The days of drought are numbered

"…that I might send rain…"

The drought has stretched out for some time. The text notes: "Long afterward, in the third year…" Three years is a long time to go without water. The narrative explains that "the famine in Samaria was severe." Perhaps after so much time and all the hardship the drought has caused, King Ahab will be ready to listen and be more docile to Elijah and his call to conversion. God is ready to provide relief. He wants to send rain over the land. Everything is dying or has died. The Lord God has demonstrated his power over Baal in his own domain. The Lord rules over the heavens. Only the God of Israel can make it rain and give life to the parched earth. Baal is being cast down.

Furthermore, Jezebel is furious about the rebellion that Elijah has incited against the cult of Baal. She hunts down the prophets of the Lord and slaughters them in an attempt to cow the rival party into submission. In the meantime, Elijah has effectively disappeared. It is remarkable that he has remained hidden in Zarephath, a town so near to the borders of Israel. He must have spent much of his time in reclusion in the room reserved for him in the household of the Widow.

It is now time for Elijah to leave his solitude

The word of the Lord comes to the prophet. God commands him: "Go, present yourself to Ahab…" It is a mission of mercy. Although Israel has not yet repented, God takes the initiative and extends his mercy to his people. Words from the mouth of Hosea speak of God's compassion and will help us understand God's present move towards his sinful nation:

"How could I give you up, Ephraim, or deliver you up, Israel? How could I treat you as Admah, or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I will not destroy Ephraim again; For I am God and not a man, the Holy One present among you; I will not come in wrath." (Hos 11:8).

God's love is stronger than Israel's sin. His love holds on and will not let go of his firstborn, the son he brought out of Egypt. He calls his people Ephraim, a term of endearment, which recalls the blessings bestowed upon Joseph and his sons. The Lord will not deliver up his people. The heart of the Lord is overwhelmed and his pity stirred. Pity translates the word nihumim in Hebrew. It could also mean comfort or comforting. In the RSV it is translated as compassion. The root word in Hebrew is nhm a verb which means to regret; to be sorry; to console oneself; comfort. It seems as if God, witnessing the suffering caused by the drought, regrets and is sorry for the punishment placed upon Ahab and his kingdom. It is as if his mercy acts against his justice. God is now ready to console and to comfort.

Benedict XVI explains that God's love for man is totally agape. The reason is that it is given freely in a completely gratuitous manner, without any previous merit, but it is also a love which forgives. Commenting on the verse from the prophet Hosea, the holy father writes that Israel committed "adultery" in her idolatry and broke covenant with God which means that the Lord should judge and repudiate her. This is where God shows himself to be unlike man. In his forgiving love, God reveals himself to be God and not man:

"God’s passionate love for his people—for humanity—is at the same time a forgiving love. It is so great that it turns God against himself, his love against his justice. Here Christians can see a dim prefigurement of the mystery of the Cross: so great is God’s love for man that by becoming man he follows him even into death, and so reconciles justice and love."
[Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, #10 (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2005).]

Once again, God is ready to present himself to Ahab in the person of his prophet Elijah. The scene is being set for the final confrontation between the Lord and Baal - between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The message from the Lord to the king and to Israel is: "I want to send rain… I want to bring relief to your suffering." Implicit in the text is a plea: "turn to me and be healed." Will they hear or will the heart of the people be sluggish, their ears dull, and their eyes closed? (cf. Is 6:10).

The Return of Elijah

Elijah is ready to correspond with God. There is no resentment towards Ahab, only a willingness to present himself once more to the king. The prophet could have been quite disagreeable in his forced exile. And yet, all that mattered to him was obedience to the word of the Lord. While Elijah found himself in the home of a widow in a foreign land, Ahab sought him desperately. What resulted was a veritable manhunt. I imagine notices for his arrest being posted in every public place. Perhaps, running a bit like the following:

Wanted Dead or Alive

Elijah the Prophet

At Large and Dangerous

Reward for his Capture

As Elijah makes his return, he encounters the figure of Obadiah - a powerful political figure in the kingdom of Ahab, second perhaps only to the king as the master of the royal palace. We are told that he greatly revered the Lord and used his influence to protect God's prophets from Jezebel, hiding a hundred of these faithful servants to the Lord by fifties in caves, also supplying them with food and water. We can only imagine the difficulty and the risks to which Obadiah subjected himself. His life would have been forfeit had Jezebel discovered his efforts to protect these men.

In the present scene of the narrative, Obadiah and Ahab are out on a joint expedition searching for grazing lands in which to pasture the king's livestock which were dying from the effects of the drought and the famine. Of note is that the king takes extreme care for his horses and mules in the stated conditions. We might ask, what about the people? Don't they need food and water? This self-concern will lead to Ahab's doom in the future during the Naboth affair. For now, Obadiah and Ahab divide the territory and explore separate regions of Israel. Obadiah meets Elijah as he goes his way. The meeting, like Elijah's initial confrontation with Ahab, is both sudden and abrupt. Obadiah, despite the dignity of his office and in his surprise, falls prostrate. We can hear the gratitude in his discovery of the man of God when he asks, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" We can hear relief in the voice of Obadiah… recognizing Elijah he falls to the ground before him in an act of humble submission.

Elijah is here

The relief quickly passes and changes to anxiety as Elijah charges Obadiah with the task of returning to his master Ahab to inform the king of his return. Elijah responding to Obadiah's question "is it you?…" says: Yes. Go tell your lord, 'Elijah is here!' The statement is somewhat provocative: Elijah is here! The tension of the text reinforces the effect of Elijah's words. In the Hebrew there is a wordplay hinneh 'eliyahu. The sentence means both "Elijah is here," and "Behold, YHWH is my God." (NABRE, 1 Kgs 18:8, footnote). Elijah is informing Ahab that he has arrived and that the Lord is his God! The Lord is on his side as he presents himself before Ahab. Elijah does not waste words. He says everything at once. The line in the sand is already being drawn.

Obadiah hesitates because Ahab has been searching high and low for the prophet throughout the years of the drought. The king's servant explains: "As the Lord, your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you." Ahab even made these nations swear an oath that they themselves had not found Elijah the prophet within the confines of their kingdoms. To break such an oath could have led to armed conflict. Elijah's whereabouts was a matter of State - the most important business of the king. Obadiah is worried that the Spirit of the Lord will carry Elijah away as he informs the king of the return, only infuriating Ahab further in his fruitless search for the wanted prophet (in the event that Elijah would slip away once more). Elijah reassures Obadiah with an oath: "As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, I will present myself today." There is no more running from Ahab. It is time to confront the king and bring the matter of Israel's faith in the Lord to a resolution. Carmel is the next stop…

Elijah returns, with Obadiah, to confront King Ahab a second time (cf. 1 Kgs 18). In the background on the right we see Obadiah falling prostrate as he greets the man of God.

elijah… sending signals? of what?

The return of Elijah signals God's return to his people. God withdrew the gift of rain to punish the infidelity of Israel. Now God desires to relieve their suffering. The Lord makes himself present in the return of his prophet to the land of Israel. Elijah comes as much needed relief. Returning to the moment that Obadiah discovers Elijah, we recall his gratitude for the prophet's sudden reappearance. The name Obadiah in Hebrew means "worshiper or servant of the Lord." Obadiah represents the few who had remained faithful to the Lord in this time of apostasy and trial. There were also the hundred prophets that Obadiah rescued from Jezebel. When Elijah, on Mount Horeb, despairs of his efforts to convert the people, God informs him that he is not the only one left among Israel who had remained true. God states that there were seven thousand who did not bend the knee to Baal or kiss him with the mouth. God would spare them from the avenging swords of Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. Obadiah and this small group of believers are the remnant of Israel. They are the faithful minority who refused to apostatize along with the majority. They are the few who will escape divine judgment. God brings relief to the kingdom of Ahab on their behalf. It is also for the faithful few that God shows his favor and protection. Elijah is sent for their sake. The Lord will not abandon the remnant. The faithful few can say with Elijah as he presents himself to Ahab: "Behold, YHWH is my God!"