◄ 1 Kings 18:6 ►
So they divided the land to explore. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
Study Bible
So they divided the land between them to cover it
This phrase indicates a strategic and practical approach to a dire situation. The Hebrew root for "divided" is "חָלַק" (chalak), which implies a deliberate and thoughtful allocation. In the context of ancient Israel, land was not just a physical space but a divine inheritance, a gift from God to His people. The division here is not for ownership but for the purpose of searching for resources, specifically water and pasture, during a severe drought. This reflects the desperate measures taken by Ahab and Obadiah to sustain life amidst God's judgment on the land due to Israel's idolatry. The act of dividing the land underscores the severity of the crisis and the need for cooperation, even between a godly man like Obadiah and a wayward king like Ahab.

Ahab went one way by himself
Ahab, the king of Israel, is depicted as taking personal responsibility in this search. The phrase "by himself" highlights his isolation, both physically and spiritually. Ahab's reign was marked by his marriage to Jezebel and the introduction of Baal worship, which led Israel away from the worship of Yahweh. His solitary journey can be seen as symbolic of his spiritual state—separated from God and reliant on his own strength and wisdom. Historically, kings would often delegate such tasks, but Ahab's involvement indicates the gravity of the situation. It also reflects the biblical theme of leadership accountability, where leaders are called to be shepherds of their people, though Ahab's shepherding is flawed by his idolatry.

and Obadiah went another way by himself
Obadiah, whose name means "servant of Yahweh," is a stark contrast to Ahab. He is described earlier in the chapter as a devout believer who feared the Lord greatly. His journey "by himself" signifies his personal commitment to God amidst a corrupt society. Obadiah's role in Ahab's court is significant; he is a man of integrity serving under a king who has led Israel astray. This highlights the biblical principle that God places His people in strategic positions to influence and preserve His purposes. Obadiah's solitary path also suggests his reliance on God rather than human alliances, embodying the call for believers to walk faithfully even when isolated in their convictions. His presence in the narrative serves as a reminder of God's remnant, those who remain faithful despite widespread apostasy.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Ahab
The king of Israel, known for his idolatry and marriage to Jezebel, which led Israel into sin.

2. Obadiah
A devout believer in the LORD who served as the palace administrator under King Ahab. He feared the LORD greatly and protected the prophets of God.

3. The Land
Refers to the kingdom of Israel, which was suffering from a severe drought as a result of God's judgment.

4. The Search
Ahab and Obadiah divided the land to search for grass to keep the royal horses and mules alive during the drought.

5. The Drought
A significant event in Israel's history, brought about by Elijah's prophecy as a consequence of Israel's idolatry.
Teaching Points
Faithfulness in Adversity
Obadiah's example shows that one can remain faithful to God even in a corrupt environment. Believers today are called to stand firm in their faith regardless of external pressures.

Divine Providence
The division of the land and the subsequent events demonstrate God's providence and control over circumstances. Trust in God's plan, even when situations seem dire.

The Consequences of Idolatry
Ahab's reign and the resulting drought serve as a warning against turning away from God. Idolatry leads to spiritual and often physical drought.

The Role of Leadership
Ahab's failure as a leader contrasts with Obadiah's faithfulness. Godly leadership is crucial in guiding others towards righteousness.

Preparation for God's Work
The search for grass symbolizes the need for preparation and action in faith. Believers must be proactive in seeking God's provision and guidance.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Obadiah's role in Ahab's court challenge us to live out our faith in secular environments today?

2. In what ways can we see God's providence at work in difficult circumstances in our own lives?

3. How does the drought in Israel serve as a metaphor for spiritual dryness, and what steps can we take to prevent this in our spiritual walk?

4. What lessons can we learn from Ahab's leadership failures, and how can we apply these lessons to our roles in leadership, whether in the church, home, or workplace?

5. How can we prepare ourselves to be used by God, as Obadiah was, in times of spiritual and physical need?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Kings 17
Provides context for the drought, as Elijah prophesied it as a judgment from God.

1 Kings 18:1-5
Sets the stage for the division of the land, highlighting the severity of the drought and Ahab's desperation.

1 Kings 18:7-16
Continues the account, where Obadiah encounters Elijah, leading to a pivotal confrontation with the prophets of Baal.

James 5:17-18
References Elijah's prayer and the resulting drought, emphasizing the power of prayer and righteousness.

Hebrews 11:32-34
Mentions the prophets, including Elijah, as examples of faith and God's power working through them.
Sermons
Separated: and no Tears At the PartingJ. T. Davidson, D. D.1 Kings 18:6
The Cry for LifeJ.A. Macdonald 1 Kings 18:1-6
Ahab, Obadiah, and ElijahJ. Parker, D. D.1 Kings 18:1-18
Elijah and the Prophets of BaalE. De Pressense 1 Kings 18:1-46
People
Ahab, Elijah, Isaac, Jacob, Jezebel, Jezreel, Obadiah
Places
Jezreel, Kishon River, Mount Carmel, Samaria, Zarephath
Topics
Ahab, Apportion, Cover, Covering, Direction, Divided, Obadiah, Obadi'ah, Pass, Survey, Themselves, Throughout
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Kings 18:1-6

     5092   Elijah

Library
Obadiah
To the Young '... I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.--1 KINGS xviii.12. This Obadiah is one of the obscurer figures in the Old Testament. We never hear of him again, for there is no reason to accept the Jewish tradition which alleges that he was Obadiah the prophet. And yet how distinctly he stands out from the canvas, though he is only sketched with a few bold outlines! He is the 'governor over Ahab's house,' a kind of mayor of the palace, and probably the second man in the kingdom. But …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Trial by Fire
'And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose yon one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. 27. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Elijah's Appeal to the Undecided
Now, we have these three classes here this morning. We have, I hope, a very large number who are on Jehovah's side, who fear God and serve him; we have a number who are on the side of the evil one, who make no profession of religion, and do not observe even the outward symptoms of it; because they are both inwardly and outwardly the servants of the evil one. But the great mass of my hearers belong to the third class--the waverers. Like empty clouds they are driven hither and thither by the wind; …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Obadiah; Or, Early Piety Eminent Piety
The Lord does not love that his servants, however great they are, should think lightly of their lesser comrades, and it occurs to me that he so arranged matters that Obadiah became important to Elijah when he had to face the wrathful king of Israel. The prophet is bidden to go and show himself to Ahab, and he does so; but he judges it better to begin by showing himself to the governor of his palace, that he may break the news to his master, and prepare him for the interview. Ahab was exasperated …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

But Some one Will Say, Does He not Know Without a Monitor Both what Our...
But some one will say, Does he not know without a monitor both what our difficulties are, and what is meet for our interest, so that it seems in some measure superfluous to solicit him by our prayers, as if he were winking, or even sleeping, until aroused by the sound of our voice? [1] Those who argue thus attend not to the end for which the Lord taught us to pray. It was not so much for his sake as for ours. He wills indeed, as is just, that due honour be paid him by acknowledging that all which …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

Selfishness and Prayer. A Contrast.
"So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees."--1 KINGS xviii. 42. WHAT A CONTRAST! And yet, both men were perfectly consistent. It is in each case what you would expect, and yet how differently it might have been. What a different story it would have been if only Ahab had listened to the teaching of God! How often we see men having chances of turning round and beginning a new …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The West Coast of Galilee-Carmel.
The people of Issachar had "Carmel and the river for their bounds in length": the people of Zabulon, "Carmel and the sea." Carmel was not so much one mountain as a mountainous country, containing almost the whole breadth of the land of Issachar, and a great part of that of Zabulon. It was, as it seems, a certain famous peak among many other mountain tops, known by the same name, lifted up and advanced above the rest. The promontory Carmel, in Pliny, and in the mountain a town of the same name, heretofore …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Ninth Sunday after Trinity. How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions? if the Lord be God, Follow Him; but if Baal, Then Follow Him.
How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him. Was kinket ihr betrognen Seelen [106]Lehr. 1733. trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1855 Why halt thus, O deluded heart, Why waver longer in thy choice? Is it so hard to choose the part Offered by Heaven's entreating voice? Oh look with clearer eyes again, Nor strive to enter in, in vain. Press on! Remember, 'tis not Caesar's throne, Nor earthly honour, wealth or might Whereby God's favour shall be …
Catherine Winkworth—Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year

Fall of the Western Empire (Ad 451-476)
The empire of the West was now fast sinking. One weak prince was at the head of it after another, and the spirit of the old Romans, who had conquered the world, had quite died out. Immense hosts of barbarous nations poured in from the North. The Goths, under Alaric, who took Rome by siege, in the reign of Honorius, have been already mentioned (p 93). Forty years later, Attila, king of the Huns, who was called "The scourge of God," kept both the East and the West in terror. In the year 451, he advanced …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

Will the Knowledge that Some of Our Own are Lost, Mar Our Happiness in Heaven?
This is a difficult question to answer satisfactorily, on account of our instinctive feelings of natural affection, which arise, and, like a mist, obscure our judgment. Nevertheless, the difficulty is much lessened, and even entirely removed from some minds, at hast, by the following considerations. 1. Our happiness, even in this world, does not depend on the happiness of those who are bound to us by the ties of kindred or of friendship. This is especially the case when their unhappiness proceeds …
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

Of Prayer --A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It.
1. A general summary of what is contained in the previous part of the work. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. Its connection with the subject of faith. 2. Prayer defined. Its necessity and use. 3. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows our wants. Answer, from the institution and end of prayer. Confirmation by example. Its necessity and propriety. Perpetually reminds us of our duty, and leads to meditation on divine providence. Conclusion. Prayer a most useful exercise. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

This was Antony's First Struggle against the Devil...
7. This was Antony's first struggle against the devil, or rather this victory was the Saviour's work in Antony [1005] , Who condemned sin in the flesh that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.' But neither did Antony, although the evil one had fallen, henceforth relax his care and despise him; nor did the enemy as though conquered cease to lay snares for him. For again he went round as a lion seeking some occasion against him. But Antony …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount
Discourse 7 "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Matthew 6:16-18. 1. It has been the endeavour of Satan, from the beginning of the world, …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Subterraneous Places. Mines. Caves.
Thus having taken some notice of the superficies of the land, let us a little search into its bowels. You may divide the subterraneous country into three parts: the metal mines, the caves, and the places of burial. This land was eminently noted for metal mines, so that "its stones," in very many places, "were iron, and out of its hills was digged brass," Deuteronomy 8:9. From these gain accrued to the Jews: but to the Christians, not seldom slavery and misery; being frequently condemned hither by …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Of Passages from the Holy Scriptures, and from the Apocrypha, which are Quoted, or Incidentally Illustrated, in the Institutes.
TO THE AUTHORS QUOTED IN THE INSTITUTES PREFATORY ADDRESS TO HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY, THE MOST MIGHTY AND ILLUSTRIOUS MONARCH, FRANCIS, KING OF THE FRENCH, HIS SOVEREIGN; [1] JOHN CALVIN PRAYS PEACE AND SALVATION IN CHRIST. [2] Sire,--When I first engaged in this work, nothing was farther from my thoughts than to write what should afterwards be presented to your Majesty. My intention was only to furnish a kind of rudiments, by which those who feel some interest in religion might be trained to …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Links
1 Kings 18:6 NIV
1 Kings 18:6 NLT
1 Kings 18:6 ESV
1 Kings 18:6 NASB
1 Kings 18:6 KJV

1 Kings 18:6 Commentaries

Bible Hub
1 Kings 18:5
Top of Page
Top of Page