The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 419

HOMILETICS. Vers. 3, 4.-The Governor of Ahab's House. There are few things in these books of Scriptw·e more surprising- and suggestive than the position of Obadiah in the palace of Ahab. Consider- !. TnE AGE. We have seen that during this reign (eh. xvi. 30, 33 ; xxi. 25), and especially in the capitol city of Samaria (eh. xvi. 82), the wickedness of Isrnel had reached its zenith. From the accession of Jeroboam, and the schi~m which followed it, the northern kingdom had steadily gone from bacl to worse, till its apostasy aud impiety culminated under the malign in1l.uences of A.bah and Jezebel. Their joint reign marks a new departure in the religious history of the ten tribes. Hitherto men bad worshipped the God of their fathers, though in an i1Tegular and un- authorized way, and idolatry, though not unknown, had not been open and un- blushing. Now, however, the whole nation, with but few exceptions, abandoned itself to the licentious worship of Phoenician gods, and the ancestral religion was proscribed, its altars were overthrown, and a determined effort was made to stamp out its prophets and professors. • II. THE PLACE. We should expect, consequently-what Elijah really believed to be the case (eh. xiL 10)-that to find a pious man we must senrch the land as with a lantern. We should expect to find some A.bdiels, "faithful among the faithless found," but we should look for them away from the haunts of men, in "caves and dens of the earth," in the brook Cherith, or the cottage of Znrephath, or wandering about" in sheepskins and goatskins," &c. (Heh. xi. 87, 88). But we should hardly hope to find them in the cities of Israel, in the broad light of day, in conspicuous positions, and least of all should we look for them in Samarin, where Satan's seat was, the fortress and citadel of Baal. Or if we were so sanguine, notwithstanding the godlessness of the times and the genius of the place, as to count on some saints in Samaria, we should never betake ourselves to the great men (J er. v. 6) ; we should go in search of piety in the cottages of the poor. We should never dream of finding any followers of the Lorcl occupying e.n exalted station, living under the shadow of the palace, or in close contnct with the cletermined and unscrupulous queen. III. Hxs POSITION. But if we were.assured that even in Ahab's palace, under the same roof with Jezebel, a devout and steadfast servant of Jehovah was to be founcl, we should certainly have expected to find him in some insignificant servitor, some poor retainer of the place. •rhat any high officinl, that a minister of state could re- tarn his piety in that cesspool of corruption, that hotbed of iclolatry and immorality, and at the very time that Jezebel was cutting off the Lord's prophets, would seem 0B, XVIII, 1-46.] TIIE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS, 481