The Bible Story Part 187

And she said, "As the Lord thy G.o.d liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in the barrel, and a little oil in the cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

And Elijah said unto her, "Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it forth unto me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, 'The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.'"

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And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah.

And it came to pa.s.s after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with thee, O thou man of G.o.d? thou art come unto me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son!"

And he said to her, "Give me thy son."

And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the chamber, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, and said, "O Lord my G.o.d, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?"

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said, "O Lord my G.o.d, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again."

And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother: and Elijah said, "See, thy son liveth."

And the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that thou art a man of G.o.d, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth."

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_How the Prophets of Baal Were Tested, and Failed-- How the Lord Answered Elijah in Fire--How the Great Drought Was at Last Broken_.

And it came to pa.s.s after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth."

And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And the famine was sore in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: for, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land, to all the fountains of water, and to all the brooks: perhaps we may find gra.s.s and save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts."

So they divided the land between them to pa.s.s throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is it thou, my lord Elijah?"

And he answered him, "It is I: go, tell thy lord, 'Behold, Elijah is here.'"

And he said, "Wherein have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? As the Lord thy G.o.d liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, 'He is not here,' he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

ROCK OF ELIJAH'S ALTAR ON MOUNT CARMEL AND OUTLOOK NORTH OVER PLAIN OF ESDRAELON.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

But it is as sanctuary that the long hill of Carmel is best remembered in history. In its separation from other hills, its position on the sea, its visibleness from all quarters of the country; in its uselessness for war or traffic; in its profusion of flowers, its high platforms and groves with their glorious prospects of land and sea, Carmel must have been a place of retreat and of wors.h.i.+p from the earliest times. It was claimed for Baal; but, even before Elijah's day, an altar had stood upon it for Jehovah. About this altar--as on a spot whose sanct.i.ty they equally felt--the rival faiths met in that contest, in which for most of us all the history of Carmel consists.

It is not without interest to know that the awful debate, whether Jehovah or Baal was supreme lord of the elements, was fought out for a full day in face of one of the most sublime prospects of earth and sea and heaven. Before him, who stands on Carmel, nature rises in a series of great stages from sea to Alp: the Mediterranean, the long coast to north and south, with its hot sands and palms; Esdraelon covered with wheat, Tabor and the lower hills of Galilee with their oaks,--then, over the barer peaks of Upper Galilee and the haze that is about them, the clear snow of Hermon, hanging like an only cloud in the sky. It was in face of that miniature universe that the Deity who was Character was vindicated as Lord against the deity who was not. It was over all that realm that the rain swept up at the call of the same G.o.d who exposed the injustice of the tyrant and avenged the wrongs of Naboth.

[End ill.u.s.tration]

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"And now thou sayest, 'Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.' And it shall come to pa.s.s, 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 show myself to him to-day."

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah. And it came to pa.s.s, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?"

And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baal. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table."

So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long halt ye {120} between two opinions? if the Lord be G.o.d, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him." And the people answered him not a word.

Then said Elijah to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under. And call ye on the name of your G.o.d, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the G.o.d that answereth by fire, let him be G.o.d."

And all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."

And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your G.o.d, but put no fire under."

And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us."

But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about the altar which was made. And it came to pa.s.s at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, "Cry aloud: for he is a G.o.d; either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is in a journey, or perhaps he sleepeth, and must be awaked."

And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out {121} upon them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

And Elijah said unto all the people, "Come near unto me"; and all the people came near unto him.

And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was thrown down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench about the altar. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, "Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood."

And he said, "Do it the second time"; and they did it the second time.

And he said, "Do it the third time"; and they did it the third time.

And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pa.s.s at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, "O Lord, the G.o.d of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art G.o.d in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Lord, art G.o.d, and that thou hast turned their heart back again."

Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt {122} offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, "The Lord, he is G.o.d; the Lord, he is G.o.d."

And Elijah said to them, "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape." And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. And Elijah said unto Ahab, "Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.';

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea."

And he went up and looked; and said, "There is nothing."

And he said, "Go again seven times."

And it came to pa.s.s at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, there ariseth a cloud out of the sea, as small as a man's hand."

And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Make ready thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.'"

And it came to pa.s.s in a little while, that the heaven grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

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_How Elijah, Threatened by Queen Jezebel, Lost Courage.

How He Made a Long Journey to Hear G.o.d Speak_.