Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent. [1 Kings 18.21]
And here is where it always comes to... God's Word confronts us with our idolatrous polytheistic ways of giving religious lip service to God but actually paying homage with our actions to the gods of this world, and we fall silent doing nothing.
Elijah's God-follower to non-God-follower ratio (1:850 to be exact) speaks prophetically of the words Jesus spoke while on earth:
But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.14]
Elijah was indeed 'few in number' compared to the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. Could Jesus have been thinking about Elijah when He spoke the words we know as Matthew 7.14 above?
As stated in my opening paragraph, I find myself making bold statements regarding faith in God alone, only to fall silent when facing the reality of where I "pay my homage" (in most cases, where my money goes).
People dismiss Elijah's bold actions in this story by and large while few, if any, attempt imitation. Instead, people simply fall silent for fear that they themselves might be enlisted to act upon such ridiculous and daring statements and actions like Elijah. As inadvisable as falling silent is when confronted with our faithless ways, we should understand however how much worse it is when we, in human reasoning, speak out against faith citing "common sense" or "moderation" as justification for not "proving our faith."
For the record, it should be understood here that Elijah's actions were not, as many suppose, a test of God, but rather a test of his own faith. Think about that for a moment. And then, think about this: Elijah's repeated dousing of the sacrifice with water did NOT make it harder for God to consume it with fire, but instead made it harder for Elijah to believe God could consume it with fire! It was a self-administered test of Elijah's faith, not a test of God!
If we explore the critical mistake of "falling silent" in more depth, we will find that our silence actually let's our opponent off the hook as much as it masks our own doubt. It brings real meaning to the phrase, "Put up, or shut up!" Elijah's brazen actions, over what would prove a painfully long day, revealed Baal's incapacity to "deliver" while Elijah's powerful actions and prayer of few words, late in that same day, yielded immediate and overwhelming results.
Are we willing to confront the world's incapacity to "deliver," or are we incapacitated and silenced ourselves in our indecision whether the world or God will produce the real results? Are we hobbling between two opinions?
It must be observed (in today's OYCB reading) that following Elijah's bold statements directed at the silent people and then the 850 false prophets' failure to produce results, that only one person did eventually speak out against Elijah, and that was Jezebel. Remarkably, and completely out of character with Elijah's previous fearless display of faith, he fled from Jezebel. He fled from the one person who actually vocalized resolve in opposition to him. If we fail to understand the capacity of words to incite fear (and guard the ears of our hearts accordingly), then, like Elijah, we too can experience a lapse in faith - even after our greatest victories. But, as the story unfolded, Jezebel's words proved only fantasy in her mind and she died.
We could go on and on with applications of this story to our lives... But isn't that similar to the long day of useless incantations of the false prophets? If all we do is talk about faith without putting it to the test, it is no better than the grueling punishment the prophets of Baal and Asherah put themselves through all to no avail! Faith, without works, is dead. If faith produces nothing, it IS NOTHING. Having said this,,,
It occurs to me that if I believe God will heal me and I die because I do not get medical attention, then, regardless what anyone says, my faith produced something, albeit death.
Hmm
Father, I have no where to go but to You. The world promises to help me, but I know its promises are lies designed to dilute my faith in You alone. If poverty and death are all my faith can produce, then poverty and death it shall be. But may it be known that I believed in You regardless of outcome. Like Elijah, may my words and actions not be in coercion of You, but instead, a test and demonstration of my own faith that You gave me! So be it.
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