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47. Elijah on Mount Carmel.
Meanwhile, the water
shortage and the terrible need in Samaria and throughout Israel
continued to grow. It was already in its third year. In vain the king
sent for the prophet throughout Israel and asked the people on oath
whether they knew anything about him. At last the need became so great
that the king himself went out into the land with Obadiah to seek water
and food for the horses, the king on one road and Obadiah on another.
Then the prophet unexpectedly met the brave Obadiah on his way. ‘Report
me to the king.’ Obadiah told the king that Elijah was there; he had
come by himself. The king said to the prophet: ‘Are you the man who
makes Israel unhappy?’ The hearty prophet replied, ‘It is not I who is
making Israel unhappy, but you and your household, because you have
forsaken the commandments of God and are following idols.’ Elijah asked
the king and all Israel who wanted to go with him, along with the
priests and prophets of the idol, to Mount Carmel, which stands by the
sea. Elijah stood alone against four hundred and fifty prophets of the
idol. But many of the people were quietly inclined towards the prophet
of the god of Abraham. The idol priests sacrificed to the idol. He gave
no sign that he would listen. Elijah sacrificed to the God of his
fathers. He gave a sign. ‘Go now,’ Elijah said to the king, "eat and
drink! For it is already roaring as if it were about to rain." Elijah
then sent his boy to look at the sea. Six times the boy went and looked
and saw nothing. The seventh time he came back and said, ‘A little cloud
is rising at the edge of the sea like the hand of a man.’ Immediately
Elijah said to the king: ‘Get ready and go home, lest the rain overtake
you!’ And before you knew it, the sky was black with clouds and
thunderstorms, and for the first time in a long time a great rain came
and blessed the thirsty earth.
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