Neither Dew Nor Rain

Elijah and His Prophetic Oath:

 "…there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word…" (1 Kgs 17, 1).

Elijah takes upon himself a formal oath. With the words, “As the Lord God lives…”, he solemnly invokes God to assert the truth of his present claim. The prophet will demonstrate that the living God and not Baal is the author of all life. The land of Israel will now languish as famine strikes under burden of the drought. It is a punishment for Israel's infidelity. God is chastising his children for having forsaken the covenant he made with their ancestors at Sinai. Elijah's words are a remote preparation for a renewal of that very covenant which will take place on the heights, not of Sinai, but of Mount Carmel. 

Elijah is not only speaking to Israel, but he is also verbally challenging the strength of Baal. It is not the Canaanite deity who has power to open and to close the heavens. This is the prerogative of the Lord God of Israel. A line is drawn in the sand. What side will the people take? How long will they limp along with two opinions? It is a decisive moment. Let us place ourselves with Elijah in the present scene and ask this question in prayer: "Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things." (Jer 14, 22).

Elijah wants Ahab and all God's people to turn into their hearts and ask this very same question. The prophet will use the drought as a means to provoke prayer out of parched souls. They must learn to acknowledge the Lord, the only God, and to set their hopes on him; for only he can give them the rain that they seek. The rain for which they will pray is not just water for the land which will become like an arid desert, but divine life for their souls.

Rain, A Blessing From Above:

(cf. “Rain” in Catholic Bible Dictionary; ed. Scott Hahn. New York: Doubleday, 2009.)

Briefly turning to the Sacred Scriptures, it is worth reflecting on the spiritual significance of rain. God waters the earth to give it life and as such it is an invaluable gift. God himself is compared to the blessing of rain. When the heavens open, it is perceived as a blessing and occasions a moment of joyful celebration. Turning to other gods for this precious gift was a supreme act of infidelity. Only God who created the heavens and the earth can open the skies to give rain or withhold it. The issue of rain becomes the matter for Israel's conversion. Rain symbolizes the grace that will be given that will cleanse the heart of God's people and give it new life.

Water in Israel is a precious resource - a necessary element in the daily life of the people living in that land. Rain was a tremendous blessing that comes from God who is in the heavens. In Deuteronomy, we hear this promise: "The Lord will open to you his good treasury the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands…" (Dt 28,12).

In the Psalms, God who is King of his people is compared to the blessing of rain: "May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!" (Ps 72, 6-7). The words of this Psalm were firstly a prayer spoken by king Solomon for his own sake that he might be life and peace for his kingdom. Solomon serves as a type of the Messiah King to come. Jesus will be rain that comes from heaven which brings the blessing of righteousness. God always wanted to be king over his people. They spurned his dominion and chose a king among men like the other nations. And yet the Davidic kingdom, while broken, would be restored by God's Son, the true Solomon. Through his Christ, God is now able to shower down his favor and exercise his loving dominion over all his people.

For a largely agricultural society, the yearly rains were essential; and, as such, were occasions for great rejoicing. We find an example of joyful expression for the blessing of rain in the book of the prophet Joel: "Be glad, O sons of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord, your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before." (Joel 2, 23).

Israel became hard-hearted in its idolatry, turning to other deities for a gift that can only come from the hand of God. What Jeremiah would say applies: "They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'" (Jer 5, 24). The northern kingdom could no longer discern the source of all their blessings. They lost the most fundamental virtue of religion: "fear of the Lord." They no longer acknowledged the God who guides the course of the seasons. So, God had to shut up the heavens by the mouth of Elijah. Will the people now lift their eyes to heaven, and call upon the name of the Lord?

The Drought, A Covenant Curse:

Among the many curses of the Old Covenant drought was considered among the most horrible. We hear God speak of this curse in several places:

"…and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like brass…" (Lev 26, 19).

"And the heavens over your head shall be brass, and the earth under you shall be iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed." (Dt 28, 23-4).

Thinking about the nature of this particular covenant curse, it is clear that Elijah is not playing games. God, through his prophet, takes up a gamble to play for "keeps." Baal, Jezebel, and her prophets will prove to be the losers.

Several examples of hardship are given to show just how heavy a blow God is making against Ahab and his kingdom. The first example is to be seen in the prophet Elijah himself. The brook in Cherith will run dry forcing the man of God to move on and to trust in the meager means of a widow in gentile territory. The drought has also struck the land where the widow lives in Zarephath. She is reduced to nothing. She has a few sticks of wood, a little bit of oil and meal - the scarce remains of her resources, which will be used for one final meal for herself and her son and then "they will die." The famine was so severe in Samaria that King Ahab and Obadiah his chief servant would scour the whole kingdom for water and grass so as to keep the livestock from dying. Because of the hardship that the drought has caused, Ahab searches desperately for Elijah so as to take revenge on him for uttering judgment over the land and the people. It is an unhappy time! The drought has real consequences: the life of the land is being sucked out of the earth as all the water evaporates into thin air. All the hardship is due to the fact that Israel played the harlot, committing adultery against God as they served Baal: "Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have a harlot's brow, you refuse to be ashamed." (Jer 3,3).

The declaration of the drought is nothing other than a statement of the consequences for unfaithfulness to the covenant made with God on Sinai. Ahab, along with Jezebel, has been promoting the cult of a dead idol (who is mute and deaf) and cannot respond on any level to the desperate need that the drought has created. Baal is powerless before the living God. And the Lord wants his people to turn to him for life.

Athirst for God:

God is creating a thirst in the land. It cries out: "O God you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where no water is." (Ps 63, 1). Israel has become a dry and weary land. There is no water. The arid terrain reflects the state of Israel's soul. Do the people know why they thirst, or why their souls are parched? The text of the Psalm indicates that this is not just a physical thirst but one that is spiritual. The Psalm uses the word Nephesh, a Hebrew term, which in its literal meaning signifies the throat; neck; or breath. The word can be used for any living being. The soul is nothing other than "a living thirst" for God and the waters of divine life and grace. Israel's people are experiencing such a thirst as the water disappears from wadi and well. As a body they are a wide-open throat! It took a drought of the land for them to realize that their souls were already in drought - spiritually, the souls of God's people were without the waters of grace. It is interesting to note that the response of David who is praying this Psalm is to look upon the Lord in his sanctuary, beholding his power and glory. (Ps 63, 2). Maybe, just maybe, the people will look with their king to the Lord God and behold his power and glory.

Returning to the main point of Elijah's oath. The only reason for the prophet to make this solemn invocation, as he takes the stand, is to witness to the Lord God who lives. It is only the God of Israel who has power over the heavens to make it rain. God has already told his people in the wilderness:

"And if you will obey my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you shall eat and be full. Take heed lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, and the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there be no rain, and the land yield no fruit, and you perish quickly off the good land which the Lord gives you." (Dt 11: 13-17).

Elijah, in uttering this initial prophetic oath, is telling the people to "take heed" and to return to the Lord their God before it is too late. The drought is a mercy. It is a sign that something is wrong. The people will only look to heaven when they realize that it has been shut to them. Then they will ask the prophet to pray and the rains will come…