WAEC Christian Religious Studies (CRS) 2015 Theory — Question 6

Model answer

After King Ahab allowed his wife Jezebel to introduce the worship of Baal and Asherah in Israel, God's anger was provoked. God sent Elijah the prophet to pronounce drought/famine on Israel. Ahab accused Elijah of being the cause of the drought; Elijah also blamed Ahab for allowing the worship of Baal, which made the people forsake God. Elijah requested a contest on Mount Carmel to determine who was supreme in Israel - Yahweh or Baal. Elijah asked the Baal prophets to sacrifice a bull on an altar and call on Baal to send fire to consume the sacrifice; Elijah would also sacrifice a bull and ask God to send fire to consume it. According to the plan, the God who answered by fire would be the true God of Israel. The Baal prophets took their turn first and called on their god from morning till noon, but no fire came, and Elijah mocked them, saying their god might be on a journey or asleep. Elijah then built an altar with twelve stones, dug trenches around the altar, and had water poured on the sacrifice and wood three times. Elijah offered a simple prayer, and immediately God sent down fire to consume the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and even licked up the water in the trench. The people declared, 'The Lord, He is God, the Lord He is God.' The supremacy of God of Israel was thus established, and Elijah had the prophets of Baal slain at the Brook Kishon. After the contest, God was shown to be greater than Baal, and it rained soon after, ending the drought.