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Many days passed away; and then
God told Elijah, that very soon he would send rain on the earth; and He
commanded him to go and tell this to Ahab. Was Elijah afraid to go
to the wicked king? No; the prophet obeyed God without fear, for he
knew God could keep him safely if He pleased. There
was a dreadful famine at this time in Samaria, where Ahab lived. All
the people and animals were dying for want of food. The king called
Obadiah, his servant, and said, "Go now, and seek for grass by the
brooks and fountains; perhaps there may be a little to save our poor
horses and mules alive." So Obadiah left Samaria, and went
through the land, to seek for grass. Obadiah was a good man; he was
not like his wicked master. Obadiah served the Lord. When he
was very young, he began to love God; and he prayed to be kept from all
the wicked idolatry he saw in Ahab's house. God heard the prayer of
Obadiah. He taught him to do right, and to serve and honor
Him. When Ahab and Jezebel tried to kill all God's holy prophets,
Obadiah took those good men, and hid them in a cave, and fed them with
bread and water, and kept them safely from the cruel king. Obadiah
often felt very unhappy when he saw how wicked the king and queen were; it
was sad for him to live in such a family; but Obadiah had another master
and king in Heaven, who helped him in all his troubles and
difficulties. If we are, at any time, with wicked people, we should
try to be like holy Obadiah: and ask God, as he did, to help us to
do right, and to honor Him in all things. Obadiah
went alone to obey Ahab's command, but he trusted in God, and God soon
comforted him. Obadiah saw a man coming to meet him. When the
man came near, Obadiah looked at him, and remembered him directly.
Who was it? It was Elijah the prophet; and when Obadiah saw him, he
was very glad, and fell down respectfully before him, and said, "Art
thou my lord Elijah?" He told him what he had done to the good
men whom Jezebel tried to kill; and how much he loved the God whom Elijah
loved. Then the prophet desired Obadiah to go to Ahab, and say that
Elijah was come. Obadiah was afraid at first. He thought that
perhaps Elijah would go away again, and then Ahab might be very angry, and
kill him. But Elijah said, "Do not fear, I will not go away; I
will show myself to Ahab to-day." So Obadiah went, and told the
king, and Ahab came to meet Elijah. Ahab hated Elijah very much; and
when he saw him, he said, "Art thou the man that troubles
Israel?" But Elijah answered, "I do not trouble Israel; I
teach the people what is right; but thou troublest the people, because
thou hast disobeyed God's commands, and hast served Baal. Now send,
and gather together the prophets of Baal, 450 of them; let them all come
to mount Carmel." Ahab did as Elijah said; and all the wicked
prophets came to Carmel; Elijah was there too, and very many of the people
of Israel. Then Elijah spoke to the people, and said, "Choose
to-day whom you wish to serve. If Baal is the true God, obey Baal;
but if not, obey God, the God of Israel." The people made no
answer. Then Elijah said, "We will try now, and see who is the
true God. Let Baal's prophets build an altar, and offer a bullock in
sacrifice, and put no fire under. Then I, the Lord's prophet, will
build an altar, and offer a bullock in sacrifice, and put no fire
under. You shall pray to Baal, and I will pray to the Lord; and the
God who sends down fire on the sacrifice, he shall be the true
God." All the people said, "Yes, let us try."
So Baal's prophets built the altar, and put a bullock upon it, and prayed
Baal to send fire upon the sacrifice. But Baal could not hear.
He was but an idol, without power to answer prayer. Then the
prophets cried louder, and said, "O Baal, hear us." But
still there was no voice, no answer. Then the foolish prophets cried
again, and cut themselves with knives, till they were all covered with
blood. They thought this might make Baal attend to them. But
no; no fire came, no answer, no voice. When it was evening, and they
were all tired of waiting so long, Elijah called them, and said,
"Come to me." Then he built up the altar of God, and took
another bullock, and put it upon the altar, and poured water upon it, and
prayed to the Lord, the true God. He asked God to teach the people
that He alone had power to hear prayer, and to send fire from
Heaven. And did God hear? Yes, the fire fell from Heaven, when
Elijah prayed; it burnt the sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and
dried up the water upon the altar; and all the people saw it, and cried
"The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God." Then
Elijah commanded that all the wicked prophets should be taken; and he
brought them to the brook Kishon, and killed them there. It was sad
to put all these wicked men to death; but it was God's command. They
deserved to die, for they had taught Israel to sin. The people now
saw who was the true, the only God. There
are many people now, in distant countries, who worship idols such as
Baal. They do not know the true God, for they have no Bible to teach
them about Him. Let us be thankful that we know the true God, the
God of Elijah, who will always hear and answer His people's prayers; and
let us ask God to send missionaries and Bibles to the poor ignorant
heathen, to teach them to know Him too.
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