We ought not be surprised when the world hates us. For they hated the prophets who came before us. More than the prophets they hated the perfect, sinless, Son of God to the point that He who knew no sin was crucified on the cross at the hands of wicked men for everything His chosen people had done.
Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth his body. Then he said, “God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!” – II Kings 6:30-31 NKJV
It does not seem a stretch to call the Lord’s fire from heaven at Mt. Carmel the highlight of Elijah’s public ministry in Israel. Never before or after in Elijah’s ministry was the truth and power of the LORD God manifested so publicly in the face of the king, the false prophets of Baal, and all the Israelites together. While the Israelites professed afterwards, “The Lord, He is God,” the wicked king and queen did not make such a profession. Instead, when Jezebel (who did not go to witness her prophets’ defeat), heard the events of Mt. Carmel recounted for her from Ahab she said to Elijah through a messenger, “so let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time” (I Kings 19:2).
