At the Baha'i World Center, February 7, 2020, Haifa, Isreal. Our visit and quiet prayers at the Baha'i Gardens and Sacred Places are on Mount Carmel, جبل مار إلياس in Arabic, concluded our 7 Our Holy Land, Living Water Pilgrimage from the Dead Sea in Jordan across Palestine and Isreal, ending at Haifa,
This was the day after our Interfaith-Interspiritual Ceremony and Prayers to End War, which we had at Meggido, known in Greek, as Armageddon. Thankfully we were safe at home before any borders were closed because of Covid 19.
Our Holy Land, Living Water Pilgramidge, brought together representatives of more than 20 different Faith Traditions and was part of the Annual UN Interfaith Harmony Week. It is held yearly, Feb 1-7. It was hosted by United Religions Initiatives (URI), Unity Earth, and Ecopeace-Middle East.
As recounted in the Books of Kings, the Prophet Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel to determine whose deity was genuinely in control of the Kingdom of Israel. As the narrative is set during the rule of Ahab and his association with the Phoenicians, biblical scholars suspect that the Baal in question was probably Melqart.
According to chapter 18 of the Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, the challenge was to see which Sacred Power could light a sacrifice by fire. After the prophets of Baal had failed, Elijah poured water upon his sacrifice to saturate the altar. He then prayed.
Fire fell and consumed the sacrifice, wood, stones, soil, and water, which prompted the Israelite witnesses to proclaim, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" In the account, Elijah also announced the end of a long three-year drought, which had previously been sent as divine retribution for Israel's idolatry. See less
