Summary
Believing in God
The question pressed upon Israel at Mount Carmel is the question pressed upon every generation: who, in the end, do you actually believe in? On that ridge in the northwestern part of Israel, with the Mediterranean visible in the distance, Elijah staged a confrontation that exposed the hidden idolatries of God's people and made the answer unmistakable. The account, drawn from 1 Kings 18, forms the heart of the Lutheran teaching on what it means to trust the true God Believing in God 8-25-24.
A biblical prophet was not chiefly a fortune-teller. While prophets sometimes foretold future events, the larger work was forth-telling—delivering, plainly and without negotiation, the message God had given. Prophets did not run focus groups or labor to be liked. They said, "Thus saith the Lord." Elijah stood in that office during the reign of King Ahab, who, with Queen Jezebel, had imported Baal worship into the northern kingdom and "did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him" 1 Kings 16:30.
The deeper problem at Carmel was not merely that pagan prophets existed; it was that the people of Israel were trying to hold two beliefs at once. Elijah's question cut through the fog: "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him" 1 Kings 18:21. They believed in the true God and in false gods simultaneously—a direct violation of the First Commandment, "You shall have no other gods" Exodus 20:3. When confronted, the people answered nothing. Exposed hypocrisy, apart from repentance, has no reply but silence.
The contest itself was simple: two bulls, two altars, no fire. Whichever God answered by fire was God indeed. The 850 prophets of Baal went first, calling on the storm-god whose weapon was the lightning bolt. They cried from morning until noon. They danced—"limped"—around their altar in cultic frenzy. They cut themselves with swords and lances until they bled. And there was no voice, no answer, no response. Elijah then drenched his altar with water three times until the trench overflowed, called on the Lord, and the fire fell, consuming the offering, the wood, the stones, and even the water. The people fell on their faces and confessed, "The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God" 1 Kings 18:39. Elijah believed in God, and the result was confidence. The false prophets believed in make-believe gods, and the result was silence.
The age in which we live preaches a different creed: "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Self-trust is held up as the highest virtue, and the phrase "I believe in myself" is repeated like a confession. Yet Scripture's designation of us is altogether different. God calls us sheep—the most dependent and defenseless of creatures, unable to protect themselves and not particularly clever besides. A sheep alone before a wolf does not declare itself master of its fate; such a claim would be absurd. So Paul exhorts in Romans 12:3 not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but with sober judgment. With the psalmist we say instead, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust" Psalm 91:2.
When Jesus Christ came in the flesh, He bore our sin at the cross—including the particular sin of deifying ourselves—and paid the debt in full. In the waters of Baptism God claims us, reconciles us, and opens to us an eternity of grace through His Son. He does not leave us to muster faith on our own; through Word and Sacrament He empowers us to believe in Him. And so the Church joins the cry of Israel at Carmel: The Lord indeed is God. In Him we believe, and on Him we depend.
Video citations
- Believing in God 8-25-24 — With your Bible's please, to first Kings the 18th chapter for our study this morning, first Kings the 18th chapter. If you're using a Puedition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page…