Forgetting God, Elijah ran on and on, until he found himself in a dreary wasteland, alone. Bone weary, he sat down to rest under a juniper tree and requested that he might die: “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” His spirit was crushed by bitter disappointment, and he wanted never again to look on a human face. At last, exhausted, he fell asleep. Times of keen disappointment and discouragement come to everyone—days when it is hard to believe that God is still kind, days when troubles follow us till death seems preferable to life. Then many lose their hold on God and become slaves of doubt and unbelief. At such times, if we could unravel the meaning of God’s leadings, we would see angels seeking to save us from ourselves, working to plant our feet on a firm foundation; and new faith, new life, would spring into being. In his trouble and darkness faithful Job declared:  “May the day perish on which I was born.”  “Oh, that I might ha...

 Elijah should not have run. He should have met Jezebel’s threat with an appeal for protection to the One who had commissioned him. He should have told the messenger that the God in whom he trusted would protect him against the queen’s hatred. If he had made God his refuge and strength, he would have been shielded from harm. The Lord would have sent His judgments on Jezebel, and the impression made on king and people would have brought about a great reformation. Elijah had hoped that after the miracle on Mount Carmel Jezebel would no longer have influence over Ahab and that reform would come quickly to all Israel. All day on Carmel he had gone without food. Yet when he guided the chariot of Ahab to Jezreel, his courage was strong despite the physical strain. But a reaction frequently follows high faith and glorious success. Elijah feared that the reformation begun might not be lasting, and depression seized him. In this time of discouragement, with Jezebel’s threat sounding in his ...

 At the gate of Jezreel, Elijah and Ahab separated. The prophet, choosing to remain outside the walls, wrapped himself in his cloak and lay down on the bare earth to sleep. The king soon reached the shelter of his palace and reported to his wife the events of the day. As Ahab told about how the idolatrous prophets had been killed, Jezebel, hardened and unrepentant, became infuriated. She refused to recognize the overruling hand of God and, still defiant, boldly declared that Elijah must die. That night a messenger awoke the weary prophet and delivered the word of Jezebel: “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” It would seem that after showing such unfailing courage, and after triumphing so completely over king and priests and people, Elijah could never afterward give way to discouragement or become frightened and timid. But in this dark hour his faith and courage forsook him. Bewildered, he was s...

 This chapter is based on 1 Kings 18:41-46; 19:1-8. With the prophets of Baal killed, the way was opened for a mighty spiritual reformation. The judgments of Heaven had been executed. The people had confessed their sins and acknowledged the God of their fathers. Now the curse was to be withdrawn and the land refreshed with rain. “Go up, eat and drink,” Elijah said to Ahab, “for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” Then the prophet went to the top of the mountain to pray. He saw no clouds in the heavens; he heard no thunder. All that day he had revealed his complete confidence in God’s word, and now he knew that Heaven would bestow the blessings predicted. The same God who had sent the drought had promised rain as the reward of rightdoing. In humility, Elijah pleaded with God in behalf of repentant Israel. Again and again he sent his servant to a point overlooking the Mediterranean, to see whether there was any visible evidence that God had heard his prayer. Each time the serva...

 But the priests of Baal refused to repent, even in their defeat and in the presence of divine glory. They would still remain the prophets of Baal. In this they showed themselves ripe for destruction. To protect repentant Israel from those who taught them to worship Baal, the Lord directed Elijah to destroy these false teachers. The people’s anger had already been aroused, and when Elijah gave the command, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” they were ready to obey. They took them to the brook Kishon, and there, before the close of the day that marked the beginning of decisive reform, the ministers of Baal were killed.

 No sooner had the prayer of Elijah ended than flames of fire, like flashes of lightning, descended from heaven on the altar, devouring the sacrifice, licking up the water in the trench, and consuming even the stones of the altar. The brilliance of the blaze illuminated the mountain and dazzled the eyes of the multitude. In the valleys below, where many were watching, they could clearly see the fire descend, and all were amazed at the sight. The people on the mountain threw themselves to the ground. They dared not continue to look on the Heaven-sent fire. Convicted of their duty to acknowledge the God of Elijah as the God of their fathers, they cried out with one voice, “he Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” The cry resounded over the mountain and echoed in the plain below. At last Israel was awakened, undeceived, and repentant. At last the people saw how greatly they had dishonored God. The character of Baal worship stood fully revealed, in contrast with the reasonable service...

 Evening drew on. The prophets of Baal were weary, faint, and confused. One suggested one thing, and another suggested something else, until finally in despair they withdrew from the contest. All day long the people had witnessed the baffled priests’ wild leaping around the altar, as if they would grasp the burning rays of the sun to serve their purpose. The people had looked with horror on their self-inflicted mutilations and had reflected on the follies of idol worship. Many were tired of the exhibitions of demonism and now waited with deep interest to see what Elijah would do. At the hour of the evening sacrifice, Elijah invited the people, “Come near to me.” He turned to the broken-down altar where once Israel had worshiped the God of heaven, and he repaired it. To him this heap of ruins was more precious than all the magnificent altars of the heathen world. Choosing “twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, ... he built an altar in the name of...

 The people answered not a word. Not one in that vast assembly dared to reveal loyalty to Jehovah. Deception and blindness had overspread Israel, not all at once but gradually. Each departure from rightdoing, each refusal to repent, had deepened their guilt and driven them further from Heaven. And now, in this crisis, they persisted in refusing to take their stand for God. The Lord hates indifference in a time of crisis. With inexpressible interest the whole universe is watching the closing scenes of the great controversy between good and evil. What can be more important to the people of God than to be loyal to the God of heaven? All through the ages, God has had moral heroes, and He has them now—those who, like Joseph, Elijah, and Daniel, are not ashamed to identify themselves as His distinct people. His special blessing accompanies men and women of action, those who will not swerve from duty, but who will inquire, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” (Exodus 32:26, NRSV)—people who will ...

 This chapter is based on 1 Kings 18:19-40. Standing before Ahab, Elijah commanded, “Send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” Ahab obeyed at once, as if the prophet were monarch and the king his subject. He sent swift messengers with the summons. In every town and village the people prepared to assemble at the appointed time. As they journeyed toward the place, a strange dread filled the hearts of many. Why this summons to gather at Carmel? What new disaster was about to fall? Mount Carmel had been a place of beauty, its streams fed from never-failing springs and its fertile slopes covered with flowers and flourishing groves. But now its beauty withered under a curse. The altars to Baal and Ashtoreth stood in leafless groves. On the summit of one of the highest ridges was the broken-down altar of Jehovah. Carmel’s heights were visible from many parts of the k...

 Today there is need of the voice of stern rebuke, for terrible sins have separated the people from God. Unbelief is fashionable. “We will not have this Man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14) is the language of thousands. The smooth sermons often preached make no lasting impression; the trumpet does not give a certain sound. The people are not cut to the heart by the plain, sharp truths of God’s Word. Many say, What need is there of speaking so plainly? They might as well ask, Why did John the Baptist have to provoke the anger of Herodias by telling Herod that it was unlawful for him to live with his brother’s wife? The forerunner of Christ lost his life by his plain speaking. This is how those who should be guardians of God’s law have argued, till expediency has taken the place of faithfulness and sin is allowed to go unrebuked. When will the voice of faithful rebuke be heard once more in the church? “You are the man!” 2 Samuel 12:7. Words as plain as these that Nathan spoke to David ...

 The king and the prophet stood face to face. In the presence of  Elijah, Ahab seemed weak and powerless. In his first faltering words, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” he unconsciously revealed the inmost feelings of his heart and tried to blame the prophet for the heavy judgments resting on the land. It is natural for the wrongdoer to hold the messengers of God responsible for the disasters that come as the result of departing from the way of righteousness. When the mirror of truth is held up before those in Satan’s power, they become offended at receiving reproof. Blinded by sin, they feel that God’s servants have turned against them and are worthy of severest criticism. Standing in conscious innocence, Elijah made no attempt to excuse himself or to flatter the king. Nor did he seek to evade the king’s anger by the good news that the drought was almost over. Indignant, and jealous for the honor of God, he fearlessly declared to the king that it was his sins, and the sin...

 At last “the word of the Lord came to Elijah ..., saying, ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.’” In obedience to the command, Elijah set out on his journey. About this time Ahab suggested to Obadiah, who was in charge of his household, that they search for springs and brooks in the hope of finding pasture for their starving flocks. Deeply concerned over the outlook for his household, the king decided to unite personally with his servant in a search for some favored spots where pasture might still exist. “Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.” “As Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, ‘Is that you, my lord Elijah?’” During the apostasy of Israel, Obadiah had remained faithful. The king had been unable to turn him from his allegiance to the living God. Now Elijah honored him with a commission: “Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’” Terrified, Obadiah exc...

 Through the long years of famine, Elijah prayed earnestly and waited patiently while the hand of the Lord lay heavily on the stricken land. As he saw suffering and need on every side, his heart filled with sorrow, and he longed to bring about a reformation quickly. But God was working out His plan, and His servant was to pray on and await the time for action. The apostasy in Ahab’s day resulted from many years of evildoing. Step by step Israel had been departing from the right way, and at last  the great majority had yielded themselves to the powers of darkness. About a century had passed since Israel, under King David, had united in hymns of praise to the Most High in recognition that they depended entirely on Him for daily mercies. Then they had sung: O God of our salvation, ... You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepar...

 God wonderfully rewarded her faith and generosity. “She and he  and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.” “After these things ... the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, ... ‘Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?’ “And he said to her, ‘Give me your son.’ So he ... carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ... And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord. ... Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. “And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, ‘See, your son lives!’ Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now by...

 This chapter is based on 1 Kings 17:8-24; 18:1-18. For many months God miraculously provided Elijah with food in his mountain hiding place by the brook Cherith. When the brook dried up because of the continued drought, God told His servant: “Arise, go to Zarephath [known in New Testament times as Sarepta]. ... See, I have commanded a widow woman there to provide for you.” This woman was not an Israelite. She had never had the privileges that the chosen people of God had enjoyed, but she was a believer in the true God and had walked in all the light shining on her pathway. And now, when there was no safety for Elijah in Israel, God sent him to this woman to find refuge in her home. “So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink. ... Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’” In this poverty-stricken home the famin...

 The second year passed, and still the merciless heavens gave no sign of rain. Fathers and mothers were forced to see their children die. Yet apostate Israel seemed unable to detect in their suffering a call to repentance, a divine intervention to save them from taking the fatal step beyond the boundary of Heaven’s forgiveness. Israel’s apostasy was an evil more dreadful than all the horrors of famine. God was trying to help His people recover their lost faith, and He had to bring great affliction on them. “‘Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the Lord God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live?’” “‘I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn and live!’” Ezekiel 18:23, 32. God had sent messengers to Israel, with appeals to return to their loyalty. But they had only become angry with the messengers, and now they regarded the prophet Elijah with intense hatred. If only he would fall into their hands, g...

 Against the assurances of hundreds of idol-worshiping priests, the prophecy of Elijah stood alone: If Baal could still give dew and rain, then let the king of Israel worship him and the people say that he is God. Determined to keep the people in deception, the priests of Baal continued to call on their gods night and day to refresh the earth. With a zeal and perseverance worthy of a better cause they lingered alongside their pagan altars and night after night prayed earnestly for rain. But no clouds appeared in the heavens, no dew or rain refreshed the thirsty earth. A year passed. The scorching heat of the sun destroyed what little vegetation had survived. Streams dried up, and moaning herds and bleating flocks wandered in distress. Once-flourishing fields became like desert sands. The forest trees, gaunt skeletons of nature, afforded no shade. Dust storms blinded the eyes and nearly stopped the breath. Hunger and thirst affected people and animals with fearful mortality. Famine,...

  This chapter is based on 1 Kings 17:1-7. Among the mountains east of Jordan there lived a man of faith and prayer whose fearless ministry was to stop the rapid spread of apostasy. Though he occupied no high position in life, Elijah entered on his mission confident that God would give him abundant success. His was the voice of one crying in the wilderness to rebuke sin and press back the tide of evil. And, while he came as a reprover of sin, his message offered comfort to sin-sick souls. As Elijah saw Israel going deeper into idolatry, he became indignant. God had done great things for His people “that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws.” Psalm 105:45. But unbelief was quickly separating the chosen nation from the Source of their strength. Viewing this apostasy from his mountain home, in anguish of soul Elijah called for God to stop the people in their wicked course, to bring judgments on them if need be, that they might come to repentance. Elijah’s prayer was answe...

 Two years before the death of Asa, Ahab began to rule in Israel. From the beginning a strange, terrible apostasy characterized his reign. He“did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him,” acting “as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” 1 Kings 16:33, 31. He boldly led the people into the grossest heathenism. Having married Jezebel, “the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians” and high priest of Baal, Ahab “served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal  in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.” Verses 31, 32. Under the leadership of Jezebel, Ahab set up heathen altars in many “high places,” until nearly all Israel followed after Baal. “There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.” 1 Kings 21:25. Ahab’s marriage with an idol-worshiping woman brought d...

 The opposing armies now stood face to face. It was a time of test and trial to those who served the Lord. Had they confessed every sin? Did Judah have full confidence in God’s power to deliver? From every human viewpoint the huge force from Egypt would sweep everything before it. But in time of peace Asa had not been giving himself to amusements and pleasure; he had been preparing for any emergency. He had an army trained for conflict, and he had tried to lead his people to make peace with God. Now his faith did not weaken. Having sought the Lord in prosperity, the king could now rely on Him in adversity. “It is nothing for You to help,” he pleaded, “whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude.” Verse 11. God rewarded King Asa’s faith dramatically. “The Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ... They were broken before the Lord and His army.” Verses ...

 During the greater part of this time, Asa was ruling in Judah. He “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and ... commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. ... And the kingdom was quiet under him.” 2 Chronicles 14:2-5. The faith of Asa was put to a severe test when “Zerah the Ethiopian ... with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots” invaded his kingdom. Verse 9. In this crisis Asa did not put his trust in the “fortified cities in Judah” that he had built, with “walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars,” nor in the “mighty men of valor” in his army. Verses 6-8. The king’s trust was in Jehovah. Setting his forces in battle array, he sought the help of God.

 From Jeroboam’s death to Elijah’s appearance before Ahab, Israel experienced a steady spiritual decline. The majority of the people rapidly lost sight of their duty to serve the living God and adopted practices of idol worship. Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, who occupied the throne of Israel for a few months, was suddenly killed with all his relatives in the line of succession, “according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin.” 1 Kings 15:29, 30. The idolatrous worship that Jeroboam had introduced brought the judgments of Heaven, and yet the rulers who followed—Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri—continued the same fatal course of evildoing.

 Toward the close of a troubled reign of twenty-two years, Jeroboam met with disastrous defeat in a war with Abijah, the successor of Rehoboam. “Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the Lord struck him, and he died.” 2 Chronicles 13:20. The apostasy introduced during Jeroboam’s reign finally resulted in the utter ruin of the kingdom of Israel. Even before the death of Jeroboam, Ahijah, the aged prophet who many years before had predicted Jeroboam’s elevation to the throne, declared: “The Lord will ... uproot Israel out of this good land. ... And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.” 1 Kings 14:15, 16. Yet the Lord did all He could to lead Israel back to allegiance to Him. Through long, dark years when ruler after ruler boldly defied Him, God sent message after message to His backslidden people. Through His prophets He gave them every opportunity to return to Him. Elijah and Elisha would live and la...

 The prophet was about to return to Judea, when Jeroboam said to him, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” “If you were to give me half your house,” the prophet replied, “I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’” 1 Kings 13:7-9. While traveling home by another route, the prophet was overtaken by an aged man who claimed to be a prophet but who lied to him: “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” Again and again he repeated the lie until the man of God was persuaded to return. God permitted the prophet to suffer the penalty of transgression. While he and the one who had invited him were sitting together at the table, the false prophet “cried o...

 The king had boldly defied God in setting aside His appointed worship, and God did not allow this to pass without rebuke. During the dedication of the strange altar at Bethel, a man of God from Judah appeared before the king, sent to denounce him for daring to introduce new forms of worship. The prophet  “cried out against the altar ..., and said, ... ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ “And he gave a sign the same day, saying, ‘This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.’” Immediately the altar “was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.” 1 Kings 13:2, 3, 5. On seeing this, Jeroboam attempted to restrain the one who had delivered the message. In ang...

 Under Solomon’s rulership, Jeroboam had shown ability and sound judgment. His years of faithful service fitted him to rule with wisdom. But Jeroboam failed to trust in God. His greatest fear was that his subjects might be won over by the ruler occupying David’s throne. He reasoned that if the ten tribes often visited the ancient seat of the monarchy, where the temple services were still conducted as in Solomon’s reign, many might renew their allegiance to the government at Jerusalem. He determined to reduce this probability with one bold stroke. Within his newly formed kingdom he would create two centers of worship, one at Bethel, the other at Dan. He would invite the ten tribes to worship God in these places instead of at Jerusalem. In arranging this transfer, Jeroboam thought to appeal to the imagination of the Israelites by some visible object to symbolize the presence of the invisible God. He placed two calves of gold in shrines at the centers of worship. In doing this, he vio...

 But as the nation prospered once more, many turned again to idol worship. Among these was King Rehoboam himself. Forgetting the lesson that God had tried to teach him, he fell back into the sins that had brought judgments on the nation. After a few inglorious years, “Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then Abijah his son reigned in his place.” Verse 16. At times during the centuries that followed, men of moral worth occupied the throne of David. Under their rulership the blessings resting on Judah extended to the surrounding nations. But no one ever entirely uprooted the seeds of evil already springing up when Rehoboam ascended the throne, and at times the once-favored people of God were to fall so low as to become a symbol of scorn among the heathen. Despite these idol-worshiping practices, God in mercy would do everything in His power to save the divided kingdom from complete ruin. And as the years rolled on and His plan for Israel seemed enti...