1 Kings 18:17-21
The people answered him not a word
The question is about halting between two opinions, and the silence that follows it is recorded rather than filled.
Places of the Bible
Mount Carmel
A contest with rules both sides agreed to, and one of them had four hundred and fifty men.
It is the third year of a drought Elijah announced and then disappeared for, and Ahab greets him as the troubler of Israel. The proposal is made to the whole people first, and it is a question rather than a sermon: how long halt ye between two opinions. The text says the people answered him not a word, which is the most honest line in the chapter. Then the terms are set out and they are scrupulously fair.
Scroll down to the storyThe movements, in the order the text gives them.
The story of Mount Carmel
- 01
- 02
1 Kings 18:22-29
Cry aloud, for he is a god
They are given every advantage and all day. The mockery is specific, and the account notes there was no voice, nor any that answered.
- 03
1 Kings 18:30-35
He repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down
Twelve stones for twelve tribes, a trench, and four barrels of water poured three times, until the water ran round about.
- 04
1 Kings 18:36-39
Let it be known this day
The prayer is short and its stated purpose is that the people would know their hearts had been turned back. The fire licks up even the water.
- 05
1 Kings 18:41-46
There is a sound of abundance of rain
He hears the rain before there is a cloud, sends a servant seven times, and outruns Ahab’s chariot to the entrance of Jezreel.
Why it matters
Two bullocks, two altars, no fire put under either, and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. The prophets of Baal go first and are given all morning and into the afternoon, and Elijah mocks them with suggestions: cry aloud, for he is a god, either he is talking or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth. Then Elijah repairs a broken altar with twelve stones, soaks it three times, and prays thirty-two words. The fire falls, and afterwards he runs ahead of a chariot to Jezreel and then, hearing one threat, runs for his life.
3 songs
The music
Every song in the catalogue whose passage falls inside these chapters.
