Let us go to Carmel for a few minutes.
King Ahab had forsaken the God of Israel, and all the court people and
“upper ten” had followed his example. But there was an old prophet out
in the mountains, to whom God said: “Go to Ahab, and tell him the heavens
shall be shut up and there shall be no rain.”
Away he goes to the wicked king. He bursts in upon him like a clap of
thunder, gives his message and hurries away.
I suppose Ahab laughed at the old prophet. “What! No more rain? Why, the
fellow must be crazy.”
Pretty soon the weather gets very dry. The earth is parched, and begins
to crack open. The rivers have but little water in them, and the brooks
dry up altogether. The trees die; all the grass perishes, and the cattle
die, too. Famine--starvation--death! If rain does not come pretty soon,
there will not be a live man or woman left in all the kingdom.
One day the king was talking with the prophet, Obadiah.
You see, he did have one good man near him, along with all the prophets
of the false god. Almost anybody likes to have one good man within reach,
even if he is ever so bad. He may be wanted in a hurry some time.
“See here, Obadiah!” says King Ahab. “You go one way and I will go
another, and we will see if we can find some water somewhere.”
Obadiah has not gone a great way before Elijah bursts out upon him.
“O Elijah! Is that you? Ahab has been hunting for you everywhere, and
could not find you. He has sent off into all the kingdoms about, to have
them fetch you, if you were there.”
“Yes; I am here,” says Elijah. “You go and tell Ahab I want to see him.”
“I dare not do that,” says Obadiah, “for just as soon as I tell him you
are here, the Spirit will catch you away and take you off somewhere else,
and then the king will be very angry, and maybe he will kill me.”
“No,” says Elijah. “As the Lord liveth, I will meet Ahab face to face
this day.”
So Obadiah hurries off to find Ahab, and tells him he has seen the
prophet.
“What! Elijah?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you bring him along?”
“He would not come. He says he wants you to come to him.”
Ahab was not used to have people talk that way to him, but he was anxious
to see the prophet, so he went. And when he sees Elijah he is very angry,
and asks:
“Art thou he that troubleth Israel?”
“Not at all,” says Elijah. “You are the man that is troubling
Israel--going off after Baal, and leading ever so many of the people
with you. Now, we have had enough of this sort of thing. Some people
are praying to God and some are praying to Baal, and we must have this
question settled. You just bring all your prophets and all the priests of
Baal up to Mount Carmel, and I also will come. We will make us each an
altar, and offer sacrifice on it; and the god that answereth by fire, let
Him be God.”
“Agreed,” says Ahab. And away he goes to tell his priests and get ready
for the trial.