1 Kings 18:29
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
The verse describes the long afternoon stretch from past midday until the time of the evening sacrifice, when the prophets of Baal kept up their appeal after being mocked at noon. During those hours they worked themselves into frenzy, shouting aloud, leaping around the altar, cutting themselves with knives and lancets till blood flowed, and mingling desperate pleadings with curses. Yet no voice came, no one answered or regarded, and their sacrifice remained unconsumed without a spark of fire. That silence exposed their god as absent and powerless, for no answer could come because Jehovah restrained even deceptive fire from being kindled. It stands in sharp contrast to Elijah's calm and simple prayer that was immediately answered by fire from heaven, vindicating Jehovah as the true God and warning against modern idolatry that enthrones false doctrines and nature in His place.
Baal's Unanswered Frenzy
The verse marks a prolonged stretch from after midday until the time of the evening sacrifice, following the mocking at noon, during which the prophets kept up their appeal from morning until near evening without pause. Their cries continued through the whole afternoon, from midday past until the offering time, yet drew no reply or sign of regard.
During that time they prophesied in frenzied rites, crying aloud with hoarse shouting, leaping wildly around the altar as if to grasp the burning rays of the sun, and cutting themselves after their manner with knives and lancets till blood gushed out upon them. Their desperate pleadings were mingled with terrible cursings of their sun-god, with confused and conflicting suggestions rising among them until they grew weary, faint and confused. They even attempted to deceive the people by secretly kindling the altar fire and producing fire by their own devices, but those efforts continued in vain.
Despite all this there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded, the sacrifice remained unconsumed, and no spark could reach Baal's altar. Weary and baffled, they ceased their efforts and retired from the contest in despair. That silence exposed Baal as powerless, absent, and unable to act, a false god whose worship is folly and divided loyalty, for prolonged cries could not show him present or able to respond.
No answer came because Jehovah set Satan's bounds and restrained him from kindling the altar even by deception, though Satan would gladly have sent lightning to kindle the sacrifice for those deceived and devoted to his service. Elijah watched intently throughout, knowing that if by any device the priests succeeded in kindling their fire he would instantly be torn in pieces.
Carmel's Decisive Vindication
The verse belongs to the conspicuous contest on Mount Carmel, chosen as a public place where God's power would be displayed and the honor of His name vindicated. Elijah stood there because God had commissioned him to return to Israel for that confrontation. On that terrible, trying day he stood alone for God as the sole witness to the true God, undaunted before King Ahab and before the whole nation of Israel with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal at their head. Through that whole day he maintained his trust in Jehovah.
The prophets of Baal kept up their cries and ritual frenzy until the time of the evening sacrifice, but received no voice, no answer, and no regard. Their fanatical, frantic, incoherent display stands in sharp contrast to Elijah's calm, awe-inspiring, simple and fervent appeal to Jehovah. The day-long silence of Baal contrasts with the immediate answer to Elijah's prayer, when fire came from heaven.
The people watching all day beheld the baffled priests with horror and had opportunity to reflect on the follies of idol worship. Many grew weary of the exhibitions of demonism and turned with deepest interest to await Elijah's movements. Their failure and violent displays exposed the folly of idol worship, and many turned their attention to Elijah.
The contest was Elijah's undaunted contest between life and death in which he triumphed over the king, the priests, and the people. The wonderful exhibitions of God's power showed that Jehovah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is God. Through faith idolatry was cast down, the contest ending with the defeat and slaughter of the prophets of Baal. That defeat gave idolatry in Israel a decisive check, stirred Israel, and led many people to return to the worship of God. That signal triumph over Baal-worship opened the way for still greater victories for those who had been seduced into Baal-worship. The account leads on to Elijah going up to the top of Carmel and casting himself down with his face between his knees in strong and earnest prayer for rain, his faith sorely tried while bowed in a painful humiliating position, continuing until rewarded with tokens of rain and great rain. The rain that followed testified to blessings awaiting Israel.
The event was a powerful manifestation of God's might before the people, but its result did not meet Elijah's hopes for reformation. After standing long and valiantly for the right, ending with the false prophets slain and the people declaring their allegiance to God, his strength failed and his faith let go its hold upon infinite power. In a moment of weariness and exhaustion he allowed the fear of death and the threats of idolatrous Jezebel to overcome his faith in God, and he fled for his life. His course shows that even a person who has stood courageously for God can become vulnerable when exhausted and afraid. It shows that Satan assails the soul with the fiercest temptations at the time of greatest weakness, when will-power weakens and faith fails. Completing his work required learning to trust wholly in God, and being turned away by Jezebel's threat showed the weakness of his present position compared with the vantage-ground God would have him occupy.
Warning for Today
Elijah's work recorded around midday past until the evening sacrifice gives courage to all who are called to stand for what is right amid apostasy. That record carries special significance because history repeats itself whenever people worship worldly things or exalt human ideas instead of God.
In the days of Elijah ancient Israel worshiped Baal, the sun-god of Phoenicia, whose prophets cried aloud until there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. Their unanswered frenzy shows that an idol is as easily made of false doctrines and theories as fashioned from wood or stone. Such idolatry rejects truth and tramples upon the law of God to deny the authority of the Lawgiver, conceiving of God in a false character with attributes He does not possess. The same idolatry exists in the Christian world today as verily as it existed then, with a philosophical idol enthroned in place of Jehovah by professedly wise men, philosophers, poets, politicians, journalists, polished fashionable circles, colleges and universities, and even some theological institutions. While the true God as revealed in His Word, in Christ, and in the works of creation is worshiped by but few, thousands deify nature while they deny the God of nature.