A Devout Believer
Obadiah (4) is a devout believer of God. (He is not the prophet by the same name, who lives much later.) The Bible contains only one story about this Obadiah, who serves as palace administrator for the evil King Ahab.
During the time of Ahab, king of Israel, there’s a three-year drought, which produces a famine. This is as the prophet Elijah proclaimed.
King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, strives to kill all the prophets of God. Yet Obadiah protects one hundred of them, hiding them in two caves. And despite there being a drought and famine, he also supplies them with food and water.
He does this at great personal risk, for if Queen Jezebel finds out what he’s doing, she’ll surely kill him.
In the middle of this, Ahab dispatches Obadiah to search for springs of water and grass to feed his horses and mules.
As Obadiah goes about his assignment, he meets Elijah and bows before the prophet.
Then Obadiah asks a curious question: “What have I done wrong?”
For the past three years, King Ahab has been conducting an unsuccessful manhunt for Elijah.
Obadiah fears that when he reports Elijah’s whereabouts to the king, God’s Spirit will whisk the prophet away to another place. Obadiah worries the king will kill him in frustration for giving a false report.
Elijah promises he won’t disappear. He pledges he’ll come before King Ahab that very day.
Obadiah tells Ahab where Elijah is, and the king goes out to meet him. A huge showdown is about to take place between Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
What great personal risk are we willing to take to serve God?
What lessons can we learn from Obadiah?
[Read about Obadiah in 1 Kings 18:1–16. Discover more in 1 Kings 17:1 and 1 Kings 18:17–40.]
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More Old Testament Sinners and Saints is part of the Bible Character Sketches series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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