Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

Sometimes, when I am teaching a Bible class, I give this assignment:
        Imagine that Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame)
        has decided to make a movie about 1 Kings. He has hired
       you and put you in charge of casting. Who would  you 
       choose for these roles?     

            1. Ahab ~ evil king of Israel.
            2. Jezebel ~ the evil wife of Ahab.
                                She is the daughter of
                                Ethbaal, king of Phoenicians.
                                She seems to be the power
                                behind the throne.
          3. Elijah ~ prophet of God.
          4. Obadiah ~ Prophet of God who works
                                for Ahab.

OK, so go read the story. You can find it in 1 Kings 18. And -- do the assignment. Who would YOU cast and why? I have people do this because when you read the story and give a face and a voice to the characters in the stories, then the stories become 3 dimensional, as it were. You can see facial expression, you can hear tone of voice and nearly feel reactions to the events.

Ok, it isn't perfect, but here are my picks:

For Ahab, I would choose Sean Penn. For me Ahab must have a hard edge, like someone toughened by life. I see him with 'hard' under every emotion: hard and angry, hard and pleased with himself, hard and petulant and sullen. I don't think he was a "pretty boy", but he must look 'self-absorbed' enough to be a hedonistic king.

For Jezebel I would choose Holly Berry. Glamorous, mysterious and enticing. She must be able to look feminine and coldly powerful at the same time.
The other name that came to mind was kind-of an "of course" for me ~ maybe too much of an "of course" ~ Angelina Jolee. She must be seductive, smart, alive and yet with a cold unyielding streak, aware of her own presence and power.

I also have 2 picks for Elijah: Robin Williams or Hugh Laurie. For Robin Williams I see the character he played in Good Will Hunting: I see someone who is very intelligent, very tough, yet spectrumed with emotion -- emotions that show on his face and in his eyes. Someone able to go from mockery to rage and then to cold disdain in a flash -- and to mean every one.
Of course, the character Hugh Laurie plays in House (without the limp) colors my pick for him as Elijah. Brilliant, full of emotion and insight, yet cold and crusty. Able to be tender, but never soft. Sarcasm is his second language -- or maybe his first.

For Obadiah I see someone like Jason Statham -- he played in the Italian Job and in all the Transporter movies. Not quite as hardened as Elijah, but still hard like steel. Someone who could both work for Ahab, and yet would be capable of hiding 100 prophets from Jezebel. Someone with fire in his eyes.

{I am sure those of you who take this on will make, perhaps, much better picks than I did...I hope you do. . .and if and when you do, please send your ideas to me in comments.}

You cannot really, I think, understand this story unless you have a bit of information about the gods: Baal and Ashorah. Baal was the god of the storm, the rain and sun, and agriculture. His alternate name was Hadad. Ashorah was the goddess of fertility and Baal's consort, or his sister/mistress. Why would a culture choose Baal -- especially one who had the option of YHWY, God of power and love, who required righteous hearts and the sacrifice of animals, but not your children. Well  if you are in a desert and you are primarily an agricultural economy, the temptation to 'hedge your bets' and worship the god who sent rain -- and controlled the storms that could send the fire of lightening bolts into your fields  -- would have been immense. Add to that the worship of a goddess who promised fertility to your land, and your animals and your wives ... desire for wealth and security ... hard to turn down. You will see that Elijah accuses the people of being 'double minded'. Of course they were -- perhaps they thought, "we will worship YHWH, but just to be sure, why not worship Baal? The LORD knows we need rain, and the crops were so good last year after the festival to Baal..." You will see that the story is about rain and water and fire.

Now for the story:

It is June, hot and heavy; the air of the throne room is thick. The drapery of every window is drawn back to welcome any errant breeze. There are none. King Arab is draped across his throne sipping cooled wine, half-listening while workmen drone through the progress made in the rebuilding of Jericho, pointing here and there and now and then to the drawings scrolled out on the table before the throne.  A clattering and then shouts are heard in the hallway at the entrance. The shouts are abruptly cut off. Looking up Ahab sees a man striding powerfully toward him, a heavy mantle rippling and whipping behind him. The guards come scurrying in; Ahab notices they are quite a ways behind.
"What is this? Who i . . .?" Ahab's words are sliced off as Elijah stops before him, pointing his hand at Ahab like it was a sword, and piercing him with is eyes.

"As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew or rain in the next few years except by my word!" (1 Kings 17:1)

Ahab blinks and Elijah spins, whipping his mantle behind and leaves, his stride eating up the floor. Then he is gone. The king, the guards all seem petrified and fixed in the moment.

"Obadiah!" Ahab thunders. "Who was that?!"
"The Prophet, my king." responds Obadiah, inclining his head with the edge of respect.
"The Prophet? THE Prophet? What are you saying?"
"It is Elijah. You have  . . . heard."
"Elijah --" then almost to himself his eyes fogging momentarily. "Elijah" Unbidden memories of the stories of the prophets who spoke to Jeroboam intrude; he can nearly hear an altar splitting. His eyes scan the room and he sees the confusion and intimidation in the eyes of his guards. "No rain? No rain?" Then forcing laughter into his tone, "Of course there will be no rain. It is the summer. Get me more wine!!! Now, what of the southern wall of Jericho? Half a man's height you say?"

The spell was broken. It was almost as if Elijah had been a phantom, or so it seemed to Ahab, until he caught Obadiah's troubled eyes.

The incident was forgotten and life simply went on...until September came and went, and the heat would not break. Then the sky stayed a blaring stubborn blue all October, and all November.  By April, the skys remained as empty and hard as an upturned brass shield. The work to irrigate the wilting crops filled the hot and dry days. The prophets of Baal were called.
"What of the rains? Where is your god?" Ahab challenged.
"He has had a  .  .  .   heavy sleep this year. He requires  --   more sacrifice."
Looking up, Ahab sees Jezebel leaning sinuously against the door. Her perfume wafts toward him, floats on the room's heated air. "Come, Ahab. Perhaps we can  ...  entice  ... Baal to seek out Ashorah."