1 Kings 18:1, commentary and pictures

After many days, in the third year of the drought, the word of the Lord directed Elijah to show himself to Ahab with the promise that rain would be sent upon the earth. The drought had come as a judgment for Israel's departure from God, leaving Samaria in severe famine without dew or rain or pasture until people and animals suffered. Though hated and hunted by the king, Elijah obeyed without hesitation and came out of long hiding to go toward Samaria. The calamity was merciful in purpose, meant to turn the people from idolatry back to God, and while it lasted Elijah waited and prayed in faith for their repentance. When on Carmel idolatry was cast down and the people confessed their sins, God withdrew the curse and refreshed the earth with rain in testimony of the blessings He was ready to pour out.

Command and Historical Setting

After many days, in the third year of the drought, the word of the Lord came to Elijah telling him to show himself to Ahab, with the promise that rain would be sent upon the earth. That commission came during the famine in Samaria and began the events that brought Elijah face to face with Ahab in public confrontation. The drought had come at Elijah's word and had left Israel without dew or rain. It brought severe famine in Samaria that afflicted even the royal household, leaving its flocks and herds without pasture. The land lay parched and farming was abandoned, and people and animals suffered from the prolonged lack of rain while the priests of Baal pleaded and offered sacrifices without effect and Elijah's word remained firm.

At the time of the command the drought had lasted three years, during which Elijah had been hated and hunted by the king's order. In total the drought lasted three and a half years before rain and recovery came. When it ended, vegetation sprang up again as the land recovered from drought and famine. Elijah obeyed without hesitation despite the danger of appearing before Ahab, coming out of hiding after a long absence and setting out for Samaria to meet the king.

The commission belongs to a sequence of God-directed assignments in which Elijah had been sent to Cherith and to the widow of Sarepta and was now sent to stand before Ahab, confront the idolatrous priests on Carmel, and guide the king's chariot to Jezreel.

Judgment, Repentance and Blessing

The drought was a judgment brought on by Israel's departure from God, after many days without rain reaching into its third year when the word came to present himself to Ahab with the promise of rain upon the land. The calamity was merciful in purpose, meant to lead the people to repentance, and through the years of famine and the full three years and a half of waiting, Elijah waited and prayed in faith for Israel to turn from idolatry and return to God. The ending of the famine by the sending of rain was thus tied to that call to repentance.

While the drought continued into its third year, the priests of Baal pleaded and offered sacrifices without effect, Elijah's word remained firm, and land, people, and animals suffered under the prolonged lack of rain. Ahab wrongly blamed Elijah for troubling Israel and bringing the calamity, instead of recognizing that his own sins and those of his household had brought it upon them. The meeting that began the public confrontation answered that charge directly, with Elijah identifying the true cause as Ahab's forsaking of God's commandments and following Baal.

Elijah stood alone for God on Carmel and through faith brought idolatry down, and after the false priests were judged and the people confessed their sins and acknowledged their fathers' God, God withdrew the curse and renewed His blessings by refreshing the earth with dew and rain. The rain after the contest on Carmel showed that idolatry had been cast down and testified to the blessings God was ready to pour out on Israel after the three-and-a-half-year famine. Yet Elijah's faith and work on Carmel were followed by his failure under Jezebel's threats, which cut short the work he had begun.

Prophet's Call and Service

Elijah did not seek for himself the place of messenger of the Lord, but the word of the Lord came to him and the Spirit of God moved upon him and constrained him to speak. God commits His messages to men who are impelled by holy zeal and by a divine impulse to take up the duty laid upon them without stopping to count the cost or calculate the consequences. Such a message may be criticized and rejected by those who hear it, yet its failure to do its appointed work lies not in the messenger but in the unsanctified hearts of the hearers.

The word that bade him show himself to Ahab called Elijah out of concealment and sent him back to Samaria with a message, putting him again upon active service. This sending stood in a succession of divine appointments, for he had been sent to Cherith and to the widow of Sarepta, and was now sent to stand before Ahab, to meet the idolatrous priests on Carmel, and to guide the king's chariot to Jezreel. In this God shows that He commissions His servants for active labor, whereas Elijah's hasty flight into the wilderness was not the errand that God had given him.