FOR THERE IS A SOUND OF ABUNDANCE
OF RAIN
“And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” 1 Kings 18: 41 Rev. José Arturo Soto Benavides
I
N THE TIMES of Prophet Elijah, the people of Israel were in a critical spiritual situation. Some decided to abandon the Lord and worship pagan gods, while others rejected God as sovereign and asked Samuel to give them a king like the other nations (1 Samuel 8: 5-22). The political change generated a religious and moral decline in the nation. When King Solomon died, the situation went increasingly bad and MISSIONARY MOVEMENT 44 WORLDWIDE America • Europe • Oceanía • África • Asia
the reign was eventually divided. In the meantime, national wars resulted in new alliances with pagan and impious peoples. King Omri of Israel made an alliance with the king of the Sidonians through the marriage of his son Achab with Jezebel (1 Kings 16: 32). The woman was very zealous for her god Baal and established Baalism as the national religion. Elijah started his prophetic ministry and entered Ahab’s court to share the word of divine judgement: “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” (1