1 Kings 18:7

ELIJAH MET OBADIAH AND FINALLY PERSUADED HIM TO TELL AHAB THAT ELIJAH WOULD INDEED SEE HIM

"And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it thou, my lord Elijah? And he answered, It is I: go tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And he said, Wherein have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and, when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation,, that they found thee not. And now thou sayest. Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And it will come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah will carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will slay me: but I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth. Was it not told what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid a hundred men of Jehovah's prophets by fifiy in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here; and he will slay me. And Elijah said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him this day."

"There is no nation ... whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee" (1 Kings 18:10). Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah; and there is no doubt that Ahab intended to add Elijah to the list of those slain; but after three and one half years of famine which nearly destroyed his kingdom, Ahab finally remembered that Elijah had told him that there would be no rain until Elijah's word came ending the drought. Also awe and fear of Elijah's power had taken all of the bluster out of Ahab. When he finally came face to face with the prophet, it was Ahab, not Elijah, who took the stern rebuke.

In the meanwhile, also, the popularity of Jezebel's rain-god had doubtless turned into secret hatred and disgust in the hearts of all the people. The king could not have been ignorant of this. The Canaanite Baal, as the god of fertility, rain, good crops, etc., had really "flunked out" in the situation precipitated by that devastating drought.