I Kings 18:1-16
IS IT HARD TO LIVE AS A CHRISTIAN IN AMERICA? DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE HARDER TO LIVE IN A PERSECUTED LAND OR HARDER TO LIVE IN AN AFFLUENT LAND LIKE AMERICA, AS A CHRISTIAN?
1Now it happened after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will provide rain on the face of the earth.” 2So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly; 4for when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.) 5Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the river valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” 6So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, Elijah my master?” 8And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” 9But he said, “What sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab, to put me to death? 10As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my master has not sent word to search for you; and whenever they say, ‘He is not here,’ he makes the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. 11Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here!”’ 12And it will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to where I do not know; so when I come and inform Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, though I, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth. 13Has it not been reported to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, that I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? 14Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; he will then kill me!” 15Then Elijah said, “As surely as the LORD of armies lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly present myself to him today.” 16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him; then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS IN TODAY’S PASSAGE? WHO IS THE CENTRAL CHARACTER AND WHY?
BACKGROUND
The focus of this passage is not on Elijah or Ahab, though they are major parts of this passage. They are supporting players. The real focus is on Obadiah, the governor of the king’s household.
The governor of the king’s household—also known as the vizier or High Chamberlain—originally held a significant administrative position in Solomon’s cabinet. This was a position created by Solomon and continued by other kings of Israel and Judah, though their duties changed from time to time. Other examples of viziers in the Old Testament include Joseph in Genesis, and Haman and Mordecai in the book of Esther. A vizier or high governor was second only to the king.
Authority and Scope
This official managed the king’s palace, overseeing maintenance of the grounds, upkeep of the royal palace, and assignment of quarters to court members. He was also responsible for maintaining all royal properties, including the king’s extensive trade and mining operations. This made him a figure of considerable power, controlling not just the physical palace but the king’s entire economic portfolio.
Primary Duties
The governor had the most demanding responsibility involved in provisioning the royal household. As one example, Solomon’s court included about 1,000 administrators and palace officials, his wives, concubines, and royal children, an unknown number of ambassadors, the entire military complex in the capital, and some Levites—and the vizier was responsible for feeding all these people, a burden that made great demands on royal revenues.
The vizier had to manage the palace finances, being responsible for raising all funds from the royal estates. Archaeological discoveries suggest these revenues supported the palace courtiers, and supplied military needs.
In essence, the governor of the household functioned as both facilities manager and chief financial officer—wielding substantial control over the kingdom’s resources and the daily operations of royal power.
Obadiah held the position of governor of Ahab’s household, the same administrative role as Solomon’s palace official. However, the contexts and constraints differed significantly.
Similarities in Role
Both officials managed the king’s palace operations and maintained responsibility for provisioning the royal court. Obadiah had great responsibility in Ahab’s court, in charge of Ahab’s palace, paralleling the household management duties of Solomon’s governor.
Critical Differences in Trust and Authority
The trust Ahab placed in Obadiah was remarkable given the king’s wickedness. Ahab was the worst of the kings of Israel, yet he kept a governor over his house who feared the Lord greatly. Obadiah was valued by Ahab for his great prudence and fidelity—his competence earned the king’s confidence despite their spiritual opposition. Religious fidelity wins respect even from those whose own life is most at variance with it; Ahab must have known that his servant remained true to the God of his fathers, and his being continued in such a post was a testimony to his moral and practical worth.
Obadiah’s Precarious Position
Unlike Solomon’s governor, Obadiah operated under constant danger. He feared the Lord greatly, having come to know the Lord when he was young and having followed the Lord for many years; God had put him in a place of special advantage, and he had been used by God to protect his prophets; on one occasion he had risked his life to protect a hundred of the Lord’s prophets. Whether Jezebel knew of Obadiah’s commitment to the Lord is not clear, but undoubtedly he and the queen were not close friends; Obadiah, aware of her strategy, hid 100 prophets of the Lord in caves and supplied them with food and water—a difficult task in days of extreme famine and drought. Whether he used his own resources or the palace resources to do that is not stated in the text. But it would’ve been a significant burden.
Obadiah’s fidelity to God while serving an ungodly king distinguished him from a typical palace administrator—he wielded his position not merely for administrative efficiency but as a vehicle for protecting God’s people.
What is important about this background information about Obadiah is that he was a godly man living in the midst of an evil time. He served the northern kingdom‘s most evil king in their history. Yet he was faithful to the Lord.
EXAMINATION
(V.1) Now it happened after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will provide rain on the face of the earth.”
WHY IS WAITING ON THE LORD TO ACT SO FRUSTRATING SOMETIMES? WHY DOESN’T GOD ACT AS SOON AS HE CALLS US?
A lot of time has elapsed since the story of the widow, and Elijah is now going to meet Ahab. It’s now three years after his confrontation with Ahab. He had probably been with the widow for two years. The drought had carried on for a long time. And so Elijah was now going from Sidon back into the northern kingdom of Israel. Elijah has been in hiding this whole time. As we see elsewhere in our passage, Ahab sent word to other kingdoms to try to find Elijah, but he could not find him. So he was hiding very securely with the widow.
This seems to be a theme in Elijah’s life. He hid at the brook. He hid with the widow. He hid in the wilderness. He hid at Mount Horeb. In all of this, Elijah was waiting upon the Lord. And it took a long time before God would do the next thing, relieving the drought. It took three years of waiting. Sometimes, we must wait patiently on the Lord before he acts in our lives just as Elijah did.
From the time the Lord called me into missionary broadcasting in 1988 until my first opportunity to actually work in the field, in 1997, nine years had passed. And then it was another three years until my next opportunity. Sometimes God calls us, but then we must wait a long time before he fulfills that call.
(V.3-4) Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly; for when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)
CAN A CHRISTIAN SERVE A WICKED PERSON AND STILL MAINTAIN HIS TESTIMONY AS A CHRISTIAN?
Obadiah was a strong believer in Yahweh as we’ve seen. Yet he served a wicked king. We’ll learn more about this as we go.
Noticed that the text does not say Ahab killed the prophets of the Lord, rather, Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord. Though Ahab was evil he was also a very weak king. Jezebel exercised considerable authority as the queen and may have overstepped her bounds. But Ahab did nothing about it. We see this in another action that Jezebel took in I Kings 21. She arranged for the death of Naboth, who would not sell his vineyard to Ahab and Ahab did nothing but cry about it. Jezebel was a very strong personality and a very evil person.
Jezebel may have slain the prophets in retaliation against Elijah for the drought. In this case, Obadiah would have been at considerable risk shielding the remaining 100 prophets.
(V.5-6) Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the river valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
Ahab saved horses, but Obadiah saved prophets. Ahab was desperate to find fodder for the animals. So he initiated a search for grass to feed them on. The horses and the mules would have been important to Ahab’s military.
Again, notice that Ahab seeks relief from the drought, but not the Lord who gave the drought. If he had repented before the Lord, he would have given him relief. Psalm 147:8 says, [The Lord] covers the heavens with clouds, who provides rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains.”
We know God would have responded because after Ahab was rebuked by the Lord on one occasion, this happened: “It came about, when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; I will bring the disaster upon his house in his son’s days’” (I Kings 21:27-29). God will take even the little repentance that we offer him and respond to it. If only Ahab had learned this lesson earlier in life.
Obadiah would’ve gone north and Ahab would’ve gone south. This is because Elijah went from Sidon south into Israel to present himself to Ahab when Obadiah found him.
(V.7) Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, Elijah my master?”
There’s an interesting contrast here. Obadiah says to Elijah, “Is that you, my master?“ But when Ahab sees Elijah, he says, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?“ Notice the difference in attitude between Ahab and Obadiah.
The fact that Obadiah recognized Elijah means that he was present when Elijah declared to Ahab that there would be no rain except for at his word. So he remembered what the man looked like, who he was.
WHEN THE DEMANDS OF OUR CULTURE SEEMED TO VIOLATE OUR FAITH, WHY MUST WE ALWAYS CHOOSE LOYALTY TO GOD FIRST?
Obadiah is the second most powerful man in the kingdom of Israel. Only Ahab is greater than he. And yet he refers to Elijah as “my master.” This shows the great amount of respect he had for the prophetic office and for Elijah‘s ministry. Technically, Obadiah was Elijah’s superior, being the second highest man in the kingdom. But this is not how he viewed Elijah. He may have worked for Ahab, but he was allied with Elijah.
(V.8-11) And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” But he said, “What sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab, to put me to death? As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my master has not sent word to search for you; and whenever they say, ‘He is not here,’ he makes the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here!”’
If God were the cause of the drought, then why did Ahab search so strenuously for Elijah when he could have addressed the Lord directly? This is because in the ancient near east some people regarded prophets as having unique powers. I.E., Ahab may have believed that Elijah was the direct cause of the drought through some magical power. Thus, finding Elijah could spell an end to the drought. This is why in verse 17 Ahab says to Elijah, “Is this you, the cause of disaster to Israel?” Ahab held Elijah as responsible for the drought.
Notice that Elijah wants Obadiah to announce his return to Ahab. At first, Obadiah hesitates. He fears what will happen to him if he does this. He explains why in the next verse.
(V.12) And it will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to where I do not know; so when I come and inform Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, though I, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth.
If Elijah does not show up, Obadiah’s life would be forfeit as perhaps lying to or mocking the king in his desperation to find Elijah. And it’s interesting that Obadiah knows that Elijah’s days are numbered.
OBADIAH SAID TO ELIJAH, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD WILL CARRY YOU WHERE I DO NOT KNOW.” WHY DO YOU THINK OBADIAH USED THIS LANGUAGE? WHY DIDN’T HE JUST SAY THE LORD WILL HIDE YOU AGAIN?
Did you catch it? Obadiah knows what is going to happen to Elijah, that he’s going to be taken up to heaven. Or somewhere where he does not know. Others had this knowledge as well that we see later in scripture (II Kings 2:3-5). And apparently Elijah may have known about it in advance as well.
(V.13) Has it not been reported to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, that I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?
This is the second time that the text mentions what Obadiah did to save the prophets. Usually, when something is repeated in scripture, it’s because it’s important, because we’re supposed to notice something. In this case, we ought to notice that Obadiah is a godly man; that he took a great personal risk of his own life to save the Lord‘s prophets.
Over 20,000 caves are in the Mount Carmel area, some large enough to hide large groups. This may be where Obadiah hid the prophets.
Notice carefully what Obadiah says here. He asked Elijah, “Has it not been reported…?“ If these things have been reported to Elijah then certainly they may have become known to others. The prophets themselves may have reported to one another what Obadiah did to save them, and they may have reported it to Elijah. Interestingly, Ahab did allow other prophets of the Lord to live. In I Kings 22 Micaiah prophesied against Ahab and was not killed.
(V.15-16) Then Elijah said, “As surely as the LORD of armies lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly present myself to him today.” So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him; then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
Elijah uses the phrase, “Lord of armies.” He is encouraging Obadiah that the Lord is his protector. Therefore, he encourages Obadiah to fulfill his task.
Elijah promises not to put Obadiah in jeopardy. Ahab goes to meet Elijah and a new phase in the adventure begins. We’ll get to that in our next study.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
- Obadiah was the second most powerful man in Israel.
- Obadiah used his position to help the prophets of the Lord, to save their lives.
- Though Obadiah feared Ahab, he feared the Lord more, which is why he defied Jezebel and hid the prophets.
- Compared to Elijah, Obadiah was a brave man. Whereas Elijah was always in hiding, Obadiah worked openly for an evil king and still maintained his godliness. That was very risky.
INTERPRETATION
What is the author’s big idea?
Be a godly person in an ungodly culture. God will use you if you do so.
Serving the Lord in an ungodly culture can be a difficult thing. Yet Obadiah shows us it is possible to both have fidelity to the people we serve and to the God whom we serve. But such service is not without risk. Obadiah believed that the king would kill him if he should reveal where Elijah was, and Elijah didn’t show up. And yet he remained faithful to Elijah‘s request and his service to the king. Obadiah is a model for every believer today that lives in an ungodly environment. And that is why he is the central figure in our passage today.
We have another brief model of this in Philippians 4:22. Paul sent his greetings to Christian’s in Caesar’s household. These would have been believers living at great risk also, but they apparently served the Lord.
APPLICATION
- Don’t be afraid to use your position to benefit the gospel in some way. God doesn’t give us the ability to make wealth just for our own needs and wants. Ephesians 4:28 says God wants us to share our resources with others for the good of the kingdom.
- What confronted by your culture don’t be afraid to make a stand for Christ. Paul said to expose the deeds of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). Sometimes we remain quiet, but sometimes we must speak up to save others from their sin.
- Maintain your godliness, no matter what kind of opposition you face. Believers all over the world suffer horrible things for their Christian testimony. Though our persecution in the US is a soft persecution, we should maintain our integrity in the face of that opposition.
- Your culture doesn’t have to rule you. Be brave. Our culture is not the model of all that is right. Culture is secondary to loyalty to Christ. Stand firm no matter what the culture says.
Commentator Tony Merida notes: “Obadiah is like the man or woman working for an unbelieving boss. How should you work in such an environment? Obadiah teaches us to do good work. He was elevated to his position because he apparently did a good job. Christians should be known for good work. Paul says, “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord” (Col 3:23–24). Obadiah also illustrates how one should use one’s influence and resources. Obadiah had access to provisions and made them available to these persecuted prophets. Those who work in professions that allow them to have good salaries and benefits should consider how to use such blessings to advance the kingdom. One might object, claiming that Obadiah was being deceptive, but nothing in the text says that he lied or did anything unethical. He knew about suffering believers, and he used his resources to provide for them. Finally, Obadiah teaches us to be courageous. He ultimately followed Elijah’s instructions at great risk to his own life. The lesson here is that if you are ever in a position where it’s either obedience to God or obedience to man, choose God (Acts 5:29), even if it might cost you your job—or your life.”(1)
(1) Merida, Tony. 2015. Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.
