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The
humor of Elijah!
BibleStudy.org
Many of the funniest
sections of the Bible are related to the use of idols and the worship of false gods.
This article
discusses the biting, and somewhat sarcastic, humor used by Elijah in his
spiritual showdown with false prophets on Mount Carmel.
This event occurred
during the reign of the notoriously evil King Ahab of Israel, who ruled over God's people from 874
to 853 B.C.
Our example of Bible
humor begins with Elijah challenging Ahab to send the nation's pagan priests to Carmel (1 Kings 18:19).
The purpose of the
prophet's request was to demonstrate, through the means of a contest, who was
the true God that deserved the people's dedicated worship.
Ahab agrees with the
request, but only 450 of the 850 priests Elijah challenges (those who serve
Baal) show up (1 Kings 18:22).
At Carmel, the
competition between Elijah and the many false priests entails both parties
offering an animal sacrifice to the deity they serve and seeing which one
responds with fire.
Elijah allows the
prophets of Baal to be the first to petition their god for an answer to their
prayers.
Watching the
spiritual battle are countless Israelites who have been attempting to worship
both Baal and the Lord at the same time (1 Kings 18:21).
Baal's prophets dance
around their altar and call upon their deity from morning until noon.
Absolutely nothing
(as one would expect) happens to their sacrifice (1 Kings 18:26).
No flames magically
appear to consume their sacrifice (even though Satan has the power to bring
fire down from the sky, see Job 1:16).
In fact, no
supernatural manifestation of any kind occurs. The time is now ripe for Elijah
to inject his sarcastic, and a bit crude, humor into the competition.
The Bible likely
records only part of the humorous taunts Elijah hurls, which were loud enough
for the Israelites in attendance to hear.
He mocks the prophets by stating, "'You'll have to shout
louder than that,' he scoffed, 'to catch the attention of your god!'" (1 Kings 18:27, The
Living Bible).
Elijah's deriding
humor hits a crescendo when he offers reasons why Baal does not answer them.
He sarcastically shouts, "Perhaps he is talking to
someone, or is out SITTING ON THE TOILET, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is
asleep and needs to be awakened!"
The verbal jabs of
Elijah, at the expense of the pagan priests, entail some of the best humor in
Scripture.
Could Baal's lack of
a response be due to severe constipation that has consigned him to a toilet?
Maybe he is in a
lengthy conversation that is far more interesting than listening to the whining
of his priests.
Could it be he is
sound asleep after all the "hard work" involved in being worshipped?
Could it be he needed
a break and took a well-earned vacation?
Baal certainly seemed
too involved in his own self-interests to answer anyone!
The response of the
priests to the mocking humor was to cut themselves with knives and lances for
several hours (1 Kings 18:28-29).
This attempt,
however, to attract Baal's attention also fails miserably.
What does work is the
simple and short prayer of Elijah, which brings a pillar of fire from heaven
that consumes his sacrifice!
This leads to all 450
of the false prophets being put to death (verses 39-40).
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