Useful Bible Studies > 1 Kings Commentary > chapter 18
Sometimes a person can remain loyal to God in a situation where other people would not consider it possible. Such a person was Obadiah. As the official who was in charge of the palace, Obadiah had an extremely important job in Ahab’s government. He remained in that job while Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, was murdering people who served the true God. Ahab himself hated the true God – but he still needed someone honest to be in charge of his palace. Perhaps that was why Ahab allowed Obadiah to keep his job.
We do not know whether Ahab was aware of Obadiah’s beliefs or not. However, it would have been hard for Obadiah to hide them. He could not join in the ceremonies for Ahab’s wrong religion, the religion of the false god Baal. Obadiah could not do anything to support the wrong acts that Ahab and Jezebel were constantly carrying out. Probably, he often had to refuse to do things that Ahab wanted.
So, Obadiah’s life was constantly in danger. He needed great wisdom to decide what to do and to say in each difficult situation. He also needed God’s special protection.
In those great dangers, Obadiah’s belief and trust in God became extremely strong. Obadiah saw that his important job gave him an opportunity to save people’s lives from Jezebel’s cruelty. He hid away the people whom Jezebel was trying to kill. He also provided them with food (18:4). That food may even have come from the stores at the palace, for which Obadiah was responsible.
Next part: Obadiah hides 100 prophets from Jezebel (1 Kings 18:4)
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