Elijah (22 page)

Yet the people prayed and sacrificed and copulated and paid levies all the more feverishly to Asherah. And the drought did not end.

Dew fell late in the winter on the narrow plain of Phoenicia and on the western slopes of Lebanon. Her people managed to break the earth and plant their crops, a gamble of precious seed that paid, but meagerly, with two light rains as the sparse crop neared its ripening. Yet no dew settled and no rain fell in Israel.

That summer, the third of the drought, was the hottest. Elijah and Bosheth moved to the open roof again, and the woman slept again in the upper chamber. Elijah prayed every day, his face toward Jerusalem, for a word from Yahweh. Yahweh had been silent for many months, save with that constant provision of the oil and meal. It was that constant replenishing that reinforced the prophet’s faith during those months of silence.

And the marketplace continued to be a source of news. Elijah never went there himself, since every merchant and caravaneer, every soldier, every king’s man was on the alert for the prophet, for Ahab had threatened reprisals against any nation that harbored the man of God. Bosheth, or at times the woman, brought the stories home. The priests and prophets of Baal reigned in Israel, they said. The desperate people paid their levies of precious food for incantations to Asherah, and the priests spilled the blood of now-scrawny lambs and goats, burned a few portions of the meat, and ate the rest. Smiling through jowls made fleshy by the sacrificial meals, they encouraged the people to sacrifice the more to elicit Baal’s blessings. The people’s eyes stared back at them from gaunt faces to gamble on a word of faint hope.

It was in early winter, two weeks after the early rains should have come, that Yahweh spoke.

Elijah awoke one morning at dawn and knelt in the crisp air on the open roof. As he faced Jerusalem to watch the sun break its way over the mountains, he felt a feeling grow in the pit of his stomach. The feeling burned as though his blood rushed through his veins with quickened speed, to spread throughout his body. The time had come. He could feel it, as though time itself had entered his blood.

He went downstairs to eat his last breakfast with Bosheth and the woman. The oil and meal, he told them, would continue until the earth blossomed in the spring.

The prophet adjusted his leather girdle about his waist, gathered his provisions, and bade good-bye. A few minutes later he passed through the gates of Zarephath and turned south.

“
Obadiah is here, my king.”

“
Good. Show him in.” Ahab sat on the smaller throne he preferred to use to conduct the business of the day. He watched his tall governor enter, this immaculately-groomed man who tenaciously but silently clung to his belief that Yahweh was the strongest of the gods. The king was glad Obadiah had done well during the crisis, for Jezebel detested the man. He would be one of Yahweh’s martyrs, Ahab knew, were his services not so clearly valuable. “Good day, Obadiah,” the king greeted.

Obadiah knelt on one knee briefly, and spoke as his knee touched the highly polished floor. “I trust all is well with you, my king.”

“
I can answer that better when I hear your report.”

“
It is not good, King Ahab. That is why I requested an audience.”

“
Then let me hear the worst. Come, sit beside me.”

Obadiah stepped up onto the dais and took a lower-backed chair next to the king. He drew a scroll from a fold in his tunic. “I have the records here of the levies from each administrative city since the drought began. Also, I have talked with each district collector of levies. I am prepared to give you as much detail as you wish.”

“
The details can wait. What is your assessment?”

“
I do not believe we should exact any more produce for the royal table, or any more feed for the royal stock. My lord, the people are impoverished for food. Only the priests eat well.”

“
The priests,” Ahab spoke contemptuously. “Asherah protects her own.”

“
The people are ripe for rebellion. They are not angry with you, but they are desperate. Another levy may well turn their anger toward the royal house.”

“
Yes. My advisors of state have the same opinion.”

“
My lord, the stock will die if we do not feed them. Another week and all provisions will be gone. Quite frankly, I do not know what we should do.”

“
We shall forage, Obadiah, as the people do.”

“
The land is well foraged already, my king.”

“
Yes. I have no doubt. But some grain may have grown again in the low places and by the water sources. We can do no other than try. We will organize two parties. I shall command one and forage to the south and in the Jordan Valley. You shall command the other and forage to the north. Go through the Jezreel Valley and then up to Dan. Return by the way of Jezreel and the Great Sea. Be sure to check the springs around Megiddo. Perhaps we can find enough feed for the stock to keep alive until the rains come.”

Ahab caught the look of discouragement in Obadiah’s eyes. “The rains will come, my governor. Yahweh will not let his people perish from the earth.”

Obadiah looked quizzically at the king. “You said Yahweh.”

“
Yes,” Ahab answered. “I said Yahweh. I do not know the ways of the gods, but still I am an Israelite.”

Obadiah nodded.

“
Now go. Organize the parties. We shall leave in the morning.”

Each party consisted of a chariot—a royal one for Ahab, a smaller one for the governor—and fifty horsemen. Each horse was fitted with twin baskets strapped together, one to hang on each flank. Each rider pulled a donkey fitted with similar but larger baskets. By morning, the two contingents were ready to depart.

The white Ladder of Tyre glared fiercely under the strong sun. Elijah squinted his eyes, shielding them with his hand until his arm grew tired. When night fell, he continued his journey, thankful even with the chill that he had to face the glare no longer.

It was well past midnight when the prophet slept under a tamarisk tree, covering himself with his heavy mantle. The next noon he crossed into Israel at the base of Carmel, to follow the road that ran along its northern shoulder. Even Carmel—this mount of perpetual growth—was brown except for a few scattered evergreens.

Now walking at a brisk pace, now jogging, Elijah passed Megiddo late in the afternoon, then left the road to cross the spine of Carmel’s tail, where the mountain dissipates into a broader range of hills to cut southeast toward Samaria. He traveled late into the night, slept fitfully in the cold, and resumed his journey before sunrise. By dawn he gained the road just north of the city. The white limestone walls shone white, catching the early morning sun before the brown earth did, as though Samaria itself rose early to capture the first light.

A column of riders led by a chariot rounded the northwest corner of the city wall, and soon the company stretched along the north wall. Elijah watched the procession, visible over the top of the Baal temple Jezebel had erected. Reaching the road, the column turned north, moving toward the prophet.

Within minutes, Elijah recognized the man in the leading chariot. It was Obadiah. The prophet stood to the side of the road and watched the company approach. As it neared, he raised his arm. “My friend, Obadiah,” he called loudly.

The governor pulled his reins hard. The two horses stopped quickly, snorting in protest at the interruption. Obadiah’s tunic was pulled up from his legs, and its folds were tucked into his jeweled linen girdle. “Elijah,” he called, “Elijah, is that you?”

“
Yes, my friend.”

Obadiah dropped the reins across the front rail of the chariot and stepped to the ground. He knelt in front of the prophet and touched his forehead to the earth, his tunic dragging on the ground. “My lord Elijah,” he said.

Elijah made no effort to call the governor to his feet. His voice was deep, with a powerful resonance that rose from some inner part to emerge as though it belonged to the wind. “Go to Ahab,” he commanded. “Tell your lord that I am here, waiting to see him.”

The governor remained on his knees and kept his head slightly bowed. His hands were on his thighs. He did not look at Elijah, nor did he answer.

“
What is it, my friend?” Elijah asked, surprised at the silence.

The governor raised his eyes then. He spoke accusingly. “You ask me to do a thing that may bring about my death.” He stood up to face the prophet. Looking down at the shorter man, his clipped beard jerked as he spoke in a tone that bordered on anger. “I am glad to see you, Elijah. We have searched for you, at the king’s command, with great effort. Now you want me to tell King Ahab that you have appeared and wait for him beside this dusty road. Why must you be so demanding? Why do you not allow me to take you to the king?”

Elijah’s eyes flashed angrily. He spoke with sternness. “Because Ahab must show that he has some respect, however slight, for Yahweh, the God of Israel.”

“
And suppose you are not here when I return with the king? You will be nowhere to be found.”

“
I will be here,” Elijah answered.

“
What sin against Yahweh have I committed that would cause you to send me to my execution at the hand of my King Ahab? What have I done?”

Elijah shook his head in exasperation, surprised at the feverish response of his old friend. “You have not sinned against Yahweh,” he answered. “Why do you talk like this?”

“
I swear,” Obadiah answered, “as Yahweh your God lives, that there is not a nation or kingdom on earth to which Ahab has not sent a delegation to inquire of you. Even after the kings reported that you were not to be found in their domains, Ahab demanded their oaths. You cannot imagine, hidden away in some place by the hand of Yahweh, how thoroughly Ahab has searched for you and how furious he has been that he has not found you. Now you tell me to go and announce that you are here. Suppose I do. And suppose that when I leave you behind, the spirit of Yahweh comes over you and drives you in your divine inspiration to some place I could not even guess. Ahab will search this countryside for you, and then he will kill me on the spot for not apprehending you when I had the chance.”