Bible Men: Elijah and the Little Cloud Like a Man's Hand

1 Kings 18:1, 41-46

Previously on this blog I have posted about Elijah the prophet of God.  Part 1 was of Elijah being sustained by a widow of Zarephath, and Part 2 was of Elijah and his confrontation with the prophets of Baal.  This post, concerning Elijah and the little cloud like a man's hand takes place after Elijah's confrontation with those prophets.

In the day of Elijah the prophet, the word of the LORD came unto him to tell the wicked king Ahab that there would be neither dew nor rain for three years and this brought a great famine on the land.  In the third year of the drought there came a day when "the word of the LORD came to Elijah saying "Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth." (1 Kings 18:1)  And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. "And there was a sore famine in Samaria."(V2)

When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" V17 Elijah answered "I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim."  king Ahab knows now that this famine is not from Elijah, but because of his own disobedience to the commands of God.

After that Elijah has his confrontation with the prophets of Baal, and this is covered in depth in my  post of Elijah and the prophets of Baal ( go here to read). In that confrontation, Elijah prays to the LORD God "let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant...Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.." (18:36-37) and then the fire of the LORD fell, and the people fell on their faces and said The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God." (18:38-39) king Ahab witnessed this confrontation because earlier Elijah had told him to "send and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal, four  hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred...."(V19)




At the end of the confrontation Elijah said to Ahab "Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain."  I love this..  God is in control of the rain and Elijah believed the word of God that rain was finally coming to the parched earth.  "So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to  the top of (Mt.) Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees." (V42) Elijah is certainly a man of prayer.

Elijah had his servant with him, and he told the servant to "Go up now, look toward the sea.  And he (the servant) went up and looked, and said, There is nothing.  And he said, Go again seven times." (V43)  This reminds me of Joshua and the battle Jericho, when the priests compassed (surrounded according to Websters 1828 dictionary) the city of Jericho seven times on the seventh day.  I love the next verse.  "And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he (the servant) said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea,like a man's hand.  And he (Elijah) said, go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not." (V44) So it seems that Ahab had obeyed Elijah in eating and drinking, but he had not began his journey back to Jezreel.  

 "And it came to pass in the mean while, 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". (V45-46)   Can you picture that?  oh I would love to have been able to see this, the black clouds, the pouring rain, Ahab driving his chariot as fast as it could go, and Elijah, with his clothes lifted up so he could run, and in fact, running faster than the chariot. 

And for Elijah, there is much more to come. Next will be the story of Elijah and the Still Small Voice.

vcg/August 2015