◄ 1 Kings 18:31 ►
And Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come and said, "Israel shall be your name."
Study Bible
And Elijah took twelve stones
The act of Elijah taking "twelve stones" is deeply symbolic, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. The Hebrew word for "stones" is "אֲבָנִים" (avanim), which often signifies strength and permanence. In the context of ancient Israel, stones were used to build altars, memorials, and markers of significant events. Elijah's use of twelve stones underscores the unity and covenant relationship between God and the entire nation of Israel, despite the division into the northern and southern kingdoms. This act is a call back to the foundational identity of the people as one nation under God.

one for each of the tribes of the sons of Jacob
The phrase "one for each of the tribes of the sons of Jacob" emphasizes the inclusivity and completeness of God's covenant. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, fathered the twelve tribes, each representing a distinct part of the nation. The Hebrew term "שֵׁבֶט" (shevet) for "tribes" can also mean "staff" or "scepter," symbolizing authority and identity. By using one stone per tribe, Elijah reaffirms the collective identity and shared heritage of the Israelites, reminding them of their roots and the promises made to their forefathers.

to whom the word of the LORD had come
This phrase highlights the divine communication and covenantal relationship between God and the people of Israel. The "word of the LORD" in Hebrew is "דְּבַר יְהוָה" (devar Yahweh), which signifies not just spoken words but the active, living presence and will of God. Throughout the Old Testament, God's word is a powerful force that brings creation, judgment, and salvation. Here, it serves as a reminder of the promises and instructions given to the patriarchs, calling the people back to faithfulness and obedience.

saying, 'Israel shall be your name.'
The declaration "Israel shall be your name" is a direct reference to Genesis 32:28, where Jacob is renamed Israel after wrestling with God. The name "Israel" (יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisra'el) means "God prevails" or "he struggles with God," encapsulating the nation's identity as one that contends with and is sustained by God. This renaming signifies transformation and purpose, reminding the Israelites of their unique calling and relationship with God. Elijah's invocation of this name serves as a powerful reminder of their identity and destiny as God's chosen people, urging them to return to their covenantal roots and trust in the Lord's sovereignty.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Elijah
A prophet of God who played a crucial role in challenging the worship of Baal in Israel and demonstrating the power of the one true God.

2. Twelve Stones
Symbolic representation of the twelve tribes of Israel, signifying unity and the covenant relationship between God and His people.

3. Sons of Jacob
Refers to the twelve tribes of Israel, descendants of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.

4. Mount Carmel
The location where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal and demonstrated God's power through the miraculous fire from heaven.

5. The Word of the LORD
Represents God's covenant and promises to the people of Israel, emphasizing their identity and calling as His chosen people.
Teaching Points
Unity in Diversity
The twelve stones represent the unity of the twelve tribes, despite their differences. In the body of Christ, believers are called to unity, reflecting the diverse yet unified nature of God's people.

Covenant Remembrance
Just as Elijah used the stones to remind Israel of their covenant with God, believers are encouraged to remember and live by the promises and commitments made to God.

Identity in God
The name "Israel" signifies a new identity given by God. Christians are reminded of their identity in Christ, which calls for a life that reflects His character and purposes.

Faithful Witness
Elijah's actions on Mount Carmel serve as a powerful witness to God's sovereignty. Believers are called to be bold in their faith, standing firm in the truth of God's Word.

Symbolic Acts of Faith
The use of physical symbols, like the stones, can serve as powerful reminders of spiritual truths. Christians can incorporate meaningful symbols in their spiritual practices to reinforce their faith.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the use of twelve stones by Elijah on Mount Carmel reflect the unity and identity of the people of Israel, and how can this be applied to the church today?

2. In what ways does the change of Jacob's name to Israel (Genesis 32:28) parallel the transformation that occurs in a believer's life through Christ?

3. How can the act of remembering God's covenant, as demonstrated by Elijah, influence our daily walk with God and our interactions with others?

4. What are some modern-day "stones" or symbols that can help us remember and live out our faith in practical ways?

5. How does Elijah's boldness in confronting the prophets of Baal challenge us to stand firm in our faith amidst a culture that often opposes biblical truths?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 32:28
This verse recounts the moment when Jacob's name was changed to Israel, signifying his struggle and prevailing with God, which is foundational to understanding the identity of the twelve tribes.

Exodus 24:4
Moses builds an altar with twelve pillars representing the twelve tribes, similar to Elijah's use of twelve stones, highlighting the continuity of God's covenant with Israel.

Joshua 4:20-24
Joshua sets up twelve stones as a memorial after crossing the Jordan River, symbolizing God's faithfulness and the unity of the tribes.
Sermons
Elijah and the Prophets of BaalE. De Pressense 1 Kings 18:1-46
Elijah and the Prophets of BaalJ. H. Cadoux.1 Kings 18:19-40
Elijah and the Prophets of BaalC. J. Baldwin.1 Kings 18:19-40
The Priests of BaalMonday Club Sermons1 Kings 18:19-40
The Prophet of the LordH. M. Booth, D. D.1 Kings 18:19-40
The God that Answereth by FireJ. Urquhart 1 Kings 18:21-40
The PrepatationJ.A. Macdonald 1 Kings 18:30-35
People
Ahab, Elijah, Isaac, Jacob, Jezebel, Jezreel, Obadiah
Places
Jezreel, Kishon River, Mount Carmel, Samaria, Zarephath
Topics
Descended, Elijah, Eli'jah, Jacob, Saying, Sons, Stones, Taketh, Tribes, Twelve
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Kings 18:31

     5096   Jacob, patriarch

1 Kings 18:16-40

     4254   mountains
     5541   society, negative

1 Kings 18:17-40

     8747   false gods

1 Kings 18:19-40

     7774   prophets, false

1 Kings 18:20-39

     7712   convincing

1 Kings 18:30-38

     4366   stones
     6682   mediation

1 Kings 18:30-39

     1416   miracles, nature of
     8625   worship, acceptable attitudes

Library
Obadiah
To the Young '... I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.--1 KINGS xviii.12. This Obadiah is one of the obscurer figures in the Old Testament. We never hear of him again, for there is no reason to accept the Jewish tradition which alleges that he was Obadiah the prophet. And yet how distinctly he stands out from the canvas, though he is only sketched with a few bold outlines! He is the 'governor over Ahab's house,' a kind of mayor of the palace, and probably the second man in the kingdom. But …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Trial by Fire
'And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose yon one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. 27. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Elijah's Appeal to the Undecided
Now, we have these three classes here this morning. We have, I hope, a very large number who are on Jehovah's side, who fear God and serve him; we have a number who are on the side of the evil one, who make no profession of religion, and do not observe even the outward symptoms of it; because they are both inwardly and outwardly the servants of the evil one. But the great mass of my hearers belong to the third class--the waverers. Like empty clouds they are driven hither and thither by the wind; …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Obadiah; Or, Early Piety Eminent Piety
The Lord does not love that his servants, however great they are, should think lightly of their lesser comrades, and it occurs to me that he so arranged matters that Obadiah became important to Elijah when he had to face the wrathful king of Israel. The prophet is bidden to go and show himself to Ahab, and he does so; but he judges it better to begin by showing himself to the governor of his palace, that he may break the news to his master, and prepare him for the interview. Ahab was exasperated …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

But Some one Will Say, Does He not Know Without a Monitor Both what Our...
But some one will say, Does he not know without a monitor both what our difficulties are, and what is meet for our interest, so that it seems in some measure superfluous to solicit him by our prayers, as if he were winking, or even sleeping, until aroused by the sound of our voice? [1] Those who argue thus attend not to the end for which the Lord taught us to pray. It was not so much for his sake as for ours. He wills indeed, as is just, that due honour be paid him by acknowledging that all which …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

Selfishness and Prayer. A Contrast.
"So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees."--1 KINGS xviii. 42. WHAT A CONTRAST! And yet, both men were perfectly consistent. It is in each case what you would expect, and yet how differently it might have been. What a different story it would have been if only Ahab had listened to the teaching of God! How often we see men having chances of turning round and beginning a new …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The West Coast of Galilee-Carmel.
The people of Issachar had "Carmel and the river for their bounds in length": the people of Zabulon, "Carmel and the sea." Carmel was not so much one mountain as a mountainous country, containing almost the whole breadth of the land of Issachar, and a great part of that of Zabulon. It was, as it seems, a certain famous peak among many other mountain tops, known by the same name, lifted up and advanced above the rest. The promontory Carmel, in Pliny, and in the mountain a town of the same name, heretofore …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Ninth Sunday after Trinity. How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions? if the Lord be God, Follow Him; but if Baal, Then Follow Him.
How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him. Was kinket ihr betrognen Seelen [106]Lehr. 1733. trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1855 Why halt thus, O deluded heart, Why waver longer in thy choice? Is it so hard to choose the part Offered by Heaven's entreating voice? Oh look with clearer eyes again, Nor strive to enter in, in vain. Press on! Remember, 'tis not Caesar's throne, Nor earthly honour, wealth or might Whereby God's favour shall be …
Catherine Winkworth—Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year

Fall of the Western Empire (Ad 451-476)
The empire of the West was now fast sinking. One weak prince was at the head of it after another, and the spirit of the old Romans, who had conquered the world, had quite died out. Immense hosts of barbarous nations poured in from the North. The Goths, under Alaric, who took Rome by siege, in the reign of Honorius, have been already mentioned (p 93). Forty years later, Attila, king of the Huns, who was called "The scourge of God," kept both the East and the West in terror. In the year 451, he advanced …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

Will the Knowledge that Some of Our Own are Lost, Mar Our Happiness in Heaven?
This is a difficult question to answer satisfactorily, on account of our instinctive feelings of natural affection, which arise, and, like a mist, obscure our judgment. Nevertheless, the difficulty is much lessened, and even entirely removed from some minds, at hast, by the following considerations. 1. Our happiness, even in this world, does not depend on the happiness of those who are bound to us by the ties of kindred or of friendship. This is especially the case when their unhappiness proceeds …
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

Of Prayer --A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It.
1. A general summary of what is contained in the previous part of the work. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. Its connection with the subject of faith. 2. Prayer defined. Its necessity and use. 3. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows our wants. Answer, from the institution and end of prayer. Confirmation by example. Its necessity and propriety. Perpetually reminds us of our duty, and leads to meditation on divine providence. Conclusion. Prayer a most useful exercise. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

This was Antony's First Struggle against the Devil...
7. This was Antony's first struggle against the devil, or rather this victory was the Saviour's work in Antony [1005] , Who condemned sin in the flesh that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.' But neither did Antony, although the evil one had fallen, henceforth relax his care and despise him; nor did the enemy as though conquered cease to lay snares for him. For again he went round as a lion seeking some occasion against him. But Antony …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount
Discourse 7 "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Matthew 6:16-18. 1. It has been the endeavour of Satan, from the beginning of the world, …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Subterraneous Places. Mines. Caves.
Thus having taken some notice of the superficies of the land, let us a little search into its bowels. You may divide the subterraneous country into three parts: the metal mines, the caves, and the places of burial. This land was eminently noted for metal mines, so that "its stones," in very many places, "were iron, and out of its hills was digged brass," Deuteronomy 8:9. From these gain accrued to the Jews: but to the Christians, not seldom slavery and misery; being frequently condemned hither by …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Of Passages from the Holy Scriptures, and from the Apocrypha, which are Quoted, or Incidentally Illustrated, in the Institutes.
TO THE AUTHORS QUOTED IN THE INSTITUTES PREFATORY ADDRESS TO HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY, THE MOST MIGHTY AND ILLUSTRIOUS MONARCH, FRANCIS, KING OF THE FRENCH, HIS SOVEREIGN; [1] JOHN CALVIN PRAYS PEACE AND SALVATION IN CHRIST. [2] Sire,--When I first engaged in this work, nothing was farther from my thoughts than to write what should afterwards be presented to your Majesty. My intention was only to furnish a kind of rudiments, by which those who feel some interest in religion might be trained to …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

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