The Jesse Tree: Day 15
A STONE ALTAR
Most of us love the idea of specialists. You’ve got a legal issue, you want the lawyer who only does that one thing. You’ve got mysterious back pain, you want the chiropractor who adjusts exactly three vertebrae and calls it a day. We’re trained to think the world works best with specialists. And in the ancient world, religion worked the same way. Every nation had a whole roster of gods. A god for rain. A god for crops. A god for war.
Then you meet Israel’s God. Yahweh. The generalist. He doesn’t just do rain, war, or sun. He lays claim to everything. Which sounds impressive, until you’re in a drought and the rain god’s prophets are saying your God can’t deliver. That’s the tension of 1 Kings 18, as Israel is wavering between Yahweh and Baal (the God endorsed by the Queen herself).
So Elijah proposes a contest. Two altars. Two sacrifices. Two prayers. The God who answers by fire is God. The challenge is accepted, a stone altar is built, and the prophets of Baal begin their worship. They cry, dance, cut themselves, and try everything to convince their specialty god to do the thing he’s supposedly best at: fire from heaven. But there is no spark.
Then Elijah steps up and does the unthinkable. He drenches the altar with water, which would make even the most bold groan. Wet wood doesn’t burn. This is either faith or insanity.
Then, without spectacle or frenzy, Elijah prays a simple prayer that God would make himself known. And fire falls. Consuming fire. It devours the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the water. Suddenly, the generalist looks like the only God there is.
This is who our God is. The God who overcomes impossible odds, turns wandering hearts, and answers the prayers of ordinary people. What Baal demands with blood, God gives with grace. What Baal never delivers, God does in abundance.
And during Advent, we remember that the God who answers by fire is the God who later answers by incarnation. The God who consumes the altar is the God who steps onto one. At the cross, Jesus becomes the sacrifice, bearing judgment so wandering hearts like ours can be turned back to God. The fire of wrath falls on him, so mercy can fall on us.
Yahweh is not just the God who wins contests. He is the God who wins hearts.
Then you meet Israel’s God. Yahweh. The generalist. He doesn’t just do rain, war, or sun. He lays claim to everything. Which sounds impressive, until you’re in a drought and the rain god’s prophets are saying your God can’t deliver. That’s the tension of 1 Kings 18, as Israel is wavering between Yahweh and Baal (the God endorsed by the Queen herself).
So Elijah proposes a contest. Two altars. Two sacrifices. Two prayers. The God who answers by fire is God. The challenge is accepted, a stone altar is built, and the prophets of Baal begin their worship. They cry, dance, cut themselves, and try everything to convince their specialty god to do the thing he’s supposedly best at: fire from heaven. But there is no spark.
Then Elijah steps up and does the unthinkable. He drenches the altar with water, which would make even the most bold groan. Wet wood doesn’t burn. This is either faith or insanity.
Then, without spectacle or frenzy, Elijah prays a simple prayer that God would make himself known. And fire falls. Consuming fire. It devours the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the water. Suddenly, the generalist looks like the only God there is.
This is who our God is. The God who overcomes impossible odds, turns wandering hearts, and answers the prayers of ordinary people. What Baal demands with blood, God gives with grace. What Baal never delivers, God does in abundance.
And during Advent, we remember that the God who answers by fire is the God who later answers by incarnation. The God who consumes the altar is the God who steps onto one. At the cross, Jesus becomes the sacrifice, bearing judgment so wandering hearts like ours can be turned back to God. The fire of wrath falls on him, so mercy can fall on us.
Yahweh is not just the God who wins contests. He is the God who wins hearts.
Pause to reflect
Where are you wavering between allegiances, hoping a modern Baal will give you what only Jesus can provide?
What impossible odds in your life need to be placed on the stone altar before the God who answers?
What impossible odds in your life need to be placed on the stone altar before the God who answers?
Jesus, consume everything in me that keeps me divided. Turn my heart toward you again. Answer me with your grace.
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