The Repair of the Altar...Elijah pt 8

https://billrandles.wordpress.com/2021/11/27/the-repair-of-the-altar-elijah-pt-8/ ^ | 11-27-21 | Bill Randles

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And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.( I Kings 18:30-38)

The Assembled people of Israel, had spent the day watching the exhausting antics of the pagan priests of Baal and Ashteroth, first praying and pleading with Baal for an answer, then they witnessed the spectacle of them leaping and dancing, then finally the ‘worship’ service degenerated into bloodletting and self mutilation, all in an effort to prove to the people that Baal was Lord.

But it was futile, as well as exhausting. There was no answer, the Altar remained unlit, the Skies remained brass, and the sun began to set on the religion of Baal. They had employed all of their arsenal of superstition, sympathetic magic, and even self mutilation, but to no avail.

Finally Elijah gathered the people unto Him, on Mt Carmel to see if the LORD, the God of Israel whom they had once rejected, could prove himself. In calling them to himself, he was also bringing them into the participation of the sacrifice. They would help gather the stones. dig the trench, and bring the water and sticks that would be needed.

The first step was to repair the Altar, which had long been neglected and had fell into ruin. It would have been an altar which had once been used before the Temple was constructed. 12 Stones were selected, (although Israel at this time consisted of ten tribes). Elijah was going back to the beginning, in happier times when Israel was 12 tribes, whom God had chosen and blessed.

Even after the nation split, in the days of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, it was the will of God that the two nations remain indivisible, if not politically, then religiously. They were still to be 12 tribes united in the Worship of Jahweh. This was the meaning of the selection of 12 stones for the Altar.

But Jeroboam, the first King of the divided ten tribes, had lured them away from the Temple in Jerusalem, and thus the true Priesthood, Altars, sacrifice and religion. Jeroboam had invented a pseudo religion for Israel, with two new centers for worship, and a new Priesthood.

But Elijah was taking the nation back to where they were when they went astray.

We who stray, always have to go back to the beginning, in our case it would be the Cross of Jesus and all it stands for.

‘Israel shall be thy name‘, Elijah took them back also to the name given, in a dark night of struggle, Israel, the Prince who struggles with God and prevails. Through His prophets, God would alternate between calling them’Jacob’ or ‘Israel”, which is the ideal name. She doesn’t always live up to it, and in the case of the ten tribes, she cast it aside spiritually, she no longer struggled with God, she wanted to be like the world, and so she worshipped foreign Gods; first the golden calves, but eventually she worshipped Baal and Ashteroth.

One day Israel shall truly be Israel, but it will only so after the blackest night, the great Tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s troubles”. As in Genesis, Jacob becomes Israel by wrestling, then clinging to God, Israel wins by losing to God, not by forsaking him.

He took the stones and built an Altar in the name of the LORD. True worship, in ‘Spirit and in Truth’ is what is called for. In the name of the LORD means to worship by the God appointed means, and offering the God appointed sacrifice, and in faith in the Salvation God would accomplish. Elijah consecrated the altar by prayer in Jahweh’s name.

Israel was dying, for she had attended foreign altars, and had forsaken the LORD. Her ‘worship’ had become ridiculous, and evil, it had become a perverse parody of what God had intended of the “Holy Nation and ‘Kingdom of Priests’. The new ‘worship’ was indeed a celebration of death and decay, an affront to the LORD of Life.

But in repairing the Altar, Elijah, like all true Prophets was showing Israel the way back to Life.

Soaking the trench, the wood and the sacrifice would give the effect that the fire which fell was from heaven, and miraculous as it consumed everything. But perhaps the pouring out of water on the sacrifice, altar, and filling the trenches around the altar held a symbolic meaning, perhaps a visual picture of the repentant prayer and confession of sin of the people, or of a drink offering in the place of Israel.

We are told that it was the time of the Evening sacrifice. The Sun was setting, the exhausted Baalists were defeated , and the congregation had been enlisted to attend to the Altar of Jahweh. The Altar dripped water, the sacrifice, now sodden, gleamed in the setting sin, rivulets made their way down the stones, the trench overflowed. A silence descended when Elijah began to pray a short, direct prayer,

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. ( I Kings 18:36-37)

The prayer was about the LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He alone would perform the miracle, and to Him alone must the people turn. He would make them know, once and for all, and conclusively, that the LORD, He is God. Elijah had only performed the Word of the LORD. What was the LORD’s purpose in all of this? To turn Israel’s hearts back to Him again!

He had said it, and, as when first the Tabernacle was consecrated (Leviticus 9:24), or as when King Solomon (1 Chronicles 21:26; 2 Chronicles 7:1) brought the first offering in the Temple which he had reared to Jehovah, so now the fire of Jehovah leaped from heaven, consumed the sacrifice and the wood, enwrapped and burnt up the limestone rocks of which the altar was constructed, and with burning tongue licked up even the water that was in the trench. One moment of solemn silence, when all who had seen it fell in awe-stricken worship on their faces; then a shout which seemed to rend the very air, and found its echo far and wide in the glens and clefts of Carmel: “Jehovah, He the Elohim! Jehovah, He the Elohim!” (Eidersheim, Alfred, the Bible History)

And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.( I Kings 18: 40)

But the victory wasn’t complete, for those who had brought and promoted idolatry into the land of Israel, had to experience judgment. Therefor the next step was for Elijah to supervise the slaughter of the Priests of Baal.The evil had to be put away from Israel.

Ahab saw all of this and was stunned. Jezebel wasn’t with Him, but he witnessed the mighty works of God. Elijah summonsed Him to share in the covenant meal, for he had become (for the time being) a convert as had all of the rest of those who witnessed. Israel had been converted to God, King Ahab would eat a share of the sacrifice.

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, ( I Kings 18:41-42)

Elijah had one other task to attend to on the evening of miracles; fervent prayer for Rain.

And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.( I Kings 18:43-44)

The new convert, Ahab had to hurry, for the Rain was coming to such a degree that it would have impeded His chariot, had he lingered longer. So he loaded up with his servants and began the descent down the mountain to the plain, in the rain.

Suddenly the Spirit of the LORD inspired Elijah with power to run, He ran so fast he overtook the Chariot, in effect, leading the way before the LKing, as if He were one of his announcers. But Elijah only ran as far as the entrance to Jezreel, where the King was going, and where Jezebel, the High Priestess of Baal was staying. The King himself would have to decide how far he wanted to proceed in his new conversion.

And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.( I Kings 18:45-46)

Thus for this brief, short amount of time, all was as it should be;Israel had rejected the priests of Baal, and returned to God, and the King of Israel was following a Prophet (the Word of God) as he rode furiously in that chariot.

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So beautiful is the LORD!