Elijah went up to the people and said, “How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!” But the people didn’t say a word. Then Elijah said, “…Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood—but don’t light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire—he is God.”
If it were only a question of proof (Luke 16:27-32)…
…the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard.
Sad.
At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself.”
It was here that Elijah was mistaken. The reality wasn’t which God was the real God – the people didn’t care. They followed the Baals because it allowed them to give free reign to their desires.
The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench.
Not half done by any means.
When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, “The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!”
Elijah ordered, “Seize the prophets of Baal; don’t let any of them get away!” The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them.
A reaffirmation. A purge. And nothing changed. There is no evidence whatsoever that the people repented. It was like emptying a bucket of water on the desert sands.