1. Why would God choose to withhold rain from Israel? (See Deuteronomy 11:13-17; 28:15, 23-24)

God was doing this in response to His people breaking their covenant with Him. They broke the first and second commandments, and so God was responding exactly as He had promised He would.

2. What were the Canaanite gods Baal and Asherah believed to be in control of?

Baal and Asherah were fertility gods. Baal was considered the prince or chief god in charge of rain and dew, and Asherah was his partner. Together, they were believed to bring abundance and life to the land of Canaan through food and water.

3. What did the prophet Elijah suggest in order to determine who the true God was?

Elijah proposed that they build two altars—one to Baal and one to Yahweh. The God who answered by fire would be shown to be the true God whom Israel should follow.

4. What did the prophets of Baal do to try to get their god to answer?

The prophets of Baal sacrificed a bull, called out for hours, cut themselves, and limped around the altar. They cried out from morning until evening—and nothing happened.

5. What did Elijah do to make it harder for a fire to start? How did he ask God to answer him?

Elijah soaked his altar with water three times until it was so drenched that water filled the trench beneath it—making a natural fire impossible. He then prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with a short, specific prayer, asking Him to turn Israel’s heart back. God answered by sending fire that consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the altar, and even the water in the trench.

6. What does this teach us about God’s character?

• God is always faithful to His promises—He is the covenant-keeping God.
• God alone is truly God—there is no other.
• God has supreme and sovereign power over creation.
• God is merciful—He turns His people’s hearts back to Himself and calls them to repentance.

7. How does this point us to Jesus?

Just as Elijah pointed Israel back to Yahweh, John the Baptist points us to Yahweh in the flesh—Jesus Christ (Malachi 4:4; Luke 1:17). Through Jesus, God turns our hearts from death in sin to life in Him (Ephesians 2:4). Turn and trust in Him as Lord and Savior today!