1 Kings 18:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the sad condition of Israel at this time, and it had two main causes. Jezebel, Ahab’s wife and a devoted idolater, killed the Lord’s prophets (1 Kings 18:4, 1 Kings 18:13). She was not only unfaithful herself, she also turned Ahab into a persecutor. Even in those dark days, when people worshiped the calves and had abandoned the temple in Jerusalem, some still feared God and served him. God also raised up prophets to teach them, since the priests and Levites had gone to Judah and Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 11:13, 2 Chronicles 11:14).

These prophets were now the main teachers among God’s people. They read and explained the law in private meetings, or in the homes of faithful families, because we do not read of synagogues at that time. They did not have Elijah’s special gift of prophecy, and they did not offer sacrifices or burn incense, but they taught people to live rightly and stay close to the God of Israel. Jezebel aimed to wipe them out, and many were put to death. This was both a public disaster and a public sin, and it threatened to destroy the small remnant of religion left in Israel.

Those few who escaped had to hide in caves, where they were, as it were, buried alive. They were not cut off from life, but they were cut off from usefulness, and that is one of the comforts and purposes of life. When the prophets were pushed into corners, their friends, the few godly people left in the land, were likely treated the same way.

Even so, there was one very good man, and he was a high official in the king’s court, Obadiah, whose name means “servant of the Lord.” He feared God and was faithful to him, yet he served as steward of Ahab’s household. Scripture says he feared the Lord greatly (1 Kings 18:3). He was not merely a good man, but one who stood out for serious godliness, and his rank made that goodness more visible and gave him more chances to do good. He had feared the Lord from his youth (1 Kings 18:12), so he had begun early in religion and had stayed faithful for many years.

Early piety often grows into mature piety. Those who begin well in youth are likely to become strong in godliness. But it is surprising to find such a devout man in charge of Ahab’s house, a position of honor, power, and trust. It was strange that wicked Ahab would appoint him and keep him there, but Obadiah must have been known for honesty, hard work, and good judgment. Ahab could trust him, as this passage shows (1 Kings 18:5). Joseph and Daniel were also given high places because no one else was so fit for them.

It is worth noting that believers should try to earn respect even from unbelievers by integrity, faithfulness, and diligence. It is also strange that Obadiah would accept such a place in a court full of idolatry and wickedness. But he did not need to adopt the king’s religion or follow the house of Ahab in its false worship. He would not have taken the office if he had been forced to bow to Baal. And Ahab was not so foolish as to leave useful officers out of place simply because they would not join his worship.

A person who is faithful to God will also be faithful to earthly rulers. So Obadiah could serve in good conscience, and he did not refuse the office, even though he could not do as much good there as he wished. Those who fear God do not need to leave the world, however bad it is. It is also surprising that Obadiah did not reform Ahab, or that Ahab did not corrupt Obadiah. Yet both seem to have remained fixed. The one who was filthy stayed filthy, and the one who was holy stayed holy. Obadiah kept the fear of God alive in a very bad time and place. God has his own remnant among all kinds of people, high and low. There were saints in Nero’s household, and there were saints in Ahab’s.

Obadiah used his position to protect God’s prophets. When the persecution was fierce, he hid 100 of them in two caves and supplied them with bread and water (1 Kings 18:4). He did not think it was enough to fear God himself. Since he had wealth and authority, he felt bound to help and support others who feared God too. At the same time, he did not imagine that kindness to them could excuse him from his own duty to God. He both feared the Lord greatly himself and supported those who feared him as well.

Here we see how wonderfully God provides friends for his ministers and people, especially in hard times, and sometimes in places where we would least expect them. Bread and water were now scarce, yet Obadiah found enough for God’s prophets to keep them alive for future service, even though they were for the moment set aside.

When Jezebel cut off God’s prophets, God in turn cut off the needed supplies by sending extreme drought. Perhaps Jezebel blamed the prophets for the judgment, since Elijah had foretold it. The old saying fits such behavior, “Away with Christians to the lions.” But God showed that accusation to be false. The famine continued until Baal’s prophets were destroyed, and the shortage of water became so severe that the king himself and Obadiah had to travel through the land looking for grass for the livestock (1 Kings 18:5, 1 Kings 18:6).

God ordered events this way so that Ahab would see with his own eyes how serious the judgment was. That might make him more willing to listen to Elijah, who alone could show him the way to end it. Ahab cared about not losing all his animals, since many had already died. But he gave no care to his soul, which was in far greater danger. He worked hard to find grass, but he did not work to find God’s favor. He tried to guard against the effect of the judgment, but he did not ask how to remove its cause.

Judah lay close to Israel, yet we do not read of the same complaint there about lack of rain. Judah still ruled with God and remained faithful to the saints and prophets (Hosea 11:12). That difference should have shown Israel plainly where God’s dispute with them came from. God caused it to rain on one city and not on another (Amos 4:7, Amos 4:8), but they shut their eyes, hardened their hearts, and refused to see.

Now the story turns to the steps God took to correct the trouble, beginning with Elijah’s return to public work. He appears again as a Tishbite, a man sent to turn Israel back or reform it, which some think is the meaning of that title. “He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,” as the angel later said of John the Baptist, “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:16, Luke 1:17). This was the work Elijah was to carry out.

Ahab had made a careful search for Elijah, offered rewards to anyone who could find him, and sent spies through his own lands, as some think, or through the nearby nations allied with him, as others think (1 Kings 18:10). When people denied knowing anything about Elijah, Ahab would not believe them unless they swore it. It seems he also made them swear that, if they ever found Elijah, they would report him and hand him over.

This search was probably not so much to punish Elijah for speaking judgment as to get him to take it back. Ahab seems to have thought of Elijah in a foolish way, like people who think a curse can be undone if the one who spoke it will bless what he cursed. Or he may have thought of Elijah the way the king of Moab thought of Balaam. I lean toward this view because, when they finally met, Elijah knew what Ahab wanted and set a meeting with him on Mount Carmel. Ahab agreed, even though Elijah was taking a way to cancel the judgment and bless the land that Ahab likely did not expect.

God at last told Elijah to go and show himself to Ahab, because the time had come for rain to return to the land (1 Kings 18:1). Elijah had hidden with the widow at Zarephath for more than two years, after first being hidden by the brook Cherith for one year. So the third year of his stay there, mentioned here, was really the fourth year of the famine, which lasted three years and six months in all (Luke 4:25; James 5:17).

Elijah’s zeal against Baal worship, and his pity for his people, no doubt made this long hiding hard to bear. Still, he did not come out until God told him to. God’s message was, “Go and show yourself to Ahab,” which means, “Now is the time to favor Israel.” It is a good sign for a people when God calls his ministers out from hiding and tells them to appear publicly. That is a sign that he will send rain on the earth. At the very least, we can bear the bread of hardship more patiently when we still see our teachers (Isaiah 30:20, 21).

Elijah first met Obadiah, Ahab’s palace manager, who was a man who feared the Lord greatly. Elijah knew by the Spirit where to meet him, and the story tells us what happened between them. Obadiah greeted Elijah with deep respect, fell on his face, and asked, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” (1 Kings 18:7). Just as Obadiah had shown a father’s care for the sons of the prophets, so now he showed a son’s respect for this father of the prophets. In this way, he proved that he truly feared God, because he honored the one who was God’s special messenger and who had great standing in heaven.

Elijah answered by passing the title of honor on to Ahab: “Call him your lord, not me.” That title was more fitting for a king than for a prophet, since prophets do not seek honor from people. Prophets should be thought of as seers, shepherds, watchmen, and ministers, not as lords. They care more about duty than rule. Then Elijah told Obadiah to go and tell the king that he was there to speak with him: “Tell your lord, Elijah is here” (1 Kings 18:8). Elijah wanted Ahab to know ahead of time so it would not take him by surprise, and so it would be clear that Elijah came on his own.

Obadiah asked to be excused from carrying that message, because it might cost him his life. He reminded Elijah how hard Ahab had searched for him and how strongly the king wanted to find him (1 Kings 18:10). He also assumed Elijah would disappear again, saying that the Spirit of the Lord might carry him away somewhere he did not know (compare 2 Kings 2:16). Obadiah thought Elijah was not serious when he told him to report this to Ahab. He assumed Elijah meant to show how helpless Ahab’s anger was. Obadiah knew Ahab was not worthy to receive kindness from the prophet, and the prophet should not be exposed to harm from Ahab.

He was also sure that Ahab would be furious over the disappointment and would kill him for seeming to mock him, or for not seizing Elijah when he had the chance (1 Kings 18:12). Angry rulers and persecutors often act wildly, even toward the people closest to them. Obadiah also pleaded that he did not deserve such treatment. “What have I done wrong?” he asked (1 Kings 18:9). He added, “Was it not told my lord how I hid the prophets?” (1 Kings 18:13). He did not bring this up in pride. He said it to show Elijah that, though he served Ahab outwardly, he was not on Ahab’s side in this matter. He had protected many prophets, so he hoped a great prophet would not put his own life in danger.

Elijah reassured him that he could safely carry the message to Ahab. He swore by the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies, that he would present himself to Ahab that very day (1 Kings 18:15). Once Obadiah knew Elijah was serious, he had no hesitation in going to the king. Elijah’s oath pointed to God, who has all power and can protect his servants against every power in heaven and earth.

News soon reached Ahab that Elijah had sent for him and was ready to meet him at once, and Ahab went to meet Elijah (1 Kings 18:16). We can imagine his surprise at finding Elijah, whom he had searched for so long without success, now found without any search of his own. He had gone looking for grass and instead found the man whose word, spoken from God, would bring rain. But his guilty conscience gave him little reason to hope. It likely made him fear some other and greater judgment instead. If his spies had caught Elijah, he would have boasted over him. But now Elijah had met him first, so we may suppose Ahab trembled to face him, hated him, and yet feared him, as Herod feared John.