah, it's God. I really can't tell someone to be like Elijah, b/c in the story, we aren't Elijah. Unfortunately, we are the people of Israel. We are the ones who have gone and are going to great lengths to worship something that is an idol of our own imagination. We are even hurting ourselves to worship this false god.

But something happens. The fire will fall, but where does it fall? It's supposed to fall on the people. We, the people deserve the fire of God's judgment. We deserved to be incinerated, burnt to a crisp for having other gods before the One True and Living God. But the fire fell on the sacrifice instead. And what happens in the story? The people confess that the LORD is God. Their hearts are turned back by the sacrifice being consumed by the fire of God.

You see, it's ultimately the Gospel of Jesus Christ that keeps us from facing God's wrath. The Perfect Sacrifice, Jesus Christ, has already faced God's wrath for us. We may now confess that Jehovah is God, not because of what we've done, but because the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Are you struggling with an idol? I know I am. Look to the Perfect Sacrifice!