He
prayed, the fire fell at once from Heaven, and the people shouted "The
Lord He is the God!" and gave their deceivers up to punishment; and when
this partial purification was made, he prayed upon Mount Carmel, and the
little cloud arose and grew into a mighty storm, bringing abundance of
rain on the thirsty land.
Who could withstand such wonders? Yet they only hardened Jezebel into
greater cruelty, and Elijah was forced to flee into the utmost desert,
where he communed with God on Mount Sinai, even like Moses. Only once
more did he appear again to Ahab, and that was to rebuke him for having
permitted the murder of a poor subject whose property he had coveted,
and to foretell the horrors in which his line should end.
Ahab was not wholly hardened, and often had gleams of good which brought
favour upon him. A new enemy had risen up since the Canaanites had been
destroyed, and the Philistines repressed, by David; namely, the Syrians,
a powerful nation, whose capital was at Damascus, a city which is said
to be a perfect paradise, so delicious is the climate, and so lovely
the two rivers, one making the circuit of the walls, the other flowing
through the middle of the town.
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