1 Kings 18:1-46
1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.
3 And Ahab called Obadiah,a which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:
4 For it was so, when Jezebelb cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?
8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.
11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.
13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD'S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.
15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.
19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.
20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:
24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hearc us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud:d for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the bloode gushed out upon them.
29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offeringf of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
35 And the water rang round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
40 And Elijah said unto them, Takeh the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a soundi of abundance of rain.
42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,
43 And 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 it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Preparej thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was 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 girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
1 Kings 18:1. After many days. About the end of the third year, leaving six months more for the crops to be sown and ripened, which harmonizes the new testament with the old. Luke 4:25; James 5:17.
1 Kings 18:5. Go to all fountains and brooks. It had rained in some corners of the land, for “one whole city had gone to another city to drink water.” No doubt there were some very deep springs that would run for more than a year.
1 Kings 18:13. Jezebel slew the prophets of the lord. Ah, idolatry, bloody idolatry, cruel as Moloch, such are thy characters to the present day.
1 Kings 18:19. Send and gather to me all Israel. As kings were princes in the state, so the father of the prophets was always regarded as a prince in the church; and when he spake by the word of the Lord, obedience was required. The prophets of Baal would not like this summons; but their honour was at stake. Jezebel worshipped Venus, and therefore supported four hundred prophets of the groves, which had some distinction from Ahab's four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.
1 Kings 18:28. Cut themselves with knives, for Satan delights in human blood. Laërtius, Martial, Lucian, Plutarch and others, mention cases of like nature in which the priests have cut themselves with hatchets, as well as knives. This horrid practice is forbidden in the law. Deuteronomy 14:1. Jeremiah was forbidden to do this for the Jews: 1 Kings 16:6. St. Paul forbids the Thessalonians to sorrow as the heathens, by all such extravagant cuttings. When the king of Taheita died, about the time when the missionaries first arrived, 1795, almost every person in the island gave himself a wound, and one man ran a spear through his arm.
1 Kings 18:33. Water pour it on the burnt-sacrifice. See note on Isaiah 12:3.
1 Kings 18:40. Take the prophets of Baal Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. They had blasphemed against the Lord, and murdered his holy prophets: now their day was come. It was an ancient custom, both in Asia and Africa, to slay men over running waters, lest the land should be defiled. It was a general law to wash and purify, after the effusion of blood. So Æneas, as cited, Genesis 31:19.
REFLECTIONS.
While Elijah enjoyed his grotto in Cherith, and while he richly feasted on bread and oil in the widow's house, his country was exposed to the utmost calamities of desolation and anguish. The verdure was vanished, the flocks were slaughtered; and every landscape, once so charming, exhibited marks of God's high displeasure, and warned the yet surviving inhabitants to fly from the accursed place. But God is ultimately compassionate to man, wherever the dawns of repentance appear. Towards the close of the third year, either to effectuate a national reform, or still persevere in vengeance, till the land was consumed, he sent Elijah the second time to Ahab. How dreadful then is apostasy in religion! Let us fear to set up pleasures, or riches, or any creature as an idol in our heart. It forfeits the divine favour, and will ultimately expose us to his indignation.
In those evil times we cannot but admire the extraordinary piety of Obadiah, Ahab's steward. Being a true worshipper of God from his youth, he changed not his religion with the court; and though he could not go to Jerusalem, he would nevertheless look towards the sanctuary when he prayed. This man's piety was proof against the fear of man, the revenues and honour of his situation, yea against the menaces of his life. This man risked the royal favour and his own life, to feed a hundred servants of the Lord whom he hid in two caves, that if the one party should happen to be discovered the other might escape. Yet when Elijah appeared, his faith was not exempt from some shades of weakness and fear. Knowing that Ahab was fully resolved to put Elijah to death, he feared to introduce him into his presence.
The interview between Elijah and Ahab is extremely interesting. About three years had now elapsed since this man of God had announced the drought by oath, and for the greater part of that time the king had sought his life; now the exiled prophet boldly presents himself, and with an overture of grace in case of repentance.
The wicked, oppressed for their sins, are ever prone to lay the blame on others. Art thou he, said Ahab, that troubleth Israel? It is their enemies who have slandered them, it is rogues who have deprived them of their property, it is avaricious people who have taken advantage of their ignorance, or coalesced for their ruin. They are so full of the faults of others that they forget to see their own.
This charge Elijah retorted with an overpowering conviction. ‘I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house have departed from the national covenant, so often ratified by heaven, and so often sealed with marks of the divine favour; and yet ye have gone and served other gods. Therefore those long predicted calamities have come upon you; and I have merely warned, and sentenced you, as the minister of heaven. And now I come with a message of mercy, provided the nation shall reform. Send now and gather all Israel to mount Carmel, for God will honour his altar with the ancient tokens of his presence; and I surrender myself to thy care as a pledge that I will abide the test.' The apostle Peter in a similar manner exhorts christians to be ready to give an answer to every one who shall ask a reason of their hope. So St. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, but was ready to preach it at Rome in the face of an enlightened world.
How affecting was the interview on Carmel, between the venerable Elijah and the elders of Israel. They look embarrassed and ashamed. It being now but sixty six years since Jeroboam began their calamities by his calves, many of them had attended the altar of JEHOVAH, and the worship of his temple. But now their glory was departed, and their country become a desolation. The prophets and priests of Baal, either infatuated to accept, or unable to evade the test, stood trembling at a distance, as two battalions who must this day either storm heaven by frantic prayers, or atone with their lives for the multitude of martyrs they had made of God's most faithful servants. Thus while all parties looked to Elijah, he broke the silence. How long, said he to the people, halt ye between two opinions? They answered him not a word: they had erred and were ashamed, what could they say? Let them, continued he, give us two bullocks; and on naming the fire, the ancient test of the true religion, they all said it is well spoken. So the priests having the preference, were obliged to prepare the altar.
From the confusion of those prophets and priests, and from the severe satire and raillery of Elijah, we learn that profane and infidel men shall be mocked and derided in the day of trouble. God will retaliate all their maxims and illusive hopes. Proverbs 1:24. He will bid his languishing foes go to their pleasures for peace, to their principles for support, and to their physicians for health. If stern justice once ascend the throne, mercy retires from the bar.
God we see will support his faithful servants in the hour of danger and temptation. The Lord who had sent Elijah in this extraordinary way to address his servants, sent also the promised fire from heaven, gladdened the misguided people, and confounded all his foes. So he had honoured the sacrifice of Abraham, of Aaron, and of Manoah. So he honoured the christian church on the day of Pentecost, and made his praying servants triumphant over all their foes. And where is the fearful and timorous mind; where is the soul injured by the breath of infidels, the sincere and devout soul which has partial doubts of the truth of christianity? Come to God, my weak and trembling brother, come and pray for pardon in the name of Jesus, as Elijah prayed in the name of his fathers' God, and he will glorify the Saviour's name by shedding abroad his love in your heart. While musing, or while hearing, or while praying, the fire from heaven shall kindle on the altar of your heart, consume your corruptions, and be an abiding witness of the true religion; and as God would not hear those idolaters, but heard his faithful servant, so he will not hear idolaters still. If Jesus was not the true God, and the eternal Life, he would no more set a soul at liberty in a gross act of idolatry, than he would hear the prophets of Baal.
If we put away our sins, as Elijah and the elders executed the sentence of Moses on the leaders of idolatry; if we renew our covenant with God as Israel now did on Carmel, and if we pray for blessings as this prophet prayed for rain; then the Lord will fulfil to us and to our children every temporal and spiritual blessing of the new covenant of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.