The Failings of the World’s System
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down.
The above incident is the show-down between Elijah and the prophets fo Baal. Elijah has been on the run for three years. He prayed for a drought on the land and then took off to another country. In the above story, he has returned. He has returned to show the futility of the world’s gods. Gods that Israel has decided to follow. We were told about these false gods by the Apostle Paul, as well:
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
1 Timothy 6:20
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”
The world is reeling with depravity. Yet, their philosophy to heal it all is absent Christ. They call it knowledge. They refer to it as being “woke” with knowledge. The problem with all this is, if they don’t see the glory of Christ in all this, they are not really enlightened. Note what Paul told the church at Corinth:
The Light of the Gospel
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
God is providing light. Elijah on that hill was providing light to the nation of Israel by exposing the futility of the god Baal. That is part of the Believer’s mission. We are to expose the false doctrines and beliefs in the world to show the power and majesty of Christ.
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