CARMEL

On our recent trip to Israel, one of our stops was at Mt. Carmel (Mukhraka) - the site of Elijah's contest with the prophets of Ba'al in the Old Testament.

The account is found in I Kings 18. 

Elijah's life is dazzling.  Ravens bring him food.  God uses a widow to provide bread for him every day.  He prays and God raises the widow's son from the dead.  He wins the showdown against the prophets of Ba'al at Carmel.  He calls down fire from heaven.  He strikes all 450 of the false prophets.  He jogs 17 miles from Carmel to Jezreel, outrunning horses and chariots.

Like Moses, Elijah went eastward for a season after a confrontation.
Like Moses, Elijah lived on God's provision of bread and water.
Like John the Baptist, Elijah was a mega-prophet whose coming was to pave the way for the Messianic age.

In many ways, Elijah is nothing like us.

Yet, James in the New Testament makes an extraordinary statement that Elijah was a 'man like us.'

A man like me?  Yes.  Because while Elijah holds a unique place in redemptive history, James focuses on the fact that every believer can have an effective prayer life like Elijah.

The prayers of a righteous person have great power.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.  He prayed that it wouldn't rain and for three and a half years, it didn't.  With great faith, he called down fire from heaven against the most powerful people of his day.

James says Elijah is like you.  I guess that means we can be like him.  I guess that means we should seek to be like him.

May the life of Elijah and what happened on Mt. Carmel inspire us to pray Biblically and pray faithfully and point us to our great source of hope, Jesus Christ.

And be blessed.