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 their altar.... It was not midday..... They had been calling out and dancing before their god since the early morning.... But there 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.... So all four hundred and fifty of them shouted louder.....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.... But there was no response.".... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn that no matter what the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal did to impress their god, he does not respond.....



         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 I 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 louder 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.