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."
"ELIJAH CARRIED THE CHILD TO HIS MOTHER."
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.
A FIELD IN PALESTINE TO-DAY.
From a photograph.
Now Ahab had been searching throughout his kingdom for the mysterious stranger who had warned him of the coming drought, three years before; so, as soon as he learned from Obadiah that the stranger had reappeared, he went to meet him. When he saw the prophet, he asked him, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" Elijah answered that he had not troubled Israel, but that Ahab's evil reign, and that of his father before him, had been the cause of the drought.
Then Elijah denounced the idolatry of Ahab, and followed this with a command to assemble his people on Mount Carmel, and bring also all the priests and attendants of Baal and Ashtoroth. Ahab did not dare to disobey, and a great, weary, listless crowd assembled on the sun-burned slopes of the mountain. The priests were there in gorgeous vestments, and the king, himself, all eager and expectant. A spring of water, apparently undiscovered before, flowed not far away.