Elijah and the Prophets of Baal: Chapter 17 launched Elijah suddenly into the public arena of Israel’s politics (v. 1) only to whisk him away again into the privacy of the Transjordanian wilderness and a Sidonian home. There he has contributed in a small way to the war that the LORD is now waging upon the worship of Baal, while leaving the drought to do most of the damage. The time has now come for his reappearance on the main stage—for the great battle of the war, indeed. The drought is to end, but before it does it must be indisputable, not only to the widow of Zarephath but also to “all Israel,” who is God. There must be a public test of strength—a face-to-face confrontation between the prophet of the LORD and the prophets of Baal.

18:1–15  We assume that Elijah has been living quietly a…