“So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.”
I Kings 18:20-21 NKJV
a. Ahab sent for all the children of Israel: It is hard to know why Ahab did this, carrying out the instructions of Elijah. Perhaps he hoped that the people would be so angry with Elijah for the last three years of drought that this crowd would turn against the prophet.
b. And gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel: These prophets of Baal hated Elijah. They loved the favor of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, and they enthusiastically promoted the persecution of any true follower of Yahweh. But over the last three years, they had been severely humbled by Elijah and the drought sustained by his prayers. All their cries to the weather-god Baal were ineffective for three years. They hated this prophet of God who humiliated them and their sham priesthood so thoroughly.
i. “See, with what malignant glances his every movement is watched by the priests. No tiger ever watched its victim more fiercely! If they may have their way, he will never touch yonder plain again.” (Meyer)
ii. “That lone man, of heroic soul, stemmed the fearful torrent of idolatry, and like a rock in mid-current, firmly stood his ground. He, alone and single-handed, was more than a match for all the priests of the palace and the groves, even as one lion scatters a flock of sheep.” (Spurgeon)
c. How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him: This was a logical and useful question. In general, the people of Israel were in a spiritually lukewarm condition. They wanted to give some devotion to both Yahweh and Baal, but the God of Israel was not interested in such divided devotion.
i. Spiritually speaking, Israel was like an unfaithful partner in a marriage who doesn’t want to give up their marriage partner, but also does not want to give up their illicit lover. The marriage partner has a legitimate claim to the exclusive devotion of their spouse.
ii. How long will you falter: The ancient Hebrew word translated falter means “to limp, halt, hop, dance, or leap” (Dilday). It is the same word used in 1 Kings 18:26where the prophets of Baal leaped about the altar. It may be that Elijah meant, “How long will you dance between two opinions?”
iii. Adam Clarke had a slightly different understanding: “Literally, ‘How long hop ye about upon two boughs?’ This is a metaphor taken from birds hopping about from bough to bough, not knowing on which to settle.”
iv. The appeal of Elijah made it clear that there was a difference between the service of Baal and the service of Yahweh. Perhaps in the minds of many, there was not a great difference - the only important thing was to have some kind of religion, and to be sincere about that, following your heart to whatever god your heart might lead you to. Yet Elijah knew that it could never be this way. You either served Baal or you served Yahweh; there was a difference.
v. Elijah’s appeal also called his hearers to account for the period of time in which they had not made a decision between Yahweh and Baal. “How long,” he asked them. “How many more sermons do you want? How many more Sundays must roll away wasted? How many warnings, how many sicknesses, how many tollings of the bell to warn you that you must die? How many graves must be dug for your family before you will be impressed? How many plagues and pestilences must ravage this city before you will turn to God in truth? How long halt ye between two opinions?” (Spurgeon).
d. But the people answered him not a word: There was no objection and no repentance. They lacked the courage to either defend their position or to change it. They were willing to live unexamined lives of low conviction.
i. Elijah could so accurately see their hearts because he could see their actions. Spurgeon explained Elijah’s idea: “I know you are not decided in opinion, because you are not decided in practice. If God be God, follow him; if Baal, follow him. You are not decided in practice.”(Guzik)
Whom will you serve?
There’s a famous song by Bob Dylan with the lyrics:
“But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re going to have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re going to have to serve somebody.”
It basically comes down to two choices, Baal or Yahweh, ie the devil or the Lord!
“How long halt ye between two opinions?”
Blessings
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