Bible moment
The Bible moment
In 1 Kings 18:36–39, Elijah prays at the time of the evening offering. He asks the LORD to answer so the people will know that the LORD is God and that Elijah has acted at the LORD’s command. The LORD answers with fire. It consumes the offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and the water in the trench. This follows Elijah’s repair of the altar with twelve stones and the soaking of the offering and wood with water. The people respond by falling facedown and declaring that the LORD is God. The passage presents this as a public sign of the LORD’s power in the contest at Mount Carmel. It does not describe an idol or a visible form of God; the fire is the sign of the LORD’s answer to Elijah’s prayer.
