1 Kings 17:1, commentary and pictures

Elijah the Tishbite, a man of faith and prayer from Gilead with no high station, stood before Ahab in Samaria and declared by the living God whom he served that dew and rain would be withheld for years according to his word. He came uninvited and unannounced at the peril of his life because the word of the Lord sent him, and his sudden sentence fell like a thunderbolt before he withdrew beyond Ahab and Jezebel's reach. The drought answered his anguished prayer that God would arrest Israel in deep Baal worship and take away the heavenly treasures they credited to idols, so that want would humble them to repentance and acknowledgment of Jehovah. It was judgment in mercy, shutting heaven upon a polluted land until the people confessed and turned, and it stood as a direct test of Baal's claim to give fruitfulness, which no priests, sacrifices, or cries day and night could break for three and a half years. As the land withered, streams failed, and famine brought desolation and death, Israel still refused to repent and blamed Elijah for the suffering, yet heaven remained locked until his prayer opened it again.

Elijah's Background and Era

Elijah the Tishbite dwelt among the mountains of Gilead east of the Jordan, far removed from any city of renown and occupying no high station in life, yet he was a man of faith and prayer. His fearless ministry beginning at this word was destined to check the rapid spread of apostasy in the northern kingdom in the days of Ahab. He entered upon his mission of reform confident in God's purpose to prepare the way before him and to give him abundant success, with the word of faith and power upon his lips and his whole life devoted to the work. Like the voice of one crying in the wilderness he came to rebuke sin and press back the tide of evil amid Israel's growing idolatry and corruption, while as a reprover offering the balm of Gilead to the sin-sick souls of all who desired to be healed and were willing to receive it.

His appearance before Ahab stands at the end of a steady spiritual decline in Israel since the death of Jeroboam. During that time Israel was ruled by men who did not fear Jehovah and who encouraged strange forms of worship. Most of the people lost sight of their duty to serve the living God and adopted many practices of idolatry.

Under Ahab Israel had gone deeper into terrible apostasy, serving Baal with altars and temples and groves and priests and sacrifices to the sun and moon and stars. The bounties of Heaven, the running brooks and streams and the gentle dew and showers that made the fields fruitful, were ascribed to the favor of gods of gold and wood and stone. Those beneficent designs were well-nigh forgotten, though God had delivered His people from bondage and given them the lands of the heathen that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws, and unbelief was separating the chosen nation from the Source of their strength.

Announcement Before Ahab

Elijah carried Heaven's message of judgment to Ahab in Samaria because the word of the Lord came to him, not because he sought to be the messenger. Jealous for God's honor, he obeyed at the risk of swift destruction from the wicked king, traveling night and day to reach him. He entered the palace without seeking admission or waiting to be announced, passing the guards unnoticed in the coarse garments of a prophet, and stood before the astonished king without apology. Commissioned by One greater than Israel's ruler, he lifted his hand toward heaven and solemnly affirmed by the living God before whom he stood that dew and rain would be withheld for years except according to his word.

He declared this directly and boldly, without softening the message to protect himself from the king. He trusted that God's word could not fail even while streams still flowed and the green landscape seemed untouched by drought. Though on his way he saw ever-flowing streams, hills covered with verdure, stately forests beyond the reach of drought, and everything clothed with beauty, he gave no place to unbelief that drying streams and burned hills and valleys seemed impossible. He fully believed the fiat of Heaven had gone forth and that God would humble apostate Israel through judgment to bring them to repentance.

The word of woe fell like a sudden thunderbolt from a clear sky, paralyzing the wicked king with its suddenness and unexpected terribleness. Elijah's work was to utter the word of woe and then withdraw at once without waiting to see its effect, disappearing before Ahab could recover or reply. After this first appearance God led him away from Jezebel's power to safety at the brook Cherith. There he remained beyond the reach of Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal while the predicted drought was terribly fulfilled.

Tidings of the denunciation spread quickly throughout the land and could not be hidden. The announcement aroused fear in some but in general was received with scorn and ridicule, stirring anger in many. Queen Jezebel was especially angered and conferred with the priests of Baal to curse Elijah and defy the wrath of Jehovah. Meanwhile the king searched diligently for Elijah without finding him.

Prayer Behind Drought

From his mountain retreat Elijah watched Israel sinking deeper into idolatry, and the sight filled him with distress, indignation, overwhelming sorrow and anguish of soul. He remembered how God had delivered His people from bondage and given them the lands of the heathen that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws, yet those beneficent designs were now well-nigh forgotten and unbelief was separating the chosen nation from the Source of their strength. With his soul wrung with anguish he besought God to arrest the once-favored people in their wicked course and to visit them with judgments if need be, that they might see their departure from Heaven in its true light. He longed to see them brought to repentance before their evil-doing provoked the Lord to destroy them utterly, after repeated appeals, remonstrances and warnings had failed.

What he specifically pleaded was that God would withhold dew and rain, the treasures of heaven. Those were daily blessings the people took for granted while crediting idols with making the land fruitful, ascribing the bounties of Heaven, the running brooks and streams and the gentle dew and showers that made the fields fruitful, to the favor of gods of gold, wood and stone. He prayed that Israel would no longer receive these gifts while giving the glory to idols, but that withdrawn mercies would lead them to recognize their dependence on God. The drought was to continue until they humbled themselves, confessed and forsook sin, and turned back to God in repentance.

He fully believed God would humble apostate Israel and through judgments bring them to repentance, and in strong faith in the unfailing power of God's word and implicit confidence in the God he served he delivered the message at peril of his life. It required courage and faith, for ever-flowing streams, hills covered with verdure, stately forests beyond the reach of drought, and everything clothed with beauty made drying streams and burned hills seem impossible, yet he gave no place to unbelief that the fiat of Heaven had gone forth and God's word could not fail. As rain ceased at his prayer, so rain was later granted in answer to his prayer, making his experience an example of persevering, faith-filled prayer that God hears. His power came from joining his faith with God's infinite power, so that for more than three years there was no dew or rain and neither warriors, philosophers nor princes could make it rain or prevent the drought.

Judgment on Idolatry

The declaration shuts heaven against widespread idolatry and departure from God, withholding dew and rain for years except by Elijah's God-given word. The drought is judgment and curse for Israel's sins, withdrawing mercies the people had taken for granted in order to lead them to recognize dependence on God, humble themselves, and confess and forsake sin. The famine that follows brings severe desolation upon the polluted land, and the prediction is terribly fulfilled as for three years there is no rain while Elijah remains beyond the reach of Ahab, Jezebel and the prophets of Baal.

The calamity is sent in justice yet in mercy, to humble the people, turn them from apostasy, restore faith and allegiance, and bring them to acknowledge Jehovah as the source of every blessing. It is to last until they are brought to acknowledge God and confess His name, with repentance, confession of sin and acknowledgment of the God of their fathers. Restoration of blessing by refreshing the earth with dew and rain is to follow the execution of judgment on the false priests. The suffering is a divine interposition and call to repentance to save Israel from taking the fatal step beyond the boundary of Heaven's forgiveness, yet through the second year the pitiless heavens give no rain and drought and famine devastate the kingdom so that fathers and mothers watch their children die without power to relieve them.

Still Israel refuses to humble the heart before God, fails to discern God's hand and call in distress, and does not repent. Elijah is said to have taken with him the key of heaven that had shut it, so neither Baal's worshipers nor the people can end the drought by their rites or by finding him. Instead they murmur against Elijah as the man who brought these judgments upon them, blaming and hating him who spoke only the warning God commanded.

Ahab himself knows the drought has come through the word of God, yet he blames Elijah for the calamity and answers with defiance rather than repentance while terrible suffering falls on people and animals. Jezebel stands in defiance of the God of heaven and refuses to recognize the drought as Jehovah's judgment. She with nearly all Israel blames Elijah for their misery because he testified against their forms of worship, arguing that putting him out of the way would appease their gods and end their troubles. The claim is made that the prophets' reproofs caused the drought, though they were sent to call the people to repent, and Elijah is preserved by God's power to deliver His warnings to king and queen.

Contest With Baal

The shutting of heaven turned the drought into a direct trial of Baal's claimed power. Jezebel and her priests and all the followers of Baal and Ashtoreth were given opportunity by it to test the power of their gods and to prove Elijah false if they could. If Baal could still give dew and rain and keep vegetation and streams flourishing, with harvest in season for man and beast, then he could be worshiped as God, and the king of Israel and the people should say so. The prophecy stood alone against the assurances of hundreds of idolatrous priests.

The judgment struck at the Baal-worship claim that the treasures of heaven came not from Jehovah but from the ruling forces of nature. It met the teaching that the earth was enriched and made fruitful through the creative energy of the sun. The curse rested heavily on the polluted land to show the apostate tribes the folly of trusting Baal for temporal blessings.

Elijah's word went into immediate effect, and after a few months the earth unrefreshed by dew or rain became dry and vegetation withered, while streams never known to fail decreased and brooks dried up. Israel's leaders and priests answered by urging the people to have confidence in Baal, to set aside the prophecy as idle words, and not to fear Elijah's God nor tremble at His word. The word stood unchanged for more than a year against every effort to break it. The priests of Baal met it with continued sacrifices and costly offerings to appease their gods, with incantations and entreaties and night-and-day cries around their pagan altars for rain with great zeal and perseverance. To their frantic cries, prayers, tears, humiliation, revolting ceremonies, and costly and ceaseless sacrifices, the objects of their worship remained strangely indifferent. No clouds appeared by day to hide the burning sun, and no dew or rain refreshed the thirsty earth for three years and for three years and a half. Their gods could not prove Elijah a false prophet nor answer prayer, and this filled the priests with apprehension that a fearful crisis was at hand.

Duration and Desolation

The declaration fixed a limited time that was fulfilled exactly as foretold. It is reckoned both as three years and as three years and a half with neither dew nor rain. At his word the heavens were shut, and at his word in prayer on Mount Carmel they were opened again to give rain, so his word stood honored before Ahab and Israel.

The word went into immediate effect, and after a few months the earth unrefreshed by dew or rain became dry and vegetation withered. As time passed streams never known to fail decreased and brooks dried up. Through the second year the pitiless heavens gave no rain, farming districts lay unworked, and drought and famine devastated the kingdom. Fathers and mothers watched their children die without power to relieve them.

For a year with no rain the earth was parched as with fire, and what little vegetation survived was destroyed by scorching heat. Once-flourishing fields became like burning desert sands, groves dedicated to idol worship stood leafless and forest trees like gaunt skeletons affording no shade. Lowing herds and bleating flocks wandered in distress, the air grew dry and suffocating, and dust storms blinded the eyes and stopped the breath. Once-prosperous cities and villages became places of mourning, and hunger and thirst brought fearful mortality upon man and beast as famine with all its horrors drew closer and closer. Even watered, fertile Mount Carmel was changed into a withered landscape.

By the time Elijah traveled north to choose Elisha as successor, abundant rains had restored the land and vegetation was growing again. The farming districts that had lain unworked were revived, though Israel's hearts remained apostate.

Faith and Later Example

At the prophet's word the treasures of heaven were locked, with no dew or rain for years except at his word as God's judgment on Israel's sins. He took with him the key of heaven when he withdrew at once without waiting to see the effect, and his word alone could open heaven again to announce the return of showers. Neither Baal's worshipers nor the people could end the drought by their rites, nor could they find him to change it. For three years his word held shut the dew and rain, and his word alone was the key to unlock heaven and bring showers when he prayed and God honored his prayer before Ahab and Israel.

For more than three years there was no dew or rain, and neither warriors, philosophers, nor princes could make it rain or prevent the drought. His power came from joining his faith with God's infinite power. Though God's people may suffer deprivation and lack food in famine, He will sustain and provide for those faithful to Him, as shown in Elijah's example. John came in Elijah's spirit and power to do a similar work as prophet.

The power that locked heaven for three years, called down fire from heaven on the altar of sacrifice before the king and thousands of Israel, and executed God's judgment in slaying eight hundred and fifty priests of Baal shows how greatly God honored him as prophet. After a day of most signal triumph he was willing to perform the service of a menial and run before Ahab's chariot in darkness and wind and rain. This rebukes ministers who feel above menial duties and teaches that true servants of God will humble themselves to do needful service. His word was effective in answer to prayer, for after his prayer on Carmel rain was granted while he remained willing to serve humbly.