Read: 1 Kings 18:1-20 NASB
Obadiah Meets Elijah
1 Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.”
2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
3 Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly;
4 for when Jezebel destroyed 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.)
5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.”
6 So they divided the land between them to 1survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is this you, Elijah my master?”
8 He said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’ ”
9 He said, “What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death?
10 “As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.
11 “And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here.” ’
12 “It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth.
13 “Has it not been told 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?
14 “And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here” ’; he will then kill me.”
15 Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals.
19 “Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
God or Baal on Mount Carmel
20 So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. —1 Kings 18:3
Should our service for the Lord always be out in the open for all to see? Or should it sometimes be kept secret to assure its success? This may seem like an irrelevant question to believers who enjoy religious freedom. But it’s the kind of dilemma more and more people are facing as opposition to Christianity grows.
In 1 Kings 18, we read that Obadiah faced this very question. As a godly man serving in King Ahab’s palace, he hated what Ahab’s wife Jezebel had done. While she was killing many of the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah hid 100 of them in caves and secretly fed them.
During this time Obadiah had an unexpected meeting with Elijah, who asked him to inform Ahab that he had arrived. Ahab viewed Elijah as a “troubler of Israel” (v.17) and was hunting him down. So for Obadiah to tell Ahab that he had talked with Elijah would identify him with God’s prophet and jeopardize his own life. But he obeyed Elijah and acted openly. He was not killed, and God blessed both his open and his secret service. As a result, many of God’s prophets were saved.
O God, give us wisdom to know how best to serve You—whether openly or in secret. May our service always be motivated by our great love and respect for You. —JDB
Sometimes we face a crucial choice
To hold our peace or take a stand;
With either course we need God's help—
His wisdom and His guiding hand. —D. De Haan
God is more interested
in our motives
than our methods.
By Dave Branon
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