1 Kings 18:5,7-16
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…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?
And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.
And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Obadiah’s godliness was recognized by the believers of the day. I feel sure of that, because he said to Elijah, “Was it not told my lord how I hid the Lord’s Prophets?” Obadiah was a little astonished that somebody had not told the Prophet about his deed. Though his act may have been concealed from Jezebel and the Baalites, it was well known among the servants of the living God. It was whispered among them that they had a friend at court—therefore, the Prophets of God felt secure in giving themselves up to his care. They knew that he would not betray them to bloodthirsty Jezebel.
JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): Had not Obadiah greatly feared the Lord, he would not have been able to do this, especially as the case stood with him, and the church, for Jezebel sought to slay all that feared the Lord—Obadiah ventured her displeasure, his place, and neck, and all; and the persecution prevailed so much, that even Elijah thought that she had killed all but himself.
C. H. SPURGEON: I suspect that Elijah did not think very much of Obadiah. He does not treat him with any great consideration, but addresses him more sharply than one would expect from a fellow believer. Elijah seems to ignore Obadiah as if he were of small account in the great struggle. I suppose it was because this Prophet of fire and thunder, this mighty servant of the Most High, set small store by anybody who did not come to the front and fight like he did.
WILLIAM KELLY (1821-1906): Judgment characterizes Elijah’s ministry.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A judgmental attitude is clearly evident in Elijah’s curt manner to Obadiah, as if Elijah thought that Obadiah was trying to serve two masters. When Obadiah falls on his face before him, saying, “Art thou my lord Elijah,” Elijah replies coldly, “I am. Go tell thy lord—Behold, Elijah is here.” Surely Obadiah recognized the tone of rebuke in Elijah’s words, because he asks, “What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?” Then Elijah abruptly dismissed Obadiah by swearing a personal oath to quiet his fears.
WILLIAM N. TOMKINS (1839-1918): Was it wrong of Obadiah to wish not to throw away his life needlessly?
C. H. SPURGEON: Elijah must not deal harshly with Obadiah.
WILLIAM KELLY: He was equally, if not more careful of his own life.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Later, after Elijah slew all Baal’s prophets at Kishon, he told Ahab to get his chariot down from Mount Carmel before the rain stopped him.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): “And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab’s chariot to the entrance of Jezreel,” 1 Kings 18:44-46. In this instance the “hand of the Lord” communicated supernatural strength and fleetness of foot to the Prophet, so that he covered the eighteen miles so swiftly as to overtake and pass the chariot—God then withdrew His strength for the moment, that Elijah might be seen in his native weakness.
EDITOR’S NOTE: When Jezebel sent a message threatening Elijah’s life, his courage instantly deserted him; he fled to the wilderness, and lay under a juniper bush in despair. After an angel strengthened him with “a cake baken on the coals and a cruse of water,” he fled to Mount Horeb: “And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there.” 1 Kings 19:1-9.
J. A. VON POSECK (1816-1896): Was this the place for a prophet of God?
CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): Obadiah hid them in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
A. W. PINK: “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah had turned aside from the path of duty, and his Master knew it.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): That question, “What doest thou here?” can scarcely be freed from a tone of rebuke. A true answer would have been, “I was afraid of Jezebel.”
J. A. VON POSECK: And what was the prophet’s reply to the heart-searching question of his divine Master? Does he humble himself, confessing his want of faithfulness, courage, and faith? No. His language is that of self-elevation and accusing others—Elijah says, “I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away,” 1 Kings 19:10.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN: He forgets the national acknowledgment of Jehovah at Mount Carmel, 1 Kings 18:39; and the hundred prophets protected by good Obadiah.
WILLIAM KELLY: Besides those, there were seven thousand known to God who had not bowed the knee to Baal…Elijah was then instructed to “go forth” from the cave where he had retreated, and stand on the mount before the Lord.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): “And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice,” 1 Kings 19:11,12. These first terrible apparitions might well be to humble the prophet, and to prepare him to hearken more heedfully to the still small voice, and to whatsoever God should say unto him, who could have confounded him, but is content to deal more gently with him: accounting the execution of “judgment”—set forth here by these dreadful representations—“his work, his strange work,” Isaiah 29:21.
C. H. SPURGEON: God will repeat his questions to His people if they have not due effect the first time, for He is very tender, and pitiful, and patient.
J. A. VON POSECK: Again, that voice of longsuffering grace spoke, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” It was the same voice that said in Paradise, “Adam, where art thou?” Alas! Again we hear the same lamentable reply, “I have been very zealous, etc.—and I, even I only am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”—The prophet had learned little or nothing.
JOHN WESLEY (1703-1791): “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are,” James 5:17—naturally as weak and sinful as we are.
WILLIAM KELLY: God, who is as faithful in discipline as in grace, bids Elijah anoint another in his place.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN: God is no respecter of persons.
G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): It is evident that from this time of faith’s failure, Elijah was largely set aside. Only once or twice again does he appear.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again,” Matthew 7:1,2. We see how all flatter themselves, and every man passes a severe censure on others—yet by our own fault we draw upon ourselves that very thing which our nature so strongly detests, for which of us is there, who does not examine too severely the actions of others?
