1 Kings 18:46

The hand of the Lord.. Elijah] i.e. the prophet acted under a divine impulse: cp. 2 Kings 3:15. To the entrance of Jezreel] between 15 and 20 m. from Carmel. Ahab had a palace there (1 Kings 21:1).

The contest on Mt. Carmel was of the greatest importance for the future of religion in Israel, for it determined whether Jehovah, whose character was moral and spiritual, was to command the exclusive allegiance of the people, or was to share their devotion with the god of Zidon, who, like other Baals, was a nature-god, and whose worship was associated with unspiritual ideas and immoral rites. But whilst it primarily relatesto a particular crisis in the history of a single people, it is also typical of every conflict in which opposite principles of conduct meet, and in which the need of prompt decision must always be as urgent as in the days of Elijah.