Scott Hurst has a useful piece at TGC Canada, where he takes a look at Elijah’s showdown on Mount Carmel and the subsequent slaughter of 450 prophets of Baal. Seems a little vengeful and unchristian, doesn’t it?
Hurst takes a close look at the literary context, biblical context, cultural context, and flow of thought to help us understand the passage in its time so we can properly apply it to today. This is a good model for how to approach a difficult text.
Even if we aren’t wavering between competing gods, perhaps our choices have opened windows for sin. The urgency of Elijah putting Baal’s prophets to death is an urgency the New Testament presses upon us in putting sin to death. Consider the words of Jesus: “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matt 5:29). Wavering with sin, in any form, compromises the integrity of our walk with the Lord.
When you read 1 Kings 18, instead of thinking about how you can be like Elijah and who you want to call down fire from heaven in front of, consider the ways you are prone to wander. Then you can hear and apply Elijah’s call to repentance with the ears of faith.
