The Triumph

Then Eliyahu said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of HaShem that was broken down. And Eliyahu took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Yaakov, to whom the word of HaShem had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name." Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of HaShem; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood." Then he said "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time; and he said "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the evening sacrifice, that Eliyahu HaNavi came near and said, "HaShem G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are G-d in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O HaShem, hear me, that this people may know that You are HaShem G-d, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." Then the fire of HaShem fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "HaShem, He is G-d! HaShem, He is G-d!" (1 Kings 18:30-39)

Suddenly, the people's hesitation has vanished. Now they are more than happy to make a commitment to HaShem. The amorphous concepts of what a god is and isn't have suddenly been set upon by reality before their very eyes, and their only response must be to hit their faces and declare that HaShem is G-d. This is an indication of what will happen eventually for those of our present day who hedge about on the person of G-d. They, too, will someday come face to face with His reality, and their only choice will be to hit their face and declare that HaShem is G-d. (Some just before they enter a dark eternity...)

Another important point to see in this episode is that Eliyahu speaks to HaShem more for the benefit of the people than for either his or HaShem's benefit. While it is his prayer that invites the answer from HaShem, it should be obvious that what Eliyahu says is already known by the Holy One. Eliyahu could have simply prayed "Light it, O G-d." and it would have been so. But by this point you can be reasonably sure that everyone was listening closely to the prophet's words. By wetting the sacrifice and the wood thoroughly, Eliyahu had, by appearance's sake, set himself up for failure. By comparison also, the people might have expected as desperate of pleas as the prophets of Baal had ended up crying. But Eliyahu's volume and words are not to try and get through to HaShem, but to make sure that all heard that this would, indeed, be a sign of who really was G-d in Israel, and who was really His prophet.

The practical aspect of this to remember is that it matters not how loud, or how sincere, or how desperate your prayers are if they are not directed to the One Who can really hear them, and conversely, it matters not how quiet or clumsy your prayers are if they are indeed directed to the Holy One of Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, and has promised to hear when we pray.