After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth." So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah revered the Lord greatly; and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals." So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself; and Obadiah went in another direction.
And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him; and Obadiah recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?"
And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your lord, 'Behold, Elijah is here.'"
And he said, "Wherein have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, 'He is not here,' he would take an oath of that kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. And now you say, 'Go, tell your lord, "Behold, Elijah is here."' And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you whither I know not; and so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth. Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? And now you say, 'Go, tell your lord, "Behold, Elijah is here"'; and he will kill me."
And Elijah said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today."
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?"
And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.
2 comments:
The passages about Obadiah (here, next) strike me as among the most tender in scripture. I don’t know why. I know this narrative is policy and economics-laden. Here is a narrative that strikes me as poetry. And tender. Feeding hidden prophets. Hidden prophets surviving on hidden food. Something about it is touching.
.. an afterthought ... have Quakers received and used (usage history) these particular bible passages about hidden prophets as support for underground work, like underground railroad work? ... explicit reference? ~ Jim
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