I AM TAKING A LITTLE BREAK FROM POSTING .....

 

                                  WILL BE POSTING AGAIN SECOND HALF OF JUNE

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES: THE RUNAWAY PROPHET P/18

 

                                   

                                     

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 

                    THE RUNAWAY PROPHET 

                                  PART XVIII 

"I, Elijah, the prophet of God, finished preparing the sacrifice.... I then prayed to my God, the God of Israel... And He answered

.... Fire came down from heaven... All the people saw the fire come down and swallow up the sacrifice... They all fell down on their faces.... They knew... The Lord is God.... It has been a good day for me... But it has not been a good day for the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal."... Please read the typed out attachment when the people of Israel discover who their God is...

 

   ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              TESTAMENT STORIES

                                                                                  THE RUNAWAY PROPHET

                                                                                               PART XVIII

The people seeing the fire fall on the prophet's Elijah's altar, knew who the true God is as you can read in 1 Kings 28:39

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The Lord- He is God! The Lord - He is God!"

It is a good day for Elijah and the people of Israel but the same cannot be said for the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. 

P.S. Please note that Elijah's story can be found in the Bible in the part called the Old Testament. He lived in the 9th Century BC.... 

             

                           

 

       

 

        WISHING YOU A BLESSED EASTER 

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES: THE RUNAWAY PROPHET P/17

 

                                   

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                    THE RUNAWAY PROPHET

                                 PART XVII 

"I, Elijah, the prophet of God, had prepared the altar with a cut up bull... I then had water poured over it so it was completely drenched.... I then prayed to my God.... I prayed a very simple prayer... Moreover, I did nothing else... I did not give a performance as the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal had done...For I knew that one simple prayer would be sufficient for my God to respond....So I prayed that the people of Israel would know that day that God is the God of Israel and that I am His servant... I then waited... It did not take too long before God's answer came... It came in the form of fire from heaven... And everyone saw what the fire did... It completely swallowed up the sacrifice and the wood... Moreover, it swallowed up the stones and the soil....Even the water in the trench was swallowed up."....Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn how God responds to the prayer of the prophet Elijah... 

 

                  ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                                                       THE RUNAWAY PROPHET

                                                                    PART XVII 

The prophet Elijah turns to prayer knowing that it is only God who can do what no man or false god can do as you can read in I Kings 18:36-38

At the time of the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, "O Lord, 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, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God and that You are turning their hearts back again." The fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

Elijah does not need to follow the example of the prophets of Baal to try and attract the attention of his God by shouting, dancing around the altar or even slashing himself with a sword or a spear. No, he just prays a simple but powerful prayer and God hears his prayer and answers by sending fire on the altar. 

 

                

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES: THE RUNAWAY PROPHET P/16

 

                                   

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                     THE RUNAWAY PROPHET 

                                    PART XVI                                                                                       

"I, Elijah, the prophet of God, had prepared the altar on which I was to sacrifice a bull.... I had put wood on it and had put the bull on top of it.... I had as well dug a trench around the altar... Everyone was wondering what I was going to put in the trench.... It was time to let them know what I was going to put in the trench... So I asked some people to fill four large jars with water... They did so.... They brought the jars to me... Only to be told that they were to pour the water over the offering and the wood... They wanted to ask me if they had heard right... But they dared not....  They just poured the water out as I had told them... I then told them to fill up the jars with water again.... They did so... I then told them to pour the water over the offering and the wood a second time....They wanted to ask me if I was sure... I was sure!... I knew what I was doing even if they did not.... I then told them to fill the jars up for the third time... And they did... This time they poured the water over the sacrifice and the wood right away... And they then understood why I had dug a trench around the altar... I had dug a trench around the altar so that it could catch the remaining water that had run down from the altar... The people looked at me... They did not say anything...They knew that only a miracle could bring fire down on the altar....I knew that too....It was time to pray to my God."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn that the prophet Elijah tells some people to pour water on his offering before praying to his God....

 

                   ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                                                THE RUNAWAY PROPHET 

                                                              PART XVI

 

Having prepared the altar for sacrifice, the prophet Elijah does something very unexpected as you can read in I Kings 18:33b-35

Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood. Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

What Elijah does next is very unusual; he orderd for water to be poured over the wood and the sacrifice and he had it done not just once but three times. You may well think, "Why do you do that, Elijah? Don't you know that it is now impossible for your sacrifice to be burned? Do you want to be laughed at by the Baal prophets? Don't you realise that they are waiting to humiliate you as you have humiliated them?" If that is what you are thinking, then Elijah would like to say to you, "It is true that naturally speaking it is impossible for the sacrifice to be burned. But just wait and see what God will do in this impossible situation."

After all, Luke writes in Luke 1:37

"For nothing is impossible with God." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES: THE RUNAWAY PROPHET P/15

 

                                 

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 

                      THE RUNAWAY PROPHET

                                     PART XV

"I, Elijah, the prophet of God, knew that the god of the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal was not going to respond to them... They knew that as well... So they gave up their performance.... It was time for me to prepare the altar for my sacrifice.... But the altar was in ruins... So I took twelve stones... Each stone represent a tribe of Israel... I then built a very simple altar to the Lord... I next dug a trench around it... The people as well as the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal may have wondered why I dug a trench.. They will soon find out...I then placed the wood on the altar... Afterwards I cut the cut bull on top of it.... It was then time to fill up the trench.. I will need some people to help me with that."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn that by the early evening the prophet Elijah begins to prepare his altar...

 

                    ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 

                                                    THE RUNAWAY PROPHET

                                                                  PART XV

In the evening the prophet Elijah takes over and begins to prepare the altar for his sacrifice as you can read in 1 Kings 18:30-33a

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel."With the stones he built an altar in the Name of the Lord and he dug a trench round it large enough to hold two seals of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood.

Elijah's altar is now ready. However, there is still more to be done related to the trench he had prepared. 

 

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES: THE RUNAWAY PROPHET P/14

 

                                     

A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 

                     THE RUNAWAY PROPHET 

                                     PART XIV 

"I, Elijah, the prophet of God, watched as the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal were dancing around the altar.... It was now midday.... They had been calling out and dancing before their god since the early morning... But their had been no response from their god.... So I told them to shout even louder...After all, he may be deep in thought... Or he may be very busy.... Or he may be asleep.... Their sound was quite impressive... And it even included prophecies.... But none of it seemed to wake up their god... They then decided there was one more thing they could do... That would surely make their god respond.... They took their swords and spears and began to slash themselves... They did not give up quickly... But carried on until it was time for the evening sacrifice... However, there was no response."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn that Baal did not respond to his four hundred and fifty prophets...

 

                     ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 

                                                         THE RUNAWAY PROPHET 

                                                                       PART XIV 

There is no response from the god of the false prophets of Baal. At noon-time the prophet Elijah begins to urge them on to greater action for it may be that their god is too busy as you can read in 1 Kings 18:27-29

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 travelling. May be he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 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.

No matter what the prophets of Baal try, their god does not respond. He does not even respond when they splash themselves with swords and spears. These prophets must have felt very desperate for their god does not seem to care about them, no matter what they do to try and appease him.