1 Kings 18:40

ELIJAH may be called the Iron Prophet. He was a stern and brave man who flinched not to deliver his Master's message at all hazards. It was right that such a man should be raised up just at that time, for the Sidonian queen, Jezebel, was a woman of imperious spirit, superstitious to the last degree and resolute in carrying out her will. She ruled King Ahab with sovereign sway and had issued her mandate that the Prophets of Jehovah should be slain—a mandate which was all too well obeyed. None could stand before this tigress until Elijah came and dared her malice to do its worst. That lone man, of heroic soul, stemmed the fearful torrent of idolatry and like a rock in mid-current, firmly stood his ground. He, alone and single-handed, was more than a match for all the priests of the palace and the groves, even as one lion scatters a flock of sheep. On the occasion of our text, you will remember that he had proved the prophets of Baal to be liars and pretenders, and then, like a practical man as he was, he went on to the natural conclusion. The Law of Israel was, "The prophet which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die." And, therefore, the case being proven before all men, Elijah became, himself, the executioner. He bade the people seize the impostors and he himself purpled the Kishon with their blood. "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape," was the thundering voice of the Prophet of fire. The man did his Master's will thoroughly, never dreaming of compromise. Perhaps it was for this reason that he, with but one other of woman born, ascended to Heaven by an unusual road.

Let not one of them escape - They had committed the highest crime against the state and the people by introducing idolatry, and bringing down God’s judgments upon the land; therefore their lives were forfeited to that law which had ordered every idolater to be slain. It seems also that Ahab, who was present, consented to this act of impartial justice.

Elijah required the people to show their conviction by acts - acts which might expose them to the anger of king or queen, but which once committed would cause them to break with Baal and his worshippers forever. Elijah is said to have slain the “prophets of Baal,” because the people killed them by his orders. Why they were brought down to the torrent-bed of Kishon to be killed, is difficult to explain. Perhaps the object of Elijah was to leave the bodies in a place where they would not be found, since the coming rain would, he knew, send a flood down the Kishon ravine, and bear off the corpses to the sea. Elijah’s act is to be justified by the express command of the Law, that idolatrous Israelites were to be put to death, and by the right of a prophet under the theocracy to step in and execute the Law when the king failed in his duty.