The ten-tribe kingdom of Israel had many bad kings, but Ahab was one of the worst. He married an evil woman who worshipped Baal. Her name was Jezebel. Ahab and Jezebel filled the land with Baal worship and murdered Jehovah’s prophets. What did Jehovah do? He sent the prophet Elijah to give Ahab a message.

Elijah told King Ahab that because of his badness, there would be no rain in Israel. For more than three years, crops did not grow and the people went hungry. Jehovah later sent Elijah back to Ahab. The king said: ‘You are a troublemaker! This is all your fault.’ Elijah answered: ‘I didn’t cause this drought. You did by worshipping Baal. We will make a test. Gather the nation and the Baal prophets on the top of Mount Carmel.’

The people gathered on the mountain. Elijah said: ‘Make up your minds. If Jehovah is the true God, follow him. If Baal is, then follow him. I make this challenge. The 450 Baal prophets should prepare an offering and call to their god, and I will prepare an offering and call to Jehovah. The one who answers with fire is the true God.’ The people agreed.

The prophets of Baal prepared an offering. All day long they called to their god: ‘O Baal, answer us!’ When Baal didn’t answer, Elijah made fun of him. He said: ‘Call as loud as you can. Maybe he has fallen asleep, and someone needs to wake him up.’ Evening came, and the prophets of Baal kept calling. But there was still no answer.

Elijah put his offering on an altar and poured water all over it. Then he prayed: ‘O Jehovah, please let the people know that you are the true God.’ Immediately, Jehovah sent fire from heaven to burn up the offering. The people cried out: ‘Jehovah is the true God!’ Elijah said: ‘Do not let the prophets of Baal escape!’ That day, the 450 prophets of Baal were killed.

When a small cloud appeared over the sea, Elijah told Ahab: ‘A storm is coming. Hitch up your chariot, and go home.’ The sky became dark with clouds, the wind blew, and a heavy rain began to fall. Finally, the drought had ended. Ahab drove his chariot as fast as he could. With Jehovah’s help, Elijah actually ran faster than the chariot! But were all of Elijah’s problems over? Let’s see.

Jezebel heard what happened to the Baal prophets, and she was very angry. She sent a message to Elijah: ‘Tomorrow, you will be dead like the prophets of Baal.’ Elijah became very afraid and ran away to the desert. He prayed: ‘Jehovah, I can’t take any more. Just let me die.’ Exhausted, Elijah fell asleep under a tree.

An angel woke him up and gently said: ‘Get up and eat.’ Elijah saw a round loaf of bread on heated stones and a jug of water. He ate and drank and went back to sleep. The angel woke him up again and said: ‘Eat. You need strength for your journey.’ So Elijah ate some more. Then he traveled for 40 days and 40 nights, until he reached Mount Horeb. There Elijah went into a cave to sleep. But Jehovah spoke to him. He said: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ Elijah answered: ‘The Israelites have broken their promise to you. They destroyed your altars and killed your prophets. Now they are trying to kill me too.’

Jehovah told him: ‘Go and stand on the mountain.’ First, a powerful wind blew past the cave. Next, there was an earthquake and then a fire. Finally, Elijah heard a calm, low voice. He covered his face with his coat and stood outside the cave. Jehovah then asked him why he ran away. Elijah said: ‘I’m the only one left.’ But Jehovah told him: ‘You are not alone. There are 7,000 in Israel who still worship me. Go and appoint Elisha as prophet in your place.’ Immediately, Elijah went to do what Jehovah had told him. Do you think that Jehovah will also help you when you do what he wants you to do? Yes, he will. Let’s find out about something that happened during the drought.

During the drought, Jehovah told Elijah: ‘Go to Zarephath. A widow there will give you food.’ At the gates of the city, Elijah saw a poor widow gathering wood. He asked her for a cup of water. As she went to get it, Elijah called after her: ‘Please, bring me a piece of bread.’ But the widow said: ‘I don’t have any bread to give you. I have only enough flour and oil to make a little food for my son and myself.’ Elijah told her: ‘Jehovah has promised that if you make some bread for me, your flour and oil will not run out until it rains again.’

So the widow went home and made bread for Jehovah’s prophet. Just as Jehovah had promised, the widow and her son always had food to eat during the drought. Her jars of flour and oil remained full.

Then something terrible happened. The widow’s little boy became so sick that he died. She begged Elijah for help. Elijah took the boy from her arms and carried him to a room upstairs in her house. He laid him down on a bed and prayed: ‘Jehovah, please bring this child back to life.’ Do you know why that would be an amazing thing for Jehovah to do? Because as far as we know, no one had ever come back to life before. And this widow and her son were not even Israelites.

But the boy’s life came back into him, and he began to breathe! Elijah said to the widow: ‘See! Your son is alive.’ She was overjoyed and said to Elijah: ‘You really are a man of God. I know this because you speak only what Jehovah tells you to say.’