42: The Fire of Elijah

BEMA Episode Link: 42: The Fire of Elijah
Episode Length: 43:27
Published Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2017 01:00:00 -0700
Session 2
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings look at the story of Elijah and the lessons learned by one of Israel’s greatest prophets.

Discussion Video for BEMA 42

Where God Was Born by Bruce Feiler

Map of Phoenicia, Late Bronze Age — Wikipedia

Transcript for BEMA 42

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 42: The Fire of Elijah - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

This episode examines the story of the prophet Elijah (Eliyahu) during the divided kingdom period of Israel’s history. The narrative explores Elijah’s confrontation with King Ahab and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, revealing profound lessons about how God changes human hearts. The episode demonstrates that while dramatic displays of power and truth may win arguments, only love and intimate discipleship truly transform people.

Key Takeaways

Truth and justice pursued without God’s timing and methods can harm innocent bystanders
Spectacular demonstrations of power do not change human hearts - only love and discipleship do
Elijah had “chutzpah” (audacity) to bind God to His own promises in Torah
The prophet’s fire and passion, while valuable, must be balanced with patience and relationship
God reserves faithful people even when circumstances seem hopeless (“7,000 who have not bowed to Baal”)
The Rabbi-disciple relationship tradition began with Elijah and Elisha
God’s still small voice (intimate whisper) is more effective than earthquakes, wind, and fire

Main Concepts & Theories

Historical Context: The Period of the Kings

Following the period of Judges (“when Israel had no king and everyone did as he pleased”), Israel entered the monarchy period:

United Kingdom Phase:

Saul: A donkey herder from Benjamin - the king the people wanted
David: A shepherd from Judah - the king God wanted (a man after God’s own heart)
Solomon: Known for wisdom and wives, but increasingly in love with empire-building

The Kingdom Splits:

After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam refused to lighten the people’s burden, declaring: “My finger is as thick as my father’s waist. He scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”

This led to rebellion. The northern 10 tribes (Israel) separated from the southern tribes (Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon).

The Northern Kingdom’s Fatal Decision:

Jeroboam seized power in the north but faced a problem: God commanded worship in Jerusalem, which was now in enemy territory (Judah). His political solution was spiritually catastrophic - he set up two golden calves (one north, one south) and declared: “Behold Israel, the gods who brought you out of Egypt” - echoing the exact words from the golden calf incident in Exodus.

The golden calf imagery made political sense because:

Baal (the dominant pagan god) was represented as a bull
Jeroboam was attempting to synchronize Yahweh worship with Baal worship
This kept people from traveling to Jerusalem while appeasing cultural pressures

Scripture repeatedly condemns subsequent kings for “continuing in the sin of Jeroboam” - making this the defining spiritual failure of the northern kingdom.

Two Sources, Two Perspectives

Story A (Israel’s perspective): Written like headlines, closer to events, emphasizing moral failures and idolatry. Sees David’s sin with Bathsheba as the turning point leading to Israel’s crumbling.

Story B (Chronicles/Judah’s perspective): Written like a documentary centuries later, with hindsight and poetic edge. Emphasizes that the kings fell in love with empire-building rather than God’s shalom project - not just individual moral failure but a systemic spiritual problem.

Both perspectives are correct and complementary.

The Phoenician Alliance and Jezebel

King Omri (one of the most mentioned kings in extra-biblical history, though barely mentioned in Scripture) strengthened relationships with Phoenicia - a powerful coastal nation to the northwest.

This relationship originated with Solomon, who gave King Hiram of Phoenicia 30 towns in lower Galilee in exchange for bronze workers and stonemasons for the temple.

When Omri’s son Ahab became king, he solidified the Phoenician alliance by marrying Jezebel - the high priestess of Asherah worship from Phoenicia. This brought the most ruthless, oppressive, destructive idolatry directly into Israel’s royal house.

Baal and Asherah Worship

Baal: God of war and agricultural fertility

Represented as a bull
Voice: thunder
Weapon: lightning
Associated with rain and crops

Asherah: Goddess of human fertility, Baal’s mistress in the mythology

The Myth: Baal descends to the underworld pursuing Asherah, who toys with him. Winter exists because of this pursuit. The rain is Baal’s “seed” falling on the earth. This sexual mythology drove the worship practices.

Elijah’s Chutzpah: Binding God to His Text

When Elijah suddenly appears and declares “there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word,” Jewish tradition teaches that God did NOT tell him to say this.

Evidence: The text says “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah” AFTER his declaration - showing this was Elijah’s own initiative.

Elijah was binding God to His own promises in Deuteronomy 11:16-17:

“Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you and He will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain…”

This is called “binding God to His Text” - calling God to fulfill promises He wrote in Torah. Jewish tradition teaches God loves this wrestling, Jacob-like, chutzpah faith and honored it even though He wasn’t ready to withhold rain.

The Cost of Narrow Righteousness

God fed Elijah with ravens (unclean scavenger birds), which brought him food stolen from others. The symbolism: When it doesn’t rain because of Elijah’s protest, innocent people suffer - women, children, those dependent on God’s provision.

Prophets with fire in their belly for truth and justice can pursue rightness “at all costs” without realizing the innocent bystanders they hurt along the way. The ravens eating “somebody else’s lunch” represented the collateral damage of Elijah’s narrow focus on confronting Ahab.

After three to three-and-a-half years, God’s first words are: “Go to Ahab. I’m going to send rain.” God was saying: “Enough is enough, Elijah. This has gone on long enough.”

The Mount Carmel Contest

Elijah turned God’s simple command (“go tell Ahab it’s going to rain”) into a spectacular showdown. This reveals his character - he had chutzpah not just with Ahab, but with God Himself.

The Setup - Baal’s Home Court Advantage:

Mount Carmel: Baal’s mountain (altar already there)
The sacrifice: A bull (Baal’s animal)
The test: Lightning from heaven (Baal’s weapon)
The need: Rain (Baal’s domain as fertility god)

Elijah’s Trash-Talk: “How long will you waver between two opinions?” - The word “waver” means “sexually dance,” a direct reference to the erotic nature of Baal worship.

“Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping…” - The word “busy” has crude/sexual overtones, essentially suggesting Baal might be trying to “muster up” what’s needed for rain.

The Water Ceremony: Elijah poured water on the altar three times - not to make the miracle harder, but as an allusion to the Sukkot water ceremony where Israel asked God for rain. Perhaps one pouring for each year without rain.

The Victory: Fire fell, consumed everything (sacrifice, wood, stones, soil, water). The people cried: “The Lord, He is God!”

Victory achieved… or was it?

The Failure of Spectacular Truth

After the stunning Mount Carmel victory, Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life. Where was the popular support? Where were all the people who witnessed God’s power and declared “The Lord, He is God”?

No one defended Elijah. He had to run for his life.

The lesson: The spectacular contest didn’t change hearts. All the fire, truth, rightness, apologetics - it won the argument but didn’t transform the people. They said the right words but their hearts remained unchanged.

The Still Small Voice at Horeb

Elijah fled to Beersheba, then traveled 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb (Mount Sinai) - back to where it all began, where God gave Torah to Moses.

Elijah’s Self-Pity: “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

God’s Response - A Lesson in Three Parts:

A great powerful wind tore the mountains - but the Lord was not in the wind
An earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake
A fire - but the Lord was not in the fire
After the fire: a gentle whisper (still small voice)

When Elijah heard the whisper, he covered his face and came out.

The Message: God was teaching Elijah: “This is how I work. Not through your spectacular methods - wind, earthquake, fire. I work through the still small voice, the intimate whisper.”

Jewish tradition connects this “whisper” (called “sod”) to the Song of Songs - the whisper of two lovers in bed together. This is the intimate, loving method God uses to change human hearts.

God’s Correction: “I reserve 7,000 in Israel whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Translation: “Shut up, Elijah. You’re not the only one. I have reserved thousands of faithful people. You’re not alone in this.”

The New Commission: “Go make a disciple.” God sent Elijah to anoint Elisha as his successor.

Jewish tradition teaches this was the beginning of the Rabbi-disciple relationship - Elijah and Elisha. God was saying: “How about you go love people, show them how to love, remind them of who I am through relationship? That’s what has the potential to change hearts.”

Early Retirement Theory

Some Jewish tradition teaches that Elijah being taken up in chariots of fire was God retiring him early because he was so full of chutzpah, so stubborn, so committed to his methods that he wouldn’t soften his heart. God couldn’t fully use someone who wouldn’t learn to work His way.

Examples & Applications

Modern Church and Political Parallels

The episode draws clear parallels between Israel’s situation and contemporary challenges:

Israel’s Temptation:

Building empires instead of pursuing God’s shalom project
Using political logic and common sense to build kingdoms
Synchronizing God’s ways with cultural narratives
Making spiritually catastrophic decisions for politically sensible reasons

Contemporary Applications:

Churches building empires rather than making disciples
Political Christians pursuing power through “Elijah methods” (spectacular confrontation) rather than “still small voice” methods (loving discipleship)
Winning culture war battles while losing the battle for hearts
Being right about issues while failing to love people into transformation

The Prophet Personality Type

The episode offers insight for people with “fire in their belly” for truth and justice:

Strengths:

Passion for righteousness
Willingness to stand alone
Commitment to truth at personal cost
Boldness to confront injustice

Dangers:

Pursuing truth without considering collateral damage
Narrow focus on the confrontation while missing the bigger picture
Self-righteousness and isolation (“I’m the only one”)
Confusing winning arguments with changing hearts

The Balance: Prophetic fire must be channeled through patient discipleship and intimate relationship. Spectacular truth-telling has its place, but transformation happens through love.

Apologetics and Evangelism

Mount Carmel represents apologetics - powerful arguments, evidences, spectacular demonstrations of truth. These can be valuable and have their place.

But the lesson: Apologetics alone doesn’t change hearts. After the victory, Elijah still had to run for his life. The people witnessed irrefutable truth but remained unchanged.

Discipleship represents the “still small voice” method - intimate, patient, loving relationship that transforms over time. This is what God commissioned: “Go make a disciple.”

Implication: The church needs both apologetics and discipleship, but must recognize that only the latter truly transforms.

The Faithful Remnant

When circumstances seem hopeless and you feel alone in faithfulness, remember: God reserves faithful people even when we can’t see them. The 7,000 who hadn’t bowed to Baal were there all along, but Elijah’s self-focus blinded him to their existence.

God’s people are often more numerous and more faithful than pessimistic prophets realize.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

The Development of Rabbi-Disciple Relationships: How did the Elijah-Elisha model develop into the rabbinical tradition that shaped Jesus’s ministry approach?
Prophetic Literature and the Still Small Voice: How do other prophets balance confrontational truth-telling with patient discipleship? (Hosea, Jeremiah, etc.)
Solomon’s Phoenician Alliance: How does the relationship with Phoenicia that began with Solomon connect to later biblical narratives (particularly Revelation, as the episode hints)?
Story A vs Story B Throughout Scripture: How do the different perspectives on history (headlines vs. documentary, moral failure vs. systemic empire-building) help us understand other biblical narratives?
Baal Worship in Ancient Near Eastern Context: Deeper study of how prevalent and attractive Baal worship was, and why it posed such a persistent threat to Israelite monotheism.
The Nature of Biblical Prophecy: Exploring the Jewish concept of prophets having “chutzpah” with God versus the common Christian view of prophets as passive messengers.
Jeroboam’s Decision and Its Lasting Impact: Why does Scripture continually reference “the sin of Jeroboam” and what made it the defining spiritual failure of the northern kingdom?
Desert Formation and Hearing God’s Voice: The pattern of God bringing people (Moses, Elijah, Jesus) to the desert to form them as “people of the ears” who can hear His voice.
Spectacular Signs vs. Quiet Transformation: Biblical patterns showing when God uses dramatic displays versus subtle, intimate work.
The Suffering of Innocent Bystanders: How do we balance prophetic stands for justice with awareness of collateral damage to vulnerable people?

Comprehension Questions

Explain the significance of Jeroboam’s golden calves. Why did this make political sense, and why did it become the defining sin of the northern kingdom? How does this relate to Baal worship?
What does it mean that Elijah “bound God to His Text”? How does this Jewish interpretation of the drought story differ from typical Christian readings? What does this reveal about the nature of prayer and God’s relationship with His people?
Why did God feed Elijah with ravens, and what was the symbolic message? Connect this to the broader lesson God was trying to teach Elijah about the consequences of his actions.
Compare and contrast the Mount Carmel victory with the Horeb cave encounter. What worked and what didn’t? What was God trying to teach Elijah about how hearts are changed?
How does this episode apply to contemporary church ministry and political engagement? Discuss the tension between prophetic confrontation and patient discipleship. When is each appropriate?

Personalized Summary

The story of Elijah confronts a question every passionate believer must answer: How do we change the world?

Elijah represents the prophetic impulse in all of us - the desire to stand for truth, confront injustice, and see spectacular victory for God’s kingdom. His chutzpah is admirable: he bound God to His own promises, set up an unwinnable contest for false gods, called down fire from heaven, and won a stunning victory on Mount Carmel.

Yet despite irrefutable evidence and public confession that “The Lord, He is God,” Elijah found himself running for his life with no one defending him. The spectacular display changed nothing in the people’s hearts. All his fire, rightness, and passion - they won the argument but lost the war for transformation.

God brought Elijah back to Horeb, to the birthplace of Israel’s covenant, to teach him a fundamental truth: “I am not in the wind, earthquake, or fire - I am in the still small voice.” This whisper, connected in Jewish tradition to the intimate words of lovers, represents how God actually works: through patient, loving, intimate discipleship.

The commission God gave Elijah reveals the solution: “Go make a disciple.” Not another spectacular contest. Not more prophetic confrontation. Not bigger displays of power. Just love someone well enough, long enough, to show them who God really is.

This doesn’t invalidate apologetics, truth-telling, or prophetic witness. But it reframes them. Mount Carmel moments may have their place, but Horeb moments - quiet, intimate, patient relationship - that’s where hearts actually change.

For those of us with prophetic fire in our bellies, the lesson is humbling: Our passion for righteousness can harm innocent bystanders if we’re not careful about God’s timing and methods. We’re not the only ones fighting for truth (God reserves thousands we don’t see). And most challenging: winning the argument isn’t the same as winning the heart.

God’s project has always been discipleship - one life transforming another through love, patience, and the still small voice of intimate relationship. Elijah learned this the hard way. May we learn it by studying his story rather than repeating his mistakes.

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S2 42: The Fire of Elijah

Elijah [43:27]