Mount Carmel

Location

Mount Carmel is a coastal ridge of northern Israel about fifteen miles long, running north-west from the plain of Jezreel to the Mediterranean at modern Haifa. Its highest point is about 1,791 feet. The mountain has an ancient reputation for luxuriant growth (Song of Solomon 7:5; Isaiah 35:2).

Biblical importance

Mount Carmel is the mountain of Elijah's great contest with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Here Elijah built an altar of twelve stones, drenched the sacrifice with water, called down fire from heaven, and turned the hearts of the people back to the LORD. Here also the sky, which had been shut for three years, gave rain.

Important biblical events

• 1 Kings 18:19 (KJV) Elijah gathers the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal on Carmel.
• 1 Kings 18:21 (KJV) 'How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.'
• 1 Kings 18:36-38 (KJV) The prayer of Elijah; the fire falls; the burnt sacrifice, wood, stones, dust, and water are all consumed.
• 1 Kings 18:39 (KJV) 'The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.'
• 1 Kings 18:41-45 (KJV) The prayer for rain and the little cloud like a man's hand.
• 2 Kings 2:25 and 2 Kings 4:25 (KJV) Elisha also frequented Mount Carmel.
• Isaiah 35:2 (KJV) 'The excellency of Carmel and Sharon…'

Related People

• Elijah — the prophet of the contest.
• The four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.
• Ahab and Jezebel — the king and queen he opposed.
• Elisha — his successor.

Connected Places

• Jordan River — the river Elijah later crossed.
• Mount Sinai/Horeb — the mountain Elijah fled to after Carmel.
• Jezreel — the valley Elijah ran to in the rain (1 Kings 18:46).

Christian tradition

• The Carmelite Order (twelfth century) takes its name and its founder-symbol from Mount Carmel and Elijah.
• Christian pilgrimage to the mountain has been continuous since the Byzantine period.
• The Church of the Discalced Carmelites (Stella Maris Monastery) stands near the traditional site of Elijah's cave on the mountain's north-western slope.

Household reflection

Carmel teaches the household that there are seasons when 'halting between two opinions' is not humble; it is unfaithful. There are moments when the household must choose whose voice it will follow.

Elijah's prayer for rain is a model of household prayer: sustained, humble, seven-fold, expecting the cloud that will come.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read 1 Kings 18 aloud together.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray Elijah's Carmel prayer (1 Kings 18:36-37) at every household act of turning back.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — Discuss with the children the difference between courage and stubbornness.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing Mendelssohn's Elijah, No. 15 ('Cast Thy Burden Upon the Lord').
• Learn (Workshop) — Study the Carmelite tradition — a monastic family born on this mountain.

Further reading

1 Kings 18 in the KJV.

Any life of Elijah alongside 2 Kings 2.

The Rule of St Albert (thirteenth century) — the Carmelite rule.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Elijah
• Mount Sinai
• Jordan River
• Moses
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.