1 Kings 18:41-46

C. THE AFTERMATH OF THE CONTEST 18:41-46

TRANSLATION

(41) And Elijah said onto Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of the tumult of rain. (42) Then Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went unto the top of Carmel, bowed himself to the ground, and put his face between his knees. (43) And he said unto his servant, Go up, I pray you, Look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Return seven times. (44) And it came to pass on the seventh time that he said, Behold a little cloud like the hand of a man going up from the sea. And he said, Go up and say to Ahab, Hitch up your chariot and go down that the rain detain you not. (45) And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there came a great rain. And Ahab rode away, and went to Jezreel. (46) And the hand of the LORD was upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab unto the entrance of Jezreel.

COMMENTS

It would appear that king Ahab had accompanied the crowd to the Kishon. The king was wise enough to realize that he could in no wise intervene to rescue the condemned prophets from the angry throng. It may be too that the king was none too sorry to see these charlatans executed. In the excitement of the day's activities the king had had nothing to eat or drink.[438] Elijah therefore instructed Ahab to go up and have a meal. It is probable that the attendants of the king had spread a tent for him upon the plateau, and had brought food for the whole day with them. By these instructions the prophet was suggesting that there was no longer any cause for anxiety or alarm on the part of the king. Since the people had repented, and the wicked had been cut off from the land, the drought could now be removed. In Elijah's prophetic mind he could already hear the sound of a great rain (1 Kings 18:41).

[438] It may have been that the king was observing a fast, such as was customary on occasion of intercession in drought (cf. Joel 1:14) or some other calamity.

After Ahab returned to the plateau to have his meal, Elijah made his way to one of the prominent knolls of Carmel where he could enter into earnest intercessory prayer. The prayer posture of the prophet is somewhat peculiar. He seems to have been squatting with his head between his knees. The purpose here was to induce concentration.[439] After some moments of petition, Elijah dispatched his servant to a higher elevation from which the Mediterranean could be clearly viewed. His concentration in prayer was so extreme that Elijah could not stop to scan the sky to see if his prayer had been answered.

[439] Montgomery, ICC, p. 306.

Seven times the servant was instructed to return to his observation post (1 Kings 18:43). God had promised rain (cf. 1 Kings 18:1), and Elijah was confident that He would keep that promise. Without murmur the devoted servant executed the prophet's orders. On his seventh trip to the summit, he spotted a small cloud no bigger than the palm of a man's hand. Such small clouds were harbingers of rain in Palestine (cf. Luke 12:54). Elijah then dispatched his servant to the plateau where Ahab was dining to announce to the king that he should make haste to go to Jezreel lest he be caught in the downpour and be unable to cross the flood-swollen Kishon (1 Kings 18:44).

In the meanwhile, the sky blackened, a wind arose, and a great rain[440] swept across the plain of Esdraelon. Ahab made his way toward Jezreel as fast as he could (1 Kings 18:45). The hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, which not only implies that the prophet received supernatural guidance, but supernatural strength as well. Girding up his loins, i.e., gathering about his waist his long flowing robe, Elijah set out running toward Jezreel and actually arrived at the gate of the city prior to Ahab and his chariot (1 Kings 18:46). Over this distance it would not be impossible for a man to outstrip a horse and chariot, especially since the man would run cross-country while the chariot would have to stick to the now muddy road-bed. Elijah believed he had struck the death blow to the pagan practices promoted by the royal court and he wished to be in Jezreel to further any reformation efforts that the hapless Ahab might inaugurate. He knew Ahab would need all the help he could get to bolster his courage as he came face to face with his wicked wife Jezebel.

[440] The usual word for rain is matar. Here, however the word geshem is used which signifies a cloudburst, tempest or deluge. See Honor, JCBR, p. 268.