so I have started into the life of elijah. it’s awesome.
His first appearance is showing up in the presence of Ahab the king, and he says “there will be no rain in the land until I give the word.” and then he disappears. Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, worshipped Baal, who was thought to be the god of rain and fertility. And Elijah shows up and proclaims his power is greater than that of Baal. I was trying to think of modern-day gods and kings and rulers, and what the modern equivalent of this would be. What if a guy showed up at the UN annual assembly, or at OPEC, and said, “There will be no more oil except by my word.”
no details, no threats, no explanation.
There will be no more oil from the earth until I give the word.
And then he disappears off the map.
I mentioned that to one of my friends, and he said, “the world would be thrown into total chaos, people would starve, it would be horrible.” And that is exactly what was happening in the kingdom of Ahab.
No water means intense famine. No food, no cleansing, increased disease, and even those that would want to continue various Jewish ceremonies wouldn’t be able to do them.
Talk about a wake up call. It is no wonder that Obidiah had to hide the Lord’s prophets and all of Israel showed up to see Elijah vs. the priests of Baal. They knew it was going to be a serious power play.