Comments on 1 Kings 18 v1-2 Elijah is instructed by the Lord to go out of hiding and inform the people the drought will cease. Implicit in this is some kind of change occurring on the part of Israel, as the relaxing of all covenant curses is contingent upon repentance of the people being cursed. So, Elijah would naturally assume that some change in Israel was imminent. And Elijah sets off to go and meet Ahab, who he knows very well was out to kill him, apparently not fearing him at all. This is pretty much the exact opposite case of what is happening in 19:1-8. v1 "in the third year", I would assume the reference is to the third year of the drought as 17:1 predicts a drought that will last "years". v3-4 We are informed that even though Obadiah was in the service of King Ahab, he was still very much faithful to the Lord. It is also clear that his faith was clandestine, and in keeping it that way he succeeded in sparing a considerable number of prophets of the Lord from Jezebel's sword. So, outward zealotry isn't always a good thing. v4 I would assume the prophets referenced here are from the "school of prophets" which was the legacy of Samuel. It is clear that he had a well organized synagogue acting as a central location which was commonly known (1 Sam. 18:19-20). This being the case, it would have been easy for Jezebel to identify and dispose of them. v5-6 Ahab refuses to acknowledge the Lord's hand in the drought despite Elijah's warning in 17:1. Rather, he chooses a natural means of dealing with the matter and goes out to find wherever there may still be water in the land. The irony being Ahab finding no natural water, but Obadiah runs into Elijah who has spiritual water and ultimately restores natural water. v7-15 Elijah runs into Obadiah while traveling to see Ahab and he tells him to go and fetch Ahab and bring him there. This seems like a fairly straightforward matter, why are 9 verses spent on it? To show the predicament Obadiah is in by trying to be faithful to both Ahab and the Lord (v. 9-14). And also to show Elijah's sensitivity to Obadiah's situation, as he addresses his fears and keeps his word regarding the meeting (v. 15). v16-19 Elijah stays put and Ahab comes to him (v. 16). Upon meeting Ahab hurls accusation at Elijah (v. 17). Elijah points out to him that, as he had warned him some three years earlier (cf. 17:1), it was he himself that was the real problem because he had forsaken the Lord and followed idols (v. 18). Elijah then challenges Ahab to a duel, himself versus 850 idolatrous prophets which Ahab supports (v. 19). Implicit in the conversation is the idea that the man Elijah has power to control the weather is simply absurd. Elijah consistently defers to the Lord both here and in his original pronouncement in 17:1. So, Ahab's accusation in v. 17 is simply ridiculous. v17 Accusing others of what we are in fact guilty of is a common practice among the unrepentant. The modern study of Psychology calls this "projection". Human behavior doesn't change much as time passes. v19 "which eat at Jezebel's table", the reference is not a literal one but indicates she provides their support. v20-24 Ahab sends word among all of Israel and they gather together for the proposed showdown (v. 20). Elijah then confronts Israel and asks them how long they will be noncommital to both the Lord and Baal, and Israel doesn't answer him (v. 21). Indicating they are in no rush to make up their minds. Elijah then proposes a blatantly overt test to show which is God, and the people agree it is a good test (v. 22-24). v20 Ahab doesn't know what Elijah has planned, but he is only too happy to arrange a showdown. The opportunity here for Ahab is to be rid of Elijah once and for all. He is hoping that whatever Elijah plans will flop and then all of Israel will give up on him and the Lord, and then he can dispose of him promptly. Ahab is being a good politician here. Rather than having Elijah executed right on the spot when meeting him and risk him becoming a martyr in Israel's eyes, he is hoping that Elijah will self- destruct in front of Israel. v21 "the people answered him not a word", we have to remember that the people here are in the presence of both Ahab and Elijah. It is well known that Ahab and Jezebel have been exterminating the prophets of the Lord. It is also surely well known that Elijah is the main prophet of the Lord, given this 3 year drought. So, the people are caught between the political leader who holds their physical life in his hand and the religious leader who holds their spiritual life in his hand. v25-29 Elijah graciously permits the other prophets to go first since there are so many of them, and he proposes the test (v. 25). The prophets of Baal try to ignite a fire under the sacrifice by appealing to Baal, but all their commotion is to no avail (v. 26). Elijah then mocks them by saying that if they make a greater ruckus, then perhaps they will get Baal's attention (v. 27). And they do so, again to no avail (v. 28-29). The message is clear, there is no Baal. v27 Elijah's mockery is intended to compare their god to a man. They certainly would have considered it blasphemy. Elijah is certainly not afraid of them or the outcome at this point. Elijah probably also wants to spur them on to even more hideous displays in the eyes of Israel, so they will be utterly disgusting to them. v28 This kind of self-destructive display surely must have been a horror to behold, and certainly served Elijah's purposes to show how absurd worshiping such a thing was. v30-40 With the failed attempts of the false prophets so evident, Elijah summons Israel to him. He then repairs the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down, in their sight (v. 30). Elijah reconstructs the altar according to the dictates of the Law (v. 31). Additionally, he adds a good-sized trench around it (v. 32). He then prepares the sacrifice on the wood and has the people of gathered Israel themselves douse the sacrifice and wood with water three times over until the trench is filled with water (v. 33-35). They know themselves firsthand that the altar is saturated and have been up close to it so if there were any trickery by Elijah they would have seen it. At the time when the evening sacrifice should have been, Elijah offers a straight- forward prayer to the Lord requesting that He fulfil His words (v. 36-37). No shenanigans like the prophets of Baal, a clear contrast between them and him. After Elijah's prayer a fire from the Lord comes and consumes not only the sacrifice and the wood, but also the stones of the altar and the dirt, water, and ditch that was surrounding the altar (v. 38). When the people of Israel see the awesome and clearly supernatural display, they proclaim the Lord is God (v. 39) and at Elijah's behest put all of the prophets of Baal to death (v. 40). v30-31 "repaired the altar of the Lord", Elijah is pretty bold here. He is repairing an altar that was certainly torn down at Ahab's and Jezebel's behest and replaced by an altar to Baal. And, he is doing it right in front of Ahab and all of gathered Israel. v40 While idolatry carried the death penalty (cf. Deut. 17:2-7), these prophets of Baal may have been involved in the murder of the prophets of the Lord. I would assume the prophets of Asherah referenced in v. 19 were probably present and were put to death as well. v41-46 After turning Israel back to the Lord and slaughtering the prophets of Baal, Elijah mocks Ahab and announces that rain will be falling shortly (v. 40). Rain will be falling again because Israel has once again returned to the Lord, so the curse of drought is lifted. Ahab leaves to go home, but apparently stops on his way to watch Elijah at work (v. 42, cf. v. 44-45). Elijah goes up to Mt. Carmel and beseeches the Lord to let it rain as He had promised earlier (v. 43, cf. v. 1). After repeated requests, the rain finally comes and Elijah tells his servant to tell the waiting Ahab to get into his chariot and head for home (v. 44-45). But, Elijah miraculously outruns Ahab home (v. 46). v41 "Get thee up, eat and drink", Elijah is mocking Ahab at this point. He is saying "Go home and see if you can be in a good mood about what has just happened" the implication obviously being that his return home would be a gloomy one and his appetite would be ruined by his bad mood as a result of the overthrow of his religion, ct. Judges 9:27, Judges 19:6, Eccl. 8:15. Eccl. 9:7. The issue at hand here is Elijah sees Israel's return to the Lord as necessarily leading to their rejection of Jezebel as she is the one who has imposed the Canaanite religion on them. He is hoping for a political revolution to follow on the heels of the religious revolution. Thus, he tells Ahab to go home and see if he can be happy about things, and this is why he runs so fast to Jezreel, because he wants to be there firsthand for the political ruin of Jezebel. v43-44 With Ahab watching and the repeated requests apparently not working, this must have been a serious test of faith for Elijah. The Lord had previously promised the rain (v. 1), but the apparent lack of response the first six times must have been nerve-racking. Finally, on the seventh time a small cloud appears and only after a while does it actually look like it will rain. Why did the Lord wait so long to answer the request for rain, when the request for the fire was so immediate? Perhaps because the request for fire was so immediate, to let people know they don't always get what they want immediately and that things run on the Lord's time and not at the people's convenience. Also, it may have been because the Lord is aware before hand of what Elijah later finds out, that Israel's return to Him is not as entirely whole-hearted as He would have liked. Hence the Lord is not in any real rush to lift the curse of drought, but has to because of the promise He made earlier. So, it is only after prolonged intercession by a prophet that the rain actually does come. Also, the Lord may not have been particularly thrilled with the way Elijah was conducting himself in mocking the Baalite prophets and Ahab. While we find it quite entertaining, such conduct surely isn't promoted or endorsed by the Law. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.