"The Spirit Of Elijah" Part 3 "The God Who Answers By Fire!"

Kings 18:20-24 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but i1f Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken." NKJV

Now it’s time for the show down on the mountain. The question Elijah asked the people: How long will you falter between two opinions? Let’s define “Falter” and see if we can get a better understanding.

Falter: To hesitate, to stumble, to be lame, to waiver in purpose action or intent, to give way, to speak hesitatingly or brokenly, to move unsteady, to stumble. 

This describes the state that most of the world is in. But even more alarming then that is the fact that much of the church is in this state too! Many people are wavering in purpose action and intent. As a whole we don’t know what we really believe or why we believe it. This is why we are so hesitant when we speak. False religions are passionate in what they believe. Many of those that belong to terrorist organizations are so passionate that they will lay down their lives willingly for what they believe. Do we really believe what we really believe? It’s time for a showdown and a confrontation of the doctrines of demons, mindsets and demonic strongholds that keep people in this state of confusion and wounded hesitation! God is bringing forth "The Spirit of Elijah" to prepare the way of the Lord. Most of the problems that we now face are due to the fact that we have traded the one true God in for all these little gods that rank higher in our minds the one true God!

Elijah makes a statement that is really the “bottom line” and deals directly with the issues of the heart. “If the Lord is God follow him. If Baal is god follow him.” This is exactly what needs to be confronted in the people of that day’s hearts. Jesus also made similar statements when people He encountered had these same issues. What in creation have we exalted above the true and living God? This is the question that will be answered in this showdown on Mt Carmel and will be answered for all of creation before the Lord returns!

When Elijah asked this question, it says the people answered him not a word. Now this in itself speaks volumes! Why did they not say anything? Because just like it says they were in a perpetual state of indecision and uncertainty! They were stumbling around because of standing on a foundation of opinions and without a true revelation of the living God! Let’s define opinion.

Opinion: A view or judgment formed about something not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge, but on what “seems true”, valid or probable in ones mind. 

This is the state of mind many people in the world are today and a large number of us in the church. We are all about to be delivered from this by the God that answers by fire! Now let’s set up the scenario that led up to this place. The Baal gods represented aspects of creation in which the people were believed to represent. They had sun gods, and moon gods, rain gods, harvest gods and on and on and on! Elijah had prophesied a drought in the land and now because of food and water being scarce, the people were now in a place of desperation. This sets up the scenario for the true and living God to show up and demonstrate! This is exactly what is going on in “this” season preceding the coming of the Lord. When the God of fire shows up, and He answers by fire, we will be faced with a choice! Why? Because the Truth will be in your face! You can either believe and receive the truth, or you can reject it! Either way you will be delivered from opinions.

Here comes the challenge: “The God who answers by fire!” This is a bold step of faith! This is what Elijah was born to do, and it’s what you and I were born to do! We are called to demonstrate the works of God! He told them to call on all of their gods and He would call on his God and the God who answers by fire, He is God! All the people then answered and said “It is well spoken.” In other words, Elijah couldn’t of laid out a better challenge or communicated it any better than he did. They were to prepare their sacrifice and put wood under it and he was to prepare his sacrifice and put wood under it. “The God who answers by Fire!”

1 Kings 18:25-29 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." 26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. 27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. NKJV 

The false prophets of Baal called on theirs gods from morning to evening but no voice answered. The leaped around the alter, and nothing happened. At noon Elijah starts mocking them! “Maybe you should be a little louder!” “Perhaps he’s busy!” “He must be on a long journey and hasn’t returned yet!” “Maybe he’s sleeping!”

Elijah knew the truth about the false gods, because he knew his God. He walked with God and was confident that He will show up and prove that He’s the one true and living God! He understood who the true and living God was and now he was toying with the false prophets! The interesting thing that I want to point out was the fact that they began to cut themselves with knives and lances until blood gushed out on them. This is always associated with demonic activity and in their case they were demon possessed. It reminded me of a scripture from the new testament in which I will quote here.

Mark 5:1-5 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. NKJV 


Notice here that the man from Gaderene was cutting himself with stones. We find out that when Jesus goes to deliver him from this, He asks this the demon: “what is your name?” It replies "legion, for we are many!" These Baal prophets were cutting themselves. This is a sure tell tale sign of demonic oppression or possession. If you’re reading this blog and you have been cutting yourself and you would like to be free, please contact me. My Email is apostlewick@yahoo.com. I will walk you through the process of deliverance so that you can be free.

The prophets of Baal continued to call, cut and whoop it up until the night, but to no avail. Nothing happened and no fire came down and nobody heard anything!

1 Kings 18:30-39 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name." 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood." 34 Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time; and he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. 36 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 Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" NKJV 

Now it was time for the one and only true and living God to answer by fire! He told the people to draw near. He then proceeded to repair the alter of the Lord that was broken down. You and I are the temple of God, so let me ask you a question. Is the alter in your heart broken down or does it need to be repaired? If the alter in your heart needs to be repaired, draw near to God and offer the sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving and repentance. He is waiting to restore you! But you must let Him do the work in you and repair your heart. Once you draw near to Him he is going to draw near to you! The fire of God will consume your sacrifice and demonstrate how much He loves you! God’s ultimate purpose is reconciliation. He is going to judge those things that not him so that we will not be condemned with the rest of the world! This showdown is to show who the real enemy is and deliver His people! Remember these people gathered on Mt Carmel are His people! We are His people, and He wants to answer by fire!

Elijah takes twelve stones to rebuild the alter which represent Jacobs 12 sons. Remember Jacob wrestled with the Lord because he was promised a blessing and had not come into his full inheritance. Jacobs name means: heel-catcher (i.e. supplanter); deceiver. After he wrestled all night with the Angel of the Lord, He granted his desire and promise of blessing but brought him to his true destiny. it required a name change. His name was changed from Jacob to Israel. Israel means: He will rule as God. When alter of your heart is rebuilt. You will come into the true destiny and purpose of your life. You will not serve the Baal gods, but begin to rule under the almighty God who has destined you for victory over all of your enemies! These 12 stones represent the age old foundations being raised up. the foundation is the most important thing that must be raised up and built or repaired right!

After Elijah rebuilds the alter, he steps up the challenge with an unusual instruction. He tells the people to dig trenches and fill four water pots with water and pour it on the wood. This is very significant because they filled the four water pots and poured them on the offering. He then tells them again to fill the four water pots and pour them out on the offering. After they did this a second time. he tells them to do it a third time. This caught my attention and I realized that he was performing a prophetic act. The number four represents creation. There are four seasons, four living creatures, four winds, four direction points North, South East and West. These are all aspects of creation. The people were worshiping the creation instead of the One who created it all. The first four waters pots represent the Creator who created it all! The true and living God! When you add the next four water pots you now have eight. Eight represents a new beginning. Circumcision and dedication to God was on the eighth day. Noah was the eighth soul saved from destruction. Eight is the number of New creation. God is a God of mercy and when he shows up by fire, His ultimate goal is to save and restore and give us a new beginning. This number eight was a prophetic act to represent His desire to give His people a new beginning. When you add four more water pots you have a total of twelve. Twelve represents the government of God. There were twelve Tribes, Twelve Apostles, God doesn’t just want us to have a new beginning, He wants us to rule and reign with Him! We are the Body of Christ and we are seated in heavenly places now! The government will be upon His (Christ) Shoulders and we are His body!

Let’s sum up this prophetic act: They are going to transition from worshiping the creation to the creator, the true and living God. They were going to have a brand new beginning with Gods government in place. Witchcraft is false illegitimate authority and has to be overthrown. Jezebel must be taken out. All the steps must be completed. The 4+4+4 is the prophetic symbolism of the transition that was going on. This was the destiny of Elijah! To restore the hearts of the children back to the Father and the heart of the father back to the children. The people must be left with Gods government in place.

I Kings 18:38-39 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" NKJV 

Continued Next Week!