1 Kings 18:1-19 English Standard Version Elijah Confronts Ahab 18 After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly, 4 and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. 7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’ 12 And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the LORD will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; and he will kill me.” 15 And Elijah said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.” The time has come for Elijah to once again confront King Ahab, as the LORD has sent Elijah back to say that He is going to send rain soon. Ahab wasn't home when Elijah went to show himself to Ahab, because Ahab another man named Obadiah (probably not the prophet by that name that wrote the book of Obadiah) were out searching the Northern Kingdom of Israel for any place with grass where the king's horses and mules could graze. We are told that Obadiah was a man who feared the LORD and that he had hidden 100 of the prophets of the LORD from Jezebel when she sought to kill all of the LORD's prophets, but as we'll see soon, Elijah quickly forgets this fact and thinks and feels that he is the only prophet of the LORD left in all of Israel after an important conflict that is coming up. Obadiah hid them in two groups of fifty so that if one group was found, perhaps the other group would survive and not all the prophets would be destroyed by Jezebel if one hiding location was discovered, and Obadiah also provided these 100 prophets with bread and water, which is no small task during a famine.
Now that we know who Obadiah is, the text returns to the fact that Ahab was searching out one half of the land for pasture and Obadiah was searching the other half and they had gone in opposite directions so that the fact that Elijah is going to run into Obadiah means that Ahab should be nowhere around because he should be in the other half of the country. When Elijah and Obadiah meet, Obadiah recognizes Elijah and falls down on his face in reverence (and probably to worship the LORD that Elijah is alive). Elijah tells Obadiah to go take the message to Ahab that "Elijah is here." Obadiah tells Elijah that if he carries such a message to the king, it will mean certain death for Obadiah because Obadiah know that the king is out to kill Elijah and that the Spirit of the LORD will protect Elijah from any of the king's plots, so if Obadiah tells the king that Elijah is currently in one place, Elijah will likely no longer be there when Ahab gets back with his men to try to kill Elijah. Obadiah then tells Elijah of how he has hidden the 100 prophets of the LORD and given them bread and water during this time, and he assumes that Elijah must know about it, and must also know that Jezebel was out to destroy all the prophets of the LORD (he's making the argument that he needs to live to be able to continue to care for these 100 prophets). Elijah swears to him "As the LORD lives" that he will certainly show his fact to King Ahab today and that the Spirit of the LORD will not take him away before Ahab reaches him. So Obadiah goes and carries the message to Ahab, and Ahab comes to meet Elijah. Ahab greats Elijah by calling him the Troubler of Israel, and Elijah responds by saying that it is Ahab who is the one who has brought all this trouble on Israel because he abandoned the LORD to follow after the Baals. Then Elijah commanded Ahab to gather all of Israel together to meet Elijah on Mount Carmel--specifically the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. Not one of them was to be missing for there was going to be a "showdown" between the LORD and the Baals to prove to the people that day that the LORD alone was worthy of worship. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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