the prophet's request he gazed up into the pure evening sky, he said, "There is nothing.' Again and again Elijah bade him look out; but it was only the seventh time that he saw a little cloud rising over the sea 'no bigger than a man's hand.' Then Elijah knew that the storm and the rain were coming, and he said to his servant, Go up and say to Ahab, Prepare thy chariot and get down, lest the rain stop thee.' The whole heaven was black with clouds, and the wind rose and drove the rain down in torrents. Ahab fled before the storm, and rode into Jezreel; but the breath of the Lord seized Elijah, and carried him on before Ahab to the entrance of the city. 113. FLIGHT OF ELIJAH; ELISHA APPOINTED AS HIS SUCCESSOR. [1 KINGS XIX.] So let the When the king related to Jezebel the story of the wonderful sacrifice on Mount Carmel and of the massacre of the priests, her wrath knew no bounds. She sent at once a messenger to Elijah with these words: gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of any one of them by to-morrow about this time.' Elijah, who had calmly faced the king and a host of priests, took alarm at this message, and fled from Jezebel out of the land of Israel to Beersheba, at the southern frontier of Judah. There he left his servant and wandered away alone into the wilderness. In a moment of despondency and deep disappointment, he cast himself down on the ground beneath a juniper tree, and, wearied by flight, he prayed, as so many sufferers have prayed in their agony, that he might die. It is enough now, O Lord,' he cried, 'take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers.' As he lay down and fell asleep exhausted under the juniper tree, an angel touched him 6 and said, 'Arise and eat.' He looked and saw beside him a cake and a cruse of water. Then he ate and drank, and laid himself down again to sleep. For the second time the angel touched him and bade him arise and eat, because a very great journey was before him.' Again he took food, and in the strength of that meal he went forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb, the mount of God.' There he took refuge in one of the mountain caves. The next day the word of God came to him with this question: What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thy 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 then again, as on the heights. of Carmel, the Lord manifested Himself to Elijah. First came a great and strong wind which rent the mountains and broke the rock in pieces, 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. When Elijah heard this, he wrapped his face in his mantle, and he went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then again came the voice, saying, What doest thou here, Elijah ?' And Elijah gave the same answer as before. Then the Lord, raising the oppressed spirit of the prophet, commanded him to do his appointed work. Go,' He said to him, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus ; and when thou comest there, 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 room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapes the sword of Hazael, shall Jehu slay, and him that escapes from the sword of Jehu, shall Elisha slay.' One consolation the prophet carried with him: he learnt that, in the land of Israel, there were, unknown to him, seven thousand true and faithful men, who had never bent their knees to Baal. So Elijah departed and went northward to Damascus. On his way he found at Abel-meholah, a village in Issachar, Elisha ploughing in the fields with twelve yokes of oxen. He flung his mantle over the shoulder of the youth, who instantly understood the meaning of this symbolical act, left the oxen, followed Elijah, and ministered to him. 114. WAR OF AHAB WITH BENHADAD. [1 KINGS XX.] Benhadad, the king of Syria, tempted by the riches and beauty of Samaria, resolved upon a great war against Israel. He assembled his hosts, and invited moreover thirty-two of the neighbouring chiefs or kings to join him. At the head of an immense army he besieged Samaria, and sent the following insolent summons to Ahab: Thy silver and thy gold are mine, thy wives and thy children, even the fairest, are mine.' Ahab, as weak and cowardly as ever, answered, 'My lord, O king, according to thy saying I am thine, and all that I have is thine.' But Benhadad wished to provoke Ahab to actual warfare; so he sent him a second and even more insulting message which had the desired effect: he said he would come to the king's palace, search it, and take whatever he liked best. Now Ahab's anger was roused, and he refused to submit to the humiliation. His resistance only called forth the mockery of Benhadad; but the king of Israel rightly said, "Tell him, let not him that girds on his harness boast himself as he that puts it off. To inspire Ahab with courage, a prophet, Elijah perchance, appeared before him and foretold the success of his arms over the vast Syrian host. The prophet's prediction came true; a portion of the Israelite army, consisting of young nobles, surprised the Syrian chiefs whilst carousing in their tents, and following up the first panic they had created, they discomfited their enemies, who retreated with great loss. Benhadad saved himself by flight on one of his swift Syrian horses. Although he had been utterly defeated, he was persuaded to recommence hostilities in the following spring, and he assembled another army large and splendid as the first. But instead of princes he placed experienced captains at the head of the different divisions of his hosts, and prepared for battle. His counsellors had told him: The gods of the Israelites are gods of the hills, therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and we shall be stronger than they.' He, therefore, went out and encamped in the plain of Aphek, where he was soon met by the Hebrew army, a mere handful compared with his own large numbers the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.' cess. Then again a prophet came to Ahab, foretelling sucFor six days the armies faced each other in silence, and on the seventh day they met. A hundred thousand Syrians were slain by the Israelites; the rest escaped to the town Aphek, where many were destroyed by a falling wall. Benhadad fled for refuge from house to house; he still clung to life and to the hope of being spared by Ahab. His followers said to him, 'Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he will save thy life.' The chiefs acted upon this advice, and when they appeared before the king of Israel, they addressed him thus: 'Thy servant Benhadad says, I pray thee, let me live.' pray thee, let me live.' Ahab answered compassionately, 'Is he yet alive? he is my brother.' This was enough; the messengers knew that Benhadad had nothing to fear. They brought him to the king of Israel, whose heart was touched at the sight of the captive monarch; he concluded peace with him, and unwisely allowed him to depart in safety. 115. MURDER OF NABOTH. Closely adjoining Ahab's palace in Jezreel was a beautiful vineyard belonging to a man of the name of Naboth. This property was coveted by the king, who sent for Naboth, and said to him, 'Give me thy vineyard that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard, or if it seems good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.' But Naboth would not surrender the ground; it was dear to him, because he had inherited it from his fathers, and he refused all offers however tempting. Then Ahab went into his house dejected and displeased: he, the great monarch, had been baulked of his desire by one of his subjects; so he lay upon his bed, and turned away his face and would not eat.' Not long afterwards came Jezebel, fierce and malignant as ever; she pressed Ahab to tell her what troubled him, and when she heard his complaint, she exclaimed indignantly, Dost thou not govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise and eat bread, and let thy heart be merry; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.' Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and sent them herself to the elders and nobles of the city. She commanded these chiefs to |