Elijah’s Message to Ahab
After a long time, in the third year of the drought, 1 the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.” Luk 4:25Jas 5:171Ki 17:1Deu 28:121Ki 18:15-401Ki 18:2Jol 2:23Lev 26:4
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria, 2Ki 6:25Deu 28:23-24Heb 13:5-6Isa 51:12Jer 14:18Jer 14:2-6Jol 1:15-20Lev 26:26 and Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Neh 7:21Ki 16:9Mat 10:281Ki 18:122Ki 4:1Act 10:2Act 10:35Gen 22:12
(Now Obadiah greatly feared the LORD, for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.) 1Ki 18:13Mat 10:40-42Heb 11:38Mat 21:35Mat 25:35Mat 25:40Neh 9:26Rev 17:4-6
Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to destroy any livestock.” Jer 14:5-6Jol 1:18Hab 3:17Jol 2:22Psa 104:14Rom 8:20-22
So they divided the land to explore. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself. Jer 14:3
Now as Obadiah went on his way, Elijah suddenly met him. When Obadiah recognized him, he fell facedown and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 2Ki 1:6-81Ki 11:291Sa 20:412Sa 19:18Gen 18:12Gen 18:2Gen 44:16Gen 44:20
“It is I,” he answered. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here!’” 1Ki 18:31Pe 2:17-18Rom 13:7
But Obadiah replied, “How have I sinned, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death? 1Ki 17:181Ki 18:12Exo 5:21 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you. 1Ki 17:11Ki 1:291Ki 17:121Ki 17:51Ki 17:91Ki 18:151Ki 2:241Sa 29:6 And now you say, ‘Go tell your master that Elijah is here!’ 1Ki 18:141Ki 18:8
I do not know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you off when I leave you. Then when I go and tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth. 2Ki 2:16Act 8:39Ezk 8:32Co 12:2-32Ki 2:11Ezk 11:24Ezk 3:12-14Ezk 37:1 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water. 1Ki 18:4Mat 25:351Th 2:9-10Act 20:34Gen 20:4-5Mat 10:41-42Psa 18:21-24 And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord that Elijah is here!’ He will kill me!” Mat 10:28
Then Elijah said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to Ahab today.” 1Ki 17:11Ki 18:10Deu 1:38Deu 4:19Gen 2:1Heb 6:16-17Isa 51:7-8Isa 6:3
Elijah on Mount Carmel
So Obadiah went to inform Ahab, who went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” Jos 7:251Ki 21:20Act 16:20Act 17:6Act 24:5Amo 7:10Jer 26:8-9Jer 38:4
“I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals. 2Ch 15:21Ki 9:91Ki 16:31Jer 2:191Ki 21:25Act 24:13Act 24:20Ezk 3:8 Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 1Ki 16:33Jos 19:262Ki 2:252Pe 2:11Ki 15:131Ki 18:221Ki 18:42-431Ki 19:1-2
So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 1Ki 22:9 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” Mat 6:24Jos 24:151Co 10:21-222Co 6:14-161Sa 7:32Ki 17:41Rev 3:15-16Zep 1:5
But the people did not answer a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 1Ki 19:101Ki 19:141Ki 18:19-201Ki 20:131Ki 20:321Ki 20:351Ki 20:381Ki 22:6-8 Get two bulls for us. Let the prophets of Baal choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. And I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. Then you may call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The God who answers by fire, He is God.” 1Ki 18:381Ch 21:262Ch 7:12Ch 7:3Lev 9:24Jdg 6:212Sa 14:19Isa 39:8
And all the people answered, “What you say is good.”
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”
And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” Jer 10:51Co 12:21Co 8:4Mat 6:71Co 10:19-201Ki 18:24Dan 5:23Hab 2:18
But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!” Isa 41:23Psa 78:65-661Ki 22:152Ch 25:8Amo 4:4-5Ecc 11:9Ezk 20:39Isa 44:15-17
So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them. Lev 19:28Deu 14:1Mrk 5:5Mic 6:7Mrk 9:22
Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention. 1Co 11:4-51Ki 18:261Ki 22:101Ki 22:121Sa 18:102Ti 3:8-9Act 16:16-17Exo 29:39
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down. 2Ch 33:161Ki 19:141Ki 19:10Rom 11:3
And Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come and said, “Israel shall be your name.” 2Ki 17:34Gen 32:28Gen 35:10Jos 4:20Jos 4:3-4Eph 2:20Eph 4:4-6Exo 24:4 And with the stones, Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 2 Col 3:17Exo 20:24-251Co 10:311Sa 7:171Sa 7:9Jdg 21:4Jdg 6:26
Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, placed it on the wood, Gen 22:9Dan 3:19Dan 3:25Jdg 6:20Jhn 11:39-40Jhn 19:33-34Lev 1:6-8 and said, “Fill four waterpots and pour the water on the offering and on the wood.” 3 2Co 4:22Co 8:21
“Do it a second time,” he said, and they did it a second time.
“Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time.
So the water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 1Ki 18:321Ki 18:38
Elijah’s Prayer
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. 1Ki 18:292Ki 19:19Exo 3:61Ki 8:43Mat 22:32Psa 83:18Act 3:1Dan 12:11 Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.” Dan 9:17-19Luk 1:16-17Ezk 36:25-271Ki 18:24Mal 4:5-61Ki 18:291Ki 18:362Ch 14:11
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench. Lev 9:241Ch 21:262Ch 7:1Jdg 6:211Ki 18:242Ki 1:12Job 1:16Lev 10:2
When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” 1Ki 18:242Ch 7:31Ki 18:211Ch 21:16Act 2:37Act 4:16Jdg 13:20Jhn 5:35
Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there. Deu 18:20Jdg 4:7Deu 13:5Jdg 5:21Zec 13:2-32Ki 10:24-25Jer 48:10Rev 19:20
The LORD Sends Rain
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” 1Ki 18:11Ki 17:1Ecc 9:7Act 27:34
So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees. Luk 6:121Ki 18:19-201Ki 19:132Sa 12:16Act 10:9Dan 9:3Dan 9:7Ezr 9:6 “Go and look toward the sea,” he said to his servant. Hab 2:3Luk 18:1Luk 18:7Eph 6:18Gen 32:26Heb 10:36-37Psa 5:3
So the servant went and looked, and he said, “There is nothing there.”
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Luk 12:54Job 8:7Mic 1:13Zec 4:101Sa 6:101Sa 6:7
And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 1Ki 18:39-401Ki 21:11Ki 21:232Ki 9:162Sa 21:14Jos 17:16Jos 19:18Num 25:8
And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt 4and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. Ezk 3:14Ezk 1:32Ki 3:152Ki 9:1Isa 8:11Jer 1:17Mat 22:211Pe 1:13