1 Kings 18:1-15 slowly and repeatedly.
The main content of the text: After three years, God promised rain and had Elijah go to Ahab. On his way, the prophet meets Obadiah, who fears God.
Verse 1 God puts Elijah, who had been secluded in Zarephath, back on the center stage. The abundance of flour and oil provided by God in a safe place where Ahab cannot find it (verse 10) is said to last “until the day it rains on the earth” (17:14). Elijah must once again embark on a dangerous mission. Before the drought ends, there must be no room for debate about who will end drought .
Verses 3, 4, 12, 13 Obadiah, as his name suggests, is the ‘servant of Jehovah’ and the ‘servant’ of Elijah (verses 7, 9), as well as the ‘man in charge of the royal palace’ (verse 3) and he is also a person who serves of Ahab as ‘Lord’ (verse 10). Although he was caught between Baal and God, and between Ahab and Elijah, he knew who his true master was, and lived in obedience to the will of the Lord who made him a powerful person in the royal palace. When Jezebel was massacring the prophets, she boldly used her power and wealth to save a hundred prophets. Today, we serve the god of abundance as much as in Ahab’s time, aren’t we lost between two masters?
Verses 5, 6 Ahab and Jezebel, who brought about the famine of the Word by seeking out and killing God’s prophets throughout the country, are still wandering in search of a source of water, even though the three-year famine exposed the falsehood of Baalism. Although he is not concerned about the safety of his people, he searches for water and grass to feed his horses and mules. If they do not know that the ‘source of water’ is God and only seek the wrong path, their wandering will never end.
Verses 7-15 When Elijah asks to meet Ahab, Obadiah becomes worried. If Elijah, who declared a drought and went into hiding, disappears again, Obadiah will be executed for making a false report. Moreover, for Obadiah, who had hidden and cared for a hundred prophets, to place the prophet Elijah before Ahab would have been the same as denying his own mission. However, just like the widow of Zarephath, Obadiah will also obey the prophet’s commands with faith, and through this, he will see the work of God, the source of life.
Community Prayer – Lord, help us live in fear of God like Obadiah, who kept his faith even under Ahab.
Prayer for the Nations – The number of executions worldwide in 2022 will be the highest since 2017. Let us pray that the death penalty will not be used for the purposes of repression and oppression, mostly in the Middle East and North Africa.