Read the following story and answer the questions at the bottom:

And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year of the drought and famine in Israel. The word was, "Go and show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth. And obeying, Elijah went to show himself to the king of Israel, Ahab.

When King Ahab saw Elijah, this rough-hewn and something of a country bumpkin, Ahab said to him, "Are you the man who is causing all these problems for our country?" Of course, Ahab knew all about the tradition of the prophets in Israel and how sometimes they said terrible things would happen to Israel because the people had not lived up to the terms of the covenant.

Looking the proud king straight in the eye, Elijah said, "It is not I who is troubling the house of Israel but you and your father's house, by not obeying the covenant established with Moses in the wilderness, even before the time of King David. You have instead set up altars to the foreign, false god of Baal."

The king knew about these traditions and knew that sometimes even a king ought to pay attention to what prophets said. When Elijah saw that he had the king's attention, he added, "Now send out and gather all of Israel at Mount Carmel and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of the groves who eat at queen Jezebel's tables." That is a lot of prophets in one place but the king decided he had better listen so he sent word throughout the nation and gathered all these prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah would be the one prophet of the true God of Israel, Yahweh (the Hebrew word for "Lord"), and he would face these eight-hundred fifty prophets alone.

So all these people gathered in this very tense showdown. Elijah came before all the gathered assembly and said, "How long will you waver between the two beliefs--between believing in the Lord of Israel and believing in the false god Baal?"

The people had been confused for so long they looked at each other and you could hear a few questions and comments but no one came forward to respond to Elijah. Thousands of people and you could hear a pin drop.

The Elijah said to the people, "I along remain a prophet of the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of King David. I face these 450 prophets of Baal gathered here today. Let's get two large bulls, one for the prophets of Baal and one for me. Sacrifice the bulls by killing them and putting them on stacks of wood but don't put a fire under it just yet. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood with no fire."

In those days, people would often sacrifice animals on altars as a way of repenting for the sins they had done. So the people understood what Elijah was suggesting.

Elijah added, "then you will call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, and the deity that answers with fire that consumes the offering will be the one we all will follow."

That offer brought lots of comments and the prophets and the people agreed that this would be the contest. You could sense the excitement building in the air: who would win?

Elijah said to the large company of Baal prophets, "Call on the name of your god, but do not put any fire on it."

Hundreds of Baal prophets went to work with great energy, killing the bull, putting it on a large, prominent altar for all to see. Soon they began their incantations, hundreds of the prophets intoning in unison, "Oh Baal, hear us, oh Baal, hear your prophets." After a while, a couple lept on the altar, raising their hands in the air, "Oh Baal, hear us, oh Baal, your prophets call on you." For more than three hours they invoked the aid of Baal. Elijah sat in a chair some distance away, watching with interest.

But nothing happened. Elijah decided to have some fun. "Cry aloud to your god. Perhaps he his busy talking to other prophets or he is on vacation. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. Your ritual does not seem to be working."

The prophets of Baal, four hundred fifty strong, cried aloud all the more. They began to cut themselves with large knives in order to get Baal to pity them. The blood gushed on their elaborate robes and ran down onto the grown. The wailing became even louder.

Well into the day, after noon when they would have normally eaten, they continued their Baal frenzy. But the heavens were silent as the people began to wonder what all this meant.

Then, as the sun was beginning to set in the West, Elijah motioned to the people, "Come near to me." He spoke so softly people said, "What did he say?" But as people moved closer, those who could not hear figured it out.

The people gathered around the altar that Elijah had built alone. In the Baal frenzy, parts of it had been broken and stones and wood lay strewn around the area. Elijah took twelve stones, which represented the number of tribes in the nation of Israel, and he made a new, small altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around this altar, put new wood on the altar, and cut the young bull into pieces and put the pieces on the altar. You could still hear the prophets of Baal in the background, calling loudly on their god.

Elijah then said, "fill four barrels of water and pour the water on the altar." The people did this and he commanded them to do it a second time, and then a third. There was so much water it filled the trenches and the wood swelled with the water. Everything was soaking wet.

By then it was time for the evening sacrifice according to the traditions of the Lord of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Elijah came near to the altar, the wood, and the sacrificed bull. Everyone was watching now, including the prophets of Baal who had by now given up invoking the name of Baal.

Elijah closed his eyes and offered this prayer in a quiet voice: "Hear, O God, hear me and let this people know that you are the Lord God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord of the covenant. Let the people see that I am your true prophet and have done these things at your command. Re-establish your covenant in their hearts once again."

Then the fire of the Lord came down from the heavens in a brilliant flash of light and consumed and burned the bull, the wood, and even the stones. The fire licked up the gallons of water in the trenches, leaving a hint of steam and smoke in the air.

When the people saw this, they fell on their faces and exclaimed, "The Lord he is God, the Lord he is God!"

Eyeing the astonished and hapless prophets of Baal, Elijah said to the people, "Take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape." And, indeed, they were all put to the sword and perished.

By the time the sun had completely set, the rains came and the the drought was ended. The people knew that they would soon have good food as well. And the tradition of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was reestablished in the land of Israel.

16. Who was Baal—surely there is only one God? 17. What previous experience with this irritating prophet Elijah had King Ahab had? 18. What is the objection that Elijah has to the way Ahab has been king? 19. What does the Hebrew word "Yahweh" mean? 20. How does this story illustrate the struggle between the faith of Israel and the rival religions of Palestine to which many Jews were attracted? 21. Why the contrast in the noise levels between the prophets of Baal and Elijah. 22. Why does Elijah mention the covenant—what is it and why is it important for this story? 23. (challenge) This is a very old story—is there any evidence for why it is old and perhaps not fully under a mature Jewish understanding of justice?

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