And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. (1 Kings 18:28-29)
How often do people in society cry out for their gods with no return? Just as in the days of old, it happens today, history often repeating itself. The priests of Baal did whatever they could to hear a word, a response, anything to prove that their god was real. They yelled and they hurt themselves all to prove that their deaf, dumb and blind idol was god. Children of the world today do the same thing. The difference between then and now is the god they are claiming. Most of the time nowadays people don’t even realize they are worshipping false gods and idols. Look at Christmas for example. When some folk set out to minister the good news of Christ’s birth for His death and resurrection, others are being trampled to death in Wal-mart just to purchase a toy (for an often ungrateful child no less)! The world doesn’t stop there. When it comes to sex and pleasing the flesh, people will commit adulteries and fornications and then run to the abortion clinic to rip an unborn child out of the uterus. Is there not a heinous spilling of blood there? Or what about the thugs on the street or racists around the block who would fight to kill the innocent so that their egos can be inflated and they can claim their cause as just? The Spirit speaking through the Apostle John said, “For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Does any of this seem familiar? The world thrives on sin, always hoping that it will answer them, but in the end, it only leads to death.
The sinner believes in his or her ways so much that it even seems right to them when they are not answered. Prov. 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.” The unsaved can often be so determined to prove their “way” that they will risk eternity for it on a daily basis. All this for a god who can never tell them how much he loves them or how much they disappoint him. Yet, the only true God is the one who answered Elijah on that day. He is the same one who answered Jesus when He was baptized and when He was on the cross. And He is the same one who will answer our needs according to His riches in glory.
As Christians, we can rely on the truth of God’s Word written down in the scriptures. We can be sure that as He has spoken it, He will bring it pass. We have no need to flog ourselves or go wailing about as if He needs us to bleed for each and every little desire we have. Our God is truly the Great God and there is no one else beside Him. The ancient Israelites discovered that time and again and on the day Elijah challenged the priests, those pagans found out as well.
The truth of the matter is that there are no other gods besides the one true and living, Alpha and Omega. There was no answer for the priests of Baal because there was (and is) no god who could ever have spoken to them. Idols are and always will be deaf, dumb and blind. They cannot answer a prayer, they cannot deliver from trouble and they can never show compassion- or wrath. Yet the God of the Hebrews- the God of the Christians- is and will always be in existence. He has given His word and all we need to do is come to it joyfully. The question now is whether you will take Him at His Word or will you cut yourselves to get your god to answer you?
