1 Kings 18:41-46--The LORD Sends Rain

1 Kings 18:41-46
English Standard Version
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The LORD Sends Rain
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

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Now after the prophets of Baal had been put to death, Elijah went back to Ahab to tell him to prepare a feast, for he was certain that rain was on the way.  That should have been enough to make Ahab start to pack up and leave and head back for his palace, but it seems Ahab did not believe the LORD or Elijah.

Elijah went back to the top of Mount Carmel and he bowed himself to the ground, putting his head between his knees.  He then commanded his servant (this is the first time we hear of him, but he will be important throughout the rest of the book of 1 Kings) to go further up the mountain and look out towards the sea.  Seven times he did this, for Elijah was sure the rain was coming but wanted his servant to see what he knew was true in his spirit (this is a somewhat consistent pattern when we see Elijah's servant mentioned).

Ahab didn't leave at the first warning the Elijah gave and now that there was an actual storm rolling in, Ahab risked being caught in the storm.  Elijah tells him to quickly prepare his chariot and get out of the area lest the rain stop him.  Then the whole sky turned black and there was heavy rain on the whole land.  Ahab rode his chariot as far as Jezreel (he couldn't make it all the way back to Samaria), and the LORD supernaturally enabled Elijah to gather up his garments (probably he tucked his tunic into his belt) and run faster than the chariots, and he beat Ahab to Jezreel.  We have some pretty fast runners today, but no man should be able to outrun a chariot pulled by a team of horses.  This is the end to the physical drought in the land and we hope the end to the spiritual drought of the land since the Israelites seem to have turned back to the LORD.  There's still Ahab and Jezebel to deal with, but they seem to be in the minority now, and Elijah should no longer have to feel alone as the people were clearly on the LORD's side after Mount Carmel.

Were going to see next time though that Jezebel is not happy at all that all of her priests and prophets have been put to death, and I'm sure that she doesn't like that Baal and Asheroth lost the contest.  She has a challenge that she intends to issue to Elijah to say that she too knows how to put prophets to the sword and that she hopes that her gods will kill her if she doesn't do the same thing to Elijah that he had done to the prophets of Baal (she puts all the blame on Elijah even though it was the people who did this after seeing that the LORD alone is God).  We'll talk about that next time.