The Man Who Did Not Die: The Story of Elijah

THE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE.

AFTER the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam became ruler of the Israelites. The prodigality and magnificence of Solomon's court, and his lavish way of living had been met by heavy taxation. Seeing the vast revenues of the kingdom employed in this way, the people had grown discontented, and then disloyal.

After Rehoboam had become king, the Israelites appealed to him to lighten the taxes and other heavy burdens which oppressed the poor. Instead of following the advice of his older counsellors, and releasing the people from some of their burdens, the new king hearkened to the counsel of the younger men who had grown up with him and scornfully rejected the petition of his subjects.

A very ambitious man named Jeroboam presented the petition to Rehoboam, and upon its rejection, ten tribes revolted and made Jeroboam their ruler under the title of King of Israel.

The remainder of the Israelitish nation from this time were known as the Kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem remained its capital, and God was worshipped in the magnificent temple built by King Solomon. It also maintained the regular priesthood, its officers descending as formerly from father to son.

Among the twenty sovereigns of Judah, there were a few who served God sincerely. The best four of the kings were Asa, Jehosaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. Asa fought against the worship of idols which had corrupted the people, yet he made an alliance with the King of Syria, who was an idolater. Jehosaphat, his son, ruled the kingdom of Judah for twenty-five years, and, although he did not always do right, his reign was a quiet one.

Hezekiah waged a vigorous war against the worship of idols, and, as far as he was able, restored the worship of God in the temple. The Bible says of everything he undertook for the glory of God that "he did it with all his heart, and prospered."

Hezekiah was a very brave man, and when Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, sent an army against Jerusalem, his speech to the people, telling them to be strong and courageous, for God would help them and fight for them, was not unlike that of Joshua when he exhorted the Israelites to trust in God, at the time when they were about to enter the land of Canaan.

The prophet Isaiah lived during the reign of Hezekiah. At one time when the king was very sick he prayed to God that his life might be spared. God told Isaiah to tell him that He had heard his prayer, and that He would heal him, and prolong his life for fifteen years.

When Isaiah had delivered God's message, Hezekiah asked for a sign that these things should be done, and Isaiah said that he might decide whether the shadow upon the sundial should go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees.

Hezekiah replied that it was an easy thing for the shadow to go forward ten degrees, and asked that it might go backwards. God moved the shadow as the king had asked, and he accepted it as a sign that his life was to be spared and his days lengthened.

Josiah was only eight years old when he came to the throne of Judah. He served God while yet a child, and devoted his life to His service. He reigned for more than thirty years, and was killed at last by an arrow while defending his kingdom against Necho, King of Egypt.

In spite of the repeated warnings of God's prophets, the people continued to worship idols, until as a punishment the kingdom was entirely broken up. After a siege lasting sixteen months, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, took the city of Jerusalem, burned the Temple, and carried away as prisoners all the inhabitants who had survived the horrors of the siege. This was the end of the Kingdom of Judah, and the beginning of the period known as "the captivity."

For some time after the separation of Israel from Judah, there was war between the two kingdoms, but later they formed an alliance to prevent the King of Syria from encroaching upon them. Still later the old enmity broke out again. There were nineteen Kings of Israel in all, and city after city became the capital of the kingdom, until in the time of its sixth king Samaria became the seat of government.

Omri was the King who built Samaria, The monarchs who preceded him were conspicuous for evil doing, but Omri exceeded them in wickedness. The reign of his son Ahab was still worse, and of this King of Israel the Bible says, "Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the Kings of Israel that were before him."

Ahab married Jezebel, a Phoenician princess, and this was the crowning point of his sinful career. Jezebel was unprincipled and intolerant, and as Ahab was a weak man, he became little more than a tool in her hands. She introduced at once the worship of Baal and Ashtoroth, the male and female gods of her own country. She caused a great temple to be built on the brow of a hill, and there the worship of these idols was carried on. Four hundred and fifty priests and attendants administered the services of Baal, and four hundred those of Ashtoroth.

Not content with introducing this heathen worship, Jezebel persecuted the few among the nation who remained faithful to the worship of God. She caused their altars to be destroyed, and to save their lives they fled to the wildest solitudes, and hid in caves, as their forefathers had done in the days of the Judges.

While all this was taking place, and while Ahab was occupying himself with the building of a splendid palace at Jezreel, a new and startling figure appeared upon the scene. None knew whence the mysterious stranger came, as, wrapped in a rough cape, or mantle, of sheepskin, he confronted the astonished king.

The name of this strange visitor was Elijah, a man of whom it has been said that he was "the grandest and most romantic character that Israel ever produced." His long, thick hair indicated remarkable powers of endurance, and in addition to his sheepskin mantle he wore a girdle made from the skin of some animal, which in the fashion of the day he tightened when about to move quickly.

Elijah was one of God's prophets, and his mission was to announce to Ahab that a judgment was about to fall upon the land, because the people had forsaken the worship of God, and bowed down to idols instead. This punishment was to be in the shape of a drought, at all times a terrible infliction, but especially so in Eastern countries where all vegetation quickly dries up when there is a scarcity of water.

Elijah's message was very brief, and before the king had recovered from his astonishment, the prophet had departed as abruptly as he had appeared.

We have no record that Elijah had any settled home. The wild paths of the wilderness and the mountains were familiar to him, and he dwelt where some spreading tree would afford him a leafy shelter. He moved from place to place, according to God's commands. Now, as he left the presence of Ahab, God's word came to him, directing him to turn to the eastward, and hide by the brook Cherith.

Elijah stayed in this retreat as long as the falling stream afforded water to quench his thirst, and during this time he was fed by ravens, who, twice each day, brought him bread and meat. After a while the brook dried up, and the leaves which had protected him from the fierce sun shriveled and fell to the ground, for the promised drought was upon the land.

Again the word of God came upon Elijah, telling him what road to take to his next shelter. Across the mountains of Lebanon, where the brooks were as dry as that of Cherith, the prophet made his way. Descending their further slopes, he crossed the plains at their feet, and with his face still towards the sea, approached the village or town of Zarephath. The modern village of Sura-flud is supposed to occupy its site, and the ruins of the ancient town are to be seen there.

Elijah was now in Phoenicia, the native country of Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab. It would seem to be the last place in which an enemy of Baal would seek refuge, but Elijah knew that God had a purpose in sending him there. Ethbaal, the father of Jezebel, was the King of Phoenicia, and the famine which followed the drought had reached that country, and was causing terrible suffering.

Just outside Zarephath, Elijah found a woman gathering sticks for firewood. She was a widow, and in such poverty that all the food she had in the world was a handful of meal and a little oil in a bottle or jar. Consumed with thirst, Elijah asked her for water, and, as she turned to bring it, he asked her also for a piece of bread.

Sadly the woman told him she had no bread. She was gathering sticks to make a fire over which she would cook the handful of meal and the little oil remaining in the bottle. When she and her son had eaten this, they would have no more food, and in consequence would die of hunger.

It is probable that this woman was an Israelite, and not a worshipper of Baal, for, when Elijah told her to mix the meal and oil into a cake and bake it for him, adding, "For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth," the woman did as she was told, evidently recognizing him as a prophet of God. She fed him before she and her son tasted of food, and gave him the shelter of her house as well; and during all the time of drought and famine, the supply of meal and oil never failed.

After a while, trouble came upon the little household. The widow's son suddenly became very sick and then died. The heart-broken mother demanded of Elijah why he had come to them only to slay her son. The prophet replied, "Give me thy son," and taking the boy from his mother's arms, carried him into his own chamber and laid him on the bed.

Then Elijah called upon God, and prayed that the child might be made alive again, and God heard his prayer, for the boy sat up alive and well. Taking him in his arms, the prophet carried the child to his mother, who was so happy that she exclaimed, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord is in thy mouth."

The drought continued, and the horrors of famine caused by the failure of all crops, was felt in Samaria. Ahab was in despair. Everywhere horses and other animals were dying, for there was not the scantiest grass or herbage of any kind for them to eat, and everywhere the streams were dry.

The chief officer of Ahab's household was a man named Obadiah. He was a faithful servant of God, and during the bitter persecutions of Jezebel, had hidden an hundred persons who worshipped God, in a cave and fed them there. Ahab now took Obadiah, and set out on a desperate search for pasturage and water for the animals, the king going one way and his servant the other, on what seemed a hopeless errand.

Before Obadiah had gone very far, Elijah suddenly stood before him. Quickly the prophet told him to go to Ahab and tell him "Elijah is here." Obadiah feared that Elijah would disappear before he could bring the king to him, but, reassured by Elijah, he set forth to find Ahab.