No sleight of hand

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. — Kings 18:30

The story of the challenge given by Elijah to the prophets of Baal has fascinated me since I was a child. I've wondered at times if some people who reject the veracity of the scriptures might say that the water Elijah poured on the altar was actually some petroleum product, thereby causing the resultant fire.

But today when I read this story in 1 Kings, I noticed the verse above.

Magician Johnny Fox

Last week my family and I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival where we saw the magician and sword swallower, Johnny Fox. He's an amazing magician. We have also seen David Copperfield perform magic on multiple occasions. The common setup for public magic shows is for the performer to be on a stage with the audience seated at a distance from the performer. The audience is typically gathered together in one group rather than surrounding the performer. This allows the magician to perform various feats of visual deception (sleight of hand, misdirection, etc.).

But in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, Elijah asked the people (all of Israel) to "come near to me." In order to do this, the people had to gather around him. In order to see the spectacle (which it was), they must have pressed in on him. There was no chance for Elijah to perform sleight of hand or misdirection. These people saw exactly what happened and they knew it was of God.

What an amazing story!