Elijah would next learn from God how the Israelites would respond to his ministry as God's servant.
Evidently God made the famine especially severe in Samaria (v. 2) because Ahab and Jezebel were the causes of it and lived there. As a believer in Yahweh, Obadiah had been a blessing to 100 of God's prophets even in the famine (vv. 3-4). Surveyors have counted over 2,000 caves in the Mount Carmel area.186
When Obadiah met Elijah, he voiced his submission to the man of God and to Yahweh. He did so by calling Elijah his "master"(v. 7). However, Obadiah served two masters. Elijah pointed this out by referring to Ahab as Obadiah's master (v. 8). To rise as high as he had in Ahab's government Obadiah had to have lived a double life of external support for Ahab while internally following Yahweh.
Obadiah's confession that Yahweh lived presents him as a genuine believer (v. 10). This is exactly the same profession that both the widow (17:12) and Elijah had made (17:1). Obadiah went to great pains to convince Elijah that he was a believer in Yahweh. He must have felt this explanation was necessary because of his position in Ahab's cabinet (v. 13). He obviously struggled with whether he could believe Elijah when the prophet told him he would speak to Ahab (vv. 11-12, 14). Having received a second promise from Elijah that he would not disappear (v. 15), Obadiah finally obeyed the prophet's command (v. 8) and went to Ahab (v. 16).
"Why Obadiah should be so featured is, at first, puzzling. Yet the episode appears to have two major purposes. First, Obadiah's speech reveals to Elijah the gravity of the crisis in Samaria during his absence . . .
"Second, through the use of irony, Obadiah's scene establishes the unique authority of Elijah."187
Obadiah was similar to many believers in Yahweh who were living in Israel then. They had divided allegiances, their faith in God was weak, they were fearful for their own safety, and they were slow to respond to God's word. What a contrast Obadiah was to the Gentile widow of Zarephath (cf. Matt. 15:21-28). Elijah saw beforehand, in Obadiah's response to him, how believers in Israel would respond to what he would soon do on Mount Carmel. Elijah would call on the people to do essentially what he had commanded Obadiah to do: obey the Lord's word through His prophet.
