A letter to friends about Mount Carmel
I’m glad we have the Scriptures to tell us the story of Elijah and the 450 Baal worshippers atop Mount Carmel, for there’s not much up there besides a monastery and breathtaking views of Megiddo Valley and Nazareth and Mount Tabor out in the distance.
View from Mount Carmel
On my journey around Israel, I’m realizing more and more that the stories come alive in our souls through the Scriptures rather than the shrines and settings around the land. This proves true at Mount Carmel. Yet it was on this mountain, the highest peak in northwest Israel, where I learn that one is greater than 450 when God is on your side! (1 Kings 18:16-46)
Elijah was called a troublemaker by King Ahab who married Jezebel. They served and worshipped Baal, created an altar to this god, made an Asherah pole, “and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the other kings of Israel before him.”
The reason our cities and communities are hurting and not at peace is because of what Elijah sees and voices to the king. “I have not troubled Israel (insert your city), but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the gods of Baal (wealth, status, and self).”
I can’t even imagine the stomach swirls, the rapid heart palpitations, the “keep a lid on it” anger moments, the venting, the questions that take up all of prayer time, the restless nights that Elijah must have had living as a minority of faith. He wasn’t the only minority of faith in Scripture or living today. Noah. Jonah. Esther. Joseph of Arimathea. To name a few. God seems to show off His power when He’s got one of us up against evil tactics and principalities of darkness. He did so here on Mount Carmel.
Facing east from Mount Carmel
Knowing the culture, people, darkness, and evil Elijah was up against, he seemed to display and act upon such confidence in the One True God. To have this bold faith doens’t develop overnight. I hope my letters are causing you to draw closer to God. I hope God is using them to break through hard hearts and open your eyes to truth. Let’s believe together that one is greater than 450 when we are on God’s side!
Standing with you,
Shauna
P.S. This mountain redefines ancient! The earliest Stone Age culture was discovered at Mount Carmel.
(Facts shared come from the Scriptures and from the tour with Insight for Living Ministries. Imagination from my own heart.)
I watched as a group of Indians shouted they want to be Elijahs in their towns and villages when they return - standing up for truth and believing in the power of God!