Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.
1 Kings 18:21 (NIV)

My friend Eric, along with friends Barbee and Sidd, compete in an extreme event called 29029. The number 29029 references the height of Mount Everest. Every year there are events in which participants race to climb that number of feet in elevation in just 36 hours. They climb a mountain, ride the gondola down to the base, and climb it again — as many times as it takes to reach 29029 feet of elevation. I think it’s crazy, but Eric, Barbee, and Sidd have a heart motivation in doing it in support of the Kyle Pease Foundation. You should check out their podcast, The Thin Line, as they talk about the experience.

One of the things that I have witnessed over the past few years is the months of intense and focused training Eric puts himself through to prepare for the event. It is astounding — but necessary if he’s going to acheive the goal. After the event, he’s shared with me stories of poor souls who end up limping up the mountain, unable to finish.

I thought about that as I read today’s chapter, which is one of the most dramatic stories in the entirety of the the Great Story. If yesterday’s chapter was Elijah’s preparation — today’s chapter is the test. Yesterday was the spiritual training. Today’s chapter is the ancient equivalent of a spiritual 29029 event on Mount Carmel. A showdown between YHWH and the popular god of the Phonecians, Baal, who King Ahab and Queen Jezebel have imported and institutionalized in the Kingdom of Israel.

Elijah, the lone stranger prophet, shows up after three years of drought. He tells Ahab to call all Israel to Mount Carmel and 450 prophets of Baal. When the nation gathers, Elijah asks them, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

The Hebrew word Elijah uses, that is translated into English as “waver,” is pōsḥîm. It really means to limp, to hobble, or to hop. So Elijah is really saying that Israel’s spiritual problem isn’t that they’ve abandoned God for atheism — it’s that they’ve added Baal to the mix. And now, they keep limping back and forth between the two.

Elijah suggests a contest. Baal was the god of rain, of lightning, and thunder. So Elijah proposes that he and the prophets of Baal prespare a sacrifice, then pray to their god – and the god who sends fire from heaven and burns up the sacrifice is the God.

The prophets of Baal go first. They pray from morning ’til evening. They prayed. They cried. They shouted. They cut themselves until they bled. Verses 26 says, “And they danced around the altar they had made.” But the Hebrew word translated “dance” in English is the same word Elijah used a few verses earlier: pōsḥîm. So, you could say they “limped” around the altar the same way Israel was limping between their allegiance to YHWH and Baal.

I think that’s significant.

When evening come, Elijah repairs the altar of YHWH that sat in ruins. He prepares the sacrifice, douses it with water, says a simple prayer asking that God answer and “turn the hearts” of His people “back again.” Elijah asks God to send fire not for pride, not for hatred of Baal, but for the hearts of God’s people to return to single-minded covenant faithfulness first established by Moses at Mount Sinai hundreds of years earlier.

Throughout the Great Story, God uses the metaphor of mountains to describe spiritual ascent. The mountaintop is where heaven and earth meet. It’s the place I metaphorically find relationship with Him.

Israel’s problem wasn’t that abandoning their faith. It was adding another god to the mix. They hadn’t necessarily thrown YHWH away. They had simply added Baal. YHWH and Baal. Covenant and cultural accommodation.

Faith and whatever else seemed necessary to guarantee rain, crops, prosperity, security, and success. Suddenly Carmel doesn’t feel ancient at all. Because my idols aren’t usually little statues. They’re the things I quietly believe I also need in order to be okay.

God and money.
God and success.
God and reputation.
God and political power.
God and control.
God and approval.
God and security.
God and comfort.

And the most dangerous word in that entire list isn’t the idol. It’s the “and.”

That’s where Elijah puts his finger. If YHWH is God, follow Him. Not admire Him, include Him, accommodate Him, or believe His teachings are good. Not give Him Sunday morning and outsource the rest of your security to modern Baals of financial security, control of circumstances, influence, popularity, or political correctness.

If God is God, then follow Him, Elijah says. But the people can’t bring themselves to choose. So God acts first. Fire falls, and Elijah’s prayer tells us why. “You are turning their hearts back again.”

There’s grace hiding inside all that thunder.

God isn’t standing on Carmel saying, Come back when you’ve finally gotten your spiritual act together. God reveals Himself in order to turn their hearts home. And then comes the rain.

That may be the movement of the whole chapter:

Drought.
Divided hearts.
Silence.
Fire.
Return.
Rain.

And, in the quiet this morning, this leaves me with a rather uncomfortable question for this morning: “What ‘and’ have I quietly placed after ‘God?’“ Because I’ve observed along my spiritual journey that the Baals of our age aren’t the things I openly worship. They’re the things I’m afraid I can’t live without.

And when I add “and”s to my faith, I’ll eventually find myself limping back and forth. And my friend Eric can tell you from experience that it will ruin your chances of making it to the mountaintop.

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