Mt. Carmel, Israel: Prophet Elijah and the Great Showdown with the False Prophets of Baal, Asherah.

[Music] well welcome to the Holy Land in this biblical site of Mount Carmel this is the place where the great showdown took place between Elijah and the 850 prophets of bail and Astra it's among one of my favorite miracles in the Bible of what God does he comes down by fire and comes down and licks up an altar here and the people fall down and are absolutely amazed at what God has done so we're gonna be looking at this amazing miracle and seeing what took place here so at this biblical site we'll be looking at the location of this place and why that's so important we'll talk about the historical background of this location we'll be looking at some of the amazing places of interest at this site we'll see the key events in the Bible that took place here and we'll end with the faith lesson in order to learn the major lessons God desires for us from this important biblical site so I think you'll find this video very enlightening and transforming to your life now let's look at the location of Mount Carmel and take a tour of this site to better understand the amazing things that took place here Mount Carmel is located about nine miles or 15 kilometres east of the Mediterranean Sea in the Carmel mountain range which is in the northern part of Israel it's also about 28 miles or 44 kilometers southwest of the Sea of Galilee it has a spectacular view of the Jezreel Valley which is also known as the valley of Armageddon Armageddon is where part of the last battle on earth takes place at the end of the great tribulation period from Mount Carmel you can see nazareth Cana Mount Tabor where the Transfiguration of Christ is believed to have taken place Megiddo the Jezreel Valley and the key shown stream where Elijah went down and slaughtered the eight 50 prophets of bale and Asherah after the great showdown that took place on top of Mount Carmel and also you can see the Mediterranean Sea from this place now it's quite certain that this is the exact location of the great showdown between Elijah and the 850 false prophets of bale and a Sura as it fits the biblical names and locations of the surrounding area it's on the highest part of the Carmel mountain range and overlooks the Jezreel Valley below it is the key shown spring which is mentioned in the biblical accounts the name of this part of the mountain and from which the monastery here is named is called the Year Al Mook Raqqa which is Arabic and means fire now to commemorate this site ancient buildings and monuments have existed here for some time and the most recent is this monastery here called the all moot Rocca Carmelite monastery now a little bit about this monastery and this area here in the courtyard of the church is the famous statue of Elijah and he has his foot over the necks of the false prophets of bale and a surah and it's the believed place where everything took place also around the courtyard are monuments and items built out of the burnt stones that were believed to have been found in this area a part of the monastery has a church called the Church of Elijah inside the church is a 12 stone altar in the base of the altar are 12 local stones as described in Elijah's altar on the terrace which is on top of the monastery or church location is a spectacular platform that has a 360 degree view of the surrounding area on the terrace are also arrows that point to the major points of interest in the area and then under the terrace is a gift and soo near shop now we're filming this right up on top of the mountain here at the Mount Carmel a monastery and it's on the highest place here of Mount Carmel so we believe we're just right in the area or a stone's throw away from where the altar and where this would have taken place so if you would have been here roughly 3,000 years ago or a little bit less then you would have witnessed this amazing miracle that took place and you would have been absolutely astounded now Mount Carmel here was a high place of worship for many years now the Jews were not supposed to worship on the high places they were not supposed to set up altars but they did and this was a place it was a high place and the dizzier lights always had this problem with mixing false god worship into the worship of true god they were always worshipping these idols and these false gods so a little bit of historical background to really appreciate this miracle and what took place here the great showdown between the prophet Elijah and 850 prophets of bail and asteroth begins around 100 years earlier when King Solomon sowed the seeds for Israel's destruction we learned that Solomon married foreign women and they also led Solomon's heart away in his latter years he turned away from the Lord and he built these high places of worship to honor his lives false gods so the inception begins there and then it just continues to grow after that now these foreign wives they worshipped these gods and then Solomon built these high places all over and in first Kings 11 we see this tragic account of Solomon turning away from the Lord and the Lord appeared to him twice concerning erecting these false gods and everything but he did not listen and God gave Solomon supernatural wisdom but he just fell away in his latter years so as a result of this false worship it just grew like wildfire all throughout the Land of Israel and they adopted the worship of these false gods now after Solomon because of what he did the nation of Israel was divided and the northern tribes went with Jeroboam and the southern tribes went with rebel and there were two southern tribes ten northern tribes and also because Jeroboam was afraid that those in the ten northern tribes would defect if they went to Jerusalem he forbid them to go and he erected false gods he erected golden calves one in bethel and one until dan then also there were other false gods so just showing you that there's this history of this worship of false gods that the israelites are embracing several kings after King Solomon King Ahab shows up on the scene and he's going to be king over the ten tribes of Israel for some period of time now he married a foreign wife named Jezebel who worshiped the false gods of bale and Bale was a male God and Asherah was the female God and they were supposedly the gods of the weather okay they controlled the weather and so you would sacrifice your children whatever to these false gods and hopefully then you would be blessed and have good crops so all throughout the periods of the judges and first and second Samuel and first and second Kings you see this worship of bail and Astra now bail and Astra were the false gods that the Canaanites worshiped of whom the Lord drove out so the Israelites came into the land and then they embraced slowly the worship and the culture of the land and they adopted now Mount Carmel was one of the key places of high worship to Bale and Asherah okay as you can see up here it has a gorgeous view of all the surrounding area has a 360 view so it's on top of a mountain so once again the Canaanites had put their deities on tops of these mountains and the Israelites did as well so once again bail and Astra were the gods of the weather and it was for this reason that God sent a drought and later sent rain by doing so he chose to prove who was the true and living God so the story goes that God sent a drought because he was going to show the nation of Israel who the true God of the weather was it wasn't bail and Astra it was the true and living God of Israel so Mount Carmel in the Bible will look at what the Bible says about this and once again it is this absolutely a fascinating story that takes place so this showdown between Elijah and the false prophets of bale takes place during the reign of King Ahab and once again he married Jezebel and she supported and worshiped bail and Astra worship in fact she fed them at her table it says says in 1st Kings 1629 in the thirtieth year of asset king of Judah a hab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel and a hab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years and Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him and as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of jeroboam Jeroboam is the one who built the two golden calves one in bethel one and Tel Dan he took his wife Jezebel the daughter of ethanol that's a derivative of bale king of the sidonians and went and served bail and worshipped him so King Ahab did evil he abandons the Lord and now he's just worshiping and dedicated to the false god bale he erected an altar for bail in the House of bail which he built in Samaria and a have made an Astra the Nasher was kind of like a pole that represented the female God a hab did more to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him so he's a wicked king he marries Jezebel and they now turned the nation of Israel the ten tribes to the worship of Bale now because of a Habs great sin God sent a drought over the entire land to show who the true and living God was so in 1st Kings 17 1 it says now Elisha he was a great prophet during this time ministering into all of this the Tishbite of tsch Bay in Gilead said to Ahab as the Lord the God of Israel lives before whom I stand there shall be neither dune or rain these years except by my word and it was three-and-a-half years so after these three or three and a half years had ended Elijah confronts a hab and promises that God will send rain so it says in first Kings 18 after many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying go show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth so Elijah went to show himself to Ahab it says now the famine was severe in Samaria first Kings 18:17 said when Ahab saw Elijah a have said to him is it well with you troubler of Israel so from King Ahab's perspective the problem is Elijah Elijah is the one at fault he's the guilty party you are the problem Elijah you have caused this drought and Elijah answered I have not troubled Israel but you have and your father's house because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the bail now therefore send and gather all israel to me at mount carmel right here and the 450 prophets of bale and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table so who was supporting who had instituted who was driving this whole worship of these false gods Jezebel and Ahab got right on board can you imagine feeding 850 people just alone that is quite a commitment I'm certain she paid their salary so they were priests false priests serving the bails and a Sura so there's this great gathering now of the ten tribes of Israel are going to gather now not everyone but a lot gathered together right here and once again you're sitting right about on the highest point here of this mountain so right here is where they gather we don't know exactly where this altar was but I'd stay I can say you can throw a stone and hit it so it says in 1st Kings 1820 so Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel and Elijah came near to all the people and said how long will you go limping or vacillating or trying to decide between two different opinions or beliefs if the Lord is God follow him but if BHEL then follow him and the people did not answer him a word they're just thinking they're just processing so Elijah says we're gonna make a decision you make a decision it's a simple decision if God's God serve Him if Bale then serve Him but he doesn't stop there so then there's this great contest between Elijah and these 850 prophets of bail and Astra says in first Kings 18 22 then Elijah said to the people I even I only am left a prophet of the Lord but bails profits are 450 men and we know then that there were 400 prophets of Asherah let two bulls be given to us two bowls to male cows given to us and let them choose one Bowl for themselves so the bale worshipers and Astra let them have one bowl and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it and I will prepare the other Bowl and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it and you call upon the name of your God and I will call upon the name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire he is God real simple this is just real simple stuff you guys have a bowl I'll have a bowl no fire no fire to this whichever God answers by fire that's the true and living God be real simple to figure this out and it says and all the people answered it's well spoken that sounds good we are in so the false prophets of bale and Asherah go first Elijah says you're many I'm just one you guys can go first I'm a gentleman so in first Kings 1825 it says this then Eli just said to the prophets of bale choose for yourselves one bolt and prepare it first for you are many and call upon the name of your God and put no fire to it and they took the bowl that was given them and they prepared it and called upon the name of bale from morning until noon probably at least four hours if not longer they're calling upon the name of bail and they took the bowl that was given them and they prepared it and called upon the name of bail from morning until noon saying Oh bail answer us but there was no voice and no one answered and they limped around the altar that they had made and at noon Elijah mocked them saying cry aloud for he's a god either he is musing dinking around or he is relieving himself maybe he's going to the bathroom or he's on a journey or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened and they cried out aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and Lance's until the blood gushed out upon them so they're going into panic mode and understand they have a massive audience they are on display all of the ten tribes are all around watching and they're on display in the middle of this so they're getting desperate and so they start cutting themselves gashing themselves so that it's just bloody everywhere and it said the blood gushed out upon them and as midday passed they raved on until the time of the offering of the ablation or the evening sacrifice so from about noon all the way to four or so o'clock in the afternoon they're just in panic mode cutting themselves and all the people are just watching all of this and nothing happens it says no one answered no one paid attention it says there was no voice so now Elijah is going to take his turn so the 450 prophets of bail and the 400 of Asherah they have around probably eight or nine hours they're on display nothing happens so in first Kings 1830 it says then Elijah said to all the people come near I am certain that the people had got bored right I mean it's probably could be hot up here and it's just like they're just getting tired they've been up here for you know eight or so hours and man this is crazy maybe they're hungry he says come near come near and all the people came near to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down what's that tell you there was an altar up here where the Israelites were worshipping so he repaired it had been torn down and God didn't gone into ruins that tells you that they weren't interested in the things of the Lord it was all about bail and Asherah and it said Elijah took twelve stones why twelve twelve tribes he took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came saying Israel shall be your name curse jacob comes from jacob who was named israel representing all of the tribes israel shall be your name and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the lord and he made a trench around the altar as great as would contain to see oz or about 1 foot deep by one foot wide and he put the wood in order and cut the bowl in pieces and laid it on the wood and he said fill four jars with water and put it on the burnt offering and on the wood so unlike the prophets of bale and Asherah they just had dry wood with a bowl on it Elijah starts the same he has dry wood with the bowl on it then he asked for water to drench it and he said fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood and he said do it a second time and they did it a second time and he said do it a third time and they did it a third time and the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water so you have to understand you have this altar you have this trench around it so you have to have a lot of water to just wet all of the wood all of the ground the animal and then get into the trenches so it was just a mud bath basically now God miraculously answers in first Kings 1836 it said and at the time of the offering of ablation the evening offering Elisha the prophet came near and said O Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Israel Israel would be synonymous with Jacob let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all these things at your word answer me O Lord answer me that this people may know that you O Lord our God and that you have turned their hearts back back to him so he prays and he uses imagery to let them know that he's not praying that just any God he's praying to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob which is Israel he's praying to their heritage their lineage to the God who's been with them who led them out of Egypt then God answers and it says then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench so I mean just imagine they've been sitting there all day and all of a sudden this massive fire comes down and it's just not any fire it's not just a little you know lightning strike there's this massive column of fire that comes down and it consumes the bowl the wood the stones does anyone know what temperature of fire it would take to consume stones we're talking about intense power and heat and it takes the dust and the water in the trench it just licks it all clean so there's nothing left at this flat smoldering piece of ground left with nothing on it everything's gone right here this happened right here and when all the people saw it they fell on their faces and said the Lord he is God the Lord he is God they're convinced they are convinced then Elijah slaughters the false prophets below the hill right here in the kitchen stream and we looked at that it says in 1st Kings 1840 and Elisha said to them seize the prophets now guess who's on Elisha side now then all of Israel now is on his side sees the prophets of bale let not one of them escape and they seized them and Elisha brought them down to the brook of Kish on and slaughtered them there it doesn't mention the ashram but we note the false prophets of Asherah were there because it says so no it doesn't say he kills him but I believe that he probably did because it's a cleaning house time or a cleaning house in the same way we're gonna lick up these stones and this Alton we're gonna lick up and we're gonna clean house we're gonna get rid of all these false prophets afterward God sent a massive rainstorm which brought a deluge of rain to Israel and into the drought so we're gonna have successive miracles here we've already had one major miracle that was the drought in the first place lasted over three years then we have the miracle of this fire licking up this altar and now we're gonna have another miracle and that is now God is going to send rain so guess who's the god of the weather folks there's no question now so in first Kings 1841 it said and he like just said to ahab go up eat and drink for there is a sound of rushing of rain so a have went up to eat and drink and he lied she went up to the top of Mount Carmel and he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees and he said to his servant go up now look toward the sea and he went up and looked and said there is nothing and he said again go again seven times and at the seventh time he said Behold this is his servant speaking a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea and we could see the sea the mediterranean sea from here and he said go up say to ahab prepare your chariot and go down lest the rain stop you and in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and rain and there was a great rain and ahab road and went to Jezreel this is the Jezreel Valley Jezreel is headed east and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel Jezreel is about 15 miles or 24 kilometers directly east of here so you have this massive phenomenal series of miracles like I say droughts three years this massive monumental miracle that takes place up here then you have this great rain that comes the people at that point in time say the Lord he is God the Lord he is God unfortunately their revival doesn't last very long soon afterward the country fell back into the worship of false gods and idols unbelievable unbelievable so what are some faith lessons that we can apply to ourselves from Mount Carmel here and what God did well these people who experienced this fell away how about us sometimes we have a tendency to fall away I'm certain all of us have seen many things that God has done even unbelievers I'm certain have seen many things but we have a tendency to fall away are we away from him have we fallen away do we need to come back to him and spiritual revival in our lives how long does it last it's my observation that sometimes we mistake spiritual revival for an emotion now an emotion as part of it and very important sometimes we go to meetings or tamps or events and we'll get spiritually motivated and that's good that's good to be recharged renewed and emotionally high but I'll tell you what will sustain your walk with the Lord and it won't be your emotions if you depend upon your emotions you're not going to last long I can remember when I was younger in my Christian life I would struggle sometimes feeling like oh and I go to this neat experience and then I'd you know lose my emotion after maybe I don't know several weeks or a month I think oh man I remember God one time just really spoke to me and he said you know something he said I am much bigger than an emotion don't limit me to how you feel but I'll tell you the real secret to the Christian life is committing yourself to spiritual disciplines it's your spiritual disciplines that sustain you it's your commitment to prayer is your commitment to reading God's Word those are the sustaining vehicles or tools in your life that carry you and we will have ups and downs but once again that doesn't measure how far God is away from us God is always with us and he's no more closer to us when we're feeling him than when we're not he is always with us he is 100% present 100% of the time and you have 100% of God's presence and attention all of the time regardless of how you feel has nothing to do with how you feel the reality is God is always with you and if you're a born-again believer you're the temple of the Holy Spirit God's supernatural presence resides in you so do we have spiritual disciplines in our lives to sustain us have we witnessed miracles in our lives that have shown to us God is real and powerful to us do we have things in our lives we can look back to and if we do we need to hold on to them as you'll see God would always command the nation on occasions to build monuments to erect pillars when they cross the Jordan River those were markers reminders so you know maybe you want to think back in your life to times where God has done things and those are markers those are markers that we can hold on to and after seeing all of this we should be careful that we don't forget those and fall away the reality is is that each one of us has part of the nation of Israel indwelling us we have the same tendencies and weaknesses as a nation of Israel the nation of Israel represents each one of us in some relationship and maybe I don't know about you guys but maybe some who are watching by video like the nation of is who fell away are we in need of coming back to the Lord are we in need of reconciliation are we in need of getting our hearts back right with the Lord that's his desire and what happened right here on Mount Carmel was God extending himself reaching out once again among them many times he did to reach out to a people to to woo them back and to gather them back Christ is our Shepherd David wrote the Lord is my shepherd and we have a shepherd who's always trying to bring us back and praise the Lord right praise the Lord because often times and well the reality is is all of the time when you know we have a tendency to stray and he's bringing us back he's always shepherding us he's always bringing us back and and praise the Lord for that so anyway if we're out of fellowship a need to come back to the Lord now's the time to do it well what a great thing that happened right here on Mount Carmel and once again at one point in time roughly around 2700 years ago this mountain was ablaze for a moment in this great showdown between Elijah and the false prophets so thank you for watching thank you for listening and I hope that you found this helpful and challenging and may God richly bless you [Music]

Channel: HolyLandSite

Views: 121,054

Rating: 4.9058428 out of 5

Keywords: Mount Carmel, Jezreel Valley, Israel, Tour of Mount Carmel, deir al-mukhraqa carmelite monastery, Prophet Elijah, Baal worship, Asherah worship, King Ahab, Jezebel, Showdown between Elijah and the false prophets of baal and asherah

Id: jmNi3zgCmg8

Length: 33min 48sec (2028 seconds)

Published: Sun May 03 2020