Elijah: Clash of Gods

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people. Well, if it isn't the profit of. 00:00:06 Speaker 2: Fire here the judgment of Yahweh, there will be no dew, no rain, not even a whisper of moisture upon this land until I say otherwise. 00:00:18 Speaker 3: Do you think I fear your God? You should careful prophet? 00:00:28 Speaker 2: Why afraid she will hear? 00:00:31 Speaker 1: Queen Jezebel was not presence, but her presence permeated every room. Everyone knew her power, how it coiled around Ahab's decisions like a serpent. 00:00:44 Speaker 4: But you will learn when the rivers crack into dust, when your fields shrivel and die, when the sky above you is as unyielding as iron, you will know that it is not bail month of the rain. 00:01:06 Speaker 5: Every prophet of Baal had a blade, Elijah, he had a prayer shell. Oh, my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel, I'm l extein with international fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. What happens when a nation builds its future and lies and then watches the heavens close, When the sky refuses to answer and the ground forgets how to give, When prayer feels like sand slipping through fingers. Even the prophets have disappeared. In today's episode from One King's eighteen, the drought has reached its third year. The silence stretches over the Holy Land like a shroud. And then he returns Elijah, the man who disappeared with the rain, the man who speaks for God. And he doesn't come with comfort, He comes with confrontation. 00:02:03 Speaker 1: Three years, three years of sun hammering the earth, three years of cracked ground and dried up rivers, three years of watching Israel wither like an untended vine. The land stank of death, rotting cattle, scorched fields, and the sour stench of desperation. The people were past praying, past hoping. Even Baal's priests had stopped shouting to the heavens. Jezebel's altars were stained with blood, but no God had answered. The sky remained silent, empty, dry. Obadiah, however, made the earth beneath him damp with his sweat. He moved through the ruined streets of Sunaria, keeping to the alleys. A sack of stolen foods lum over his shoulder. His hands shook as he clutched it tighter. Too many people were watching these days. The prophets of Yahweh were still alive, hidden in caves, surviving on whatever scraps they could smuggle. But it was getting harder. The palace was restless. Jezebel's priests were sniffing out traitors. It was only a matter of time before someone talked. Obadiah turned down an empty road, exhaling shakily, then stopped cold. A man stood ahead, half hidden in the heat haze. His cloak was tattered and his face was lined from sun and exile, but his eyes were unmistakable eyes of fire and judgment. 00:03:50 Speaker 4: Elijah, is it really you? 00:03:53 Speaker 1: What are you doing here? 00:03:56 Speaker 4: Ready to cause them trouble? 00:03:57 Speaker 2: Man? 00:03:58 Speaker 1: Now? 00:04:00 Speaker 4: Delia so Eh? 00:04:03 Speaker 1: Are you insane? Obadiah darted a glance over his shoulder, as if just speaking Elijah's name too loud would summon Jezebel's assassins. Do you know what you've done? Aham's been hunting you for three years. He sent men to every kingdom, made. 00:04:21 Speaker 2: Them swear they haven't seen you under oath. 00:04:25 Speaker 6: If I go to him and say you're here and then you just vanish again, he'll kill me. 00:04:31 Speaker 4: I'm not going anywhere. 00:04:32 Speaker 1: And did people see oh? Badiah stared the sheer audacity of it. Three years gone, and now Elijah just stood there, like he hadn't single handedly shut down the sky, like Ahab wouldn't gut him on sight, like Jezebel didn't have a personal hit list with him at the top of it. Obadiah opened his mouth, then stopped. He knew that. Look, Elijah wasn't joking. Obadiah exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face. 00:05:06 Speaker 4: You're going to get me chilled, tell him. 00:05:11 Speaker 1: Obadiah closed his eyes, muttering something under his breath, maybe a curse, maybe a prayer, maybe both, then took off running. The chariot stormed down the ruined road, dust billowing behind it. Ahabs stood at the helm, eyes sunken, jaw clenched, hands tight on the reins. Three years of drought had eaten away at him, hollowed him out. His robes hung loose on his frame. His power had not saved him from hunger, His gold had not bought a single drop of rain. His sacrifices had not moved the heavens. And now this Elijah standing alone on the road, arms crossed, waiting, the verse as weird as the chariot skidded to a stop. For a long stretched moment. No one moved. Then Ahab laughed. It was sharp, brittle, empty. 00:06:18 Speaker 3: I see you're still alive. 00:06:21 Speaker 2: I see you're no longer fat, still stupid. 00:06:25 Speaker 1: Though Ahab smirk died, his grip on the reins tightened, fingers twitching toward his sword before he forced them. 00:06:35 Speaker 3: Still three years, Elijah, three years, no rain, no crops, no food. 00:06:46 Speaker 7: Do you have any idea what you've done? 00:06:51 Speaker 2: Why don't you tell me you've ruined Israel? I have not ruined Israel? Ahab, You you abandoned Yahweh, You bowed to bail, You led the people into this, and now you healthy the audacity to blame me. 00:07:12 Speaker 1: The men behind Ahab stirred. Ahab looked over his shoulder, then turned back to Elijah. His breath was sharp. Watch your tongue, profit. 00:07:25 Speaker 4: Or what you'll kill me? 00:07:27 Speaker 2: Have Jezebel's dogs string me up in the palace square? Does little a have need mommy to do his dirty work? 00:07:36 Speaker 1: Ahab's grip on the reins tightened. The insult cut deeper than Elijah could know. Except Elijah did know. The rumors had spread like wildfire. Jezebel ruled Ahab obeyed. She treated him like a child, scolded him in court, and made decisions in his place. His own men whispered it by behind his back. And now Elijah, standing alone in the dust, said it to his face. He had killed men for less, but not Elijah, not yet. Ay have wanted to savor that. Go ahead? 00:08:17 Speaker 4: Will that bring back the rain? 00:08:19 Speaker 2: Another sacrifice, another corpse for bail is. 00:08:23 Speaker 4: The blood of innocent children? 00:08:24 Speaker 1: Not enough? 00:08:26 Speaker 4: You think another kill will make beil? 00:08:28 Speaker 1: Listen, the wind kicked up, swirling dust between them. Ay have had no answer, So Elijah gave him one. 00:08:38 Speaker 2: Gather the people, every tribe, every elder, every priest, meet me on Mont Carmel. Bring your your profits of bail. All four hundred and fifty of them. Will settle this right here, right now. 00:08:57 Speaker 1: Ah. Competition m. 00:09:02 Speaker 2: Sure, quality, competition, if you like, is not. But whatever will get you to stand on that mountain. One altar for bail, one altar for your way, one test, no fire from our hands, no tricks. We call on our gods. And the one who answers by fire, he is declared the one true God, the Yelohim of all 'elohim. 00:09:30 Speaker 3: You're serious. 00:09:32 Speaker 1: Are you afraid of you? 00:09:36 Speaker 2: No, theyhab, Are you afraid of what will happen when yave wands and the wrath of your wife is kindom? 00:09:45 Speaker 1: They have held his gaze. Then he exhaled, turned back toward his chariot, and climbed up without another word. We meet on Mount Carmel one week. The whip crack and the horses bolted forward. Elijah stood still as the dust rose, as the chariot vanished towards some Aria. The sun burned in the cloudless sky. The God of Israel had thrown the gauntlet, and Ahab had picked it up. The stage was set, The mountain was packed. Thousands had gathered, pressing against the rocky slopes, lining the ridges, standing shoulder to shoulder. Their faces were gaunt with hunger and sharp with suspicion. They had all heard the stories. Elijah had returned, and now he was standing against four hundred and fifty of Baal's prophets. Ahab lounged at the edge of the scene, arms crossed, trying to appear unbothered. The priests of Baal stood tall in their crimson robes, lifting their hands or already murmuring their incantations. Elijah stepped forward. 00:11:05 Speaker 4: Israel, hear me. 00:11:08 Speaker 8: How long will you stumble like drunkards, wavering between two baths, pretending you serve both, when your hearts belong to neither. 00:11:17 Speaker 2: How long will you hobble back. 00:11:19 Speaker 8: And forth, dorm between a god of silence and the god of all creation? 00:11:25 Speaker 9: How long will you let me slot drunk and a witch queen make your decisions for you. 00:11:32 Speaker 2: If your way is God, follow him. 00:11:35 Speaker 4: If bail is God, then. 00:11:37 Speaker 2: Bow to him fully. But enough of this cowardly, pathetic Hapai. 00:11:43 Speaker 9: You cannot serve two masters. 00:11:47 Speaker 7: This is the moment, This is the dying Jos. 00:11:54 Speaker 1: The people shifted, murmuring. No one answered, of course not. It was safer to remain neutral, to pretend they hadn't noticed the famine, the silence of Baal. The altars slick with blood, but no fire. Elijah's mouth twisted. 00:12:13 Speaker 2: Fine, cowards, We'll settle this now a final test. Two bulls, no fire. The god who answers by fire, he is God, agreed. 00:12:29 Speaker 1: Elijah gestured toward the two stone altars, one for Yahue, one for bal. The crowd murmured and nodded. It was fair a public trial. 00:12:42 Speaker 3: Bold have you, Elijah? But what happens when nothing happens? When your yahweh is just as silent as all? 00:12:52 Speaker 2: A fair question? 00:12:53 Speaker 4: I have what he is? A betther one? Huh, where's your queen? 00:13:00 Speaker 6: Ah? 00:13:03 Speaker 2: Ah, you talk of silence, hers is absolutely. 00:13:09 Speaker 1: Definitely ahab smirk faltered just for a second. His fingers twitched against the chariot's edge. 00:13:19 Speaker 2: Surely Jezebel would want to be here for this, to defend her guards, to stand by your side. Oh wait, she's not. 00:13:28 Speaker 4: Here, is she? 00:13:30 Speaker 2: Shouldn't Jezebel be here to hold your hand? 00:13:34 Speaker 8: Or does she not trust you to make the big boy decisions? 00:13:38 Speaker 2: Left you all alone to face the fire. Ah, maybe she doesn't think you're up to the task. Maybe she already knows. 00:13:46 Speaker 1: How, he says. The crowd murmured, shifting uneasily. The king had no answer. Elijah didn't need one. The silence spoke for him. Meanwhile, the priests of Baal were confident. They took their bull, laid it on the altar, lifted their hands, and began to chant rhythmic, loud, strong. Their voices carried over the mountain, echoing down the valley time passed, the chanting grew faster, more urgent. The priests swayed, arms raised hands, trembling. Hours rolled by nothing. Elijah leaned against a rock, watching a smirk playing at his lips. 00:14:36 Speaker 2: Ha ha ha, shout loud. Now maybe your body's a deep and thought there. Maybe he has to step away, how to relieve himself. He certainly is full of dumb that. 00:14:52 Speaker 1: A few in the crowd snorted, poorly hiding their laughter. Ahab shot the mclare. 00:14:59 Speaker 2: Maybe he's you should wake him up? 00:15:03 Speaker 1: Oh mighty. 00:15:06 Speaker 4: Eh, what is. 00:15:08 Speaker 1: Shame that broke them? Their prayers turned frantic, voices ragged. They took knives from their belts, blades slashed across their arms, their chests, blood stilled into the altar, Still no fire. By late afternoon, the priests were on their knees, gasping, shaking, drenched in their own blood. Nothing, not a flicker, not a whisper of smoke. It was time Elijah stepped forward. The people turned to him. The priests were spent trembling. Ahab's smirk was fading. The moment hung thick in the air. 00:15:53 Speaker 6: You have seen their prayers, you have heard their cries, you have watched them blade and yet disguise, silent, no voice, no answer, no fire. 00:16:07 Speaker 1: Why the people stayed quiet? 00:16:11 Speaker 2: Because Bill is nothing? 00:16:14 Speaker 7: Because bel is a lion, Because Bell is a wooden idol, a creation of your own hands, No, the creation of an evil spirit. 00:16:25 Speaker 1: But he can stealing. 00:16:27 Speaker 2: He's kicking, glawing in the throne of the almighty. 00:16:31 Speaker 1: Elijah slammed his staff into the ground. 00:16:35 Speaker 3: But Joy is a lion. 00:16:38 Speaker 8: He is the God of gods, the King of kings, the lord of all creation. 00:16:45 Speaker 1: The wind stirred, a ripple went through the crowd. Ahab dabbed sweat from his forehead. 00:16:52 Speaker 7: Come near. 00:16:54 Speaker 1: The people pressed closer, whispering, watching as Elijah walk to your whereas altar, or what was left of it, stones broken and buried in dust, a forgotten ruin. Without a word, he began rebuilding twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel, stacked with deliberate care. The murmurs grew, what is he doing rebuilding Yahweh's altar? A bit late? For there, Elijah dug a trench around it, then raised his hand. Water Servants with buckets appeared, pouring water over the bull, the wood, and the stones. The gasps were instant, wasting a little out more buckets. The trench overflowed, the altar was drenched. Ahab leaned forward dramatic profit. 00:17:57 Speaker 3: But when nothing happens, you're going to look quite foolish. 00:18:02 Speaker 1: For once Elijah ignored him, he closed his eyes, hands raised. All eyes were on Elijah. The silence stretched, Elijah's hands tightened. What if nothing happens? What if Yaho stays silent? A flash of fear, a moment of doubt. But then memories flashed in Elijah's mind's eye. A stream in the desert, water cool against cracked lips, the flutter of wings, the sharp cry of ravens, food falling at his feet. A widow's hands shaking as she scraped the last of her flower, then gasping when she saw the jar once again filled. A small boy, pale and lifeless, his breath returning his first word. Elijah opened his eyes. His heart settled. 00:19:05 Speaker 4: Your way always promids. 00:19:10 Speaker 1: His breath was slow, steady, but his heart pounded like a war drum. The mountains stilled. The people watched their hunger, deeper than drought, deeper than thirst. They had forgotten their God, forgotten who had shaped them, called them carried them. Not today. Elijah lifted his hands, his face to the sky. 00:19:37 Speaker 7: YoY, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, hear me. 00:19:42 Speaker 9: Now, let him be known today, not tomorrow, not in any other generation, not in wee. 00:19:49 Speaker 4: There is not in fire in Palla. 00:19:52 Speaker 9: In a way they cannot deny that you, Ah God. 00:19:57 Speaker 1: The wind died, The crowd pressed closer. The bloodied and spent priests of Ball held their breath and looked towards the sky. It was as if they too expected something to happen. Elijah took a step closer to the altar, his voice rising, a storm building in his chest. 00:20:20 Speaker 9: You the God that spoke light, dy avoid, The God who shaved the man from the dust. 00:20:25 Speaker 7: And breathed life into his lungs. The God who watched as we turned. 00:20:30 Speaker 9: Away, The God who drowned the world in justice, would spared one family in mercy. 00:20:36 Speaker 7: The God who split the seas before our fathers, who let him through the fire, who struck each of God's law and brock the smell of spine. You met us in the wilderness, you made water pour from a rock, You rushed ours before us, And. 00:20:55 Speaker 4: No they have forgotten you. 00:20:59 Speaker 7: They balls failed they put themselves for a mute idle. 00:21:05 Speaker 4: They have turned from the only living dawn. 00:21:09 Speaker 1: A gust of wind rushed through the crowd. The sky remained clear. Elijah's voice shook the mountain, and me. 00:21:21 Speaker 9: So them, wake them, rum them to the leath, and the long eyes. 00:21:29 Speaker 4: Without grouse, and you, Lord. 00:21:39 Speaker 1: The sky leaped open, the heavens roared. Fire erupted, crashing down, blinding consumer. In an instant, her flames consumed everything, the bull, the wood, the very stones of the altar, the trench water that had moments ago mocked the ice of fire and then kept going. The dirt beneath the altar became molten. The heat struck the people like a physical blow. The entire crowd beheld the truth. Bal was nothing. Ba was dust. Bah was a name they had used to justify self indulgence and disobedience. But the Lord was real, undeniable, uncontainable, and all consuming fire. There was no room left for wavering, no middle ground. You were either bowing before the One True God or standing against him, And to stand against him was to be consumed. The people collapsed. Ahab staggered back. His face was pale, his mouth was open, but No words came out, because what could he say. The king, who had let his wife turn Israel into a playground for foreign gods, who had filled Yahwe's man with shrines to nothingness, had just seen with his own eyes that he had been wrong, that all of Israel had been wrong, That the Lord had never left, had never been defeated, had never needed their loyalty to validate his existence. He had simply been waiting. Elijah turned eyes like flint, searching the crowd, searching for the ones who had led Israel into blindness. The priests of Bao pale, shaking, sweat dripping down their painted faces, their robes still damp with their own blood from the frenzy that had earned them nothing. They knew in the way a man understands the ocean is reel the moment it swallows him whole. Elijah spoke with a voice of iron, seize them. 00:24:02 Speaker 2: For too long they perverted our minds with witchcraft. 00:24:05 Speaker 4: No longer not one they gave. 00:24:07 Speaker 1: The crowd moved as one Boo's prophets tried to run. They were tackled, dragged and beaten, screaming to the river to judgment. One by one they fell the water ran red. The ground beneath Mount Carmel was still blackened from the fire. The people had begun to scatter, murmuring among themselves, their minds reeling from what they had seen. Ahab lingered by his chariot, shaken but trying not to show it. The sky was empty and silent. There were no clouds, no wind, just heat, still and smothering. The drought was still gripping the land. Elijah turned to Ahab. 00:25:02 Speaker 4: Go eat, drink, the rain is coming. 00:25:09 Speaker 1: Ahab blinked, his mouth parting slightly like he wanted to argue to scoff, to say something cutting, but he didn't. He had seen too much to day. Instead, he swallowed, gave Elijah a final look, then climbed into his chariot and rode off toward the palace. Elijah exhaled and turned toward the edge of the mountain. He climbed higher above the wreckage, above the watching eyes, until he found himself alone on the peak. Then he dropped to his knees. 00:25:46 Speaker 4: Yo, you have answered by fire no, and so my water. 00:25:55 Speaker 1: He lifted his head slightly, squinting toward the horizon. The sky stretched bare and merciless in every direction. Elijah inhaled, closing his eyes again. He prayed, and again and again, six times, six long stretched silences. Though his faith did not waver, his body was exhausted, His breath was slow, deep and controlled. The weight of waiting pressed on his chest. He lowered himself further, his forehead nearly touching the dirt. 00:26:36 Speaker 4: You are faith. 00:26:39 Speaker 1: Elijah looked up toward the horizon, clouds dark, churning, ready, his lips curled into a grin. He pushed himself to his feet and turned toward the valley below, where Ahab's camp sat. The king likely sat drinking his wine. Thinking this day was over, Elijah laughed under his breath, shaking his head. He turned to one of his young men with a wry. 00:27:09 Speaker 2: Grin, Go tell Ahab hitch his chariot and ride fast. If he waits, the rain will stop him. 00:27:17 Speaker 1: The servant took off running. Elijah turned back to the horizon, watching the small cloud shifted, swirled, spread, then a wind, a whisper at first, then a howl, then a roar. The sky which had been unyielding, suddenly ripped open, and the first crop hid Elijah's scale, and another, then a thousand the heavens collapsed, and water slammed against the earth, rolling in sheets, hammering the blackened altar, washing away the blood of the prophets, drenching the cracked ground that had not tasted rain in years. Ahab's chariot wheels lurched through the mud. The king was scrambling now, whipping the horses, urging the thread, but the road was already turning into a flood. Elijah ran faster than the horses, faster than the chariot, somehow supernaturally fast. His legs were not his own. Ahab's face went white, like he had just seen a ghost. There racing past him was Elijah, sprinting past the chariot, like Yahweh himself was carrying him on eagle's wings. The king whipped his horses harder. Elijah did not slow. Jezebel was waiting. Ahab's chariot tore through the city gates, horses panting, hooves splashing through the fresh mud. Servants scattered. Startled by the sudden return, Ahab leaped from the chariot and stormed into the palace, through the darkened halls and ascending up the watch tower. Jezebel stood by the window, watching the storm from below. She did not turn when the doors burst open. She did not flinch at the sound of his soaked boots hitting the marble floor. 00:29:33 Speaker 3: Elija has won. 00:29:37 Speaker 1: Jezebel exhaled slowly. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing against the storm outside. Did he Ahab's mouth went dry? 00:29:50 Speaker 3: The prophet's ball, all of them dead. 00:29:55 Speaker 1: Jezebel closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, You finally turned to him, smiling, not wide, not forced, something cold, controlled, amused. She stepped forward. She reached out, the fingers lightly brushing a hand soaked tunic. Her touch so gentle, it's sent to chill up his spine. So the profit of fire things he can turn with my kind mark my words. 00:30:32 Speaker 4: Husband. 00:30:33 Speaker 1: By this time tomorrow, Elijah will be dead. 00:30:46 Speaker 5: Elijah's words to the people cut more sharply in Hebrew than they ever could in English. He asks in English, how long will you limp between two opinions? The word that he uses post, that's how you say it in Hebrew evoke someone hopping, staggering, uncertain of where to land, like a bird flitting from branch to branch, never choosing a nest. That's why he saw a people flinching between gods, pretending to be faithful, while their hearts swayed like reeds in the wind. Bal offered ritual and power, but the one true God offered covenant and calling. And so they wavered, afraid to leap in either direction. But as we saw in the last episode about Elijah, and we have seen throughout this Bible study, faith doesn't waiver. It stands strong, and that's what Elijah does, the only true prophet left facing four hundred and fifty of Bal's prophets in one of the Bible's great contests, hundred and fifty prophets of Baal spent all morning calling on Bal to respond and accept their offering, but they were met with dead silence. Then, when Elijah called upon God, he simply said, God, answer me, God answer me. Our sages teach that Elijah was praying both for an immediate demonstration of God's response and for an end to the drought that had been decreed. He was praying for God to answer and for water to fall. God sent a great fire to both consume the sacrifice and dry up the water in the trenches. There perhaps had never been such a convincing confrontation between idolatry and belief in God. The thousands of Israelites and attendants shouted out, the Lord he is God, the Lord he is God, and then the rain began to fall. Keep Poor is the holy day on the Jewish calendar. The day of Atonement is a day of intense fasting, of prayer and repentance. And to this day, at the very end of Yom Kipur, the entire congregation shouts out those very same words seven times in Hebrew. We say, Hashm who Hailokim, Hashm who ha Elokeim, the Lord he is God. We repeat this seven times, and when we do, we are joining with the chosen people in this very story, rejecting idolatry and accepting God's compassionate rule. Today we found Elijah standing against hundreds drenched altar behind him, mocking voice in front of him, and no guarantee that anything would happen. His courage wasn't bravado. It was surrender, the kind of faith that doesn't hedge its bets, the kind that throws the bucket of water before asking God for fire. And isn't that the kind of courage that we need now. We live in a time full of divided hearts, where truth is negotiated, where people hedge and hesitate, where silence is safer than choosing sides. But the God of the Chosen People hasn't called us to safety. He has called us to allegiance. The altar will always demand a choice. So what do we do in a world full of false fires and dry skies? We do what Elijah did? We return, We remember, We rebuild. Maybe your altar is broken, maybe your heart feels scattered. Like those twelve stones, Stack them again, Stack them slowly, stack them in memory, memory of who you are and whose you are. And when you've done that, pray. Pray Like the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob hears you. Because he does, whether he answers with fire or whispers through rain, he is faithful. And when you see the sky darken and the clouds gather, know this the drought is ending. 00:35:32 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the pray dot Com app today. This prey dog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative Talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabaga and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yle Eckstein, Edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltefianu car Are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvado, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paulinier, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, Rabbi Edward Abramson, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. 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