"Is that you, you troubler of Israel?' So Ahab goes out to meet Elijah. Who is really troubling Israel, we wonder---the prophet of God or the idolatrous king? Elijah not only denies that he is troubling Israel but proposes a showdown between Baal and the Lord God of Israel.

So Ahab summons all of the people, along with four hundred fifty prophets of Baal, to gather at Mount Carmel. The mountain must have been an ancient place of worship since there was a broken-down altar to God there. In this dramatic setting, overlooking the ordinarily fruitful central plateau of Israel (now ravaged by drought), Elijah stages a great confrontation between Baal and the God of Israel. It's time for Israel to decide: "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21). Strikingly, the narrator records that "the people said nothing." These fickle people were not ready to cast their lot with their God until his power might be proven.

Elijah set up the most vivid test possible. Two altars were prepared, along with two bulls for sacrifice. When everything was ready each side would call on its god to ignite the sacrifice with fire. Whichever one sent the fire would be agreed upon to be truly God. The people liked the idea. What a spectacle was in store for the crowd!

The prophets of Baal went first. They called on their god till noon, pathetically crying out, "Baal, hear us!" When no response came, they began to dance around the altar. At noon Elijah began to taunt them, suggesting that perhaps Baal was meditating somewhere, or busy, or out for the day, or sleeping. "Louder, louder," he goaded. "Maybe then your god will hear you."

Frantic, the prophets of Baal began to cut themselves, bloodying the place with their sacrificial frenzy. On and on they went, until by evening they fell exhausted. Still "no response, no one answered, no one paid attention."

Now it was Elijah's turn. He rebuilt the altar to God with twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel. Then he dug a trench and directed that water be brought to fill it and to pour over the sacrificial animal. He repeated this process again and again until the whole place was drenched---a most unlikely scenario for a fire to ignite. Finally, "at the time of the sacrifice," the prophet voiced a simple prayer: "Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me . . . so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again" (vv. 36-37).

The fire came down and devoured not just the sacrifice but the whole altar, even drying up the water in the trench. Of course, with such dramatic proof the people acclaimed God as Lord. Elijah ordered them to finish off the bloodletting of the prophets of Baal by killing them all.

After this the long drought Elijah had prophesied earlier was broken, and a rainstorm swept over the land.

This is certainly one of the most dramatic miracle stories in the Bible. It's curious, however, that while Elijah asserts that this was done at God's command (v. 36), only the prophet's personal decision to stage the showdown is mentioned. As we will see, while Elijah expected that the outcome of this miracle at Carmel would be a dramatic repentance in Israel, nothing really changed at all.