Chapter XXVIII: Elijah, the Champion of Pure Religion

THE STORY

=Sec.81. Elijah and the Drought= (I Kings 16:30-17:24)

A. THE STARTLING PROPHECY

Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab did yet more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead, said unto Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."

B. ELIJAH AT THE BROOK

And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there."

So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.