The Bible Story Part 188

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, "So let the G.o.ds do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time."

And when he heard this, he arose, and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he prayed that he might die; and said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."

And he lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him, "Arise and eat."

And he looked, and, behold, there was at his head a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water. And he ate and drank, 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 ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to h.o.r.eb the mount of G.o.d. And he came thither to a cave and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What doest thou here, Elijah?"

{124}

And he said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the G.o.d of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

And he said, "Go forth; and stand upon the mount before the Lord."

And, behold, the Lord pa.s.sed 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. And, when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, "What doest thou here, Elijah?"

And he said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the G.o.d of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

And the Lord said to him, "Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy stead.

{125}{126}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE WILDERNESS OF THE BROOK CHERITH Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

It was in this wild country that Elijah stayed while the drought was wasting the land. The exact location of the "brook Cherith" is not known.

Of this region the following description tells: "When you realize that this howling waste came within reach of nearly every Jewish child; when you climb the Mount of Olives, or any hill about Bethlehem, or the hill of Tekoa, and, looking east, see those fifteen miles of chaos, sinking to a stretch of the Dead Sea, you begin to understand the influence of the desert on Jewish imagination and literature. It gave the ancient natives of Judaea, as it gives the mere visitor of to-day, the sense of living next door to doom; the sense of how narrow is the border between life and death; the awe of the power of G.o.d, who can make contiguous regions so opposite in character. 'He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and water springs into a thirsty ground.' The desert is always in the face of the prophets, and its howling of beasts and its dry sand blow mournfully across their pages the foreboding of judgment."

[End ill.u.s.tration]

{127}

"And it shall come to pa.s.s, that him that escapeth from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet will I leave me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."

So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah pa.s.sed over unto him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee."

And he said unto him, "Go back again; for what have I done to thee?"

And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and made a feast of their flesh, and gave to the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

_How the Wicked King and Queen Did an Evil Deed, and How They Were Rebuked by Elijah_.

And it came to pa.s.s after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it: or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money."

{128}

And Naboth said to Ahab, "The Lord forbid it, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to thee."

And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, "I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers."

And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?"

And he said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, 'Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it': and he answered, 'I will not give thee my vineyard.'"

And Jezebel his wife said unto him, "Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the n.o.bles that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. And she wrote in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, 'Thou didst curse G.o.d and the king.' And then carry him out, and stone him to death."

And the men of his city, even the elders and the n.o.bles who dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, {129} according as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. And the two base fellows came in and sat before him: and bore witness against him, even against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed G.o.d and the king."

Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him to death.

Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth is stoned, and is dead."

And it came to pa.s.s, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead."

And it came to pa.s.s, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwelleth in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to take possession of it. And thou shalt speak to him, saying, 'Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?' and thou shalt speak unto him, saying, 'Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'"

And Ahab said to Elijah, "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?"

And he answered, "I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to do that which is evil in the sight of {130} the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will utterly sweep thee away: and I will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and hast made Israel to sin."

And of Jezebel also spoke the Lord, saying, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the birds of the air eat."

And it came to pa.s.s, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and humbled himself. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house."

_How G.o.d Took Elijah in a Chariot of Fire_.

And it came to pa.s.s, when the Lord would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, "Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me as far as Beth-el."

And Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee."

{131}{132}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE GREAT ROAD GOING DOWN FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO.

From a photograph taken by Prof. David G. Lyon of Harvard University, and used by his kind permission.

This road is the shortest from Jericho to Jerusalem, and therefore the usual pilgrim route in both directions. Pereans and Galileans came up to the temple by it; it was the path of our Lord and his disciples, "when he set his face steadfastly toward Jerusalem"; and from then till now it has been trodden in the opposite direction by pilgrims from all lands to the scene of his baptism. When taken upwards a more hot and heavy way it is impossible to conceive--between blistered limestone rocks, and in front the bare hills piled high without shadow or verdure. There is no water from Jericho till you reach the roots of the Mount of Olives.

[End ill.u.s.tration]

{133}