Mount Carmel

The coastal mountain range extending approximately 15 miles along the Mediterranean Sea in northern Israel, rising to 1,791 feet. Mount Carmel is most famous as the site of Elijah’s dramatic confrontation with the prophets of Baal, where fire from heaven vindicated the LORD as the one true God and ended a devastating three-year drought.

During the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, Baal worship had become Israel’s de facto state religion. God sent drought as judgment, and after three years, He commanded Elijah to confront Ahab. Elijah proposed a test on Mount Carmel: “Let two bulls be given to us…I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God” (1 Kings 18:23-24).

The 450 prophets of Baal cried to their god from morning until noon, then “limped around the altar” while cutting themselves with swords, but “there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention” (1 Kings 18:26-29). Elijah then repaired the altar of the LORD, arranged the wood and bull, and had water poured over everything three times until it filled the surrounding trench. His simple prayer acknowledged God’s covenant faithfulness: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel” (1 Kings 18:36).

“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” (1 Kings 18:38). The people fell on their faces crying “The LORD, he is God!” Elijah ordered the execution of Baal’s prophets, then prayed for rain. His servant watched the sea until a small cloud appeared, growing into the storm that ended the drought. This dramatic demonstration on Mount Carmel revealed God’s sovereignty over nature and exposed the impotence of false gods—establishing it as a site of divine vindication.