Elijah and Elisha: the Defender of the Powerless part 2: The LORD’s care for the nation, when alternate gods couldn’t provide.
In 1 Kings 18, the prophets of Baal frantically danced for their god. This is how it goes when you submit to an idol: you begin with the promise of all it can do for you. In their case, the promise of Baal worship was rain and crops. But it could just as easily be idols we have today: success, comfort, security, beauty, or legacy. You started pursuing the idol for what it could do for you, but the idol eventually demands much more than you ever bargained for.
The New Testament calls this over-desire, or evil desire: something you must have, your mind is bent toward it, its absence makes you anxious. Like an addiction, the idol is taking so much more than it gives.
But Elijah prays that God would work a miracle that day: by turning the hearts of the people back to him. And God will use spectacular (the fire) and merciful (the rain) means to accomplish this.
