If you ever wonder why Elijah was one of two Old Testament figures to appear during the Transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9, Mark 9, Matthew 17), see how God used him mightily during the encounter with the prophets of Baal and Asherah in 1 Kings 18.

Quite a crowd gathered that day – all the people of Israel, all the prophets of Baal, plus Elijah and King Ahab, all on Mount Carmel, near the sea, in northwest Israel.  The event was the great Champion Burn Off.  Elijah for the LORD and the many prophets for Baal prepared a slaughtered bull on their altar and called upon their god to burn it up.

The event had sadness.   Elijah challenged the people of Israel to not “go limping between two different opinions.  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”   The people’s wretched response was utter silence – they did not say a word. 

The event had humorous heckling.  When the Baal believers were having trouble getting a response, Elijah suggested louder chanting, since maybe your god is asleep or on holiday, or sitting on the potty. They “raved” on, but got no response.

The event had an awesome prayer.  After Elijah built his altar with twelve stones for the tribes of Israel, he dug a trench around it.  Then he had the people pour three massive loads of water on the altar, drenching the wood, meat, and stones, and overflowing the trench.  His prayer is bold, “let it be known this day that you are the God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word,  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

The event had a fearful climax.  Fire indeed came down from the LORD, hot enough to evaporate all the water and burn up the offering and the wood, plus vaporize the stones and the dust all around!  The people fell on their faces and finally cried out, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”  And at Elijah’s direction, all the prophets of Baal were seized and slaughtered, not one of them escaped.

God certainly used Elijah in a powerfully miraculous way that day.