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Bible story · 1 Kings 18:1–16
A Hundred Men in a Cave
Read it yourself in the King James Bible: 1 Kings 18:1–16 ↗
“For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.”
1 Kings 18:4 (KJV)The Story
Ahab was one of the worst kings Israel ever had, and his wife Jezebel was even worse. She hunted down the prophets of the Lord and killed them.
But in Ahab’s own palace, running his household, was a man named Obadiah. And the Bible says “Obadiah feared the LORD greatly.”
While Jezebel was killing God’s prophets, Obadiah was secretly saving them. He took a hundred prophets, hid them in two caves, fifty in each, and kept them alive with bread and water.
Think about what that meant. There was a severe famine in the land. Food was scarce. And Obadiah was quietly smuggling bread and water to a hundred hidden men, right under the nose of the queen who wanted them dead. If he had been caught, he would have died too.
Later, when Elijah met Obadiah on the road, Obadiah was afraid. Hasn’t anyone told you, he asked, what I did when Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets? How I hid a hundred of them and fed them?
Reflection
God had promised to preserve a faithful remnant in Israel. One of the ways He kept that promise was a man working in the enemy’s house.
More Bible stories from 1 Kings. More about: Elijah
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Day 10 of Book 7
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