Widespread idolatry by the Israelites led to famine in the land. Here God promised to send rain on the land. What had changed? Had Israel relented from their sins? There was no evidence of mass repentance at all. By the time Elijah returned there were still 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah who were being fed at Jezebel’s table. If there were that many false prophets, it could only be left to imagination how many were into idolatry. We can look at two things that may have influenced a change of direction. Firstly, people in the mode of Obadiah were still in the land. They feared and served God. For their sakes, God may have tempered judgment with mercy.
God is always ready to extend mercy to the wayward, but He expects that they don’t return to their foolish and wicked ways anymore.
Secondly, the anger of the Lord may have abated. In Psalm 30:5, it is noted that the anger of God is for a moment. It is His mercy that endures forever. It is this nature of God that the insincere often capitalize on. They think they can indulge in the wrong and still enjoy the mercy of God. The word of Paul will be salutary here. He wrote to the Romans about grace, first observing that the prevalence of sin is an opportunity for the abundant grace of God to find expression. Knowing that some may take that as license to sin, he went on to ask rhetorically, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 NKJV). God is always ready to extend mercy to the wayward, but He expects that they don’t return to their foolish and wicked ways anymore.
