What actually happened when Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel?
When Elijah called on his God, fire came down and burned up the sacrifices, and it licked up the water out of the trenches. The priests of Baal could not produce such a response because pagan gods are powerless. This miraculous, supernatural event truly happened.
Les explains that Elijah built an altar on Mount Carmel to confront the priests of Baal. The trenches were filled with water and the sacrifices were soaked. Elijah challenged the priests to call on their gods to burn the sacrifice; they could not, because pagan gods are powerless, even though they have satanic power from the other side. Elijah then called on his God to do the same, and fire came down, licked up the water from the trenches, and burned up the sacrifices. Les stresses it was miraculous and supernatural, and that it truly happened. He uses this as an example of how the miraculous was commonplace in Israel's history, since the Jew required a sign.