We left Elijah the gates of King Ahab’s palace at Jezreel, which is within the ancient battleground  called Armageddon in the Book of Revelation.

But Ahab has a wife, Queen Jezebel, waiting for him, refreshments, and a warm dry bed.

Elijah has no friends here, especially after the slaughter of the 850 royal priests at Carmel.  Wet, muddy, and chilled, Elijah is in no shape for his next confrontation — a battle of wills with Jezebel, the brains behind King Ahab.

The queen is furious–as much with Elijah as with Ahab for letting Elijah get the better of him and her prophets, servants of the Phoenician god Baal-Melqart. She could have sent an underling to assassinate Elijah and dispose of his remains before daylight. Instead, she chooses to torment her victim while she prepares an exquisite public humiliation for him

Jezebel sends a messenger to the bedraggled prophet waiting outside Ahab’s palace: “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like one of them.”

Shivering and feverish, Elijah, knows all about Jezebel’s cruelty and the Phoenician practices of human sacrifice. He runs for his life. His fear drives him south, all the way through Israel and Judah. He does not pause to look behind him until he reaches the Negev — the wilderness south of Beersheba.

Jezebel has won her first battle with Elijah. God has not forsaken him, however. He has rescued runaways before and knows how to make something of them.

Just wait and see!