1 Kings 18:16-19 (ESV)
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.”
It is amazing what God knows about the world and about their thoughts and the intents of their hearts. Elijah is about to have a spiritual battle with the priest of Baal (a false god). Before he goes into this battle, God allows him to know the exact number of the prophets of Baal and the prophets of another false God, Asherah. Perhaps this was a known fact. Maybe they walked around boasting of their numbers. But, the point is that God knows that there are individuals in Israel that are worshipping false gods and knows their number, their name and their iniquity. When we worship other gods, God knows. These were God’s chosen people. Both they and us have been taught that God is a jealous God:
Exodus 34:14 (ESV)
(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
James 4:5 (ESV)
Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
When we attempt to worship other gods our God sends us an Elijah moment to focus us and to draw us back to him. These 850 prophets will lose their lives for their failure to repent. God does not tolerate our worshipping of false gods.
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