1 Kings 18:2-16

(2) And Elijah went to shew himself unto Habakkuk. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. (3) And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: (4) For it was so, when Jezebel 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.

Reader! figure to yourself the poor, despised, solitary prophet, thus going to show himself to such a prince as Ahab, backed with a wife of such diabolical principles as Jezebel! Recollect what is here said, that during the long famine Jezebel had been destroying all the Lord's prophets; those that escaped had been hid in caves, and dared not to appear! Consider further that so dreadfully the famine raged, that the king himself went in search of any brook or fountain which could be found. And lastly, in order to view properly the intrepidity of Elijah, let the Reader recollect what Obadiah told Elijah when he met him, that diligent search had been made for him in every nation or kingdom where he could possibly send to enquire; plainly testifying thereby what Ahab would have done to Elijah had he got him into his hands. Let all these circumstances be considered; and then let the Reader pause with rue, and admire the greatness of that blessed principle of faith with which the Great Author of it endued his servant. Before we prosecute the chapter, I would detain the Reader to remark with me also, the graciousness of God in preserving to himself a seed in the earth in the worst of times: and moreover, when iniquity, as in this reign of Ahab, had ripened to such a degree, that his grace was still reserved for them to turn the hearts of his people back again! - I would beg the Reader also to behold in the character of Obadiah, how evidently the covenant promises of God must have wrought upon his mind, who in the very court of Ahab, and while governor of his house, yet followed the Lord. See the promise, Jeremiah 32:40. And lastly, before we proceed to the other part of the chapter, I request the Reader to consider how the heart of Elijah, in his zeal for the Lord's honour, and his love to the souls of the Lord's people, must have been burning with impatience during the long period of three years and half, and secretly praying that the awful judgment of famine, and the dreadful consequences thereof, might be sooner averted.