The time of reckoning is soon to come. Eliyahu will soon challenge King Ahav to the famous battle of the prophets on Mt. Carmel. But before we get to the famous confrontation, we must first address Eliyahu's return to the public scene.

It has been three years since Eliyahu last saw King Ahav, when he then ordained a lack of rain thus bringing about the present debilitating famine. Ahav was no "happy camper" with Eliyahu's deeds and sent out messengers and spies everywhere throughout the country and even to neighboring countries seeking him out. Something tells me Ahav's intent in seeking out Eliyahu was probably not for Eliyahu's betterment. No, Ahav wanted Eliyahu and was going to (in his eyes) force Eliyahu to pray for the rains to come and for the famine to cease. Then he most likely would have had Eliyahu killed. Eliyahu thus had good reason to be in hiding all this time.

Granted, Eliyahu could have struck down the King himself with a mere word or even a glance. But this is not always the Will of Heaven. As our Sages have long taught us, it is not our way to rely upon miracles. If Heaven wishes to grant us a miracle, then this is Heaven's decision alone. We have no right to insist upon a miracle, to ask for one, or all the more so use spiritual powers entrusted into our hands to perform one without prior authorization. These are unacceptable behaviors on behalf of those trusted by Heaven.

At the chosen time, G-d tells Eliyahu to again reveal himself publicly. Now, before appearing directly before Ahav, Eliyahu meets Ovadiah. This meeting is very curious in that I wonder if it was by chance or not. Was it only coincidence that Eliyahu bumped into Ovadiah, or was this Eliyahu's plan all along. Being that Eliyahu obviously had his connections with the secret societies for the protection of the prophets, they would have been able to tell Eliyahu the whereabouts of both the King and all his top government officials. Ovadiah, the texts tells us is the King's trusted servant. He was most likely a trusted government employee. At the same time, the text reveals to us, he was also secretly true, not only to HaShem, but also to the secret society of the protection of the prophets. Indeed, the text says, he himself was such a protector, and this behavior of his implies that he might have even been a ringleader or secret grandmaster of the society itself.

It is not farfetched to believe that Ovadiah's whereabouts and travels would have been known to the inner circle of prophetic protectors and that one of these spies passed along the information of his whereabouts to Eliyahu who then just so happened to have bumped into him along the way. It appears that their meeting was by no means any form of a coincidence.

Although the text is clear that Ovadiah is a highly placed and trusted government official in the House of Ahav, he still has remained true to the old school faith of the Torah of Israel and to its progenitors, the prophets. He has taken one hundred individuals, who under the Ahav regime would have been considered felonious traitors, worthy of death, and have given them shelter and support. Under the Ahav regime, Ovadiah would have been guilty of collaboration with the enemy and guilty of providing support to enemies of the government. For a man is such a high position as he was, to do such a thing, is incredible. In Ahav's eyes, his trusted man Ovadiah would have been considered to be totally corrupted. Luckily for us the Book of Kings elaborates the story from the Torah point of view and not that of the wanton and erring King.

Now Eliyahu and Ovadiah meet, apparently not for the first time. Ovadiah clearly recognizes Eliyahu and more so, seems to be very familiar with Eliyahu's ways. Eliyahu tells Ovadiah to return to Ahav to announce that he, Eliyahu, will soon appear. One might think that this would have been a good thing, but remember the times which the story describes. We are not dealing here with friends of G-d and of his prophets.

Ovadiah considers Eliyahu's request to be tantamount to a death sentence. If he were to return to Ahav and announce Eliyahu's coming, regardless of whether or not Eliyahu shows up, the first question that will be asked Ovadiah is that how is that after the king had sent messengers throughout the country and in all neighboring foreign lands to find Eliyahu and failed to do so that Ovadiah now just so happens to have bumped into him. Such a meeting would be highly suspicious in the eyes of the King. This is a suspicion that Ovadiah could not afford. If he was investigated by the King, it could be discovered that he was hiding what in the King's eyes were wanted criminals. Not only would Ovadiah be condemned for treason and executed, all one hundred prophets would similarly be taken out and killed. All this could occur if Ovadiah did exactly as Eliyahu said.

Ovadiah's concern is not so much to merely announce Eliyahu's coming. After all if Eliyahu does show up the King would have his hands full and would not be indulging into any suspicions about Ovadiah. Yet, what would happen if Eliyahu pulled one of his many "here today, gone today" tricks, and instead of appearing before the King, merely vanishes again? Then Ovadiah would be in grave danger. Apparently, Ovadiah knew that Eliyahu had a way about him to literally jump around from place to place, by means that the text seems to describe as supernatural. It might very well be that Eliyahu used some strange unknown force to somehow "wormhole" himself from place to place. This is often called "travelling without movement." In later Torah and Kabbalistic literature this is referred to as "kefitzat haderekh" (shortening, lit., jumping the way).

Now, Ovadiah does not accuse Eliyahu of intentionally planning or desiring to disappear on him, leaving him "holding the bag" as we say. Eliyahu is not an irresponsible individual. He would never do anything to unnecessarily endanger the life of such an innocent man as Ovadiah. Ovadiah surely knew this about Eliyahu's character, so then, what was his real concern?

Ovadiah knew that Eliyahu was not like one of the regular prophets. Eliyahu seemed to have a relationship with extraterrestrial powers that apparently would pick him up and then drop him off from time to time. This is what Ovadiah meant when he expressed his concern that "the spirit of HaShem" would carry him off somewhere and drop him off somewhere. This is no metaphor; this was quite literal. After Eliyahu was taken to Heaven in what is described as a chariot of fire, the accompanying prophets insisted upon sending out search parties to see if the chariot had dropped Eliyahu off somewhere. Does this concern of theirs indicate that the famous ascent of Eliyahu into Heaven on a chariot of fire was not his first ride in such a vehicle? The text does seem to imply this.

Here again we have record that Eliyahu was no mere mortal, nor was he even considered to be such by those who knew him best. We never find any other kind of reputation for any other prophet, either before Eliyahu or after him, with the exception of Moshe Rabbeynu.

The text indicates that this "spirit of HaShem" would come unannounced and simply take Eliyahu. It would be hard for us to imagine that Eliyahu did not willingly participate in these journeys. He certainly was not being kidnapped by hostile extraterrestrials. Nonetheless, he was being taken in a most unusual and supernatural way. Where was he taken, for how long and for what purposes, these things the texts do not reveal to us. All we know is that they must have been common enough experiences for Ovadiah to have considered it to be a viable concern for the immediate moment.

Eliyahu categorically states to Ovadiah that this will not happen today and that indeed he will appear to Ahav. This statement of Eliyahu's indicates that he must have had some control over these "spirit of HaShem" travels of his. Otherwise how could he commit to this course of action? If Eliyahu had no control over when he would or would not be taken, how could be guarantee that later that day he would be able to appear before Ahav? Eliyahu certainly had the control and the power. This ability to control the "spirit of HaShem" and to travel through, what for us is either supernatural or extraterrestrial ways only adds to the many mysteries surrounding Eliyahu.