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"Behold, Elijah is here"by Wayne Blank Obadiah
"And it came to pass after many days, that the word of The Lord [see also YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD] came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria." (1 Kings 18:1-2 KJV) Despite their being very different, Obadiah was a very close servant of Ahab. During the severe famine of that time, it was the king and his chief servant Obadiah who personally searched for water and grazing land for the king's livestock. Obadiah was at least as familiar with the countryside as the king - he knew it well enough to successfully hide a hundred of the Lord's prophets out there at the same time:
"And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. Now Obadiah feared The Lord greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of The Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water. And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the Horses and Mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself." (1 Kings 18:3-6 KJV) Obadiah's meeting with Elijah reveals the high regard that Obadiah had for Elijah, or rather, for the God that Elijah was also a servant of (see The Spirit and Power of Elijah). Despite his very real and justified concern that it would get him killed, Obadiah faithfully delivered Elijah's message to Ahab, exactly as Elijah instructed him to do:
"And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?" Ahab's response to Elijah was typical of evil-minded people. Ahab accused Elijah of being a "troubler of Israel," when it was their own evil behavior that was bringing God's wrath upon themselves. The meeting ended with an arrangement for a confrontation between Elijah and hundreds of pagan prophets:
"So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah. And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?"
Fact Finder: What was the result of the showdown on Mount Carmel between Elijah and those hundreds of pagan prophets?
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