OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES-1 Kings 18:3-4

OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES (13)

"(Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly; for it was so,
when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah
took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave,
and fed them with bread and water.)" 1 Kings 18:3-4

SINCE Obadiah himself described this incident to Elijah (v.13), we may wonder why, in introducing the governor, the writer felt it necessary to precede the story of his encounter with Elijah by giving us this parenthetical account of what happened. Was it perhaps to ensure that we begin by seeing Obadiah in a favourable light before half despising him for his rather apologetic role?

OBADIAH was not a heroic figure and may compare unfavourably with the uncompromising Elijah. Later on, the prophet complained to God that he was the only man left who had been true to his faith (19:10), so he evidently had a poor opinion of this Obadiah who had remained a governor in the royal palace during the evil reign of Ahab and Jezebel. It seems to me that the Holy Spirit inserted this parenthesis to indicate that God appreciated what the seeming compromiser had done in saving His prophets from Jezebel.

WHEN Elijah was hiding from the evil queen he was sustained miraculously, first by the ravens and then by the inexhaustible supply of meal and oil from the widow's scanty resources. Demanding as this experience was, it was also exhilarating, for it meant living in the glow of a daily miracle. The hundred prophets had a much less sensational diet. Can we say, though, that to them this was less a miracle when the governor smuggled bread and water to them in their caves? Elijah might consider Obadiah a compromiser, but the hundred doubtless regarded him more like an angel from God.

THE truth is that each man stands or falls before the judgment of God and not before that of men -- even godly men. It is probable that Elijah could not understand how a man like Obadiah could claim to serve the Lord and yet remain in Ahab's service. Yet both men feared the Lord and served His people. It would not be difficult for us to condemn fellow believers whose divine calling finds them in circumstances which we could never accept. That is their business and God's. Ours is to be true to the Lord in the light that He gives us and not to despise our fellow believers. No servant of God must misunderstand or belittle a colleague whose course is different from his own. Could it be that Obadiah had been guided by God just as much as Elijah was?

IN any case Elijah had no right to look down on men for hiding in a cave. Was that not exactly what he himself did at a later date (19:9)?

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