Studying for Old Testament I found myself reading in 1 Kings.

It goes like this. Ahab, the king, and his wife Jezebel have massacred all of God's prophets, save for Elijah. Elijah gets sick of Ahab's Baal worship crap and invites him to come prove himself.

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. " O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder! he said, "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened. ...Midday passed and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

I think Elijah was sitting around during this, waiting, maybe praying. He was probably reading or drawing pictures in the dirt with some local kids, confident in the fact that the God of the Nations was about to reveal himself.

Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come.."Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood"

"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.

"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it a third time.

The water ran down the altar and even filled the trench.

Despite all the water on the altar, and Elijah only being one man, he did something the prophets of baal could not do. They shouted and begged all day but got nowhere. Elijah however, called upon the name of the Lord and praised him in the company of close to a thousand and...

Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and it also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried,


"The LORD- He is GOD! The LORD- He is GOD!"