ELIJAH Prays For Rain 



WHEN the people saw this great miracle, they fell upon their faces, saying, "The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there."

"And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. 

And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees; and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 

And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down; that the rain stop thee not."

"And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."

When Ahab told his wife Jezebel what Elijah had done, she threatened to take Elijah's life. When the prophet knew this, he fled. On reaching Beersheba, he left his servant there, and went on alone a day's journey into the wilderness. There he sat down under a juniper tree, and asked the Lord that he might die. 

"And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God."

And Elijah lodged in a cave in the mountain, and the Lord appeared unto him, and said, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" Then Elijah told how the people had turned unto idols, and slain the prophets of the Lord; that he alone was left, and had fled to this place to save his life. And the Lord said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."

Then the Lord talked with Elijah, and told him to go and anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his room. He also told him that there were yet seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal, and that he would destroy those who had killed his prophets.