Human Silence: Israel and the Silence of Unbelief

In Walker Percy’s novel The Second Coming, a depressed character named Will Barrett decides to put God’s existence to the test. Is He really there or not? Will enters a cave and resolves not to come out unless God gives him a sign. If not, he will die. Rather humorously, during this experiment Will gets a toothache, can’t stand the pain, and escapes from the cave. Was that God’s answer?

In today’s reading, the Israelites also put God to the test. Their silence during the confrontation on Mount Carmel was the silence of doubt or unbelief. When Elijah asked the people, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him,” this was their chance to declare their faith in their covenant-keeping God. Elijah was in fact sarcastically urging them to do so, because the Hebrew verb translated as “waver” can also mean “hesitate” or “limp” or even “dance” (v. 26). The idea is that the people were hobbling between two irreconcilable beliefs. No matter how fancy their dancing, they could not choose both God and an idol.

Nonetheless, the Israelites said nothing (v. 21). They refused to choose, though they agreed to the challenge (v. 24). They stood by silently during the hours of frenzied pagan rituals carried out by the priests of Baal. Baal, of course, kept silent as well. Even as he taunted the idol’s priests, Elijah’s heart must have been breaking over his people’s continued silence. As he rebuilt the altar and prayed, they still had nothing to say (v. 37).

Only after the fire of the Lord conclusively ended the challenge did the Israelites finally make their choice: “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (v. 39).

Pray With Us

In conclusion of our prayer time for the Facilities Maintenance team, would you uphold in prayer Paul Heggeland, Thomas Addison, and Vincent Camera? We appreciate their dedicated service as they make sure our campus looks neat and attractive.

BY Brad Baurain

Dr. Bradley Baurain is Professor and Program Head of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Moody Bible Institute. Bradley has the unique privilege of holding a degree from four different universities (including Moody). He is the author of On Waiting Well. Bradley taught in China, Vietnam, the United States, and Canada. Bradley and his wife, Julia, have four children and reside in Northwest Indiana.