Elijah’s long rest at Zarephath was ended by a call from Jehovah to show himself to Ahab, because He was about to send rain upon the earth (1 Kings 18:11And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. (1 Kings 18:1)). When the prophet told the king that there should be neither dew nor rain but according to his word, he knew not how long the drought would continue. That was in the hands of Jehovah. But the drought was long, “for it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months” (James 5:1717Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:17)). When the rain at last came, it was in answer to Elijah’s prayer, as in 1 Kings 18:4242So 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, (1 Kings 18:42).
But matters were now to be brought to an issue. Jehovah was about to display His power, to the confusion of Ahab and all his idolatrous prophets. Such striking miracles, as the calling down fire from heaven upon the sacrifice on Mount Carmel, and later upon the captains and their fifties (2 Kings 1) were not wrought in the kingdom of Judah. There Jehovah was still acknowledged, although some of the Kings were evil men, and led the people astray; but the prophets who witnessed there could at least appeal to the Word of God. In the Northern Kingdom another line was necessary. The people were in open apostasy; Jehovah was no longer acknowledged as the God of Israel. This being so, God who was still interested in His erring people (“how shall I give thee up, Ephraim?” Hos. 11:88How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. (Hosea 11:8)) sometimes put forth His power, thus bringing home to the people that He is God, and mightier than all the deities of the heathen. Jehovah was now about to assert Himself on Mount Carmel, on an occasion that will be memorable as long as the earth remaineth.
When Elijah set out to find Ahab (no more fearing the wrath of the king than Moses before him (Heb. 11:2727By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)), he first met Obadiah, who was governor of the palace. The Holy Spirit records that “Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly.” It is happy to note that this is stated before the story of Obadiah is unfolded. In like manner, the Lord Jesus commended all the good that He, could see in the assemblies in Asia before rebuking that which was grievous in His sight (Rev. 2, 3). Along this line we are frequently terribly lacking in our dealings with one another. That which is evil, or at least unsatisfactory, becomes so large in our eyes that we quite overlook that which is good in those who displease us. Of Barnabas it is written, years after his failures as in Galatians 2:1313And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. (Galatians 2:13) and Acts 15:3737And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. (Acts 15:37): “he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:2424For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. (Acts 11:24)).
It is written of Obadiah, that he “feared Jehovah greatly.” The word “greatly” must not escape us; for God always notes degrees in the piety or activity of His saints. In Romans 16:1212Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which labored much in the Lord. (Romans 16:12) we read of Tryphena and Tryphosa who labored in the Lord, and also of the beloved Persis who labored much in the Lord. In the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem after the return from the captivity, it is recorded of some that they “earnestly repaired,” and of some that they undertook a second piece of work (Neh. 3:20-2420After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21After him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain. 23After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house. 24After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another piece, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner. (Nehemiah 3:20‑24)). It is encouraging to us to he reminded of these things, and we shall doubtless heal more about them at the Judgment seat of Christ.
There are some important lessons to be learned from the story of Obadiah; but first it may be well to compare him with some of his contemporaries. Elijah and Obadiah were both saints of God; so also were Micaiah the son of Imlah, and Jehoshaphat King of Judah. We shall meet them all in the glory of God ere long, like ourselves, sinners saved by grace. These four men fall into two pairs, thus: Elijah and Micaiah; Obadiah and Jehoshaphat. The first two were bold and unflinching in their testimony. Ahab called Elijah “mine enemy” (1 Kings 21:2020And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. (1 Kings 21:20)), and of Micaiah he said, “I hate him” (1 Kings 22:88And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. (1 Kings 22:8)). It is really a compliment to be disliked by the wicked. “Woe unto you, when all men speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:2626Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (Luke 6:26)). Obadiah and Jehoshaphat were the opposite of Elijah and Micaiah. They were not bold and unflinching, but weak, and given to compromise for the sake of advantage. Ahab hated neither of these, for they were useful to him. The Lord Jesus once said to His own unbelieving brethren: “the world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:77The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. (John 7:7)). The Lord in His prayer to the Father in John 17 spoke of His disciples as loved by the Father, but hated by the world. The comfort of the one strengthens us to endure the painfulness of the other.
Obadiah had never learned the importance of separation from the world. Have we learned it? Are we true to our baptism? Do we regard ourselves as dead to sin and the world by the death of Christ? Have we really taken up our cross in order to follow in the footsteps of the One whom the world cast out and crucified? Have we indeed gone forth “to Him without the camp, bearing His reproach?” (Luke 9:2323And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23): Heb. 13:1313Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Hebrews 13:13)). There was much in Obadiah that was excellent, and the inspired historian tells us of it. When Ahab sought to destroy all the prophets of Jehovah, and thus stamp all divine testimony out of his dominions, Obadiah took a hundred of them, “and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.” He feared Jehovah, but was too timorous to confess Him. He sympathized with the hunted prophets, but lacked faith to identify himself with them in their sufferings. His kindness will doubtless be rewarded in the day of Christ; but God would have been better pleased had he stood with His servants instead of being content to patronize them. Moses forsook the honors and comforts of the king’s palace, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God” (Heb. 11:24-2524By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (Hebrews 11:24‑25)). Obadiah chose to remain in the palace, and benefit the persecuted from thence. All the professing saints in Asia turned away from Paul when he fell into disgrace with the authorities for Christ’s sake (2 Tim. 1:1515This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. (2 Timothy 1:15)). How should we stand in days of peril? In 2 Corinthians 6 we are definitely charged not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, but to come out from among them and be separate; and in Ephesians 5:1111And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Ephesians 5:11) we are instructed to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Are we willing to take up a stand which may cost us something?
When Obadiah crossed the path of Elijah, he was not occupied with business for God. The land was doubtless full of stricken hearts; mothers knowing not how to nourish their children; and all in a condition of despair. What precious words of consolation he should have been able to take to them from the heart of God! Instead, he was searching the land for food for animals in order to preserve the royal stud! Ahab said to Obadiah: “Go through the land, to all the fountains of water and to all the torrents, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, so that we may not have to destroy some of our beasts” (1 Kings 18:55And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. (1 Kings 18:5), Darby). Sorry words from the lips of Israel’s king; paltry business for a God-fearing man to engage in! The divine ideal for a king is described in the Spirit-filled words of Asaph in Psalms 78:70-7270He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 71From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 72So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. (Psalm 78:70‑72): “He chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: from following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.” God’s ideal king is thus neither selfish nor tyrannical; but a wise shepherd of the people, serving in the consciousness that the people belong to God, and that he the King is just God’s honored servant in rule. In this spirit David prayed for the people when pestilence was raging. He pleaded with Jehovah to spare the sheep, and punish him instead (2 Sam. 24:1717And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. (2 Samuel 24:17)). None but the Lord Jesus have been perfect in shepherd-rule, and of Him it is written: “He shall stand and feed [His flock] in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth” (Mic. 5:44And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. (Micah 5:4)).
There is not a hint that Ahab cared for the suffering people, but he was troubled lest he should lose his horses and mules. So he arranged that he would go in one direction, and Obadiah in another, and find grass somewhere, if possible. The position was serious indeed when the King himself undertook the foraging!
In the pursuit of this humiliating business, Obadiah met Elijah. Using modern terms, the two men were brethren; but there was no cordial greeting, as when Moses met Aaron and kissed him (Ex. 4:2727And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. (Exodus 4:27)). Obadiah was troubled, and Elijah was cold and reserved. Although the one was an exalted Government official, and the other a humble villager, Obadiah trembled before Elijah; and indeed he fell upon his face, saying, “Is it indeed thou, my lord Elijah?” Communion with God, and obedience to His will imparts moral dignity to anyone. We see this in Stephen when confronting the Jewish Sanhedrim; and in Paul when standing before royalty and political and military leaders in Caesarea (Acts 7:2626And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? (Acts 7:26)). In each case the prisoner took full command of the situation! Obadiah lacked this. With all his honors and high salary, he felt that the man who stood before him in hairy clothing was his superior. Else, why should he address Elijah as “my lord?”
When the prophet bade him go and tell his master, “Behold, Elijah is here,” he was terrified. He feared his very life would be in danger. He poured out a veritable torrent of words to the prophet. First, he spoke of the danger to himself; then he told how Ahab had inquired of every known kingdom and nation concerning Elijah, determined to slay him if he could get hold of him. To mention the hated name to the furious king would stir his devilry to its depths. So Obadiah feared; and, as if begging to be excused carrying such a message, he pleaded his kindness to the prophets. “Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid a hundred of Jehovah’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?” It is suggestive of a low spiritual condition when any servant of God makes much of his own work. Paul says a good deal about his own labors and sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11. It was the bad condition of things at Corinth that made it necessary, but he calls it “folly,” nevertheless. But how wonderfully God works! We should never have known how varied and severe were the sufferings of the apostle, had not the story been wrung from him by the ill-behaved Corinthians. It does one good to read 2 Corinthians 11, it is a holy stimulus to our souls; but Paul, and every other true-hearted laborer would infinitely rather speak of Christ—the glories of His person, the perfection of His sacrifice, and the greatness of His triumph—than speak of his own work, and thus seem to be magnifying himself.
Going along with the world is injurious to the soul at all times. Thus, Obadiah feared the wicked Ahab, Elijah did not; he humiliated himself before Elijah instead of greeting him warmly as a valuable witness for God and His truth; and, worse than all, he even hinted that the Holy Spirit might act unworthily! “It shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth.” Elijah was perfectly straightforward in the path that he was pursuing; he was charged by Jehovah to see Ahab, and he intended to do so. The Holy Spirit, who delights to guide the servants of God, would never lead him to be false to a divine commission.
Elijah’s answer to Obadiah sounds like a rebuke. “As Jehovah liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to-day.” Whatever Jehovah might be to Obadiah, He was a living God to the proscribed prophet; and he was standing—i.e. speaking and acting—in the consciousness of His presence.
Obadiah must have been far removed from Elijah’s spirit to have been tolerated, and even honored, for years in the royal circle. He must have kept his lips close sealed concerning his God, or the bloodthirsty Jezebel would have treated him as she treated the prophets. Obadiah could scarcely have said:
“I’m not ashamed to own my Lord
Or to defend His cause.”
In Isaiah 59:1515Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. (Isaiah 59:15) we read: “Truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.” Obadiah was not quite willing to be a prey. In Jeremiah 15:1919Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. (Jeremiah 15:19) he who would separate himself from the evil around is assured by God, “thou shalt stand before Me; and if thou know how to take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth.” This is exceedingly precious: nearness to God, and ability to give utterance to His mind to others. Obadiah, alas, knew nothing of this. What do we know of it?
Obadiah comes upon us in the Scriptures as abruptly as Elijah; but while the one passes off the sacred page abruptly (sixteen verses, and no more!) the other lingers in the minds of the sacred historians, and his service and testimony continue right onward to the great day of the Lord!
“God of all grace, mercifully preserve both writer and reader from becoming Obadiahs! The rather help us to become Elijahs, not indeed in fiery judgment, but in holy zeal for Thy glory, and in stern separation from everything contrary to Thy will. Amen.”