TEXT [Commentary]

4. Elijah prays for rain (18:41-46)

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”

42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”

45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel. 46 Then the LORD gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt[*] and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.

NOTES

18:41 get something to eat and drink. It was now time for Ahab to rejoice (Sweeney 2007:229), or at least return to business as usual (Cogan 2001:444). Elijah himself, however, still had some work to do (cf. 18:42).

18:42 bowed low . . . and prayed. Cogan and Tadmor (1988:58), commenting on the use of the rare verb gahar [TH1457, ZH1566] in 2 Kgs 4:34-35 (where it is used twice to describe Elisha’s physical posture when he is praying for the Shunammite’s dead child), suggest the translation “to crouch.” Both there and here Elijah is praying “with his face between his knees”; what is being depicted is deep meditative concentration.

18:43 his servant. Only in this passage and in 19:3 is there any mention of a servant for this generally solitary prophet.

Seven times. Persistence is sometimes the key!

18:44 a little cloud . . . rising from the sea. The rains often come from the west, off the Mediterranean Sea (see Beitzel 1985:52-53).

18:45 black with clouds. Once the storm arrived, it proved fierce indeed. Sweeney (2007:230) compares this storm to the earlier, providentially timed cloudburst during the days of Deborah, which also turned the Kishon into a muddy torrent, that time greatly impeding the chariots of Sisera (Judg 5:21). This is why it was so important that Ahab climb into his chariot and race home to Jezreel before the heavy rain arrived.

18:46 special strength. Elijah, however, did not need any chariot to make the journey to Jezreel—or to pass Ahab’s chariot. The Hebrew literally says “the hand of Yahweh” was upon him (cf. 2 Kgs 3:15); the idiom connotes divine power invigorating the prophet, ­giving him strength to run the roughly 17 miles (27 km) to Ahab’s estate at Jezreel.

Jezreel. This was probably the winter home of the king. Samaria, in the hills, would have been quite cold and, given enough precipitation, even snowy during that time of year. Jezreel, however, would have remained relatively warm even during the winter rainy season. It is now identified with the modern village of Zerin, some 9 miles (15 km) due east of Megiddo, overlooking the valley of Jezreel (whence its name; cf. Cogan 2001:477).

COMMENTARY [Text]

Fire from heaven was all well and good, but the persistent problem was the lack of rain. Yahweh was originally described as a desert God. Moses first encountered him in the land of Midian, a wilderness region (see Exod 3:1-6); and the famous image of Yahweh numbering the stars (Isa 40:26) is best understood as depicting the clear nighttime sky found in the desert. This “desert God” could certainly be expected to bring about fire and drought, but it was cloud and moisture that were needed desperately at this time in Israel (as well as in Baal’s home turf of Phoenicia; cf. 17:8-24). Baal Hadad was the rain and fertility god of Phoenicia, and the fact that he could not bring life-giving moisture either to Israel or to Phoenicia was of little help to those who were waiting for any deity to do anything to bless the land. Earlier, the fire came down from heaven “immediately” (18:38), but this time the rain would not come until Elijah’s servant was asked to go and look seven times, seemingly in vain. Of course, Yahweh could cause rain to fall immediately (cf. 1 Sam 12:16-18, where Samuel the prophet presumably prayed only once for “thunder and rain” to be heard and felt by the people during what was normally the dry harvest season). But our God works in his own ways, sometimes responding to prayer immediately, sometimes requiring persistent faith for his sovereign will to be effected. It is commonplace to point out that these great, faith-building stories are not meant to be recipes for how to bring about God’s miracles of healing and prosperity, but such a point should still be stressed here: Sometimes God heals, sometimes he does not; sometimes God makes prosperous, sometimes he does not. Sometimes, a simple prayer of faith is all it takes; sometimes, seven steps of faith. But, sure enough, if it is God’s will, a “terrific rainstorm” (18:45) will break the extended drought, and God’s showers of blessing will fall on the just and the unjust alike (cf. Jesus’ comments in Matt 5:45).

The Jezebels of the world will probably only renew their persecution (see 19:1-2), but the Elijahs of the church may still respond with supernatural strength (cf. 18:46), as Elijah ran roughly 17 miles before the king’s chariot. Times are rarely boring for the person of faith—alternately facing times of triumph and times of trial, but rarely times of tedium! Elijah’s time of testing will continue again (see 19:1-18), but for now let us celebrate his tremendous triumphs in the present chapter of his life—once and for all putting an end to any doubts about who is truly God in Israel, and finally bringing to an end that debilitating three-year drought which had ravaged the land. Our God is a powerful God, and his servants can certainly accomplish mighty exploits in his name.