Prophet Elijah – The Contest at Mount Carmel – I Kings 18

Our God is a miracle-doing God. He is all powerful. He hears us when we call. The God of Elijah is the same today. Claim His promises! Hold on to HIM. He will prove Himself strong on your behalf. This article is the second in the series of Elijah.

Memory Verse: Joshua 24:14,15

Now Elijah had been hiding for the three and a half years of drought. The Lord now told Elijah to present himself before king Ahab. He boldly went before the king and placed a challenge before him. Elijah told Ahab that he and the people had begun to follow other gods and he announced a contest, a different kind of contest, a contest to discover who the true God is.

Elijah told Ahab to gather all the people at Mount Carmel along with the 400 prophets of the god Baal and 450 prophets of the god Asherah.

The Challenge: A bull will be cut into pieces and laid on the altar. Each group will call on the name of their God and the God who answers by fire, he is God

The Contestants: 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah and Elijah the Prophet

The Contest:

The first to contest were the 850 prophets. They cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the altar and began to cry unto their god. They cried from morning till noon. They danced, they shouted louder and louder and even began to cut themselves. Elijah said, maybe your god is sleeping. They tried everything but no answer. They failed.

Then Elijah took the center stage. He told the people to come closer to him. He repaired the altar.  He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. He built the altar with the stones and dug a large trench (a long, narrow ditch) around it. He then arranged the wood, cut the bull in pieces and laid on the wood. He then ordered to fill four large jars of water and pour it on the altar and the wood. He asked them to do that three times. The water ran around the water and even filled the trench.

Elijah then prayed a simple prayer, he said “ Lord answer me  so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

God’s Answer

Then the remarkable thing happened. Fire came down from heaven and the water became dry and it burned up the sacrifice. The people were amazed fell down prostrate and said the Lord he is God. Can you imagine the scene. Here stands one man all alone for the Lord challenging 850 prophets and a wicked king Ahab. He was so determined to do God’s will and stand up for the Lord. Our God is an awesome God, a miracle doer, the God of heaven and earth. Even though there was so much water poured on the altar, it took just a few minutes for the Lord to burn the sacrifice. The God of Elijah is the same today. Trust Him, follow him, and encourage your friends also to follow the Lord Jesus. He will never put you down. He will NEVER fail you or forsake you.

Activity for kids: Try to make an altar of 12 stones something like this and write the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim and Manasseh).

Mark a small horizontal slit in the altar and add a flame of fire to tell the story. You should be able to move the flame up and down similar to this:

Draw a picture of Elijah next to it and you can tell the story of the contest at Mount Carmel at home and to your friends. If you tried this craft, send in pictures with your name and the church you go to entries.hebrontimes@gmail.com and we will post the best ones on the site.

Use your holidays profitably!