Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."
1 Kings 18:38-39
Welcome to Mt. Carmel, the place where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal and God claimed victory once again.
Doesn't this story just make your heart burst with joy!?
When Baal didn't answer the prophets with fire... or any response at all, Elijah starts mocking them by saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. (18: 27)"
Praise Jesus that our Savior is constantly Present, listening and responsive. He heals, showers us with grace... and oh yeah... He can send down blazing fire that will light up a burnt offering that is surrounded by a trench of water! Natural combustion is simply not possible until God steps in and does His thing. The fire of the Lord consumes the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the saturated dust and the water that was in the trench.
This is the location where all of that went down...
Mt. Carmel National Park is a little difficult to find, even with a GPS. We were close to the park at one point but we turned too soon. This led to about 30 minutes of circling Carmel, trying to find the park according to the GPS. Finally, the guys decided to drive back to where I had seen the Mt. Carmel Park sign and there it was!
We parked on the side of the road and saw one guy actually back down the one-way street in reverse for about 30 - 40 yard just to pull into the gravel road that led to the park. Did I mention that he was driving backwards on a one-way street... on a mountain? It was crazy!!
Side Note: You have never witnessed a true "terrible driver" until you drive in Israel.
Adam, me & JD
We caught a glimpse of a magnificent sunset at the park. We didn't hike the path, mainly because we saw a lookout higher on the mountain that "peaked" our interest. In complete spontaneity, we drove... and ended up in a major traffic jam because of a car wreck ahead. We were stuck for quite a while but it was worth it. We drove down the mountain, surrounded by rocky (and most likely treacherous) canyons. We saw tons of caves in hidden among the rock along the descent. (We like to think that Noah or Lot resided in one of them back in the day?!?). The sharp curves and speeding cars created a fairly intimidating drive. Road lines prove to be unnecessary here since drivers fail to take heed to them. We finally made it to the bottom and then drove along the breathtaking coastline back to Tel Aviv.
And that's where we captured this photo. Absolutely stunning. Once again... Jesus is constantly present and makes His name known even among the clouds.
