Day 2: The Valley of Decision

"Pass through, pass through the gates!"

Our journey today takes us to Mount Carmel (the "Vineyard of God"), a thirteen-mile long mountain range that juts into the Mediterranean Sea and overlooks the Jezreel Valley. This region is renowned for its beautiful trees and foliage and is covered with thick, natural vegetation that stays green all year round making it the ideal location for Elijah's "trial by fire" - for this showdown between the gods would be no "accidental" spark of fire in a parched wilderness (1 Kings 18:16-39).

Mount Carmel had become a sanctuary for Baal worship. The people of Israel had abandoned their covenant relationship with the Lord for the idolatrous worship of the false gods of Baal and Asherah. The people were in deep distress, suffering in the midst of a drought, and had cited Elijah as the reason for their troubles (1 Kings 18:17). Elijah had been sent to issue judgment on God's unfaithful people and turn them back to the One they had forsaken. "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers" (Amos 1:2).

The message was issued to the entire country and Elijah called for the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to prove their power and for the people to make a choice: "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21). As we discussed yesterday, we each have a decision to make, whether we will walk through the open gate of the Lord into a life of security and blessing, or refuse His invitation, turning our backs on the One True God and walking away. For the people of Israel who had fallen into Baal worship, it didn’t matter how long they cried out to their handmade gods the only thing that was becoming apparent was how useless (and lifeless) their gods were. The decision was made for them, their gods were not responding, the One True God had revealed Himself clearly, and there was only one response to make: "When the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The LORD - He is God! The LORD - He is God!" (v. 39).

The day is coming when the whole earth will know the Lord is God and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord (Isaiah 45:23b). This hilltop battle foreshadows the great battle to come in the valley that lies below Carmel – the Jezreel Valley ("God shall sow seed"). Many battles have dotted this fertile landscape in Jezreel where "God plants." It is here that Gideon defeated the Midianites (Judges 6:33-7:25). And Hosea named his first child “Jezreel” as a sign that God would render punishment and avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu (2 Kings 10:1-14). The Lord chooses servants to accomplish His will even though they may not walk totally in His ways. In this valley, the crossroads of the land of Israel, human history will come to an end just as it began. It is here that the battle of Armageddon ("the harvest") will take place. This final attack on the Church by the axis powers of Satan, the world government, and the apostate church will climax with the return of the Lord, ending with their defeat and the establishment His Kingdom (Revelation 16:13-16).

The gods of this world will be defeated at the end of the age. Countless false gods have been defeated throughout history, as we have seen from Elijah's stand on Mount Carmel, while attempting to reveal the One True living God. The great enemy of God, Satan, has worked throughout history to deceive mankind, tempting them to follow any god other than the Only True God that he desperately wanted to destroy. The enemy's first attempt occurred at the start of the Lord's ministry when he tempted the Lord in the wilderness. When his futile plans failed Satan attempted to work through the people of Jesus' own hometown to literally "overthrow" the work of the Lord (Luke 4:28-29).

Nazareth (the "baby olive shoot" from whom the Branch of the Lord would come) lies northeast of Mount Carmel on the border of the Jezreel Valley. It was here, in the Lord's hometown, where He gave His first recorded sermon. "The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:17-19). When He had finished reading He told the people, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (v.21). They responded in anger as they drove Him out of town to the "Mount of Precipice" where they attempted to kill Him. "They got up, drove Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But He walked right through the crowd and went on His way" (v.29-30).

In His message to the people of Nazareth, Jesus shared the story of Elijah, who had been sent to Zarephath, to a Gentile, because Israel rejected the messenger sent to them. He emphasized that their refusal to accept the One sent by God would lead Him to accomplish His mission of bringing salvation to the Gentiles. Despite the enemy’s attempts to thwart the plans of God and hinder His Kingdom from coming, the Lord's plans for all mankind has continued to painfully and forcefully advance.

In the end the Lord’s plans will be fulfilled for His people and His land will experience the healing He has promised. "Then the LORD will be jealous for His land and take pity on His people. The LORD will reply to them: 'I am sending you grain, new wine and oil" (Joel 2:18-19a). The land we have just visited give new life to these words, as Mount Carmel, the "vineyard of God" produces the "wine," the Jezreel Valley, where "God shall sow seed" becomes a harvest field of "grain," and Nazareth, the "baby olive shoot" brings forth the "oil" of the Lord. "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD - "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for Myself in the land; I will show My love to the one I called, 'Not My loved one.' I will say to those called, 'Not My people,' 'You are My people;' and they will say, 'You are my God'" (Hosea 2:21-23).

The Lord's purposes throughout history have continued despite increasing opposition. On this ground the faith of many has been tested, calling all mankind to face the valley of decision. We all encounter this critical crossroad of faith at some point in our lifetime and must answer for ourselves who or what are we serving? Our journey today has made it quite clear that there is only One Who is deserving of our worship and there will come a day when He will destroy all others who have tried to take His place! We've passed through another gate that has led us to the valley of decision, and hopefully we've chosen wisely. Tomorrow we continue our journey north as we make our way to the Sea of Galilee.

Heavenly Father,

You alone deserve our worship. How we praise you for continuing to

reveal yourself to us despite our reckless wandering.

"Has a nation ever changed its gods? (yet they are not god at all.)

But My people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.

Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,"

declares the LORD. "My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug

their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

(Jeremiah 2:11-13)

Open your gate wide and lead your people back to you that

all might experience repentance and find refreshment in you.

May you alone be glorified. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

[My Israel journal, June 2008: "...sitting on the rocky cliff in Nazareth I couldn't hold back the tears, did I just hear correctly? Our tour guide, Amir, just said we would have an opportunity to view the scroll of Isaiah this week when we visit the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Before we had left for this trip the Lord had whispered to me a couple of promises and I didn't understand how they would come about and here was my first answer. My journey had started two years ago with this same scripture from Isaiah 61:1-2 with the Lord declaring the "Year of the Lord's Favor" - here we were walking through that year and now I was in Jerusalem about to see the very scroll it was written upon. He is always so good. I am so grateful for the ways He constantly reveals Himself to us..."]