Bible Studies
ELIJAH AND THE PRIESTS OF BAAL…POEM
©James P. Gram
1 Kings 18
Ahab king of Israel
Forsook God’s true command;
With Jezebel he worshipped Baal
With priests through the land
And many people followed them
To worship pagan Baal;
So God just stopped the growing rain
And made the crops to fail
Elijah was God’s prophet true
And he had made the call;
That if the land abandoned God
A famine would befall
Now, in this famine many folks
And animals did die;
In vain the people looked for rain
But no rain clouds came by
At last when all seemed hopeless
Elijah met the King;
“Elijah, prophet, this I say,
You have caused this thing”
Elijah told the King the facts
“You’ve followed pagan Baalim
Abandoned all of God’s commands
So you have caused the famine”
Now where the two had met that day
Mount Carmel was the place;
Elijah did a daring thing
And said to Ahab’s face
“Bring your priests of Baal right here
And Jezebel’s as well;
We’ll see who has the stronger God
So everyone can tell
When everyone had gathered round
Elijah told the crowd,
“You can’t cleave to both God and Baal
You know that’s not allowed”
“If God be God then follow Him
If not then follow Baal;
You cannot worship two at once
Or otherwise you’ll fail”
“Now here I am, one man alone
To face this might Baal;
Four hundred fifty priests are here
But God won’t let me fail”
“We need two bullocks, one for each
Pile wood up like a pyre
Cut up the bullock, lay it out
Now let your god bring fire”
“I’ll do the same, but after you
Have failed to fire your wood;
We’ll know who is the one true God”
The crowd said, “That is good”
The priests of Baal began to call
For Baal to bring some fire;
“O Baal now hear us” but no sound
Nor smoke came from that pyre
And then at noon Elijah mocked,
“Perhaps Baal is asleep;
Or maybe doing other things;
We haven’t heard a peep”
This only made the priests go mad
They cut themselves and bled;
Danced on the pile and shouted out
Until their blood ran red
The day was nearly over when
All saw the unburned pile;
No voice, no fire, no sign at all
The priests had failed the trial
Elijah now must demonstrate.
He called the people round
A broken altar of the Lord
With stones spread on the ground
He took twelve stones, which represents
The tribes of Israel;
He made an altar, took the wood
And laid it in a pile
The bullock he cut up and placed
Upon the wood he’d laid;
Around the whole he dug a trench
Then this is what he said
“I need four barrels of water;
Just pour it on the mound;
Another four, another four,
Until it soaks all round”
The trench was filled with water;
The water soaked the wood;
Elijah prayed to God above
To help him if he could
He prayed the people would return
And have a change of heart;
And know the one true holy God
And nevermore depart
Elijah’s prayer was answered when
The Lord sent down his fire;
All water, bullock, wood and stones
Consumed in that dread pyre
No dust or ashes ever found
The trial the Lord had won;
The people fell upon the ground
Regretting all they’d done
And so Elijah told the crowds
(It was the custom then)
“Take all these priests, let none escape,
Go to the brook Kishon”
And at this brook, the story goes,
The priests were duly slain;
Soon after this, the good Lord sent
The sorely needed rain
Once again this story shows
God’s awesome power, but too
It shows he can forgive as well;
That’s hope for me and you
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James, wow, this is a very good poem, and the length of it does not deter one from reading it all the way through with spiritual joy. I have always loved the Biblical account you have so adeptly written of here. Thanks for sharing. Thomas. www.dustonthebible.com
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