Three commands were laid on him — three changes were to be made. Instead of Ben-hadad, Hazael was to be king of Syria ; instead of Ahab, Jehu the son of Nimshi was to be king of Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat was to be his own successor. These per- sons shall revenge God's quarrels: one shall begin, another shall prosecute, and the third shall perfect the vengeance on Israel. Of these three commands, the first two were reserved for Elisha to accomplish : the last only was executed by Elijah himself. It would almost seem as if his late trials had awakened in him a yearning for that affection and companionship which had hitherto been denied him. His first search was for Elisha. Apparently he soon found him; we must conclude at his native place, Abel-meholah, probably somewhere about the centre of the Jordan valley. See Abel-meholah. Elisha was ploughing at the time, and Elijah " passed over to him" — possibly crossed the river — and, without uttering a word, cast his man- tle, the well-known sheepskin cloak, upon him, as if, bj' that familiar action (wliich was also a symbol of official investiture), claiming him for his son. A mo- ment of hesitation — but the call was quickly accepted ; and then commenced that long period of service and intercourse which continued till Elijah's removal, and which after that time procured for Elisha one of his best titles to esteem and reverence — "Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Eli- jah." See Elisha.
(2.) For about six years from this calling of Elisha we find no notice in the sacred history of Elijah, till God sent him once again to pronounce sore judgments upon Ahab and Jezebel for the murder of unoffending Nabotli (1 Kings xxi, 17, etc.). How he and his asso- ciate in the prophetic office employed themselves dur- ing this time we are not told. We ma}' conceive, however, that they were much engaged in prayer for their country, and in imparting knowledge in the schools of the prophets, which were at Jericho and Beth-el. Ahab and Jezebel now probably believed that their threats had been effectual, and that they had seen the last of their tormentor. At any rate, this may be inferred fnmi the events of chap. xxi. See Ahab. Foiled in his wish to acquire the ancestral plot of ground of Naljoth by the refusal of that sturdy peasant to alienate the inheritance of his fathers, Ahab and Jezebel proceed to possess themselves of it by main force, and !>}' a degree of monstrous injustice which shows clearly enough how far the elders of Jez- reel had forgotten the laws of .Jehovah, how perfect was their submission to the will of their mistress. At her orders Naboth is falsely accused of blaspheming
ELIJAH
148
ELIJAH
Gofl and tlie king, is with his sons (2 Kings ix, 26 ; romp. Josh, vii, 24) stoned and killed, and his vine- yard then — as having belonged to a criminal — becomes at once the property of the king. See Nabotii.
Ahab loses no time in entering on his new acquisi- tion. Apparently the verv next day after the execu- tion he proceeds in his chariot to take possession of the coveted vineyard. Behind him — probably in the back part of the chariot — ride his two pages Jehu and Bid- kar (2 Kings ix, 2G). But the triumph was a short one. Elijah had received an intimation from Jehovah of what was taking ^jlace, and rapidly as the accusa- tion and death of Naboth had been hurried over, he was there to meet his ancient enemy, and as an enemy he does meet him — as David went out to meet Goliath — on the very scene of his crime ; suddenly, when least expected and least wished for, he confronts the miser- able king. Then follows the curse, in terms fearful to any Oriental — peculiarl}-^ terrible to a Jew, and most of all signiticant to a successor of the apostate princes of the northern kingdom — "I will take away thy pos- terity ; 1 will cut oft" from thee even thy very dogs ; I will make thy house like that of Jeroboam and Ba- asha ; thy blood shall be shed in the same spot where the blood of thy victims was shed last night ; thy wife and thy children shall be torn in this very garden by the wild dogs of the city, or as common carrion de- voured b}- the birds of the sky" — the large vultures which in Eastern climes are always wheeling aloft under the clear blue sky, and doubtless suggested the expression to the prophet. How tremendous was this scene we may gather from the fact that after the lapse of at least twentj' years Jehu was al)le to recall the very words of the prophet's burden, to which he and his companion had listened as thej^ stood behind their master in the chariot. The whole of Elijah's denunci- ation may possibly be recovered by putting together the words recalled by Jehu, 2 Kings ix, 26, 36, 7, and those given in 1 Kings xxi, 19-25. Fearing that these predictions would prove true, as those about the rain and fire had done, Ahab now assumed the manner of a penitent ; and, though subsequent acts proved the in- sincerity of his repentance, j'et God rewarded his tem- porary abasement by a temporary arrest of judgment. We see, however, in after parts of this sacred history, how the judgments denounced against him, his aban- doned consort, and children took effect to the very let- ter. See Jezebel.