The Lord Has No Rival – September 16, 2024

Read: 1 Kings 18:21-39

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
1 Kings 18:21-24

The Lord Has No Rival

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox. The Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears. The Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Boston Celtics. These are some of the greatest rivalries in sports history. A rivalry is an ongoing competition between two people or groups. Each rival wants to reach the same goal, but only one can reach it. In the case of these sports teams, the goal is to be crowned champions in their sport. Though some sports rivalries go back over one hundred years, none are even close to the longest-running rivalry in history.

To find that rivalry, you need to go back to the beginning when the devil and his fallen angels started to battle the Lord for his place of power and for the people he loves—a much more important battle than any sports rivalry. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, the Bible gives us a play-by-play of this intense rivalry with eternal consequences. One such episode of this ongoing competition is recorded in 1 Kings chapter 18.

At this point in history, it seemed like the devil was getting the upper hand in the rivalry. The people of Israel were led to worship a false god named Baal by wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. They said Baal was the god who made the rainfall so their crops would grow. There were a lot of prophets of Baal at the time and very few prophets of God. But the Lord announced through the Prophet Elijah that he was sending a drought on the land of Israel. The drought had been going on for three years. That should have shown the people of Israel where rain came from, but Elijah set up one final contest to prove the point. “The god who answers by fire—he is God” (1 Kings 18:24).

On top of Mount Carmel, no matter what they tried, the 450 prophets of Baal could not get Baal to answer them. That’s because Baal was a false god, an idol. The Lord answered Elijah by miraculously sending fire to consume Elijah’s sacrifice. On another mountain—Mount Calvary—God’s Son, Jesus, made the ultimate sacrifice that defeated the devil and his evil forces forever, an even greater miracle. Only the true God could accomplish that. The Lord has no rival.

Closing Prayer:

Lord, you are the only true God and Savior. Help us to always remember who you are and what you have done for us, so that we may never put our trust in idols, but always in you alone. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• What is a rivalry?
• What is an idol?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• Which of the Ten Commandments talks about idolatry? Recite the commandment and its meaning from Luther’s Small Catechism.
• How does the Lord prove that he is the one true God? Give an example(s) from the Bible.

Questions for Middle School and Above

• Name at least two things in life that can become idols for people today.
• Why does the Lord want us to always remember that he is the only true God?