The Lord sent Elijah into the region of Sidon for most of the first three years of the drought. He has been lodging with a widow and her young son and the Lord has been miraculously providing enough ingredients every day for the three of them to bake bread. But now it's time for Elijah to return to Israel and I feel it's safe to assume the Lord continues providing for the widow and her son after Elijah's departure. No more is said of that little family but I believe the Lord keeps rewarding the woman for the faith she's placed in Him.
"After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 'Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.' So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab." (1 Kings 18:1-2a) In his last meeting with King Ahab of Israel, Elijah warned him of the drought and resulting famine to come. Elijah made it clear to the king that these things were going to happen as a result of the widescale idolatry taking place in the land. The king paid him no mind and the drought came.
The situation in Israel appears to be most dire in the region of Samaria---the capital city where King Ahab built a temple to Baal. The center of idolatrous worship in the land is where the famine is most concentrated. "Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord's prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water.) Ahab had said to Obadiah, 'Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.' So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another." (1 Kings 18:2b-6)
There is a short one-chapter book of the Bible called by the name of a prophet Obadiah but we don't know whether it's the same Obadiah as in our text today. I tend to believe the Obadiah after whom the book is named was a prophet who lived at a later time in Israel's history, perhaps not long before the kingdom was conquered by Assyria, but scholars are divided on their opinion as to which Obadiah (of thirteen Obadiahs mentioned in all) has a book named after him.
The Obadiah of today's passage is a man who is faithful to the Lord. Queen Jezebel hates the prophets of the Lord and has been persecuting them. I think that even before the drought came she wanted the prophets of the Lord dead, likely because they spoke out against the state religion of Baal that she influenced her husband to institute across the land. But now that the drought and famine are here she openly pours out her wrath on these men of God, blaming them for the nation's predicament and gathering supporters for this persecution of the prophets. Obadiah rescued one hundred of the Lord's prophets and has been providing them with the necessities of life. This presented a great risk to his own personal safety, for although he appears to hold a high position in King Ahab's court, we don't know whether Ahab thinks enough of him to spare his life if Jezebel finds out Obadiah is hiding prophets from her. Ahab may be unaware of what Obadiah has done on behalf of the prophets. Or he may be aware of it but has chosen to overlook it and conceal it from his wife since Obadiah is a man whose integrity he trusts without question. It's ironic that the person he's chosen to operate as his right hand man at this time is a servant of the Lord and not a servant of Baal. Whether he acknowledges it in his heart or not, subconsciously Ahab knows Baal worshipers can't be trusted to live by good morals.
"As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, 'Is it really you, my lord Elijah?' 'Yes,' he replied. 'Go tell your master, 'Elijah is here.'" (1 Kings 18:7-8) I think Jezebel has put out a warrant for the arrest and execution of all the prophets, including Elijah---or rather, especially for Elijah. King Ahab is in agreement with her, at least where Elijah is concerned, and he has been seeking Elijah's life. If wanted posters were used in ancient Israel, I think Elijah's poster would have stated that he was "public enemy number one". Obadiah is alarmed when Elijah tells him to inform King Ahab he's back in town.
"'What have I done wrong,' asked Obadiah, 'that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you.'" (1 Kings 18:9-10) Sidon, which is where the Lord has been sheltering Elijah, is probably the place King Ahab least expected Elijah to be. Why would the prophet go to a nation whose god Baal he has thoroughly denounced? The king very well may have sent officials to Sidon to ask around about Elijah but I think they didn't look very hard for him there. Besides that, they wouldn't expect a poor widow woman to be able to provide lodging and food for Elijah, so I think they never even checked around in the lower income areas of the region. But Obadiah fears if he announces to the king that Elijah has returned, the king will ask him why he didn't arrest him or strike him dead when he met up with him, seeing as there is a warrant out for him.
Obadiah continues, "But now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' I don't know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' He will kill me!" (1 Kings 18:11-14) I don't think Obadiah doubts Elijah's word that he's ready to face Ahab. Obadiah believes Elijah intends to speak with the king but he also believes the Lord intends to spare Elijah's life from the king who wants him dead. In Obadiah's mind, this means that Elijah's intentions and the Lord's intentions may be at odds with one another. Obadiah thinks the Lord might choose to remove Elijah from the scene, miraculously if necessary, in order to spare his life. Obadiah doesn't want to tell Ahab that Elijah has returned if Ahab is not going to be able to meet with him. Ahab will take out his anger on Obadiah and put him to death.
Elijah knows his meeting with Ahab is ordained by the Lord. The Lord told him, "Go and present yourself to Ahab," and the Lord intends for this to take place. Elijah assures Obadiah that he isn't going anywhere. "Elijah said, 'As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.'" (1 Kings 18:15) Elijah makes the promise in the name of the Lord. Obadiah knows Elijah would never make a promise in the name of the Lord unless he was absolutely certain the promise would be kept, so he goes and tells the king.
The scene is being set for what is probably the most famous showdowns of the Bible: the one between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. We will begin studying that portion of Scripture in tomorrow's session.
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