1 Kings 18:16–40. Idolatry and Elijah
Mount Carmel
Source: Britannica
Idolatry
Idolatry always looks ridiculous when someone else is doing it. Someone carves a statue out of wood or stone, bows down to it and asks it for help. We look at that and think, “How could anyone believe that thing could save them?”
But idols aren’t always statues. An idol is anything we treat as more important than God. It might be sport, gaming, comfort, family, school success, popularity, approval, work or control. None of those things are necessarily bad. Most of them are good gifts from God. But “good things” become “God things” when we build our lives around them, look to them for our identity or trust them to give us what only God can provide.
That means idolatry isn’t just an ancient problem. It’s our problem too. We might not bow before a statue, but we still give our time, energy and trust to things that cannot save us.
So, why do we give ourselves to things that cannot save us? And how can we return to the living God? That’s what we’ll explore in this article through the story of Elijah, which we’ll then trace through to Jesus and beyond.
1. Idolatry + Elijah
The LORD is God, not idols.
After Solomon’s reign, Israel split in two. Jeroboam ruled the northern kingdom and led its people away from the LORD by setting up golden calves. About sixty years later, things reached a new low under King Ahab. Ahab married Jezebel and began serving her god, Baal, a Canaanite god associated with storms, rain and agricultural fertility. Ahab built a temple and altar for Baal in Samaria, leading Israel even further into idolatry (1 Kings 16:30–33).
God sent Elijah to confront Ahab and announced that there would be no rain (1 Kings 17:1). This was a direct challenge to Baal, who supposedly controlled the rain. When the LORD stopped it, Baal could do nothing.
After years of drought, Elijah met Ahab again. Ahab referred to Elijah as the “troubler of Israel,” presumably because he blamed Elijah for the drought. But Elijah replied, “You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals” (1 Kings 18:17–18). Elijah wasn’t the problem. Israel’s idolatry was.
Elijah gathered Israel and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and challenged the people: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). Israel was trying to hold onto both the LORD and Baal, but Elijah told them they had to draw a line in the sand. You can’t serve two masters.
He then proposed a contest. The prophets of Baal would prepare a sacrifice and call upon Baal. Elijah would prepare another and call upon the LORD. The god who answered with fire would show that he was God.
The prophets of Baal called out and danced around the altar from morning until noon, but nothing happened. So Elijah trolled them. Perhaps Baal was deep in thought, busy, travelling or asleep and needed to be woken up. The prophets shouted even louder and cut themselves until the blood was streaming. But still, “there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention” (1 Kings 18:27–29). Baal couldn’t hear or save them.
Elijah then repaired the LORD’s altar and soaked the sacrifice with water. He prayed that the people would know that the LORD is God and would turn back to him. Immediately, fire fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil and the water. The people fell facedown and cried, “The LORD, he is God! The LORD, he is God!” (1 Kings 18:38–39).
That’s the point of the story. Baal couldn’t hear, answer or save. The LORD could. The prophets of Baal were then put to death under Israel’s old-covenant law. Their judgement showed the seriousness of Israel’s rebellion and confirmed that the LORD alone was God.
The LORD is God, not idols.
2. Idolatry + Jesus
King Jesus rescues idol-worshippers.
In the Old Testament, people often wanted gods they could see and control. Instead of trusting the invisible God, they made images from wood, stone or metal and looked to them for security, prosperity and help.
Then, in the New Testament, Jesus rocks up. Human beings kept making false images of God, but now God shows us what he is truly like in his Son. Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). No one has ever seen God, but Jesus has made him known (John 1:18). We don’t need to invent an image of God. We look to King Jesus.
Jesus came not merely to reveal God, but to rescue idol-worshippers. The Thessalonians lived centuries after Elijah in a city full of temples, statues and competing gods. But when they heard the good news about King Jesus, everything changed. Paul says that they “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
They turned from gods that couldn’t hear, answer or save and began serving the God who had come to them in Jesus. They now waited for God’s Son from heaven, “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
The prophets of Baal shed their own blood trying to get their god’s attention. Jesus shed his blood to rescue people who had turned away from God. Idols cannot deal with our sin or save us from judgement. King Jesus can. He is the image of the invisible God and the rescuer of idol-worshippers.
3. Idolatry + Us
Flee idolatry and follow King Jesus.
So how do we respond to the reality of idolatry now? Probably the clearest command in the New Testament comes in 1 Corinthians 10:14.
In the verses leading up to it, Paul reminds the Corinthians about Israel in the wilderness. God rescued them from Egypt and provided for them, yet they still turned to idols. Paul warns Christians not to repeat their mistake. Then comes his clear instruction: “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.”
Don’t just manage idolatry. Don’t see how close you can get without crossing the line. Flee from it. Run away. Bolt.
That begins with recognising what competes with Jesus for our hearts. What are you terrified of losing? What do you reckon you need before you can be happy? Your answers might reveal some of your idols.
Perhaps it’s approval. You need people to like you, so you hide what you believe or change yourself to fit in. Perhaps it’s comfort. You avoid anything difficult, inconvenient or costly. Perhaps it’s success. School, sport or work becomes the thing that tells you whether you matter.
Even another person can become an idol. This is one reason we need to think carefully about who we date and marry. We saw Solomon led astray by wives who worshipped other gods, and then the same pattern with Ahab and Jezebel. The person you marry will have enormous influence over whom you worship. If you belong to Jesus, date and marry someone who belongs to him too (1 Corinthians 7:39).
Fleeing idolatry doesn’t mean treating every good thing as bad. It means refusing to ask good things to do God’s job. Approval, comfort, achievement and relationships can all be gifts from God, but none of them should become our god.
And fleeing is only half the picture. The Thessalonians turned from idols “to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). We flee idolatry by following King Jesus. We listen to his words, trust his promises and give him the worship that belongs to him.
Why give yourself to something that cannot save you? Idols cannot hear, answer or rescue us. The LORD is God, and he has made himself known in King Jesus. So don’t keep wavering. Turn from idols, serve the living God and follow King Jesus.
