Brave Prophet, Guilty King

The king and the prophet stood face to face. In the presence of Elijah, Ahab seemed unmanned, powerless. In his first faltering words, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” he unconsciously revealed the inmost feelings of his heart and sought to cast on the prophet the blame for the heavy judgments resting on the land.SS 72.5

It is natural for the wrongdoer to hold the messengers of God responsible for the calamities that come as the result of departure from the way of righteousness. When the mirror of truth is held up before those in Satan's power, they become indignant at receiving reproof. Blinded by sin, they feel that God's servants have turned against them and are worthy of severest censure.SS 73.1

Standing in conscious innocence, Elijah made no attempt to excuse himself or to flatter the king. Nor did he seek to evade the king's wrath by the good news that the drought was almost over. Indignant, and jealous for the honor of God, he fearlessly declared to the king that it was his sins, and the sins of his fathers, that had brought this terrible calamity. “I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah boldly asserted, “but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.”SS 73.2