Chapter 18 of Melachim A is one of the most dramatic chapters in all of Sefer Melachim: three years of drought reach their end, Eliyahu the prophet emerges from his hiding place, meets with Ovadyahu and with Achav, and summons all of Israel to Mount Carmel for the great clarification: Who is the God. We will proceed according to the order of the pesukim, mainly following the explanation of the Malbim, and we will see how every detail in the chapter is built with wondrous precision in order to bring the people to a decision.
וַיְהִי יָמִים רַבִּים וּדְבַר יְהֹוָה הָיָה אֶל אֵלִיָּהוּ בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁלִישִׁית לֵאמֹר: לֵךְ הֵרָאֵה אֶל אַחְאָב וְאֶתְּנָה מָטָר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה. - And it was after many days, and the word of Hashem came to Eliyahu in the third year, saying: Go, appear before Achav, and I will give rain upon the face of the earth.
We saw in the previous chapter that when Eliyahu the prophet needed the key of the resurrection of the dead in order to revive the son of the woman of Tzarfat, he had to return the key of rain to the Holy One, blessed be He, for one is not given two keys under his control at one and the same time. And once he returned the key of rain to the Creator, may He be blessed, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: Go, appear before Achav. The Malbim delves deeply into this: the very fact that he needed to revive the son of the woman of Tzarfat means that he needed to open the channels of abundance, and when the channels of abundance open, all the abundance descends, including the abundance of rain. The channels of life in the spiritual reality were opened, and consequently now you must appear before Achav so that I may give rain.
And why is it necessary to appear before Achav at all? Why not stand in the town square and announce: Tomorrow rain will fall, and that ends the matter? The answer is that a great principle lies hidden here. Until Eliyahu stopped the rain, the rain was natural rain, meaning: not dependent on their merits. The Holy One, blessed be He, removed His providence from them and left them to the workings of nature - if rain is needed it falls, if it is not needed it does not fall. But once Eliyahu stopped the rain, the very stoppage is providential. He removed them from the path of natural rain and transferred them to the path of providence. And in the path of providence the matter is conditional: if you do the will of Hashem - I will give your rains in their season; if you do not do the will of Hashem - you will not receive rain. Therefore, in order to bring back the rain now, merits are needed. And so the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Eliyahu: Go, appear before Achav, so that you may perform an act that will bring them back in repentance and make them worthy of providential rain.
וַיֵּלֶךְ אֵלִיָּהוּ לְהֵרָאוֹת אֶל אַחְאָב וְהָרָעָב חָזָק בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן. - And Eliyahu went to appear before Achav, and the famine was severe in Shomron.
This is the first reason: the time was fitting to bring them back in repentance, for they had a fear of death. The famine was severe in Shomron, people were about to die, and a person's heart opens.
וַיִּקְרָא אַחְאָב אֶל עֹבַדְיָהוּ אֲשֶׁר עַל הַבָּיִת וְעֹבַדְיָהוּ הָיָה יָרֵא אֶת יְהֹוָה מְאֹד. - And Achav called to Ovadyahu, who was over the house, and Ovadyahu feared Hashem greatly.
And this is a second reason. We saw that Achav appointed Ovadyahu over his house out of seeing the distress of the people and understanding that his own deeds were what caused all the troubles. He said: perhaps if there is such a righteous man in my house, Hashem will have mercy and through his merit will bring back the rain. We see, then, that Achav too softened, and there is a chance that matters will go in a better direction.
וַיְהִי בְּהַכְרִית אִיזֶבֶל אֵת נְבִיאֵי יְהֹוָה וַיִּקַּח עֹבַדְיָהוּ מֵאָה נְבִיאִים וַיַּחְבִּיאֵם חֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ בַּמְּעָרָה וְכִלְכְּלָם לֶחֶם וָמָיִם. - And it was when Izevel cut off the prophets of Hashem, that Ovadyahu took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and sustained them with bread and water.
Here is a third merit: when Izevel cut off the prophets of Hashem, Ovadyahu hid a hundred prophets, fifty and fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water. And this merit is certainly worthy of saving the people of Israel. The matter resembles the deed of Nechunya the digger of ditches, who used to dig ditches and caves for the pilgrims going up for the festivals, so that the rains would gather in them and the pilgrims could drink. His daughter fell into a pit, and he said: I am certain she will come out alive. And why? Because a man who is occupied all his days with preparing water for the pilgrims, it cannot be that his daughter would die by choking on water - measure for measure. So too here: Ovadyahu went and hid prophets and sustained them, it cannot be that Hashem would leave them without sustenance.
וַיֹּאמֶר אַחְאָב אֶל עֹבַדְיָהוּ לֵךְ בָּאָרֶץ אֶל כָּל מַעְיְנֵי הַמַּיִם וְאֶל כָּל הַנְּחָלִים אוּלַי נִמְצָא חָצִיר וּנְחַיֶּה סוּס וָפֶרֶד וְלוֹא נַכְרִית מֵהַבְּהֵמָה. - And Achav said to Ovadyahu, Go through the land, to all the springs of water and to all the streams; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we do not lose any of the animals.
At first glance this is puzzling: why seek food for the animals and not for people? But Chazal say that if a person is not worthy that rain should fall for his sake, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings down rain in the merit of the animal, as it says "man and beast the Lord will save" - He saves man in the merit of the animal.
This is similar to the story of Alexander of Macedon, who came to the king of Katzia and was hosted by him, and asked to see how they administer justice. Two men came for judgment. The one said, I bought a field and found a treasure in it, and I only bought the field, not a treasure. The other said, I sold him the field just as it is, with everything in it, from top to bottom, and it is all sold. What did the king do? He heard both sides and said: You have a son, and you have a daughter, let them meet, perhaps something will come of it, and give them the property as a dowry, and both of you will benefit from it. So they did, they married one another, and peace returned to their home. Alexander of Macedon was astonished. The king asked him: Why are you astonished, did I not judge fairly? How would they have judged in your place? He said to him: In our place we take the two men, kill them, and put the money into the royal treasury. The king of Katzia said to him: Does the sun shine in your land? He said to him: Yes. He said to him: Are there animals in your land? He said to him: Yes. He said to him: If so, know that the sun shines for the sake of the animals and not for your sake, for you were not at all worthy that it should shine for you. Thus, if there are animals in the world and man is not worthy, the abundance comes down in the merit of the animals.
And in a lighthearted vein it is told that once a wealthy man entered the synagogue who was a coarse and materialistic person, and also somewhat brazen. The gabbai, wishing to find favor in his eyes and perhaps also to gain something, seated him in the east near the rabbi in a place of honor. This man wanted to show off before the rabbi and demonstrate that he was a Torah scholar, and at Shabbat mincha he asked: Honored Rabbi, what is the meaning of "man and beast the Lord will save"? Who placed man next to the beast here? The rabbi answered him: I do not know, ask the gabbai.
With this we understand what Achav said: Go and seek grass, perhaps we may keep the horses and mules alive "so that we do not lose any of the animals" - meaning that we should not be worse off than the animals, and consequently the people too will not be cut off.
וַיְחַלְּקוּ לָהֶם אֶת הָאָרֶץ לַעֲבָר בָּהּ אַחְאָב הָלַךְ בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶחָד לְבַדּוֹ וְעֹבַדְיָהוּ הָלַךְ בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶחָד לְבַדּוֹ. - And they divided the land between them to pass through it; Achav went one way by himself, and Ovadyahu went another way by himself.
In the plain sense: one turned this way and one turned that way. But whoever has a sensitive ear hears something additional here. The Malbim says: Achav for his part did not abandon his own path. Each turned to his own way, one to God and one to Azazel. The verse emphasizes "one way by himself" not only regarding the physical, material road, but to teach you not to think that Achav was becoming righteous.
וַיְהִי עֹבַדְיָהוּ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וְהִנֵּה אֵלִיָּהוּ לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיַּכִּרֵהוּ וַיִּפֹּל עַל פָּנָיו וַיֹּאמֶר הַאַתָּה זֶה אֲדֹנִי אֵלִיָּהוּ. - And as Ovadyahu was on the way, behold, Eliyahu came to meet him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it you, my lord Eliyahu?
He falls on his face and bows, and cannot believe what his eyes see: Is it you, my lord Eliyahu?
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אָנִי לֵךְ אֱמֹר לַאדֹנֶיךָ הִנֵּה אֵלִיָּהוּ. - And he said to him: It is I; go, tell your master, Behold, Eliyahu is here.
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶה חָטָאתִי כִּי אַתָּה נֹתֵן אֶת עַבְדְּךָ בְּיַד אַחְאָב לַהֲמִיתֵנִי. - And he said: What have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Achav to kill me?
What sin have I committed, that you are causing my death through this mission?
חַי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אִם יֶשׁ גּוֹי וּמַמְלָכָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא שָׁלַח אֲדֹנִי שָׁם לְבַקֶּשְׁךָ וְאָמְרוּ אָיִן וְהִשְׁבִּיעַ אֶת הַמַּמְלָכָה וְאֶת הַגּוֹי כִּי לֹא יִמְצָאֶכָּה. - As Hashem your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to seek you, and when they said, He is not here, he made the kingdom and the nation swear that they could not find you.
Ovadyah describes the frantic search that Achav is conducting for Eliyahu: there is no nation or kingdom to which he has not sent men to look for him. In our terms: there is no newspaper and no website in which your picture has not appeared with the caption "wanted," you are wanted by every police force in the world, Interpol is chasing you.
From here some wished to infer that Achav ruled the entire world, that is, that he ruled over all the earth, since he makes the kingdoms and nations swear. The Radak says this is not correct: did this man rule over Yerushalayim? He ruled only in Shomron, and over Yerushalayim, which is some distance from his home, he did not rule; how then could he have ruled over the entire world? It is impossible. The Ralbag adds: it is not possible that the Holy One, blessed be He, would bestow upon so great a wicked man as Achav so great a favor as to rule over the whole world. Furthermore, later on we see that the king of Aram took cities from him and that he had wars with the enemies around him, so there certainly was no rule over the entire world here. And what does "he made the kingdom and the nation swear" mean? By way of affection and request, not by way of fear and dominion: he pleaded before them to reveal it to him and tell him, but not through the force of rule and dominion.
וְעַתָּה אַתָּה אֹמֵר לֵךְ אֱמֹר לַאדֹנֶיךָ הִנֵּה אֵלִיָּהוּ. - And now you say, Go, tell your master, Behold, Eliyahu is here.
וְהָיָה אֲנִי אֵלֵךְ מֵאִתָּךְ וְרוּחַ יְהֹוָה יִשָּׂאֲךָ עַל אֲשֶׁר לֹא אֵדָע וּבָאתִי לְהַגִּיד לְאַחְאָב וְלֹא יִמְצָאֲךָ וַהֲרָגָנִי וְעַבְדְּךָ יָרֵא אֶת יְהֹוָה מִנְּעֻרָי. - And it will be that when I go from you, the spirit of Hashem will carry you off to where I do not know, and I will come to tell Achav, and he will not find you, and he will kill me; yet your servant has feared Hashem from my youth.
Ovadyah's argument: I do not believe that you truly intend to reveal yourself to him. For if you really wished to reveal yourself, why did you hide so well until now that he could not find you anywhere? And do not say that you did not know you were wanted, for he made every nation and kingdom swear, and everywhere they had already heard that Achav was searching for Eliyahu, so surely this reached your ears as well. If so, I fear that I will go and tell Achav that Eliyahu wishes to meet with him, and suddenly the spirit of Hashem will carry you off. The Ralbag says that this was customary for Eliyahu: he did not need a chariot, rather a wind would carry him from place to place. Achav will come here and not find you, and he will kill me.
הֲלֹא הֻגַּד לַאדֹנִי אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי בַּהֲרֹג אִיזֶבֶל אֵת נְבִיאֵי יְהֹוָה וָאַחְבִּא מִנְּבִיאֵי יְהֹוָה מֵאָה אִישׁ חֲמִשִּׁים חֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ בַּמְּעָרָה וָאֲכַלְכְּלֵם לֶחֶם וָמָיִם. - Has it not been told to my master what I did when Izevel killed the prophets of Hashem, how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of Hashem, fifty men in each cave, and sustained them with bread and water?
A first explanation of this argument: why would he kill me? Because I am already suspect in his eyes anyway. It was Izevel who persecuted the prophets and killed them, and Achav knew that I was hiding them and kept silent (and there is an opinion among Chazal that Achav was evenly balanced, half sins and half merits). That is, he knows that I am something of an oppositionist: I am the trusted man of his household, and meanwhile I am nurturing the prophets. So if now I come and tell him, I saw Eliyahu, and then he vanishes, he will say: you are cooperating with him, the two of you are making a fool of me, and he will even suspect that I hid you in the cave, and he will kill me. Why should you entangle me? Better to leave the situation as it is and not stir the bear from its lair.
The Malbim explains in a different way why Ovadyahu mentions the hundred prophets here: he says to Eliyahu, I am not afraid for my own life. Let him hear and kill me, let him kill me. But there are a hundred prophets who depend on me, and if I do not survive, who will sustain them? Tomorrow they will have nothing to eat. Do not say, "One more person dies, in any case people are dying like flies and there is famine" - there is an enormous responsibility here, and therefore you must be sevenfold careful.
וְעַתָּה אַתָּה אֹמֵר לֵךְ אֱמֹר לַאדֹנֶיךָ הִנֵּה אֵלִיָּהוּ וַהֲרָגָנִי. - And now you say, Go tell your master, Behold, Eliyahu is here, and he will kill me.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלִיָּהוּ חַי יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת אֲשֶׁר עָמַדְתִּי לְפָנָיו כִּי הַיּוֹם אֵרָאֶה אֵלָיו. - And Eliyahu said, As Hashem of hosts lives, before whom I have stood, today I will surely appear to him.
Eliyahu swore to him: as Hashem of hosts lives, today I am preparing to reveal myself to Achav, you have nothing to worry about. I will not flee and no wind will carry me off.
וַיֵּלֶךְ עֹבַדְיָהוּ לִקְרַאת אַחְאָב וַיַּגֶּד לוֹ וַיֵּלֶךְ אַחְאָב לִקְרַאת אֵלִיָּהוּ. - So Ovadyahu went to meet Achav and told him, and Achav went to meet Eliyahu.
וַיְהִי כִּרְאוֹת אַחְאָב אֶת אֵלִיָּהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר אַחְאָב אֵלָיו הַאַתָּה זֶה עֹכֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל. - And it came to pass, when Achav saw Eliyahu, that Achav said to him, Are you the one who troubles Israel?
Listen to these words. It is not only today that all sorts of troublers of Israel come and call the great ones of Israel "troublers of Israel" - this has been so from time immemorial. Already then all the Achavs of their kind felt themselves righteous, and the truly great tzaddikim, in whose merit the world exists, were in their eyes troublers of Israel. His claim was: you troubled them by withholding the rain. Fool of the world, why did the rain stop? Because of your sins, because you led Israel to sin. Bring them back in repentance and you will see how all the abundance returns to be as it was in the days of Shlomo.
וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא עָכַרְתִּי אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי אִם אַתָּה וּבֵית אָבִיךָ בַּעֲזָבְכֶם אֶת מִצְוֹת יְהֹוָה וַתֵּלֶךְ אַחֲרֵי הַבְּעָלִים. - And he said, I have not troubled Israel, but rather you and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of Hashem and gone after the Baalim.
It is not I who am the cause, but you and your father's house. By forsaking Hashem and turning the people of Israel to be like all the nations, you brought about, through your sins, the cessation of the dew and the rain.
וְעַתָּה שְׁלַח קְבֹץ אֵלַי אֶת כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל הַר הַכַּרְמֶל וְאֶת נְבִיאֵי הַבַּעַל אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁים וּנְבִיאֵי הָאֲשֵׁרָה אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת אֹכְלֵי שֻׁלְחַן אִיזָבֶל. - And now send and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of the Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the Ashera, who eat at Izevel's table.
The Baal is a form of idol worship, and the Ashera is a tree that was worshipped, and as we will see later in the chapter the form of their worship will become clear. And who are the "eaters at Izevel's table"? The Radak brings two explanations: it is possible that all eight hundred and fifty, both the prophets of the Baal and the prophets of the Ashera, are the eaters at Izevel's table; and it is possible that the description refers only to the latter, the four hundred prophets of the Ashera. The Radak decides that it is more reasonable to say that the intent is only the four hundred prophets of the Ashera, and not the first four hundred and fifty. And why? Because later on, who are the ones who are killed? Only the prophets of the Baal. And what became of the prophets of the Ashera? They did not come at all. Izevel knew well that she had no power against the prophets of truth, and she knew that everything with her prophets was falsehood and deception, and therefore she told them: no good will come to you from this, do not take part in Eliyahu's performance, stay here and hide, it is dangerous. They themselves knew that the game was rigged in advance, for did they have any chance against Eliyahu? And therefore those who remained under the protection of Izevel's table are the four hundred.
וַיִּשְׁלַח אַחְאָב בְּכָל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּקְבֹּץ אֶת הַנְּבִיאִים אֶל הַר הַכַּרְמֶל. - And Achav sent among all the children of Yisrael and gathered the prophets to Mount Carmel.
Note the precise wording: regarding the children of Yisrael it says "and he sent," while "and he gathered" is said only of the prophets. Why? The prophets did not want to come, for they too knew that everything with them was falsehood and deception, and therefore it was necessary to gather them by force, an order to report, everyone stands ready, and woe to whoever does not arrive. But the people of Yisrael did not need to be gathered. When they heard that something interesting was about to happen here, that Eliyahu was staging a test of who is the truth, they were all glad and went on their own. There is something going on here, there is action, so they come.
And note an instructive point: how many prophets of the Baal and Ashera were there among the people of Yisrael? Eight hundred and fifty. A very marginal number. For at that time there were millions, in the days of Shlomo there was tremendous economic prosperity and the nation was fruitful and multiplied, let us say at least ten million in the land, and of them only eight hundred and fifty prophets of the Baal and Ashera. This implies that most of the nation did not follow the Baal and Ashera absolutely, but rather, as we will see shortly, was straddling two opinions: half here and half there. Exactly like today. Most of the nation does not follow them with blind eyes; most of the nation straddles two opinions. Tell him there is a blessing from a rabbi, he will come. There is a cup of salvations, he will take it. There is a trip to Uman, he will go. And on the other hand, there is such a movie, such a series, a decisive game, he will go there too. And the minority within the minority are those who set themselves to wage war against the holy Torah, perhaps eight hundred and fifty central media people, shapers of public opinion, in the sense of saddeners of public opinion. But all the rest fall into the category of straddling two opinions. And from here we see that the very straddling of two opinions causes great troubles: the rain was withheld for three years, and over what? Over the fact that they had no clarity about who is the God.
וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלִיָּהוּ אֶל כָּל הָעָם וַיֹּאמֶר עַד מָתַי אַתֶּם פֹּסְחִים עַל שְׁתֵּי הַסְּעִפִּים אִם יְהֹוָה הָאֱלֹהִים לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְאִם הַבַּעַל לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְלֹא עָנוּ הָעָם אֹתוֹ דָּבָר. - And Eliyahu drew near to all the people and said: How long will you straddle two opinions? If Hashem is the God, follow Him; and if the Baal, follow it. And the people did not answer him a word.
Note the precision of the wording: regarding Hashem he says "if Hashem is the God, follow Him," while regarding the Baal he does not say "and if the Baal is the God," but only "and if the Baal," for there is no possibility that the Baal is the God.
And in practice the people believed in both this and that, as we see throughout all of history: they believed in God and also believed in the Baal. And the advantage they found in the Baal was that it permits them what God does not allow. All those things in which the Torah restricts a person, the Baal permits. And by way of a witty reading only, not the plain meaning of the verse, one could read: "and the people did not answer him a word (davar)" - they were ashamed to tell him explicitly: as far as we are concerned they are the same thing. But the plain meaning of the verse is that they did not answer him anything.
And what are "se'ipim"? Rashi says: thoughts, from the language of the branches (se'ipim) of a tree. Just as a tree branches out, so a person's thoughts branch out in his heart. You are now thinking about your friend Reuven, and from Reuven you move to his business, and from the business you recall his employee David, and from David you recall his mortgage and the building that collapsed, and from the building you recall the CEO of Chefetz Chaim, and it all started from a friend who has a business. Thus a person's thoughts branch out, he begins to think about one thing and arrives at an entirely different matter, he saw a certain word and it reminded him, and that stirred an association, and so on. This is "se'ipim," branching thoughts.
And the Radak explains the term "straddling": have you ever seen how a lame person walks? He hops from foot to foot. An ordinary person walks a normal walk, while the lame person falls on this foot and then on that one. So are you, straddling, falling from one foot to the other, sometimes here and sometimes there, you do not know how to decide whom to follow and you do not know how to determine in your mind who is God and who is the Baal. And if you should say, but were they not leaning toward the Baal and not toward God? The Radak explains that previously their inclination was indeed stronger toward the Baal, but the withholding of the rains made an impression on them. It became publicized in all the news broadcasts that Eliyahu withheld the rains because of Achav's words, and by this he proved that if one does not do the will of Hashem, the rains are withheld. This already struck the heart of the people, and they were no longer certain in their following of the Baal, but understood that there is a supreme divine power. And why nevertheless did they not repent? Because the prophets of the Baal and Ashera continued to mislead them: this is not from Hashem, it is mere coincidence. For two years ago there was famine in Cyprus, and in America there was a storm, is that also from Hashem? It has no connection to our deeds, it is all coincidence.
In the book of the Griz of Brisk it is brought that at the time of the rabbis' assembly in Petersburg in the year 5670, his father Rav Chaim of Brisk asked two questions on this verse. First, what is the meaning of "and if the Baal, follow it"? How does Eliyahu give them such an option? Let him tell them: if Hashem is the God, follow Him, and that suffices. Second, it is understandable that if Hashem is the God there is a reason to follow Him alone, for one who follows Hashem is forbidden to follow another god, and that is idol worship in partnership, and we have already learned "you shall not make with Me gods of silver" - the Sages expounded "with Me," it is forbidden even to worship Me and also the idol, for a person is warned against partnership. But if the Baal is the God, what does the Baal care that I also worship my God? From the Baal's side there is no objection to this, for we find "according to the number of your cities were your gods, Yehuda," and the worshippers of the Baal have no opposition to worshipping additional deities. If so, why does he tell them: if the Baal, follow it and only it?
Rather, explains Rav Chaim, Eliyahu came to teach them a fundamental principle of faith: there is an essential difference between belief in Hashem and the fulfillment of mitzvot. In fulfilling mitzvot, if a person comes and asks a sage: I can keep only ten out of the six hundred and thirteen, should I keep them or not? He will tell him, certainly keep them. I can keep only one out of the six hundred and thirteen? Certainly keep it, and for what you keep you will receive reward. And no one would tell him: if you do not keep the rest, then what you did keep is worthless. There is reward for each and every mitzvah on its own; for what you kept you will receive reward, and for what you did not keep, Heaven forbid the opposite, but the one does not depend on the other.
But with faith it is not so. If a person says: I believe in Hashem partially, can he be called a believer? Absolutely not. For one of the fundamentals of faith is that Hashem has no body and no likeness of a body, and no physical attributes apply to Him. Suppose a person says: I believe with perfect faith that He has no body, but I hold that He has a likeness of a body, would we say he believes partially? He believes in nothing at all. Suppose he says: I believe that He has no body and no likeness of a body, but that physical attributes apply to Him, that it is possible to see Him and perceive Him, would we say he believes partially? There is no such thing; he is a complete heretic. In faith it is impossible to speak of a "part": if there is faith, all of it is present, and if there is not, there is nothing at all.
And this is exactly what Eliyahu said to them. You think that perhaps the Baal too has some power, and you tell yourselves: after all, I do not utterly deny Hashem. He said to them: know that if the Baal is God, if you hold that there is some deity or some power in the Baal, then it is as though you have followed him completely. He does not come to tell them to go and worship only Him, but to say that there is no difference between partial belief in the Creator of the world together with partial belief in the Baal, and full belief in the Baal, for the moment you also believe in the Baal, it is as though you have followed the Baal all the way. Therefore: if Hashem is God, follow Him absolutely, for the true way of following God is only absolute, only with clear faith that there is none besides Him. Only then is a person considered a true believer.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלִיָּהוּ אֶל הָעָם אֲנִי נוֹתַרְתִּי נָבִיא לַיהֹוָה לְבַדִּי וּנְבִיאֵי הַבַּעַל אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ. - And Eliyahu said to the people: I alone am left a prophet to Hashem, but the prophets of the Baal are four hundred and fifty men.
Eliyahu proposes a test, and immediately stresses that there is no equality in it. In children's terms: this is not a fair contest, I am very weak compared to them. Come and see how many advantages they have, and even so you will see that I will succeed and they will not. And here he begins to detail. The first advantage: they are many and I am alone. And there is no doubt that when a person acts alone as opposed to many acting together, the power of influence of the many is greater. And so we also know in the study of Torah: one who studies Torah is not comparable to ten studying, nor a hundred to a thousand, and so in every matter. An individual cannot say Kaddish, but with ten they say Kaddish and Kedushah. There is power to the many, there is power to the community, and this is clear, agreed upon, and accepted by reason.
And if you ask, how does he say "I alone am left" when another hundred prophets remained in the cave? The answer is twofold: those prophets were not known, and therefore they cannot be counted; and moreover, the words are entirely true, for here at the place of the test, who is present? Only I alone, and you are many, and already in this you have an advantage.
וְיִתְּנוּ לָנוּ שְׁנַיִם פָּרִים וְיִבְחֲרוּ לָהֶם הַפָּר הָאֶחָד וִינַתְּחֻהוּ וְיָשִׂימוּ עַל הָעֵצִים וְאֵשׁ לֹא יָשִׂימוּ וַאֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה אֶת הַפָּר הָאֶחָד וְנָתַתִּי עַל הָעֵצִים וְאֵשׁ לֹא אָשִׂים. - Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves the one bull and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire; and I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire.
And here is the second advantage: from the side of the offering too the scale tilts in their favor. Note the precise wording "שניים פרים" (shenayim parim) and not "שני פרים" (shnei parim). "שני" (shnei) implies identical, as in "the two great luminaries," from which Chazal derived that at first they were created equal, and as in "and Aharon shall place lots upon the two goats," from which Chazal derived that they must be truly equal to one another. And when it says here "שניים" (shenayim), it implies that they are not identical: one is superior and the other inferior to it. And what was the purpose? To tell them: behold, I am bringing two, one of which is superior, "and let them choose for themselves the one bull" - you take the superior one, so that you will not say afterward that there was something defective in your bull. Everyone sees clearly: this one is superior and that one is much poorer, and even so you choose first. And this is a great advantage, for when a person offers from the superior one, and we learned from Kayin and Hevel upon whose offering the fire descends, the fire descends upon the superior one.
And another advantage: with you many are engaged in the offering, "and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood," and the multitude of those engaged in the offering is itself a reason for its acceptance. Whereas with me there will be two disadvantages: "and I will prepare the other bull," meaning the one that remains, the poorer one; and moreover, that I will prepare it alone, with no community and no prophets alongside me.
וּקְרָאתֶם בְּשֵׁם אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וַאֲנִי אֶקְרָא בְשֵׁם יְהֹוָה וְהָיָה הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יַעֲנֶה בָאֵשׁ הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים וַיַּעַן כָּל הָעָם וַיֹּאמְרוּ טוֹב הַדָּבָר. - And you shall call in the name of your god, and I will call in the name of Hashem, and the God who answers with fire, He is God. And all the people answered and said: the matter is good.
In the actions themselves our deeds will be identical: you will call in the name of your god and I will call in the name of Hashem. And here too Eliyahu forgoes precedence and gives them an additional advantage - you will call first. And by this it will become clear: the God who answers with fire, He is God. It will be impossible to attribute it to a defect in the offering, nor to a defect in those offering, nor to the matter of precedence, nor will you be able to say "our god was blunted because he was called only at the end" - for you will call him first and give him honor. Eliyahu comes from the outset to block all the excuses they might try to offer afterward, and to leave only one deficiency: that the Baal is not God.
And why did the people answer "the matter is good"? Because the people genuinely and sincerely wanted to reach clarity. The prophets of the Baal held a biased view, and the vagueness suited them, but the people were conflicted within themselves and did not know how to decide, and so they jumped at the proposal.
The chapter opens with the fact that the hour was ripe for redemption from the drought: the famine was severe, Achav had softened and appointed the righteous Ovadyahu, who held the merit of having hidden and sustained a hundred prophets. But since the people had moved from the path of natural rain to the path of Divine providence, the rain would not fall unless they became worthy of it, and so Eliyahu was sent to appear before Achav and to perform an act that would bring them to repentance. After the encounter with Ovadyahu, who feared for his life and for the lives of the prophets who depended on him, and after a sharp confrontation with Achav, who called the prophet "troubler of Israel" when the truth was the opposite, Eliyahu gathers all of Israel to Mount Carmel. There he poses the piercing question: how long will you waver between two opinions, and he teaches, in the words of Rav Chaim of Brisk, that faith cannot be divided: one who believes also in the Baal is as though he had gone entirely after it, and only absolute faith that there is nothing besides Him is considered faith. Finally he arranges a test in which all the advantages are given to the prophets of the Baal, the majority, the choicest bull, the many participants, and going first, so that no excuse would remain, and the people answer joyfully: the matter is good.