In introducing the prophets that Muslims commonly call Ilyas and Al-Yasa, that is to say Elijah and Elisha, we took the time to explain something about the religious situation among the people among whom they preached. Right after the reign of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two, and Jeroboam, the first king of the northern tribes, did everything possible to discourage his people from returning to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. He set up idols at the two extremities of his territory and told his subjects to go there to offer their sacrifices. The mission that God gave Elijah and Elisha concerned the inhabitants of this region who had been offered a counterfeit of the true religion.
A Crisis Point
About sixty years after the division of the kingdom, under a king named Ahab, the spiritual condition in Northern Israel had gotten worse. Besides the false version of the Jewish religion, deformed by the worship of the golden calves, Ahab had introduced into his kingdom the pagan religion of his wife, Jezebel—the worship of Baal. This Baal was a god of fertility, believed to provide his followers with good harvests, increase of their herds and children, and everything concerning prosperity and reproduction. His worship often consisted of committing acts of sexual sin with his priest. Jezebel paid the salaries of 450 prophets of Baal. In addition, she tried to stamp out what remained of the worship of the Lord by putting to death the prophets of the true God of Israel. This was the sad situation when the prophet Elijah entered the scene in the biblical book of 1 Kings, chapter 17.
“And Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command.’” (1 Kings 17:1)
When we know that the Israelites were worshipping a false god whose prophets claimed the ability to give rain and fertility, we see that this word from the prophet Elijah was not spoken out of meanness. It was instead a necessary action to show the impotence of Baal and the folly of worshipping idols.
The Bible’s account continues:
“After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year. ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.’ So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.” (1 Kings 18.1)
The confrontation that followed between Elijah and the priests of Baal is described in the 37th Surah of the Qur’an, but we are going to base our study on the more detailed version from the Bible, found in 1 Kings 18.
“When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is that you, you destroyer of Israel?’
He replied, ‘I have not destroyed Israel, but you and your father’s house have because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and worshipped the Baals. Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.’
So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah approached all the people and said, ‘How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.’ But the people didn’t answer a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The god who answers with fire, he is God.’
All the people answered, ‘That sounds good.’
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, ‘Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but don’t light the fire.’
So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning to noon, saying, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
At noon, Elijah mocked them. He said, ‘Shout loudly, for he is a god! Maybe he is thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he is sleeping and will wake up!’ They shouted loudly and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come near me.’ So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob […] and he built an altar with the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. Next he arranged the wood, cut up the bull and placed it on the wood. He said, ‘Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.’ Then he said, ‘A second time,’ and they did it a second time. And then he said, ‘A third time,’ and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar. He even filled the trench with water.
At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, ‘Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back.’
And Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, ‘Yahweh, He is God. Yahweh, He is God.’” (1 Kings 18:17-39)
At the word of the prophet, the sky that had been without clouds for so long darkened, and a heavy rain began falling. As the people had recognized that it is the Lord and not Baal who gives or holds back the rain and any good thing, God was ready to give His blessing.
Elijah Passes the Baton to Elisha
This battle that was won by the prophet was not the end of the war against the worship of Baal and other idols in Israel. Actually, Queen Jezebel did not repent at all. On the contrary, she wanted to put Elijah to death for causing the death of the prophets of her false god, and Elijah had to flee to save his life. He took refuge in a cavern in the wilderness and said to God, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts… but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life” (1 Kings 19:14).
But God told him to get back to work. He was to anoint a king over Syria and another to replace Ahab and his family. He was also to anoint Elisha to succeed him as prophet. Also, God told him that there were still 7,000 Israelites who, in loyalty to the Lord, had never bowed the knee in front of a statue of Baal. With Elisha at his side, Elijah resumed the fight against the idolatry of his people. After God called Elijah to Himself, Elisha continued to confront the kings of Israel and to call them back to faith in the only true God.