Elijah in Easton's Bible Dictionary
whose God is Jehovah. (1.) "The Tishbite," the "Elias" of
the
New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice
in 1 Kings
17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab.
There is
mention made of a town called Thisbe, south of
Kadesh, but it is
impossible to say whether this was the place
referred to in the
name given to the prophet.
Having delivered his message to Ahab, he retired at
the
command of God to a hiding-place by the brook
Cherith, beyond
Jordan, where he was fed by ravens. When the brook
dried up God
sent him to the widow of Zarephath, a city of Zidon,
from whose
scanty store he was supported for the space of two
years. During
this period the widow's son died, and was restored
to life by
Elijah (1 Kings 17: 2-24).
During all these two years a famine prevailed in the
land. At
the close of this period of retirement and of
preparation for
his work (comp. Gal. 1:17, 18) Elijah met Obadiah,
one of Ahab's
officers, whom he had sent out to seek for pasturage
for the
cattle, and bade him go and tell his master that
Elijah was
there. The king came and met Elijah, and reproached
him as the
troubler of Israel. It was then proposed that
sacrifices should
be publicly offered, for the purpose of determining
whether Baal
or Jehovah were the true God. This was done on
Carmel, with the
result that the people fell on their faces, crying,
"The Lord,
he is the God." Thus was accomplished the great work
of Elijah's
ministry. The prophets of Baal were then put to
death by the
order of Elijah. Not one of them escaped. Then
immediately
followed rain, according to the word of Elijah, and
in answer to
his prayer (James 5:18)...
Read More about Elijah in Easton's Bible Dictionary