The fire of the Lord and rain of the Lord
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” (1 Kings 18:38-39).
The sound of abundance of rain (1 Kings 18:41)
In 1 Kings 18 we read the remarkable account of how, under the hand of God, the prophet Elijah speaks to the heart of the nation of Israel at Mount Carmel. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice (v. 36), Elijah prayed to God. All the sacrifices instituted by God in the Old Testament looked on to the one perfect sacrifice revealed in the New Testament: the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God. All God’s love and blessing are demonstrated through His sacrifice. God the Father gave the Son, and the Son of God gave Himself. We have life because the Lord Jesus sacrificed Himself for us. Elijah prayed to the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 22:32). He simply asks, “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again” (v. 37). His prayer is based on Who God is.
God’s response to his prayer was as instantaneous as it was powerful. That it happened so quickly and so powerfully shows how much God wanted His people to know Him. The power of the fire from heaven was astounding and consumed the sacrifice, wood, stones, dust and water. But it was also controlled. The world has seen great fires but none so powerful, so focussed and controlled as this. Neither Elijah, the people or even the prophets of Baal were harmed by it. Yet it consumed the sacrifice and everything associated with it. At Calvary, the power of God’s judgement and love are seen. At the cross, the Lord Jesus bore in His own body our sins. God’s judgement fell in all its terror, holiness and sheer power upon His Son, Jesus. God’s judgement did not fall on the Jews in their rejection and hatred, or the Romans in their injustice and arrogance. It did not fall on the indifferent passers-by or the sorrowing disciples or the dying thieves close by. It fell wholly and entirely on our Saviour.
What came from heaven next in 1 Kings 17 was “the sound of abundance of rain”. The fire of judgement which came from heaven was followed by the extraordinary abundance and blessing of rain from heaven. Life was given where, during the drought, death had reigned.
My father did his national service in Palestine and was stationed at Haifa, below Mount Carmel. Many years later, I stood on Mount Carmel, looking out over the Mediterranean Sea, thinking of the day Elijah saw the rain coming. He saw in type what we enjoy in reality: the windows of heaven opened, and every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3) poured out upon us. And why? It’s because the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me. God’s heart overflows in blessing to us. The joy of worship is that our hearts burst in praise and gratitude to the Saviour whose endless love rests on us.
