Chapter 5: The Queen's Threat

When Ahab reached the palace, he told Jezebel everything. Her response was a single message sent straight to Elijah.

JEZEBEL“May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”— 1 Kings 19:2

Jezebel wanted Elijah to run, not to die. A dead prophet after a miracle becomes a martyr. A prophet who flees becomes a coward. It seemed that Baal's queen was still in charge.

Elijah fled south, out of Israel, all the way to Beersheba in Judah. He left his servant behind, walked alone into the wilderness for a full day, and sat down under a broom tree.

Then Elijah said:

ELIJAH“I have had enough, Lord. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors.”