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Voice of Stern Rebuke
65
The People Are Finally Ready for Reformation
At last “the word of the Lord came to Elijah ..., saying, ‘Go,
present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.’” In
obedience to the command, Elijah set out on his journey.
About this time Ahab suggested to Obadiah, who was in charge
of his household, that they search for springs and brooks in the hope
of finding pasture for their starving flocks. Deeply concerned over
the outlook for his household, the king decided to unite personally
with his servant in a search for some favored spots where pasture
might still exist. “Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went
another way by himself.” “As Obadiah was on his way, suddenly
Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and
said, ‘Is that you, my lord Elijah?’”
During the apostasy of Israel, Obadiah had remained faithful.
The king had been unable to turn him from his allegiance to the
living God. Now Elijah honored him with a commission: “Go, tell
your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
Terrified, Obadiah exclaimed, “How have I sinned, that you are
delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?” This was
to invite certain death! “As the Lord your God lives,” he explained
to the prophet, “there is no nation or kingdom where my master has
not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not
here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could
not find you. And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is
here”’! And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you,
that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so
when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me.”
With a solemn oath Elijah promised Obadiah that the errand
would not be in vain. “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I
stand, I will surely present myself to him today.” With this assurance,
“Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him.”
In astonishment mixed with terror the king listened to Obadiah
deliver the message from the man he feared and hated, and for whom
he had searched untiringly. Could it be possible that the prophet was
about to pronounce another woe against Israel? The king’s heart was
filled with dread. He remembered the withered arm of Jeroboam.
Ahab could not avoid obeying the summons, neither did he dare lift