As a prophet of God, Elijah was raised up for a particular time and ministry. In this passage we see that  it was to rebuke king Ahab because of his wife, Jezebel, who had been killing the prophets of God and encouraging the false prophets of the false god, Baal. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to come to Mt Carmel and prepare a sacrifice but not to set it on fire. They must ask their false God to do this.

The prophets of Ball fail. Then Elijah, after pouring water on the sacrifice so there could be no doubt, calls on the God of Israel to bring down fire on the sacrifice. This happens in an unmistakable way. The false prophets of Baal are then put to death so as to remove their idolatry and restore the true worship of God.

Jezebel threatens Elijah with death. Elijah, surprisingly, runs for his life but an angel of the Lord appears to him after he flees. The fearful prophet is relieved and another prophet, Elisha, is raised up to succeed him. We should not focus on the prophets who are only men. The Scripture says elsewhere ‘the arm of flesh will fail you’. We are to trust in the one who is the perfect prophet, Jesus Christ, who takes away all our fears through what he has accomplished on the cross at Calvary.