Isaiah 53:1-12 and 55:1-13
God created us with his own DNA to be his family that would live in fellowship with their creator. He created us with the capacity to think and understand the gift of life that God alone gave us. Because we are able to think we can make decisions with our free will. We decided that we wanted to be equal to God and take over God’s perfect garden. Out of God’s love for us he called leaders that would give us God’s plan to restore us to his family. Moses gave us God’s laws that called us to be faithful only to our creator. But once again we rejected God’s laws and followed wicked kings and phony religious leaders. God sent prophets with his word and way that would bring us back into his family. We then saw the wicked kings and the phony religious leaders rejecting God’s law by following phony gods that left us living in our sin and the life of death.
One of God’s true prophets was Elijah. God called Elijah to stand against wicked kings and the phony prophets of Baal. In the contest on Mount Carmel God showed is power when a true prophet stood up for the living God’s plan.
So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, ‘How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!’ But the people were completely silent.
The Elijah said to them, ‘I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. Then call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!’ And all the people agreed.
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, ‘You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.’
They prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting. ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
About noontime Elijah began mocking them. ‘You’ll have to shout louder,’ he scoffed, ‘for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!’
So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.
Then Elijah called to the people ‘Come over here!’ They all crowded round him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel. And he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces and laid the pieces on the wood,
Then he said, ‘Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.’
After they had done this, he said, ‘Do the same thing again!’ And when they were finished, he said, ‘Now do it a third time!’ So they did as he said, and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, ‘O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. ‘O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.’
Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull the wood, the stones and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, ‘The Lord – he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!’
We have very short memories. We soon forget the creator God and follow our own free will. In that decision we follow wicked leaders in government and phony leaders in the church that are Baal bishops and ministers. We have the King Ahabs in our Congress When we reject God’s Biblical plan, we take the road of death and hell. Baal leaders are now leaders in the church. They do not accept God’s plan that He gave us in his law and in his life, death and his resurrection for our sin. By faith in God’s plan we can have eternal life. Our Baal leaders reject the idea that sin will cost us heaven and eternal life with God. Many of our church leaders believe in universalism: that is the belief that everyone is going to have eternal life because God is love and these phony leaders reject God’s judgment on sin that bring eternal death.
God gave us the prophet Isaiah and his ministry and message for over 50 years; from 740-687 BC. He gave us the real image of the Messiah. God prepared us for his coming in the life of Jesus. Isaiah asked this question. “Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care!”
Isaiah wrote of the life and death of the Messiah. Isaiah also shared God’s plan for our salvation by faith in the Messiah. Isaiah gives us this invitation to the Lord’s salvation “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink if you have no money. Come take your choice of wine or milk. It’s all free! God’s salvation is free to those that respond in faith. Why spend our money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. Come to me with our ears wide open. Listen and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you.”
God’s plan for our salvation came in the life of Jesus. Is your faith in Jesus Christ or the phony Baal gods of today? The choice we make will make all the difference in having the joy of life, or the sorrow of death and judgment. Let us love God with all our hearts that we might have the assurance of salvation.
