Page 259 - Bible History

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232 GOD'S CHOSEN PEO E UNDER KINGS
Jezab , the wife of Achab, was very angry when she heard what had happened to her prophets. She sent word to Elias that the same death awaited him. Elias ed out of the country. He sat down weary in the desert a short distance from Bersabee. An angel ' came to him twice and brought him food, saying, "Rise and eat.'' He arose· and looked, and there were a
hearth cake and a vessel of water for him. Elias ate and drank, and he walked in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to the mount of God, Horeb, where he lived in a cave. Here the Lord ap­peared to Elias, saying '' Go, and return on thy way through the desert to Damascus. There thou shalt anoint Hazael king over Syria. And thou shalt anoint Jehu king over Israel, and Eliseus thou shalt anoint to be prophet in thy place.''
As Elias was returning to the northern kingdom, he found Eliseus plowing in a eld. Elias came up to him and threw his mantle over his shoulders. Eliseus left his oxen and ran after Elias and said, ''Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee.'' Eliseus followed Elias and ministered to him.
The relations between the Kingdom of Juda and the
hab's Syrians
,
tories Kingdom of Israel were now friendly. But Benadad,
amthe the king of Syria, tried to annex Samaria to his king­
dom. A prophet had informed Achab that God would grant him victory over the Syrian king. He set out with an army of seven thousand men and drove the enemy back. The second year the same king returned with a powerful army. Achab went out again to meet